Lenses for Pocket CC?

I've been using a Canon 6D and EF lenses for video and have decided to pick up the Pocket CC after seeing the amazing footage.

Thing is, I am totally unfamiliar with the micro four thirds format and all the lenses made for the mount.

I'd like to hear some recommendations for some great zooms and primes. Thanks.

Have you tried the search? This topic has been discussed so many times already and there is a wealth of info on this forum.

One that does come highly recommended is the Panasonic 12-35 f/2.8

You can also look into the new Olympus 12-40 f2.8 but it is not out yet. Research some more and decide what you need.

Good luck!

There are recently listed some Elite Super16 lenses on the eBay by a vendor who calls himself "eyefocusit". They are probably a bit expensive for a $1,000 give-or-take cost Blackmagic pocket cinema camera. However they might be worth a look if you can negotiate a "best offer" price.

I cannot vouch for the vendor as I have not bought anything.

Elites apparently have a similar design philosophy to Optar Illumina lenses which are offshoots from a former Soviet Union era design bureau. The design apparently emulates Zeiss Super16mm lenses.

Being PL-Mount you would also need to buy a PL-Mount adaptor for the camera. Optars seem sweetest on the SI2K camera sharpness numbers in the zone T2 - T4 with the 25mm and 50mm favouring the higher end of this range. The one Elite I compared was a 32mm. It was sweetest starting at T4 and higher.

CP Ultra T* lenses will cover Super16mm except the 9mm which vignettes due to the front element retainer ring. Whitehouse AV or Visual Products should be able to modify the 9mm. Wide open the 9mm is a bit soft in the corners but it is otherwise a sharp lens. The CP Ultra T* lenses also seem sweetest on the SI2K sharpness numbers in the zone T2 - T4.

The CP lenses are likely to be found in either ARRI Standard Mount, ARRI B Mount or CP-Mount. Ken Hale at Whitehouse AV has been making PL-Mounts which can be owner-fitted or better, fitted and collimated in his shop.

The 9mm CP Ultra T* has one vice which is seriously irritating if you want to pull focus at the close-end. The internal focus mechanism is apparently some sort of hybrid helicoid thread and cam. At the transition to the closer focus, there is a distinct change in pace of the movement and repeatable pulls to a focus point are difficult.

He also sells new-old-stock Angenieux "Compact" 17.5mm - 70mm T2.3 zooms which cover a Super16mm film frame. The Angenieux does not come with focus gears but Ken has delrin gears to suit. They are an interference hand-press-fit to the lens focus and zoom barrels.

If you use a motorised focus system like C-Motion, you need to glue these gears on or have Ken fit a locator screw. The C-Motion motors apply lots of torque at the lens end-limits during the calibration function and will force the gears to turn on the barrels. The calibration will then fail.

My specimen of this lens seems sweetest at T4. These apparently were left over from a curtailed production run of the CP GSMO film camera which did not take off.

For best results, these lenses are desirably used with ND filters in daylight conditions to allow their wider apertures to be selected. A separate IR filter or combination ND-IR filter may be necessary as many sensors are contaminated by IR with is not filtered out by standard ND filters. I don't know how the BM pocket cinema sensor behaves regarding IR.

There you go. A bit of probably useless info for you.