Your opinion on lens kit for BMPCC

Hello,
I would like to hear your opinion about this set of 3 lenses I plan to buy together with a new Pocket Camera:

+Rokinon 12mm T2.2 - 374usd
+Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 - 268 usd
+Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN - 340 usd

The Sigma 30mm f1.4 seems like a new lens. Is it compatible with the BMPCC, or are there issues reported?
I read a forum in dpreview.com about non-communication with the aperture of a Sigma lens (the 19mm f/2.8 DN) when it was new, but the issue was solved on that model.

Instead of the Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 I have also been considering this Sigma 19mm, but I see it is not very popular, or is just my impression? It seems a good lens, and newer than the Lumix G 20mm.

I want to have very sharp lenses. Once I thought of the zoom Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm f/2.8 but I've decided to go instead for 3 primes, although a zoom would be very comfortable. But it just seems primes will always be better, especially if you want sharpness.

Does it seem like a good set of lenses?
I plan to do some handheld, mostly tripod, but I would just not think of the IOS stabilization issue. It wouldn't be a decisive factor for buying a lens.

Your opinions and info are warmly appreciated.

Martin

These are different lenses, with different IQ, and look, and would not make a good set. The Sigma is good, if you want a sharp Video look with high contrast. I would look at a set of "Video/Cine" lenses, instead of still camera lenses, since you are starting from scratch. Look at SLR Magic Hyperprime MFT Cine lens set, they have a soft Cine/film look wide open, are faster than the lenses you referenced, and stopped down a coup,emofmstops are nice and sharp, with out being razor sharp. They come from the excellent 10mm all the way to 50mm, with a 10 or 12mm for your wide, 17mm for normal AOV and 25 or 35mm for a long head and shoulders lens. You could start with 17 and 25mm, they are available a reasonable prices both new and used. The 10 or 12mm are a little more expensive, as wides normally are.

Next to look at are the excellent Veydra Mini Primes, a little larger than the SLR Magic, but pair nicely on bothnthe Pocket and Micro camera, and come in 12/16/25/35 MFT mount with 50 and 85mm lenses also available (but these are more for larger sensor cameras like MFT/Dine 35mm, as they are long tele lenses on S16 format.

If you want to stick with native Auto MFT lenses, look at the Panasonic Leica set, a better choice, and they have a nice Cine IQ look also, are smaller and lighter, and give the Pocket its "point and shoot" camera look. Available in 12-45mm, with 15mm, 25mm and 35mm being a good stsrting point. Add the Olympus 12mm f/2.0 for a compatible wide angle lens.

I have or had all these lenses, and the work nicely on the S16 format.
Cheers

I no longer own a BMPCC but I became quite fond of using the Lumix 20mm 1.7 while I did when I needed a simple walk around lens. Also, you can find the used for much cheaper than the price you're quoting. I find that Rokinons can be a bit soft and unless it's a Sigma Art lens, I avoid Sigma. If you're looking at the 30mm Sigma Art 1.4, I think it's "unpopular" because it's only for APS-C sensors and smaller and will vignette on full frame.

FWIW, I would strongly consider checking out some vintage primes with an adapter (maybe eventually a Speedbooster depending on your budget). You can get a pretty decent set of two or three vintage primes and an adapter for the cost of one of these lenses. I shot on the BMCC MFT and BMPCC almost exclusively with Canon FD glass and really dug the look.

These are different lenses, with different IQ, and look, and would not make a good set. The Sigma is good, if you want a sharp Video look with high contrast. I would look at a set of "Video/Cine" lenses, instead of still camera lenses, since you are starting from scratch. Look at SLR Magic Hyperprime MFT Cine lens set, they have a soft Cine/film look wide open, are faster than the lenses you referenced, and stopped down a coup,emofmstops are nice and sharp, with out being razor sharp. They come from the excellent 10mm all the way to 50mm, with a 10 or 12mm for your wide, 17mm for normal AOV and 25 or 35mm for a long head and shoulders lens. You could start with 17 and 25mm, they are available a reasonable prices both new and used. The 10 or 12mm are a little more expensive, as wides normally are.

