04Feb Panasonic 7-14mm f4 wide angle lens
One of the things I really missed when I first picked up the Panasonic GH4 was a wide angle lens. Until I went without it while shooting with the GH4, I hadn’t really thought about how much I actually use that focal length. In my Canon collection I currently have the 16-35mm f2.8 and the much older Canon 17-35mm f2.8. I always have one of those lenses with me when using the 5d mark III and when I’m shooting with two cameras (sony a7s + 5dmk3) I normally carry both.
The only real reason I hadn’t picked up the Panasonic 7-14 for the GH4 was that I was holding out for the Olympus 7-14mm f2.8. The Olympus has been announced as “coming soon” since early last year and I thought I could hold out until it’s release.
While I was waiting for the Olympus, I was also watching ebay, and I started to see the Panasonic 7-14 used price drop down to around $550. After living without a wide angle M4/3 lens for almost 7 months the price was finally attractive enough to suck me in and I added the Panasonic 7-14mm f4 to my collection.
One of the drawbacks to the Panasonic 7-14mm is it’s f4 aperture. While f4 isn’t a deal breaker, I’ve always kind of gravitated towards faster lenses whenever possible. The GH4 isn’t known for it’s low light sensitivity, so the faster the lens you can get, the better off you are. Still (pun intended), if you have enough light to work with, the Panasonic 7-14mm f4 lens provides sharp images. This picture of Hero (my 10 year old pomeranian) was taken at f4 1/100 iso 3200.
Some people like to correct for distortion. Sometimes I’ll fix it in post, but in many cases I enjoy the effect. This photo is from the passenger window on route to Salt Lake City shot at f8, 1/1000, iso 200.
The Panasonic 7-14mm seems to do very well through windows even though you can’t get a polarizing filter on the dang thing and you’d probably have issues (wide angle lenses don’t play nice with polarizers) even if you could. This was taken from the window of gate 4 at the Seattle airport, shot at f10, 1/200, iso 200.
This is probably the most example shots I’ve ever posted from a single lens, but I really do love the wide angle look and I’ve been surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed using the Panasonic 7-14mm. Above is Multnomah Falls, just outside of Portland, shot at f4, 1/250, iso 800.
Currently there are only 2 wide angle zooms with AF that I know of for M4/3 cameras, the Panasonic 7-14mm f4 and the Olympus 7-14mm f4. The Olympus has garnered some great reviews, but it clocks in at about $1500 and it’s an f4 lens. Olympus lenses are generally well made, but looking at them both, the used price of the Panasonic 7-14mm f4 was what made it the more attractive option for me.
My first opportunity to play around with a Panasonic lens was the 12-35mm f2.8 and i wasn’t exactly blown away by the build quality. It felt very plasticy compared to the Olympus 12-40mm f2.8. The Panasonic 7-14mm f4 is a whole different beast. The lens is small and compact, but it’s plastic/metal body feels very solid. The fly by wire focus ring isn’t anything to write home about, but at f4 on an M4/3 body, it’s not something you’ll likely use much on a wide angle zoom. The lens cap covers a full size lens hood that’s built into the lens and the hood keeps you from scratching the element when you get close to your subject (minimum focus distance of 9.84 inches).
Over all, i’m pretty impressed with the Panasonic 7-14mm f4 lens. I might still jump ship for olympus when they release the 7-14mm f2.8 (depending largely on the price), but I don’t really have any complaints about the Panasonic, it’s a good lens for the price.
03Feb DSLR FILM NOOB Podcast Episode 5
DSLR FILM NOOB podcast Episode 5 is up. Devin from impulsenetworks.tv joins me to discus, the possibility of a new Panasonic GH5, Canon 5ds rumors, wide angle lenses, Olympus sensor technology, and more. You can find the show notes here. You can find the show on itunes, Soundcloud, or under the podcast tab above. Video coming soon.
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30Jan MSI GS60 upgrade doesn’t void your warranty
There were a number of questions about the MSI GS60 upgrade I posted a few weeks ago. The number one question was “Will this void my warranty?” I’ve spoken to MSI on the phone and they said it would not, but I never got anything back from them via e-mail. Laura was kind enough to send me a link this morning to the FAQ answer above (you can find it here).
You are allowed to upgrade the internal components of your system without voiding your warranty as long as no damages are inflicted during the upgrade process (limited to US region only)
So there’s your answer, if you are interested and brave, you can find my upgrade guide here.
30Jan DSLR FILM NOOB Podcast Episode 4
DSLR FILM NOOB podcast Episode 4 is up. This time planetMitch join’s me from planet5D to discuss the soon to be released Tamron 15-35mm f2.8, the discontinued Sigma 24-105 f4 lens, camera firmware updates, and more. You can find the show notes here. You can find the show on itunes, Soundcloud, or under the podcast tab above. Video coming soon.
