Can a 35mm (Widescreen) lens be used on a SD Panasonic camcorder (Not an SLR or DSLR camera)?

Question

Yes it's the same person if you recognized this question. I want a GOOD informative answer. If you're going to be jerk about it then I don't need your response. If you don't know how to answer, or if you get confused, then don't answer.

Before I go on, im not talking about my @ss end, nor am I trying to troll anyone. As of now I'm still reading, but still need more information. If you have more info to give me, than what I have now then COME FOURTH. It will be useful.

I'm not interested in getting an HD camera for the reasons a lot of movies that ive seen, don't even look good at all. Movies that hit the theater now, don't even look like film quality, but look as clear as tv standards. For me I don't care about all the HD. I don't want it, and I guess but im hoping not, it's a one way street for me.

I'm eye balling a Panasonic camcorder, and If you want a better idea, it's over-the-shoulder type of thing.

I have been getting mixed responses from people when asking whether its possible to use a 35mm lens on a camera that's lower than HD and get widescreen. Ive been told that HD has nothing to do with a cameras ratio but if that's the case, im seeing a lot of cameras that don't support it cause they aren't HD. Then I'm also told HD or SD, doesn't matter, it all depends on the image senor and the settings within the camera. Then I'm spun around again told that HD DOES matter. How about a clean answer? If you have more info/experience, I could use It. if yes okay, if not y

Answer 1

I'll try again...



Your question: "Can a 35mm (Widescreen) lens be used on a SD Panasonic camcorder (Not an SLR or DSLR camera)?"

My response: Maybe. Since we don't know which "Panasonic camcorder... over-the-shoulder type of thing..." to which you refer, we have no way to know if it has an interchangeable lens system or if it has mounting threads to add a DOF adapter. You tell us which model number or the Panasonic Standard Definition shoulder mount camcorder AND the manufacturer and model of the "35mm (Widescreen) lens" and we'll tell you how the might be able to fit.



Your comment: "whether its possible to use a 35mm lens on a camera that's lower than HD and get widescreen" and the rest of the paragraph is confusing.

My attempt to clarify: The first number is the vertical pixel count; the second number is the horizontal pixel count:

Standard Definition video

640x480 (4:3 aspect ratio - you do not want this)

854x480 (widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio - you want this)



High definition video

1280x720

1440x1080

1920x1080

All are widescreen - by international standards definition, high definition video is widescreen. This has nothing to do with the lens being used and has everything to do with the imaging chip and the option selected in the camcorder.



For example, while not a shoulder mount, the Panasonic AG-DVX100 is a professional-grade, digital camcorder that records only standard definition video. Link to its manual:

http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPERMANPDF/AGDVX100A.PDF

The default is 4:3 aspect ratio. Page 42 tells us that the "ASPECT CONV" can be set to Letterbox for 16:9 aspect ratio (widescreen). Please not there is nothing in the manual that references having to change a lens.



Page 69 tells us the lens filter diameter is 72mm. When the lens hood is removed there are threads on the area surrounding the lens. This means a filter with a diameter of 72mm can be used... so can an add-on lens like

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/445219-REG/Impact_DVP_WA70_72_DVP_WA70_72_72mm_Wide_Angle.html

In this case, this is a wide-angle lens. But you want to add a 35mm lens. In order to do that you need an adapter that mounts to the mounting threads on one side and allows the 35mm lens to mount on the other side. In this example,

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/548253-REG/Letus35_LT35EX72_LT35EX72_Extreme_35mm_Lens.html#!

this adapter comes with a 72mm adapter to fit the DVX100 on one side and the other side allows lenses normally used by 35mm cameras... including a 35mm lens. Since the different 35mm camera lens manufacturers have different mounting methods, it will be prudent for you to contact the retailer or Letus to understand which 35mm lenses can be used with this adapter. Please not there is no mention of any widescreen aspect ratio. These adapters are for depth of field only - they provide a longer focal point. This allows the captured image to have a foreground in focus and background out of focus - or the other way around depending on what the camera operator focuses on.



