Motorized zoom lenses

Brian_Siano

Does anyone know of any lenses, or kits, that run the zoom through a controllable motor? There's a project where I'd really like to have a long, slow, and smooth zoom. And while I could use a follow-focus rig to run the zoom ring, it'd be a bit jerky. Are there kits that enable motor control of a focus- or zoo ring, with highly variable speeds, so I could make my zoom last as long as I want?

grisnjam

If you are on u/43 the Panasonic 45-175 has a servo zoom and does a good job of maintaining focus during slow zooms.

Sangye

If you're shooting on Sony, check out the 28-135mm F4 OSS PZ. It's fantastic, especially on full frame.

aldolega

You can, after some research and fiddling, rig up power to a B4 ENG lens, and run that on a smaller sensor (m4/3 or Pocket/BMMCC). Variable-speed servo zoom with a nice rocker, but no AF (but nice manual focus).

Sony also has the 18-105mm f4 APS-C lens, which is a decent performer and has servo zoom. And above that there's the new 18-110mm f4, which is basically the APS-C/s35 version of the 28-135mm- very nice, but pricey.

You can also look into adding a manual or motorized follow focus to a manual zoom lens. Shouldn't be jerky unless the motor or zoom mechanism themselves are jerky.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

Sony 28-135mm lens topic here - http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/11260/28-135mm-f4-g-sony-zoom/p1

And 18-105mm is http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/10195/18-105mm-f4-pz-oss-e-lens/p1

Check for reviews and such.

Aria

Canon has the 2 part system: 18-135mm Nano-USM with PZ-1 motor.

http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/canon_ef-s_18-135_usm.html

Sangye

Note though that the Canon 18-135 is far from being parfocal. Apparently it tries to compensate by refocusing as it zooms, but it's not perfect. See: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-S-18-135mm-f-3.5-5.6-IS-USM-Lens.aspx

Generally, servo zoom is kind of pointless on lenses that are not parfocal.

kurth

how bout bridge cameras ? reports are good for the fz2500

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