Lens test 1 Sigma

Lens test 1 Sigma

I’ll call this lens test 1 Sigma (on a Panasonic AG AF 101).  There will no doubt be other tests for this combination which I will call proper wildlife cameraman tests. The test here is really to establish proper connection between the camera and lens. I am using a Metabones adapter to allow the Canon EF mounted Sigma to fit onto the Panasonics’s Micro 4/3″ mount.  In the picture there is also a Sigma 1.4x converter fitted.  The combination should be supported, but sat like that on a desk I was happy there was no excessive force on the camera’s mount. The only function that I am really interested in is the operation of lens aperture.  There is a little protrusion on the Metabones adapter that allows for that, but the Panasonic’s own manual aperture control also works. Occasionally you have to turn the camera off and on again to establish that connection and as yet I can’t figure out the inconsistency.  That is a little odd.

metabones adaptor on old Panasonic AG AF 101
Metabones adaptor on AG AF 101

The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice a chinagraph pencil under the foot of the lens.  ‘What is a chinagraph pencil?’ I hear younger folk asking.  It’s what us fogies used to use to mark cutting points and write other instructions on real film in the old days. Now it marks the balancing point when the lens is at maximum extension. It’s quite a long way forward at the moment, though I will add a microphone and Atomos device nearer the rear.  This is what happens when you don’t have to use massive batteries to power your rig, and the whole point of this set up is to keep things as light as possible.

The video is below, but there was no intention of judging it. I had the camera lens combination balanced on my knee while waggling it vaguely out of the window. Add a double glazed patio window to the optics. I said in an early post that the wildlife cameraman way is to rarely use image stabilisers. Of course, horses for courses and all that. I had the horizontal and vertical stabilisation switched on here, and blow me down it does a remarkable job. The Panasonic’s version of 50 fps is a peculiar beast, and I’ll have a look at that another time. What use is any compression system that makes any movement at all look blurred: there’s a lot of it about.