Good and cheap - zoom

[Jon MIchael Puntervold]

I'm looking for a good and a cheap zoom lens on the wide side, and it must have an electronic interface....

...any suggestions?

Maybe a Red 18-50?

 

[J. P. Morgan]

for what mount?

PL I think the best cheap wide option is the rehoused Tokina 11-16 f/2.8

 

[Jon MIchael Puntervold]

PL, yes, but electronic interface is crucial. How is the original Red 18-50mm?

 

[christopher witzke]

I really love my canon 16-35 2.8 II on my RED... with a birger.... really excited about it with the EPIC.

 

[jimhare]

Pretty sure there are only a few PL electronic lenses in existence so if that's your criteria the group is already small. Add affordable and I would suggest the Red 18-50 is the only choice.

The next breed of Epic mounts will probably give a slew of options using Canon/Nikon electronic lenses with metadata.

I assume you are only looking to capture f/stop and focal length for tracking?

 

[Mark Wilkinson]

If you are going with the Red wide zoom - try to step up to the newer 17-50 over the 18-50. It is a much nicer housing around better glass.

 

[ALLSTAR]

for what mount?

PL I think the best cheap wide option is the rehoused Tokina 11-16 f/2.8

I don`t think this lens could be called "cheap"..... original Tokina 11-16 just only $600
RED18-50 is good choice for you.

 

[Jon MIchael Puntervold]

Thank you all, for the valuable information.

I assume you are only looking to capture f/stop and focal length for tracking?

Correct. Another question, maybe there are some other options I'm not aware of? For instance - are there any off-the-shelf solutions with step motors and electronic interfaces for collecting meta data from non-electronic PL-lenses?

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Both ARRI and Cooke have units or encoders that can be connected externally to various lenses that provide this data. They're not all that cheap, in some cases they can be rented. Not compatible with all lenses either as the gears need to line up and you need a proper way to mount them.

Your best bets for wide zooms with electronics for data would be the RED 18-50 [/i] (cheapest option hands-down), the Cooke CXX 15-40 [/i], or the ARRI LWZ [/LDS]. LDS is not supported on the RED One. I believe it's supposed to be supported on the EPIC, but I don't know if it's enabled yet or if/when it ultimately will be. Used 18-50 lenses can be had for under $2K these days. The new 17-50 does not have the lens data connection. ARRI LWZ is in the $30K price range, Cooke CXX 15-40 is around $40K.

If you're talking about an electronic interface, meaning a lens that can be controlled electronically, you won't find that in PL mount. Or at least not one that can be controlled via the mount / camera. PL glass puts us in the realm of external motors and control.

You may do best, assuming you're shooting EPIC, to go with the Canon mount or upcoming Nikon mount. Then you can use a wide range of electronic zooms, which are reasonably priced.

 

[Jon MIchael Puntervold]

Thank you Jeff, for a very detailed reply.

You may do best, assuming you're shooting EPIC, to go with the Canon mount or upcoming Nikon mount. Then you can use a wide range of electronic zooms, which are reasonably priced.

Tempting choice indeed. But I guess there are a couple of issues. The first would be the alternating focus distance when changing zoom ratio? I guess this could be adjusted electronically to stay consistent throughout the zoom-range? Another issue is focus pulling, are there any input device - looking and behaving like a traditional follow focus - available for controlling electronic still lenses?

 

[Martin Widerberg]

Canon EF-S 17-55/2,8 IS USM
If you run that on 4K, you have a dirt cheap IS lens electronically controled on Epic.

Thinking of that as a run and gun lens. Pretty light.

 

[Jack Shanahan]

Just unboxed the tokina 11-16.....feels very solid. Cant wait for the scarlet to land!