Now, lets move to more modern cameras that have an interchangeable lens system... the Sony NEX-EA50M has an E-mount lens system, APS-C imaging chip and a hotshoe for a flash unit - like a dSLR... but it is designed to capture video and has a shoulder mount. While it does not capture widescreen standard definition video, between the lowest quality setting of high definition (remember, that's widescreen) and editing/rendering, I can downsample the high def widescreen to be standard def widescreen.

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-broadcastcameras/cat-nxcam/product-NEXEA50M/

And I can use "35mm lenses"... just search "E mount 35mm lens" and you'll see a large selection. But I don't need a 35mm lens to do widescreen. The lens that cam with the camera is very capable.

Answer 2

By 35 mm widescreen lens do you mean an optic from a company like Panavision or Zeiss ?



There are many adapters available and you may or may not find one that suits the lens and your camera. Then you may need a bridge plate and rods to support a heavy lens - or mount the lens to a heavy tripod and mount the off the back of the lens.



Beside the physical aspects of mating the optic and camera there is an issue with "backfocus" - just mating the two does not mean the lens will focus to infinity - a BIG problem.



UPDATE: the larger the sensor or film gate - the less depth of field - less things in focus. BUT us working filmmakers prefer that - less depth of field mean MORE SELECTIVE FOCUS - a good thing as we can then throw the background out of focus in close-up shots.



UPDATE #2: tape is dead! I suggest you buy an HD camcorder that records to one of the memory cards available, a file based format. And do not worry so much about putting expensive lenses on a low priced camera.



Learn about the language of film, camera angles, lighting, composition AND story telling. Those are your keys to becoming a filmmaker - not expensive lenses.



Is this the kind of info you are looking for ?

Answer 3

it is pretty obvious by now that you have confused "Widescreen" with "Wide Angle" and don't have the foggiest notion as to why those are different terms. the experiences you related to 35 mm lenses were also obviously from people using a 1 inch wide film (aka 35 mm) for photography. a 35 mm lens is no longer "wide angle" if used on a sensor that is smaller than 1 inch size. I had a Panasonic television broadcast division camera which used changeable lenses and had i put a 35 mm fixed lens on it, that would have been the equivalent of a 4x telephoto, NOT a wide angle. Most Panasonic consumer cameras don't have changeable lenses and have a 1/5 th inch sensor making a 35 mm prime lens a x10 telephoto which is a long long ways from wide angle. As to widescreen, that 1/5 inch sensor on the Panasonic camcorder takes widescreen video, no matter what size lens you put on it. the size of the sensor and the size of the lens has nothing to do with whether the frame is widescreen or full screen aspect ratio.

Answer 4

"whether its possible to use a 35mm lens on a camera that's lower than HD and get widescreen. "

There's no law of nature that prevents it, but you won't find a "lower than HD" (SD) camcorder that supports widescreen - there was no reason to make one since all the TVs playing the SD footage had a 4:3 aspect ratio.



" Ive been told that HD has nothing to do with a cameras ratio"

Again, there's no law of nature that says it has to be, but the move to HD TV was accompanied by a move to 16:9 aspect ratio (one version of widescreen). It makes no sense to manufacture a camcorder that can do one but not the other.



"he used 35mm more as lighting was easier and widescreen helped him get more objects into his focus"

I think there's a misunderstanding there or a badly written article. Assuming the same lens diameter (35mm / 70mm are the focal lengths) subjects captured with the 35mm lens will appear brighter (but smaller) - as you zoom in on something the same amount of light is being spread over a wider area. The 35mm lens also has a wider field of view, but this is not the same thing as widescreen - field of view tells you how much is in the picture while wide screen describes the shape of the picture. The 35mm lens is also more tolerant of imprecise focussing - things are too small to see that they're not quite sharp.

Answer 5

HEHEHE THAT MESSY HOUSE WITH NO MEMORIES