Which lens? Total beginner here.

[Tommy Owen]

I have my GH4 body but I'm completely lost on what lenses I should purchase first.

I was hoping for some guidance on choosing a lens for my GH4 that would work well with doing interviews, indoors, at a decent price (if thats even possible).

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

 

[ibd]

The PanaLeica 15mm f/1.7 seems like a good starting point. It's pretty bright, so good for indoors. The field of view is rather wide. It suits me, but I'm not sure what style of interview you would go for.

Please tell us your budget so we can make better suggestions. Since you went for the older gh4, I assume you want to keep it below usd 500?

 

[ooheadsoo]

15 seems too wide for interviews unless you really have no space. One of the standard pro zooms, panasonic 12-35/2.8 or olympus 12-40/2.8 would be the obvious choices to give you some flexibility. If you won't be lighting your interviews, then I would choose a prime 25mm or longer.

 

[Christop82]

I would start with the Panasonic 25mm f1.4.
Another option I would consider is a viltrox ef-m2 focal reducer with a 50mm f1.8 stm.

 

[ex machina]

FWIW I've used my Panasonic 20mm ƒ1.7 in video interviews with my parents and have been quite happy with the results, even with audio captured from the camera mic. You might want something wider if interviewing more than two people at a time.

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

 

[kevinparis]

I am assuming because you mention interviews, that you are using your GH4 primarily for video.

as your shutter speed will be 1/50 or 1/60, depending on if you are shooting 24/25 or 30 fps, and you seem to be on a budget, I would think that you don't need a particularly fast lens, unless you are looking for the cinematic shallow depth of field

almost any of the kit zoom lenses going from 12/14mm to 35/40/50 will probably satisfy your needs in the beginning.

K

 

[ooheadsoo]

I am assuming because you mention interviews, that you are using your GH4 primarily for video.

as your shutter speed will be 1/50 or 1/60, depending on if you are shooting 24/25 or 30 fps, and you seem to be on a budget, I would think that you don't need a particularly fast lens, unless you are looking for the cinematic shallow depth of field

almost any of the kit zoom lenses going from 12/14mm to 35/40/50 will probably satisfy your needs in the beginning.

K

Agreed, but then, you wouldn't need a high spec camera like the gh4 either.

 

[kevinparis]

Agreed, but then, you wouldn't need a high spec camera like the gh4 either.

I suspect that GH4's can probably picked up quite cheaply these days, as the GH5 has been out for a few years
K

 

[mnhoj]

How about the 12-32 pancake zoom and 25 1.7.
$200-250 US for both on the used market.

 

[Svein]

I have my GH4 body but I'm completely lost on what lenses I should purchase first.

I was hoping for some guidance on choosing a lens for my GH4 that would work well with doing interviews, indoors, at a decent price (if thats even possible).

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

I would take a go for the Panasonic 45-175. Low weight, sharp, cheap and good for movie. And why not the supezoom 14-140, the latest version. Relatively small, and sharp. Great image-stabilization on both.

 

[kevinparis]

Really don't think the idea of a medium to long telephoto zoom really fits the bill for shooting interviews indoors, or indeed much in terms of video work

K

 

[ToxicTabasco]

I agree with the above. For video a constant aperture zoom like the Pan 12-35 f/2.8 II or Oly 12-40 f/2.8 Pro would be a good investment if you're going to do photo/video for a long time. These will work for indoor lighting and will cover a variety of video perspectives. If you're paying over a grand for the GH4, consider a G9 when it goes on sale. The AF, IBIS and low light video quality is better with no crop in shooting 4K.

 

[fransglans]

Panasonic 14mm 2.5, with its 28mm fov is great for interviews, and it's cheap second hand, around 90-120 usd

 

[Toddster]

The PanaLeica 15mm f/1.7 seems like a good starting point. It's pretty bright, so good for indoors. The field of view is rather wide. It suits me, but I'm not sure what style of interview you would go for.

If you decide to go this way I have one posted for sale:
For Sale: Panasonic 7-14 and Leica 15 1.7 | Location: USA | Ships: USA

 

[ooheadsoo]

I suspect that GH4's can probably picked up quite cheaply these days, as the GH5 has been out for a few years
K

Be that as it may, I would much rather go with a lower spec body and nicer faster lenses than a $500+ body and slow kit lenses for indoors interviews. But if you blew your budget on the body and only have $100 left for the lens, so be it. It will work fine. Lighting will be more important.

 

[mnhoj]

Panasonic 14mm 2.5, with its 28mm fov is great for interviews, and it's cheap second hand, around 90-120 usd

Wish one would pop up in that price range soon. I'll take it. ( :

Be that as it may, I would much rather go with a lower spec body and nicer faster lenses than a $500+ body and slow kit lenses for indoors interviews. But if you blew your budget on the body and only have $100 left for the lens, so be it. It will work fine. Lighting will be more important.

At least the cheap kits like the 12-32 perform pretty well. Actually very well.
Yes. Lighting is the maker breaker.

 

[kevinparis]

Be that as it may, I would much rather go with a lower spec body and nicer faster lenses than a $500+ body and slow kit lenses for indoors interviews. But if you blew your budget on the body and only have $100 left for the lens, so be it. It will work fine. Lighting will be more important.

We are literally shooting in the dark here, as we have little background from the OP.

We have very little info on what it is he is try to achieve and what his expectations are

We have no idea what his skill/experience levels are at

We have no idea on his budget, and whether he has budgeted for good audio, good lighting, a tripod and a computer/software capable of delivering whatever it is he wishes to produce

All the folks proposing fast primes I suspect have not picked up on this being a video question, or have little experience of shooting video

Lets see if we get a response from the OP and then measure our responses to that

K

 

[Christop82]

We are literally shooting in the dark here, as we have little background from the OP.

We have very little info on what it is he is try to achieve and what his expectations are

We have no idea what his skill/experience levels are at

We have no idea on his budget, and whether he has budgeted for good audio, good lighting, a tripod and a computer/software capable of delivering whatever it is he wishes to produce

All the folks proposing fast primes I suspect have not picked up on this being a video question, or have little experience of shooting video

Lets see if we get a response from the OP and then measure our responses to that

K

Some people prefer to shoot video in natural light and enjoy having the effect of shallow dof. I wouldn't assume we're all ignorant for suggesting a fast prime for a system that has a wide dof and poor high iso performance.

 

[Ulfric M Douglas]

I have my GH4 body but I'm completely lost on what lenses I should purchase first.

I was hoping for some guidance on choosing a lens for my GH4 ...

Spend forty quid on a bog-standard short kit zoom from any m4/3rds maufacturer.

You bought a high-end hybrid-video-stills camera with no lens at all?

 

[kevinparis]

You assume the OP requires a shallow DOF

Its not obvious that thats what the OP requires

We really need more input from the OP about what they are trying to achieve

K