p.1 #1 · Which RF lenses servo-focus silently for video?
I have an RP on the way from the Canon website (if their backorders ever get filled).
Which RF lenses focus silently enough so a person can use continuous autofocus while shooting video using the internal microphones and NOT hear the lens?
p.1 #3 · Which RF lenses servo-focus silently for video?
wsalopek wrote:
I have an RP on the way from the Canon website (if their backorders ever get filled).
Which RF lenses focus silently enough so a person can use continuous autofocus while shooting video using the internal microphones and NOT hear the lens?
Thanks...
So, you're going to want to go review hunting to answer this question with any personal specificity.
That said, no lens focuses 'silently'. You should also be wary of IS motors which can also induce a significant chatter.
Best recommendation is to get a small mic that mounts in the camera hot shoe. Annoying, and one more thing to forget and misconfigure, but the results are night and day.
p.1 #4 · Which RF lenses servo-focus silently for video?
johnctharp wrote:
So, you're going to want to go review hunting to answer this question with any personal specificity.
That said, no lens focuses 'silently'. You should also be wary of IS motors which can also induce a significant chatter.
Best recommendation is to get a small mic that mounts in the camera hot shoe. Annoying, and one more thing to forget and misconfigure, but the results are night and day.
Thanks John,
Yeah the review hunting, weirdly, wasn't showing many results.
Yep the shoe-mounted microphone is a very good idea. I just asked the question the way I did to elicit a sort of worst-case point of view.
And of course while no lens is "silent", there appear to be many (STM, etc) that are close enough that they are effectively inaudible...so that's what I am looking for.
I didn't know if perhaps Canon designed some new-fangled way of making RF lenses perform better as far as noise...even in as much as still calling them STM/USM, but even quieter for whatever reason.
p.1 #5 · Which RF lenses servo-focus silently for video?
Some STM lenses make quite a bit of noise when focusing in single shot mode. But all STM lenses are pretty quiet focusing while shooting video. Doesn’t matter if they’re EF or RF series. I have read that some of the nano USM lenses have similar behavior - very quiet in video mode.
Of course, for stills shooting no autofocus lens focuses faster than the nano USM models. One moment the image is out of focus, then you touch the AF button and the subject is instantly in focus. Even faster than the ring USM models.
p.1 #6 · Which RF lenses servo-focus silently for video?
Don't say I never did nothin for ya
I have also attached a scaled screenshot of the waveform in resolve.
The RF 50 f/1.2L is very audible. You can hear the inner barrel rubbing against the outer barrel as it focuses. The motors clunk when changing directions to fine tune focus as well.
The RF 35mm f/1.8 IS STM is also audible, tho much less so. You hear a rumble from the grinding of the stepping motors, followed by a light thunking sound when focus is locked.
Both the RF 15-35 f/2.8 IS USM (both of which use Nano USM) make a light tapping sound as the elements jiggle back and forth. Note that you can see in the waveform that neither of these lenses exhibit any noise that exceeds the background noise of the room.
If I had not boosted the recording volume and added a 10db gain to the entire video (read: all clips have the same gain applied) you would not be able to hear the Nano USM lenses.
Notes on the attached waveform:
The left most clip in the waveform is the RF 50 1.2. The second is the RF 35 1.8 STM. Third is 15-35 f/2.8L IS USM. Fourth and fifth are the RF 24-70 f/2.8L IS USM.
The RF 50 has some rather high peaks in the waveform but those are not from the lens, those are from other sounds in the room or in one instance from me pressing a button.
Here is my summary of what I think you can infer from these findings:
You will ALWAYS hear the RF 50 1.2L
You will SOMETIMES hear the RF 35 1.8 IS STM
You will RARELY TO NEVER hear the RF 15-35 f/2.8L IS USM or RF 24-70 f/2.8L IS USM.
In my experience, the RF 24-105 f/4 has a similar level of noise to the f/2.8 zooms.
In general, I believe any RF lens with Nano USM will suit your needs.
But I also think you should just get a Rode Video Micro and have no noise from any of these lenses.
p.1 #7 · Which RF lenses servo-focus silently for video?
Jesse Evans wrote:
Don't say I never did nothin for ya
Very good data, thank you!
Jesse Evans wrote:
Here is my summary of what I think you can infer from these findings:
You will ALWAYS hear the RF 50 1.2L
You will SOMETIMES hear the RF 35 1.8 IS STM
You will RARELY TO NEVER hear the RF 15-35 f/2.8L IS USM or RF 24-70 f/2.8L IS USM.
In my experience, the RF 24-105 f/4 has a similar level of noise to the f/2.8 zooms.
In general, I believe any RF lens with Nano USM will suit your needs.
This tracks with my observations in general. I didn't share any because I don't have an R5 / R6 nor do I have any RF lenses, but I can say this about Canon lenses in general:
Anything with a plain USM motor is likely to be audible through the onboard mic; zooms less so, primes may be disturbingly loud
STM primes chatter quite a bit in stills, the cheaper or smaller the lens body vs. the elements the more so, and are similarly quieter during video pulls than USM lenses
Nano-USM lenses are dead silent pretty much all the time
So you can go for the quieter lenses, but note as evidenced by Jesse's test above, the environment matters too. We have no good reference data for lens noise as picked up by the onboard mics. I assume that's the case because the onboard mics are typically the tool of last resort, as the very best onboard solution will still suffer from the problems posed by being built into the camera, all of which are largely mitigated by simply getting the mic off the camera.
Canon could obviously do better, I've seen Sony mentioned as having a superior onboard mic solution, but in general I doubt that Canon thinks that the investment would be worth it.
p.1 #8 · Which RF lenses servo-focus silently for video?
Jesse Evans wrote:
Don't say I never did nothin for ya
I have also attached a scaled screenshot of the waveform in resolve.
The RF 50 f/1.2L is very audible. You can hear the inner barrel rubbing against the outer barrel as it focuses. The motors clunk when changing directions to fine tune focus as well.
The RF 35mm f/1.8 IS STM is also audible, tho much less so. You hear a rumble from the grinding of the stepping motors, followed by a light thunking sound when focus is locked.
Both the RF 15-35 f/2.8 IS USM (both of which use Nano USM) make a light tapping sound as the elements jiggle back and forth. Note that you can see in the waveform that neither of these lenses exhibit any noise that exceeds the background noise of the room.
If I had not boosted the recording volume and added a 10db gain to the entire video (read: all clips have the same gain applied) you would not be able to hear the Nano USM lenses.
Notes on the attached waveform:
The left most clip in the waveform is the RF 50 1.2. The second is the RF 35 1.8 STM. Third is 15-35 f/2.8L IS USM. Fourth and fifth are the RF 24-70 f/2.8L IS USM.
The RF 50 has some rather high peaks in the waveform but those are not from the lens, those are from other sounds in the room or in one instance from me pressing a button.
Here is my summary of what I think you can infer from these findings:
You will ALWAYS hear the RF 50 1.2L
You will SOMETIMES hear the RF 35 1.8 IS STM
You will RARELY TO NEVER hear the RF 15-35 f/2.8L IS USM or RF 24-70 f/2.8L IS USM.
In my experience, the RF 24-105 f/4 has a similar level of noise to the f/2.8 zooms.
In general, I believe any RF lens with Nano USM will suit your needs.
But I also think you should just get a Rode Video Micro and have no noise from any of these lenses....Show more →
Wow Jesse. Thanks very much. Exactly the kind of information I was looking for...and yes absolutely agreed about the external microphone.
