Blackmagic Forum

Never had any EF glass, but the Nikon mount doesn't have electric connection to the lens. What EF mount and especially more cine lenses should I check out?

General interview work, occasional scenic or fairly wide angle. Not much tele work.

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Are you looking at using photography lenses or Cine lenses?

If the photography lenses, the line of Cannon L and Sigma ART EF mount lenses are good to great. The 2 common photography glass for the platform are:
1. Sigma ART 18-35mm f/1.8 - https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... c_hsm.html

2. Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. - https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... _8_cf.html

3. Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L - https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... 8L_II.html

Are you looking for EF because it of lens communication with the camera? And, in particular because you're looking to control the iris via the camera?

I've had great success using dumb connection lenses. As long as you have a physical iris ring then you can change the aperture on the lens. Yes, it's nice to have the metadata of the lens later in post, but I would choose your lens optics first.

I'd suggest getting the PL Mount for the 4.6K G2 for the easy $245 it costs as well. It's easy to swap the mounts, and I have the option for more lenses now from the higher end cinema to the lower end photography lenses.

Also remember that there is no real autofocus with the camera. So having EF lenses with lens data connectors will not result in autofocus you will rely on. Thus I hope you're ready to pull focus, and I would suggest cinema lenses with longer focus throws to make your life easier. There are EF cinema lenses, although EF is End of Life as Canon is moving to RF.

Thanks both, looking for any Wise Comments from those of you who have such rigs. It's definitely a step up from the BMPCC4K.

I don't do much "mobile" work so not necessarily needing camera focus. Just curious about lens metadata use and well, having both the EF and F mounts, what lens options are recommended.

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Well, what about classic manual ones then? No metadata, but a nice, long focus throw for precise manual focusing. Zeiss C/Y and most M42, like Takumar, can be adapted easily.
The Zeiss are no ‘hidden’ gems any more, but the Takumars are still cheap and also built to last. The focal length can be registered manually, e. g. for gyro stabilization.
Some classic lenses can even be ‘Leitaxed’ to EOS (see leitax.com) or to Nikon, if you want to keep that mount. Another line of good and very compact glass would be Olympus OM.

Great ideas, Uli, thanks!

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Glad to help. If you have specific questions about any of these, feel free to ask.

I donknow much about the Takumars.

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I Leitaxed the Tokina/Nikon 28-70mm lens. It can be used full manual and the 77mm front barrel (80mm OD) doesn’t extend which is nice if you want to clip on a lightweight mattebox. The image isn’t super crisp by any stretch but it does have a nice softness that is I might characterize as “cinema” like. With a speedbooster or FF cam the lens shows more of the vignette which reveals more of the lens’ character (or imperfections) if you will.

Good Luck

rNeil H wrote:I donknow much about the Takumars.

They are from Asahi Pentax, another respected Japanese brand. I like them a lot for portraits (but not only that). The look is similar to Minolta Rokkors in the same range. Relatively warm and softer than modern glass, but quite nice on digital. Older ones come in M42, later Pentax changed the mount. They are easily adapted to EOS with a thin ring.
The older "Super-Takumar" versions flare a bit more, but in a nice way. Later there were SMC-Takumars, which had some of the best coatings of the time. Mine are not fast, with 28mm f3.5, 35mm f3.5, and 55mm f1.8. The 55 has a really long focus throw, over 180 degrees, the wides somewhat less. All still perfectly smooth after all those years.

If you are looking for a zoom, I got a Hoya 35-105mm f3.5, which was sold with different mounts and by Vivitar too (probably built by Tokina).

I have it in C/Y, which again can be adapted with a thin ring. Mine is even parfocal, but I wouldn't expect that in all cases. A heavy piece of glass, built like a tank and both focus and zoom are still perfectly smooth. Even offers macro capabilities. This is an example by Vivitar:

Finally, there's the Canon 35-105mm FD zoom. It can't be adapted to EOS, but to Nikon mount. I use it on E-mount and like it. Also quite attractive for video, being pretty much parfocal, constant f3.5 aperture and two-touch, but built with more plastic:

All of these are full-frame.
The front ring of both zooms is turning when focusing, so you'll need a matte box for filters like polarizers.

Thanks!

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