Next to look at are the excellent Veydra Mini Primes, a little larger than the SLR Magic, but pair nicely on bothnthe Pocket and Micro camera, and come in 12/16/25/35 MFT mount with 50 and 85mm lenses also available (but these are more for larger sensor cameras like MFT/Dine 35mm, as they are long tele lenses on S16 format.

If you want to stick with native Auto MFT lenses, look at the Panasonic Leica set, a better choice, and they have a nice Cine IQ look also, are smaller and lighter, and give the Pocket its "point and shoot" camera look. Available in 12-45mm, with 15mm, 25mm and 35mm being a good stsrting point. Add the Olympus 12mm f/2.0 for a compatible wide angle lens.

I have or had all these lenses, and the work nicely on the S16 format.
Cheers

Thank you very much Denny. I think using just one brand could be a good idea. Probably the Panasonics! But I will do some research of the other brands you mention.

I no longer own a BMPCC but I became quite fond of using the Lumix 20mm 1.7 while I did when I needed a simple walk around lens. Also, you can find the used for much cheaper than the price you're quoting. I find that Rokinons can be a bit soft and unless it's a Sigma Art lens, I avoid Sigma. If you're looking at the 30mm Sigma Art 1.4, I think it's "unpopular" because it's only for APS-C sensors and smaller and will vignette on full frame.

FWIW, I would strongly consider checking out some vintage primes with an adapter (maybe eventually a Speedbooster depending on your budget). You can get a pretty decent set of two or three vintage primes and an adapter for the cost of one of these lenses. I shot on the BMCC MFT and BMPCC almost exclusively with Canon FD glass and really dug the look.

Your idea about the FD lenses sounds really great Dustin! I never thought of that, and I have a wonderful Canon fd 50mm. Please let me know if the fd Canon lenses turned out as sharp or sharper than the Lumix 20mm?

I guess it is necessary to use a speedbooster instead of a normal adapter in order to keep the image sharp. Did you use a speedbooster? Did you use the Mitakon or the Metabones?

I am just worried about sharpness as it is the only negative aspect I have seen in footage from the Pocket Camera. It can be also the compression form Youtube and Vimeo, but I have read often about people doing sharpening in post.

I just need that the footage can be projected on a big screen. No extra crazy sharpness, no extra clean image (otherwise I would think of 4K and other cameras), but that the video material will be completely usable in big screens without necessarily doing sharpening in post.
I appreciate your opinion!

I'm like you - I love "sharp" on the Pocket - especially now that everything is 4K, sharpening up the creamy 1080p pocket footage while maintaining that amazing color science is like running a biting Fender guitar through a rich, thick Marshall amp. The combo is just awesomeness.

I own a fair amount of lenses, and by far the sharpest and most beautiful color rendition belong to...

1. Sigma 18-35
2. Panasonic 12-35

That Panny 12-35 is just SO good, wide enough for big shots, beautifully intimate at 35 for faces. I recently bought the Leica 12-60, hoping it would be the 12-35 but longer, but unfortunately, the same magic is not there. Womp.

The Panny 20 is also terrific, but just a touch "long"... also check out the Panny/Leica 15mm.

Something to seriously consider when shooting on the pocket is using manual lenses.

I find the ability to adjust iris (with a lens with no manual iris control) is OK, but can be quite frustrating. After using my pocket for a while (with Canon EF glass) I decided to move across to vintage fully manual lenses (Contax Zeiss, Leica-R and Mamiya Sekor-C). It was the best decision I've made.

As well as the plus of being fully manual, they render beautifully on digital sensors, are are really affordable, built to last, and hold their value. Definitely a long term investment that can be used on a huge variety of cameras (up to sensors with a 43mm image circle) will outlast many cameras.

You can also add a focal reducer/speedbooster which will effectively increase their field of view and apparent speed by a minimum of one stop.

Just a note- Greg's suggestion of the Sigma 18-35 is a stellar recommendation I'm just worried it'll exceed your budget.