Pick’s of the day from planetMitch is Mobio for mac, Deejay’s pick is the Lenovo thinkpad 8 tablet.
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27Jan Sony LA-EA4 E to A-mount adapter Audio test
I finally got my hands on an A-mount lens to test with the Sony LA-EA4 adapter. The Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 is a lens that’s been around for quite awhile and it’s been released for a number of camera mounts including, Sony (A-mount), Nikon, Canon, and Pentax. The Tamron 28-75mm won’t blow your mind, but I managed to pick this up used on ebay for $160 which makes it an extremely affordable f2.8 zoom lens to test with the Sony a7s and LA-EA4 adapter.
The first thing you’ll notice when testing out the LA-EA4 adapter on the Sony a7s with an A-mount lens is the auto focus system is very snappy. It isn’t always accurate in low, but it gives the Canon 6d’s center focus point a run for it’s money.
Secondly you’ll notice the sound. When using the LA-EA4 adapter, a small motor spins up everything you focus the camera and this is a somewhat noisy experience. I’ve read a lot of complaints about how loud it is, and I don’t disagree. It’s much much louder than a USM lens on a Canon body, but it’s about the same volume as a cheap kit lens or non USM zoom. Don’t take my word for it though, here’s an audio sample.
That “pop click” sound at the beginning of the sample is the power switch, followed by the drive screw engaging and the rest is the sound of the focus system from infinity to shot. It’s not unbearable, but if you are trying to shoot incognito, it’s a problem. The sound is also a little jarring. I know that there isn’t anything wrong with the focus system, but a sound like that coming out of a camera still makes me think that there might be something dangerous going on.
The Sony a7s is a tiny little camera, even when compared to the Canon 6d, but with the LA-EA4 adapter and the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 lens, you give up the size advantage. The body is still petite, but now it’s about the length of a 6d with a Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 lens attached which makes sense. With the LA-EA4 adapter attached you are adding an SLT mirror and turning an a7 body into a Sony a99.
While the LA-EA4 adapter will set you back around $350 and does bulk up the a7s body, it also gives you a lot more lenses to choose from. The Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 is a good example, but the Minolta 50mm f1.4 is also a bargain at a used price of $150, as are many of the Tokina zooms
.
I think for film, i’ll be using my Canon lenses for the most part, but if I want to use the extreme low light power of the Sony a7s for photography, this is an affordable way to pick up a few lenses without braking the bank.
26Jan Eluktro Pro Brand 1TB SSD $379
Eluktro isn’t a brand I’ve heard of, but the reviews look good and they are offering a very decent price on their 1TB SSD drives. Right now you can find a Eluktro Pro 1TB SSD for $379 with free Amazon prime shipping. Mushkin seems to be it’s closest priced competitor at $389. Both offer a 3 year warranty as well as very similar specs which leads me to believe that the only real difference between these drives is a new label and a slightly different firmware.
Intel and kingston did a lot of this in the early days of SSD drives. It seems others are following the same model.
26Jan Monoprice 2.4Ghz Wireless system Audio tests & the Aspen Lav
I had a little bit of time to test the Monoprice 2.4Ghz wireless system this weekend and it works. The design choices, connector types, and labels aren’t exactly straight forward, and it seems as though the volume controls only affect the headphone output, but for a price of $89, it works.
One of the major questions that I wanted answered about the Monoprice wireless system is “Does it provide power to the lav plug?”. The Monoprice wireless system does provide power to the lav port, and I was able to use a 4 pole (TRRS) to 3 pole (TRS) adapter plug to get things working.
The powered lav mic I used for this test is the Aspen Lav with a 4 pole adapter to 3 pole adapter. While the Aspen mics aren’t ultra high end, there is a very noticeable audio quality difference between the Aspen Lav and the included Monoprice lav mic. As I suspected, the audio quality of this unit is mostly tied to the included low end Lav mic.
Here is the Included Monoprice Lav mic.
Here is the Aspen Lav with adapter using the Monoprice wireless system.
Both samples were recorded through the Monoprice wireless system via the Zoom h1 which was set to an input level of 16.
There a few things to note about the test. First the Monoprice system’s output level is fixed. For that reason I went with an input level of 16 on the Zoom h1 so that it was in the range of gain you’d get out of the lower gain setting you’d use on a DSLR camera.
