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Panasonic G85 review - is there any need to get an Olympus E-M1 Mark II for video?


Andrew Reid
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Actually, thinking more on it, I might just go ahead and save up for the Olympus 17mm f1.8 for now. The Sigma 18-35/Viltrox adapter combo is going to end up totaling around a thousand bucks for me, so it'd be nice to pick up at least one or two more affordable M43 native prime lenses to use on the G85 in the meantime.

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Well I think those Clutch Olympus lenses Have to be the way to go for video. Panasonic, Olympus are Not noted for killer AF in video mode!

4 minutes ago, Vintage Jimothy said:

Actually, thinking more on it, I might just go ahead and save up for the Olympus 17mm f1.8 for now. The Sigma 18-35/Viltrox adapter combo is going to end up totaling around a thousand bucks for me, so it'd be nice to pick up at least one or two more affordable M43 native prime lenses to use on the G85 in the meantime.

Hey your getting smarter by the minute LoL. Good move. But it still is not wide enough to me. But I realize you have to start someplace. I would rather have the Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8

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7 minutes ago, Vintage Jimothy said:

Actually, thinking more on it, I might just go ahead and save up for the Olympus 17mm f1.8 for now. The Sigma 18-35/Viltrox adapter combo is going to end up totaling around a thousand bucks for me, so it'd be nice to pick up at least one or two more affordable M43 native prime lenses to use on the G85 in the meantime.

You can probably find a used one pretty cheap in Japan.

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I don’t go along with future proof anything. If I did, I’d be visiting the chiropractor every month shooting Sigma ART lenses on my Panasonics; dealing with miserable AF on my Sony; and never being able to appreciate just how superb Fujinons are on my X-T2.

The beauty of micro four thirds is compact lenses - not bodies - and hanging a two pound chunk of glass off a G85 is not only not fun, but I prefer the image quality from the Olympus PRO lenses anyhow.

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9 minutes ago, webrunner5 said:

Well I think those Clutch Olympus lenses Have to be the way to go for video. Panasonic, Olympus are Not noted for killer AF in video mode!

Hey your getting smarter by the minute LoL. Good move. But it still is not wide enough to me. But I realize you have to start someplace. I would rather have the Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8

Meh... wide angle lenses ruined digital video. We never had the chance for great 1080p because all of the ultra wide angle fanatics couldn’t figure out how to focus their 50mm lenses. Just kidding... kinda.

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8 minutes ago, webrunner5 said:

Well I think those Clutch Olympus lenses Have to be the way to go for video. Panasonic, Olympus are Not noted for killer AF in video mode!

Hey your getting smarter by the minute LoL. Good move. But it still is not wide enough to me. But I realize you have to start someplace. I would rather have the Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8

I mean, the 35mm equivalency of the 17mm is nice for a starter lens in narrative filmmaking IMO. I'm not keen on Nifty Fifties much myself, though I love a ton of different focal lengths. And while it's obviously not the same, Ridley Scott shot Alien on an anamorphic 75mm lens back in the day (which would have a width more akin to a 37.5mm aspherical lens than a traditional 75mm IIRC). I dig the 35mm focal length for film. 

That said, the 12-40mm seems like a smart option too. Might look at both.

5 minutes ago, mercer said:

You can probably find a used one pretty cheap in Japan.

Yeah, there's a couple of local Japanese camera stores about 20-30 minutes away from the house where I could probably buy an Olympus at. Once Typhoon Kong-Rey passes, of course.

6 minutes ago, jonpais said:

I don’t go along with future proof anything. If I did, I’d be visiting the chiropractor every month shooting Sigma ART lenses on my Panasonics; dealing with miserable AF on my Sony; and never being able to appreciate just how superb Fujinons are on my X-T2.

The beauty of micro four thirds is compact lenses - not bodies - and hanging a two pound chunk of glass off a G85 is not only not fun, but I prefer the image quality from the Olympus PRO lenses anyhow.

I suppose that's a fair counterargument. It'd also be a lot easier to use the G85 on a gimbal like the new Zhiyun Weebill Lab if I invested more in the lighter native mount lenses too.

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6 minutes ago, Vintage Jimothy said:

I mean, the 35mm equivalency of the 17mm is nice for a starter lens in narrative filmmaking IMO. I'm not keen on Nifty Fifties much myself, though I love a ton of different focal lengths. And while it's obviously not the same, Ridley Scott shot Alien on an anamorphic 75mm lens back in the day (which would have a width more akin to a 37.5mm aspherical lens than a traditional 75mm IIRC). I dig the 35mm focal length for film. 

That said, the 12-40mm seems like a smart option too. Might look at both.

Yeah, there's a couple of local Japanese camera stores about 20-30 minutes away from the house where I could probably buy an Olympus at. Once Typhoon Kong-Rey passes, of course.

I suppose that's a fair counterargument. It'd also be a lot easier to use the G85 on a gimbal like the new Zhiyun Weebill Lab if I invested more in the lighter native mount lenses too.

bingo! I can fly practically all my Sony FF lenses on the original Crane. No need for a four-pound DJI Ronin S. (or whatever it weighs)

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8 minutes ago, mercer said:

Yeah a 35mm equivalent FOV is a great one lens prime option for narrative filmmaking... get a little wide and with a fast lens, you get a little shallow depth... zoom in and out with your feet.

Exactly. It's a very versatile focal length for a "one prime lens only" option for narrative filmmaking and has something of a natural cinematic look to it IMO. Even when I was looking at the Voigtlander lenses, I was always focusing on their 17.5mm for that exact reason.

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16 minutes ago, Vintage Jimothy said:

Exactly. It's a very versatile focal length for a "one prime lens only" option for narrative filmmaking and has something of a natural cinematic look to it IMO. Even when I was looking at the Voigtlander lenses, I was always focusing on their 17.5mm for that exact reason.

I love 35mm, the Canon 35mm f/2, Nikkor ai-s 35mm f/1.4 and Minolta 35mm f/1.8 are my favorite lenses on my 5D3.

The other positive with the Olympus is that you can get a BMPCC for less than a $500 used if you feel like dipping your toes into Raw video and the 17mm Olympus looks great on the Pocket cam.

It would be around a 50mm on the Pocket camera, but still a good lightweight option. 

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Nice, the resuscitation of this thread.

Am only here to report that the (fantastic) Sigma 18-35 focuses -mechanically-.

As far as I know, only the DN series lenses from Sigma are fly-by-wire (the dedicated mirrorless lenses, the 19/30/60mm f2.8 ones are cheap, sharp and small)

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1 hour ago, Timotheus said:

Nice, the resuscitation of this thread.

Am only here to report that the (fantastic) Sigma 18-35 focuses -mechanically-.

As far as I know, only the DN series lenses from Sigma are fly-by-wire (the dedicated mirrorless lenses, the 19/30/60mm f2.8 ones are cheap, sharp and small)

The Sigma Art series is the one that can focus manually in the 18-35mm.

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1 hour ago, Grimor said:

Talking about G85 & Sigma 18-35 combo:

What version is prefered? Canon or Nikon mount?

What adaptor to get? Single adaptor or boosted?  Dumb or Metabones?

If you want to control the aperture through the camera, you need a smart adapter. I believe on the Nikon adapter there is a manual aperture lever, but you'll have to check as I have the Canon one.

For choosing between speedbooster or not: determine what you need:

With speedbooster you get a fullframe equivalent of around 25-50mm f2.5

Without speedbooster fullframe equivalent of 36-70 F3.6

Or get both adapters with and without glass to effectively get two zoom ranges from one lens! The Viltrox are quite affordable. Just don't plan on relying on continuous autofocus.

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