The best wide angle lenses for the Blackmagic Cinema Camera

[Andrew Reid]

[img]http://www.eoshd.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/blackmagic-wide-lenses.jpg[/img]

French rental house tries lenses on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera - [url="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.398258513557700.106898.118532781530276&type=1"]La Blackmagic Camera passe chez PhotoCineRent[/url]

Here I have rounded up all the lenses I have in mind for achiving a wide angle on the 2.3x crop sensor of the Blackmagic camera.

[richg101]

Nice topic. I think the 15mm, 25mm and 35mm f2.8 contax zeiss distagons would be a nice 3 lens set for the bmc camera too. granted the 15mm costs almost as much as the camera, but hopefully the hire companies will acquire such lenses with intention of hiring as a set specifically as a cost effective set for the bmc.

[Ben Holden Sentient Cities]

Such a shame m43 lenses are out of the question. I would buy a BMCC in a flash with those lenses were compatible.

[itimjim]

Andrew. Based on the LA7200's performance at both wide apertures and the edges, I'd possibly might be careful about recommending it until there are some results out there.

[ipcmlr]

I guess you could use a Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 plus a Tokina 16-50mm and you'd have a 25mm-115mm fullframe equivalent using 2 fast enough zooms.

[Andrew Reid]

[quote name='itimjim' timestamp='1346352008' post='16992']
Andrew. Based on the LA7200's performance at both wide apertures and the edges, I'd possibly might be careful about recommending it until there are some results out there.
[/quote]

It depends on what size sensor and what lens you're using it on. The LA7200 was originally designed for the DVX100. I've long been using the LA7200 on a 2x crop sensor (well 1.86x on the GH2). I love the look of this anamorphic. Yes the performance drops off at the edges with a very wide focal length on this lens but it is one of a kind. A unique anamorphic because it covers the wider focal lengths.

[Andrew Reid]

By the way this article only deals with the 2.3x crop, if you put the 8-16mm Sigma on an FS100 for example you will get plenty of distortion at the edges on the larger sensor. The centre is always the sweet spot of any lens in terms of distortion.

[Logan McMillan]

Lumix 7-14mm will be a great lens for this camera......once they get an Micro 4/3 adapter sorted.

[Andrew Reid]

Yes it will, get that hack saw ready :)

[vincegortho]

What about sigma 20mm 1.8, 24mm 1.8, 28mm 1.8

[Johnnie]

The Samyang 14mm f/2.8 is a valid modestly price alternative.

Thanks!

Johnnie

[Andrew Reid]

The Samyang 14mm does distort far less in the middle. On Super 35 / APS-C it is quite horrible for that. So on the BMCC it could be a winner, it will be getting some coverage when my camera arrives for sure.

[Andrew Reid]

The 8-16mm Sigma has the least distortion at 8mm. Much better option than the Canon 8-15mm fisheye and a lot cheaper.

Check out the comparison shots here: http://www.onerivermedia.com/blog/?p=677

[Francis.Martineau]

I was thinking about getting the series of EF Schneider Cine-Xenar III. The widest is only 18mm but the quality should be amazing. They are Cine-Lenses and the crop factor should create super sharp images.

[Bruno]

Samyang now sells cine versions of their lenses, with declicked apertures and follow focus gears. Glass quality is exactly the same though, but it is a nice gesture from them to our community.

It's a bit of a shame that we can't use 16mm cine lenses with this cinema camera really. Well, we can use 35mm (expensive) EF cine lenses but that kind of defeats the purpose of a $3k camera!

One of the reasons film usually looks so good is that a film camera package always comes with proper cine lenses, you don't see anyone shooting 16mm or 35mm with cheap stills lenses, and in this specific aspect the Digital Bolex has a huge advantage, since not only the sensor is 16mm sized, but it will have a more adaptable c-mount (and other mount options later on).

At the moment you can still find amazing 16mm lenses on eBay for great prices (lenses that used to cost over 5 grand), it's a shame we can't use them with the BMD camera.

I can already imagine some companies offering mount conversion services for the BMD camera for a thousand bucks or more :)

[vincegortho]

Check out this Tokina 11mm-16mm CP2 style lens from Cinematics.

[url="http://www.pchood.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=125"][color="#0f72da"]http://www.pchood.co...&product_id=125[/color][/url]

[Chriss]

I still don't get why didn't they just make it with a micro 4/3 mount.
It seems that the technical information on the mount/lenses is available, since it's used across different manufacturers.