Canon 18-80mm T4.4 Zoom with Epic-W (autofocus)

[George Y Daniloff]

I am considering this new lens for handheld work with Epic-W. The focal range, image stabilization, servo zoom and autofocus capability drive my interest in this lens. Did anyone try using this EF mount lens on a Weapon body camera? i want to know if the Red autofocus function works with this lens. The B&H rep says that autofocus on this lens doesn't work with any Red cameras. Red support says that since it is an EF mount lens it should "theoretically" work with the Red EF mount. Any practical tests/experience using the Canon 18-80mm Zoom lens on an Epic-W or other Red Weapon body would be most helpful to hear about to clarify this question. Thanks.

 

[Alexander Thomson]

I am considering this new lens for handheld work with Epic-W. The focal range, image stabilization, servo zoom and autofocus capability drive my interest in this lens. Did anyone try using this EF mount lens on a Weapon body camera? i want to know if the Red autofocus function works with this lens. The B&H rep says that autofocus on this lens doesn't work with any Red cameras. Red support says that since it is an EF mount lens it should "theoretically" work with the Red EF mount. Any practical tests/experience using the Canon 18-80mm Zoom lens on an Epic-W or other Red Weapon body would be most helpful to hear about to clarify this question. Thanks.

Autofocus in RED cameras is not like autofocus in Canon DSLRs. It is a contrast-detect autofocus, meaning it is slow and tends to be inaccurate in low light. The B&H Rep is not necessarily correct - It's an electronic EF lens, I can nearly guarantee it will autofocus on RED DSMC cameras. However, it will not perform like the lightning quick Dual Pixel AF on the Canon C series cinema cameras. This limits its usefulness.

 

[George Y Daniloff]

Thank you for your reply, Alexander. I plan to use autofocus for a single point focus before the start of recording. With max T of 4.4 there will be good depth of field range for most of the shorts. Even dual pixel AF struggles with objects moving towards/away from camera. Thank you for the words of encouragement about the functionality of AF with this lens. I agree, since it is EF mount it should work as the rest of Canon's AF lenses, unless Canon did something to narrow the AF functionality of this lens only to Canon bodies for competitive reasons. B&H does not take returns for this lens - so I want to make sure all of it's functions work with Red. Otherwise the new Angenieux EZ-2 zoom may be a better option, though at 2x the price. Best, George.

 

[Daniel Kelly Brown]

I just rented this lens for my last shoot because I wanted to test it out on my weapon. Its probably only because red has not included it in the firmware yet, but the camera did not recognize the lens. This means that image stabilization, autofocus, and focus with the red side handle wheel did not work. I assume it will work when added to firmware down the road, but the autofocus on red cams is unusable in general in my opinion, no matter what lens is on there.

 

[George Y Daniloff]

Thank you for sharing your experience with the lens, Daniel. Good to know that the lens is not yet supported by Red. Let's hope that is will be included in the next firmware upgrade. Did you like the lens otherwise? Will you rent it again?

 

[Daniel Kelly Brown]

Unfortunately I did not shoot with it too much because the lens gears on the zoom (and aperture) were different smaller then the gear on zoom motor. Strangely enough the focus gearing was the standard size on the lens, which had to do something with the canon zoom grip gears. I primarily rented this lens to try some zoom moves with the gimbal. Unfortunately I could not do that because I did not have the correct size gear for my motor, nor a clip on gear to make it the right size on the lens.

Other then that the lens seemed to produce a very nice image and was very well built. The canon zoom grip worked well and was powered internally though the lens connection. I think this would be a fantastic doc lens for shooting in anything but low light scenarios. Personally I am going to just rent this lens when I want it for specific shots. I am thinking that I will be making my first purchase of similar zoom lenses the Angenieux EZ lenses, although heavier and more expensive, they just seem a bit more versatile and future proof.

I would suggest renting the canon lens before you jump in, its very reasonable on lensrentals.

 

[George Y Daniloff]

Daniel,
Thanks for more detail about your hand-on experience with the lens. Sounds like I should wait for the Red firmware update that will make communication with the lens possible and rent it to evaluate for my use, as you suggested. By that time Angenieux EZ-2 may be available for sale as well.
Best,
George

 

[Daniel Kelly Brown]

Daniel,
Thanks for more detail about your hand-on experience with the lens. Sounds like I should wait for the Red firmware update that will make communication with the lens possible and rent it to evaluate for my use, as you suggested. By that time Angenieux EZ-2 may be available for sale as well.
Best,
George

Hi George,

Wondering if you ended up getting the 18-80? If so were you able to get iris and focus to work on your red cam? I just rented this lens for a shoot I have tomorrow and unfortunately neither focus nor iris are working even though support for the lens was added a few firmware updates ago.

Thanks for your time,
Danny.

 

[Benjamin Epps]

When you say that IS did not work with the camera? Do you mean that you couldn’t turn IS on and off via the red camera controls? Or do you mean it prohibits the IS function of the lens completely?

 

[Michael R. Kovach]

Canon 18-80 and 70-200 CN-E series compact servos

Canon 18-80 and 70-200 CN-E series compact servos

Neither of the Canon Compact servo lenses are working with RED cameras. The IS turns on and operates on the RED Komodo via the RF to EF canon adapter, however no electronic IRIS control, no RUN/STOP control no autofocus controls are available at all. You have to operate the lens in full manual mode. Even these lenses don't work on my Canon 1Dx Mark II or EOS cameras. It seems they only work on the Canon C series cameras, or a Sony FS7 van the MetaBones firmware. This is to say the least very disappointing. How would one go about putting in a request to RED to add the Cine servo support to RED's roadmap? I would really love to have full functionality of the CN-E 18-80 and CN-E 70-200 on RED cameras. The combination of the 6K R3D and this lens look fantastic, and it's perfect for run and gun documentary work via, on the shoulder mount, or EZ Rig.

 

[Emma Franz]

Hi Michael - am curious if the recent Komodo firmware update meant that the canon servo zoomd are now fully functioning with the Komodo? I am also interested for some run and gun work. Thanks