I used the FD glass through both a standard adapter (taking in the super 16mm crop) and also a Metabones FD Speedbooster (bringing it closer to Super 35). I did have to add some sharpening in post but found shooting around 2-2.8 to give excellent results. I had a 35mm F2 SSC FD lens that was just stellar. A speedbooster isn't necessary but it helped for sure.

I would say the Panasonic 20mm was a tad sharper but it didn't have as much character as the vintage glass. You could also look at Nikon vintage because I've heard it tends to be sharper (I can't speak to it for sure as I've never used Nikon before).

And I co-directed a documentary that was fortunate enough to get a couple theatrical screenings last year where I used the BMPCC for interviews and some B-Roll and it looked great projected.

In a similar situation I've just bought a set of kiev-16u lenses. They are fairly cheap, and *should* match well. (I have a feeling I'll find they are cheap for a reason - the 20mm is beautiful, the other two, not so much.)
I've tried a range of panasonic lenses - so far the 14mm pancake is the one that stays on the camera, with a wide angle adapter. A bit fisheye, but I wanted something I can walk around with. The 14-45 has also been ok for outdoor use, though I'm not sure the stabiliser is working - hardly seems to be. The 20mm would be good on a tripod, and I'm planning to shoot some interviews with it. It's a nice lens overall, but a bit long for me on this camera.
Sharpness: the image straight from the camera is a bit soft. Lots of people like that, but I find it a bit too much. It's an indication, I think, of how used we are to in-camera sharpening on dslrs and other video cameras. However that's also a benefit of raw; the image can take a lot of sharpening in post, and sharpens up more nicely and naturally than any other camera I've shot on (to be fair, it's the only camera I've shot raw video on.) FWIW I've tried playing with the raw footage in other NLEs, and it may well be a limit of my own skills and knowledge, but I've never hit a sweet spot. The BMPCC and Resolve were made for each other - literally, I guess. And that's where it comes to life. I'm still no good at grading, but there's a wow factor when the two come together.

Thanks a lot for all your inputs.
After a lot of research I've decided I will go for a set of Canons FD (thanks Dustin for your tip). It's what I like the best, and I have seen very good results on the internet. May or not be necessary to do sharpening in post, but they seem to give a not too crazy/vintage look and also to avoid hard video look.

I will use them with both adapter and focal reducer. I wonder if the Mitakon Zhongyi is a good option? I've read there might be issues with frontal sources of light, that the flares could be out of control. I know the best would be to avoid flares and I will not be shooting a film with flares all the time, but is this something to be very concerned about?
I would not buy a Metaboness.

Also, any specific adapter brand you recommend?

Thanks!

I would not buy a Metaboness.

Thanks!

Honestly, if you want a focal reducer and you're using the camera for paid work, you really must to go with the Metabones Speedbooster. I had a Mitagon EF to MFT and under certain conditions, I would get a weird, blue circle in the middle of my footage.

Why would you not buy a Metabones? I get the cost is a little prohibitive but again, if you're getting paid to do this, you'll earn your money back and have superior optics in the process.

Also, any specific adapter brand you recommend?

Thanks!

If you go without a focal reducer, which is fine to do btw, you really can't go wrong. I would avoid Fotodiox just because I've had some bad experiences with them but I think I just got a cheap, $20 one from Amazon. In fact, I may still have it and if you pay the shipping I'll send it to you. Feel free to PM me.

The Zhongyi mark II is not too bad. Not Metabones class, but OK, if you are so tight on the budget.

Hello,
I will try to test the focal reducers and make a decision. Yes, Metabones would be the safest, but it is just too expensive compared to the cost of the camera and the lenses... We'll see.
Very kind of you Dustin for your offer! l'm doing some local search and will let you know after I evaluate my findings.

Thanks to all!

Martin, it seems when you want to use a cinema camera, the camera ends up being a small fraction of the total investment. You don't need to go overboard, but some accessories can make it much easier to use. Especially when focusing outdoors. Lenses will often take up more of your budget than the camera.


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There is always ebay, metabones BMPCC - Nikon Speed booster:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Metabones-Nikon ... SwS9pZdmjR