Second, if you listen closely to the Monoprice mic test at the very beginning you’ll hear a slight digital hiccup. There are 5 wifi networks in the area I was testing and the units were only 4 or 5 feet away from each other. In the short amount of testing I was able to perform, I only heard this digital “hiccup” a few times and I didn’t actually notice it until I listened to the recordings. However, this is probably a red flag for those of you living/working in a highly congested wifi area. I wouldn’t consider 5 wifi networks “congested” and I’m getting a few digital hiccups, how well would this work if there were 7 or more in the same space?
Last but not least, there does seem to be a low, but noticeable digital static sound in the noise floor of the recording. I was traveling most of the weekend so I didn’t have a chance to do more testing, but in the initial tests it does seem to be there. It’s low enough that you could easily remove it with a noise gate and it’s not as noticeable as the low price Audio-technica 88w units, but it does seem to be there.
As for the Aspen Lav, the mic is smaller than a Sennheiser lav. As you can hear in the test above the audio quality of the Aspen Lav is more crisp and less muddy sounding than the Monoprice lav. I’ll post some more audio tests of the Aspen lav recorded directly into the Zoom h1 in a feature post.
If you spend a little extra, Aspen also sells the adapter + mic as a kit for $64 on amazon. The adapter allows you to plug the mic directly into the Monoprice system or use it with your cellphone for remote audio recording. If you already have a nice Lav in your collection you can buy the adapter for $14.
If I get some free time this week, i’ll post some more tests of the Aspen Lav, as well as the Monoprice system. For now though, hopefully this post answers a few of your questions.
23Jan DSLR FILM NOOB Podcast Episode 3
Episode 3 of the DSLR FILM NOOB podcast is up, this episode Jon joins me for some more Windows 10 talk, Adobe development halt on 32 bit operating systems, Canon’s OEM battery issues, the amazing Stedman pop filter, Rode’s wireless system announcement, and more. You can find the show notes here. You can find the show on itunes, Soundcloud, or under the podcast tab above. Video coming soon.
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22Jan Stedman PS101 Metal Pop Filter Review
In the past I’ve used cheap nylon goose neck pop filters and I really haven’t had anything to complain about. In general I bought these filters, placed them in front of a good microphone and thats pretty much it. I know they prevent breath from hitting a mic’s diaphragm and they’re a good way to keep a singer from getting to close to the mic, but I never actually spent any time looking any further into other filters. Dave sent me an e-mail recommending I check out Stedman PS101 metal mesh Pop filters so I figured I’d give it a try. Here is the rather impressive test.
An open flame seemed like the best way to test Stedman metal mesh Pop filter’s resistance to blasts of air. I gave it a try against one of my cheap nylon goose neck pop filters. The Stedman really seems to do a very good job of deflecting incoming air and by “good job” I mean that I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it. After all the filter looks less substantial than a window screen.
When you look at the Stedman filter head on, it doesn’t look like it would really stop anything. The metal mesh has what seems to be wide open holes across the surface and little else. The test, however, was extremely convincing. The Stedman filter has really impressed me.
As I move forward with the podcast, the Stedman filter will definitely be something I use exclusively on the Rode Procaster. I listened to the audio from the last show (recorded with the stedman & procaster) and I’ve been really enjoying the way the Procaster handles my voice.
By the way, the DSLR FILM NOOB podcast finally made it up on itunes so if you haven’t already, check it out, you can also find it on Soundcloud, or under the podcast tab above.
21Jan RodeLink 2.4Ghz Wireless mic Kit
It looks like Monoprice isn’t the only one getting into the 2.4Ghz audio transmitter game. Rode just announced the Rodelink wireless film kit, the setup includes a Rode Lav and 2.4Ghz audio transmitter/receiver kit with camera mounting and locking audio cables for $399.
Here are the specs for the Rodelink units:
- Series II 2.4GHz digital transmission
- 128-bit encrypted signal
- Up to 100m range
- One touch pairing
- OLED digital display
- 3 level gain control
- Omnidirectional lavalier microphone
- AA Battery or USB Power
The Rodelink looks pretty nice and I’m guessing a large chunk of the $399 price tag is the included lav mic. The 128 bit encryption is an decent feature, I hadn’t really thought much about someone monitoring an outbound wifi signal. Also “Up to 100m range” is an interesting statement, the Monoprice units only claim a max transmit distance of 164 feet or 50 meters. I suspect the Rodelink might be using a transmitter that’s larger than 5 miliwatts, if so, I wonder what battery life will be like. A higher watt transmitter could explain why they mention “USB power” in the press release.
The Rodelink wireless film kit is up for pre-order on B&H and it looks like they’ll be shipping in mid march. I wonder what other companies will be releasing 2.4Ghz wireless units in the lead up to NAB this year, it should be an interesting year for wireless audio.
