Best Option for G7 lens wider angle than 14mm but not fishy?

HRPOWER wrote:

How do they do that in TV in cars where the presenter is not sat so close to the lens as in the example below.

This is a G7 14-44 stocklens but for smaller spaces it really is not wide enough. Is there a stabilised fixed option lens that would work? Or would you just use a GO PRO in that instance and have the horrible picture it delivers?

How would you do it?

You can skip in on this to see the example.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrIfFy6xdQ4

You can lots of 12mm lenses on the wide area.

12-32 12-50 12-60 on the cheaper end

I have a cheap 8mm, but that is not a easy to use option.

If you want something wider than 7mm which is still rectilinear then you need something like a Sigma 8-16 f4.5-5.6 in say Nikon fit with a focal reducer such as a Viltrox NF-M43X.

This will give you a 5.6-11.2 f2.4-4.0

HRPOWER wrote:

There was also a dude on YT with a non pan wide lens adapter again - mysteriously hard to find.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbhxxdlF5dQ

Also weirdly the actual name of it has been removed from the description.

I searched and searched before with no results.

7-14mm is very expensive - £700+ omg - Its not fish eye tho is it?

Looks like I may have to try out the Go Pro 8/9 and light the subject as well as possible because for £700 + I am better off making do with not too many presenter close ups and using cut aways - you can get two Go Pro 9s for £700 for this application.

There is one or two on eBay for 400 odd but yes again no stability -

If you are considering a gopro, I think you would be happy with the low cost 8mm SLRmagic too.

The 7-14/F/4 is a very very good lens, but it is a little too expensive new for what it is. If you look around you should easily find it used for half new price. It was first released 12 years ago and for many years was the only UWA option, so there are many around. Lots of real estate agents used it for indoor, and may be selling it now due to poor business.

I have both, and for your situation I think you cannot lose much giving the SLRmagic a try. It may well be all you need. And gives you some UWA experience on the cheap, that will help you decide what to buy should you decide you need better.

HRPOWER wrote:

How do they do that in TV in cars where the presenter is not sat so close to the lens as in the example below.

This is a G7 14-44 stocklens but for smaller spaces it really is not wide enough. Is there a stabilised fixed option lens that would work? Or would you just use a GO PRO in that instance and have the horrible picture it delivers?

How would you do it?

You can skip in on this to see the example.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrIfFy6xdQ4

AFAIK, no fixed µ4/3 lens 25mm or lower has OIS nor do they need it most of the time... I'm also guessing that when you say "wider that 14 mm" you mean also wider that 12? The difference is there but not huge so maybe something between 7 and 10 mm? There are already many choices in zooms or fixed lenses covering that range:

• Lumix 7-14, 8-18
• Oly 9-18, 7-14
• Laowa 7.5
• Voigtlander 10.5
• ...and probably more.

If you don't need a zoom, you'll want to look at the Laowa : very wide, good IQ, compact and relatively fast at F2. The Voigt, while not as wide, is obviously faster with better IQ but is also much heavier (which does help stability though) and much more expensive.

A lot of these are pretty $$$ but the older models are widely available in the used space. Of course, if you really need IS, you'll want a good IBIS camera...

HRPOWER wrote:

Wow - amazing post.

I suppose when you buy used there are no warranty issues to contend with right?

Good question. It depends. For example, Panasonic specifically states that the warranty is only for the original owner.

Should you buy a used lens that is still under warranty, whose warranty happens to be transferable, and is not a grey import, and whose seller gives you the original purchase receipt, and you happen to live in the same country it was originally bought from..... you can sleep well as you will probably, most likely, be covered.

I bought all my m43 lenses (except two) either used, or de-kitted from Japan. Obviously I do not care about warranties, if the price and condition are right. Have not had any regrets so far. None had a defect or was de-centered. Hope the good Karma stays with me a bit longer.

cba_melbourne wrote:

HRPOWER wrote:

Wow - amazing post.

I suppose when you buy used there are no warranty issues to contend with right?

Good question. It depends. For example, Panasonic specifically states that the warranty is only for the original owner.

Should you buy a used lens that is still under warranty, whose warranty happens to be transferable, and is not a grey import, and whose seller gives you the original purchase receipt, and you happen to live in the same country it was originally bought from..... you can sleep well as you will probably, most likely, be covered.

I bought all my m43 lenses (except two) either used, or de-kitted from Japan. Obviously I do not care about warranties, if the price and condition are right. Have not had any regrets so far.

I've probably spent about the same on used and grey market kit as new. In the UK reputable used dealers (like Ffordes, LCE, Wex etc) typically offer a 3-6 month warranty on kit. Most faults with used kit should appear in that timescale and you hope you are in the bottom of the bathtub curve by that point. A few weeks of early use is recommended both to learn how to use the kit and check it doesn't have subtle faults.

Warranty repairs rather depend on the manufacturer - their history in dealing with faults is what you need to study. In the UK, new photographic kit is covered by a 5 year window of consumer protection but after the first 6 months the consumer has to prove it was a fault in the equipment as supplied.

Historically Olympus in the EU has been outstanding in terms of warranties, out of warranty repair costs and spares holding for obsolete kit. Not sure I'm convinced by Panasonic.

My worst problem has been with a new Voigtlaender Super Heliar 15/4.5 E-mount lens. Wex kindly replaced the first 2, despite CV claiming they were in spec. Robert White (CV UK distributors) replaced the third after checking it was from the infamous first manufactured batch. The lenses have a hard infinity stop and wouldn't focus beyond around 10m on either of my Sony bodies, as well as having terrible corners at any aperture - obvious axial misalignment. 4th copy is acceptable.

Full marks for Wex and Robert White and none at all for CV.  The only other problem I've had is with a new Metabones adapter.  Metabones were very very slow but replaced it without argument.  I had the impression their senior engineer wanted to personally test the replacement on the exact body and lens before sending it out.

Andrew