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14-35 f2 Olympus on GH2 - what a glass.. but!
  • MeierhansMeierhans
    Received this monster yesterday. Its absolutly amazing glass, very nice subtile bokeh even in widest angle, small distortion and chromatic abberation, sharp, direct coupled focus + AF ... well, check the review. So in general I am perfectly happy (and poor now).

    Now comes the BUT:
    As you can see on the picture this thing is huuge. And heavy. I bought the original Olympus adapter, but still the lense has about 4 mm play at the front. (XY.. not Z ;)

    As soon as you touch follow focus things become shaky. I already phoned Oly if there was some kind of clamp to fix it to the rig... but nothing. The cam is mounted in cage, but this lense is simply so long and heave that its to much for the mount i guess.

    Any ideas who makes such clamp for a specific diameter? I don´t want to do DIY on this, it should match as bought.

    PS:
    If you think this would suit better into an existing topic let me know.


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  • 16 Replies sorted by
  • mrbillmrbill
    I bought a fotga dslr base with rails (quick release plate) and it came with a height adjustable, rail-mountable lens support.

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DP500-DSLR-rail-15mm-rod-support-system-f-mattebox-5D-2-/200636971232?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eb6e538e0#ht_4734wt_1396
  • MeierhansMeierhans
    Thx, this is nice. But the lense is more moving to the side than up and down (due to the FF rotation).
    So I would need more some kind of ring that keeps it at place in all directions.
  • AmandaNLAmandaNL
    I had this lens also, but on a E-P2 and Olympus adapter, it did not have any play....
  • MeierhansMeierhans
    Its not really play, but more the Gh2 plastic parts bending and the little too thick rubber parts on cage. Anyhow the lense needs to be fixed, even if it was not wobbling around I would not dare to run with it. The mount is simply a bit small for this weight.
  • LPowellLPowell
    Here are photos of the custom 15mm rails mount I devised for legacy Four Thirds lenses. I fashioned a mount for the Panasonic 4/3rds adapter out of a tripod collar mount made for a Canon telephoto lens, with a hard rubber gasket to apply pressure evenly around the circumference of the adapter. The tripod collar was just narrow enough to allow camera and lens to be independently mounted and detached. The rail-mounted Panasonic 4/3rds adapter allows me to independently swap out both lenses and camera bodies without disassembling the shoulder mount. The camera is attached to the rig solely via the M4/3 lens mount. The 4/3rds adapter is mounted on a quick release plate, and can be swapped out for a zoom lens with a built-in tripod mount.

    iShoot tripod collar mount for Canon EF 100mm f/2.8
    http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-EF-100mm-f-2-8-USM-Macro-Lens-Tripod-Mount-Ring-/260821785675?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0hash=item3cba309c4b

    Note where I drilled a hole in the side of the tripod collar to provide access to the lens release button on the 4/3rds adapter. I also removed the plastic collar around the button to allow the adapter to fit snugly within the tripod collar.

    With a sizable lens, using a fixed adapter to mount both lens and camera is mechanically far more stable than using the tripod mount hole on the bottom of the camera. As the Olympus 14-35mm f2 lacks its own tripod collar mount, the 4/3rds adapter is very handy for this purpose.
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  • mpgxsvcdmpgxsvcd
    And this is exactly why Panasonic is not going to make an m4/3s version of this lens. It is fantastic but not really appropriate for a small bodied camera. Boy would I love to shoot with it though.
  • PsycoPsyco
    Same lens, same problem (on a GH1)

    I will solve the problem by makeing a DIY lens collar (cut from a solid block of aluminium) to mount on a 15mm rail system - the lens will then be fixed on bothe sides.

    Sorry, I don't have any other solution.
  • MeierhansMeierhans
    Thank you for your help guys.So at least I know now that I have to build something myself.
  • tvpglabstvpglabs
    If I understand you correctly, it sounds like the problem you're having is with the gh2 rotating on it's mount. If that's the case, get an arca swiss plate specifically designed for the gh2. This will prevent rotation. Really right stuff has a great plate. I own it, it works awesome. There's also one you can find on bhphotovideo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/651595-REG/Acratech_2173_2173_Camera_Plate.html I've never tried this one, so I can't vouch for it.

    IDCPhotoVideo also has a GH2 specific solution that prevents rotation, but it isn't exactly quick release. It looks solid though.

    Another option would be a cage like the one from rewo. It's designed to prevent camera rotation.
  • PsycoPsyco

    I'm using the Olympus 14-35mm f2.0 lens with a rig and a lens collar on my GH2 and BMPCC - very very nice glas, I really don't want to replace.

    BUT I ran into one big problem using a remote FF:

    The focus throw is not the same in both directions! ...what?! Yes, if you focus from near to far you turn the focus wheel by a certain angle (about 210°), but if you go back the same amount you don't end up where you startet! This is also true if you use any two fokus point in between.

    Its only a view dregrees, but with a programmable remote FF and going back and forth several times, its a problem.

    Please, can somebody confirm if this is with other Oly 14-35mm lenses too or is it just mine? (You would need a good FF and a good eye.)

    Unfortunately I think its the coupled autofocus mechanism, so that you use a different set of internal gears when going the other direction.

  • _OZ_OZ

    Wouldn't a lens support that has a strap resolve this?

    http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/890555-REG/ikan_ELE_LS_Lens_Support.html/prm/alsVwDtl

  • PsycoPsyco

    @_OZ I think the issue with the right lens support was solved 3 years ago;-)

    My last post was talking about a totally different "...BUT".

  • PsycoPsyco

    Nobody using this fantastic lens?

    To test the focus throw takes less than 5min - you just need something to mark the postion of the focus ring, than turn to another focus point and back, check if the marking is in the same place (on my lens its very obvious when looking at the focus scale).

  • JaskettiJasketti

    @Psyco I have the lens and I can confirm you that the focus ring is not constant in its movement towards the actual focus setting. So that the desired focus point "travels" and does not stay constant on the ring.

    It is electonically controlled and I think there is some level of logarithmic ghange going on too. So the faster you turn the ring the greater the impact per a degree of a turn.

  • PsycoPsyco

    @Jasketti thanks for the info. I have only measured a kind of linear offset going back and forth - have to test the speed dependance.

    Its big brother, the 35-100mm F2.0 is fully electronically controlled and extremely speed dependant so.

    I'm not sure how hard it will be to write a programm that counters this stupid behavior - or if its easyer to buy the Sigma 18-35mm (even as the Olympus is a bit better lens)...?

  • spacewigspacewig

    These (14-35 & 35-100) are fantastic lenses that match very well with the Zeiss super speeds, just as sharp, negligible distortion...

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