Putting a video lens kit together is similar to, but not quite the same as a stills camera kit.
Sharpness is desired, but unlike a stills lens, absolute sharpness has to be balanced with “character”.
What is lens character and why does it matter?
First we should consider that with stills photography, the capture lens can bring a lot of traits to the process, but overall, it is generally only flaws that matter as all else can be added (or subtracted) as needed. Before the old lens pundits take up arms, yes I agree that a special lens can bring something to the game, but so many looks and flavours can be post processed in, so that the lens becomes only one part of a creative chain.
I have had tons of old glass, tried them all on multiple cameras, film and digital, and have found that a good lens gives you freedom, a poor one forces “excuses”, such as avoiding known issues, creative processing or limited utility. I love my Olympus and Panasonic lens stable and can see the difference between lens A and B, including the difference in colour the two brands lenses and sensor combinations add to the mix, but I can also work towards them all looking the same or all looking very different to each other (or even themselves), in post. We also have to take into account the relative freedom of selecting shooting angle, aperture and filters that can all be applied shot to shot.
Video, especially limited* video production runs a bit differently.
For stills shooters it is equivalent to continuous jpeg capture with a fixed shutter speed (the 180 rule). You do not have the nearly unlimited post processing options of RAW files. Micro changes cannot to be applied “mid stream”, so the need for consistency often limits creative options. Your capture is much closer to fully defined at the time of shooting, with limited post and fixed output options.
This means that a video lens has to be mechanically capable and accurate to your needs while being visually opinionated if desired.
Mechanically, a good focus throw, silent AF-if used, smooth and preferably step-less aperture control are all desirable (but not critical).
Optically, you have to accept what the lens offers up front. Flaws can be seen as added character or just flaws. Luckily, with video, they tend towards adding character.
My lens kit, based on some re-purposed left overs, duplicates, scrounged bits and lenses just better suited to video, comprise of;
The Olympus 12-40 f2.8 (neutral colour, smooth Bokeh). This lens used to be half of my daily shooting kit, but when the 8-18 Leica came into the fold, I increased my range by using that with a camera mounted fast 25 to the kit to fill the gap. It has also developed a slight “lump” in its zoom ring, which more annoys than limits me. On a more positive note, I appreciate the constant aperture and separate manual focus ring setup. This lens is a strong modern example of a sharp across the frame pro zoom with nice character. I also like the slight boost in colour depth and contrast it adds to the Panasonic sensor. The only time this will leave this kit is to shoot events with flash, which it seems to be particularly good (and lucky) at. The temptation is to use the 8-18 as it matches the camera, can be doubled** and goes theatrically wide, but the best fit (for now) is the 12-40.
17 f1.8 (neutral-warm colour, long transition Bokeh). A street favourite (nothing happening there at the moment), this lens has had little use over the last couple of years. What it has going for it for stills, also shines with video. The lens shows a slightly old fashioned colour palette, deep transition Bokeh and nice handling. On Olympus cameras, it looks contrast heavy and slightly antique, especially on the older sensors. It actually looks quite like Kodachrome 64 on an older sensor, which takes me back to my formative years. On The Panasonic it seems to be less heavy looking, but still pleasantly adds a little colour “weight” to that sensor. Something to be aware of with this one though, is it can produce an audible “clicking” sound (aperture operating) when operated in video, so if this an issue, do your research.
25 f2.8 old Pen lens (cool colour, antique contrast, unique-creative Bokeh, flare and haze). As old as me :0 and also still going, this was not the most revered of the old Pen system lenses, many of which can still cut it today, but for video it offers some really cool features. Wide open it has reduced contrast and I mean reduced contrast (read “semi-LOG” profile look), to the point of being hazy. It flares quickly but cleanly and provides unusual “ringlet” Bokeh. In post I have cleaned the haze up well and found it is sharp under that veil of white, but for video, I would use that for effect. One stop down and it changes personality completely! The lens regains many of the best photographic properties while providing distinctly old fashioned colour and contrast. It also has decent heft, a smooth manual aperture ring and good, smooth focus throw.
It just looks difference.
45 f1.8 (warm to neutral colour, smooth but interesting, even engaging, Bokeh). I have two of theses (used to have 3), so yes, I love it. Unlike the 25 and 75, I have always found this lens shows more character while providing equal quality. The 25 and 75 lenses produce smooth brilliance and real lush-ness, the 17 and 45 are more “old school” with simpler, moodier colours and plenty of micro contrast. This lens in particular tends towards smooth but contrasty, even punchy Bokeh, the sort that promotes exploration-which is good. It also has delightfully smooth focus. These two are the closest modern lenses I have to the old 25.
40-150 kit. Like the 17 and 45’s above, this lens is more about micro contrast with slightly muted colour. It is mechanically a little rubbish, but optically quite strong with good AF. I will not likely use it much, but for those times when a really long lens** is needed, maybe for an establishing or context shot, it will be more than adequate and it does not hurt that it weighs nothing.
Winner of best bang for the buck, the little 40-150 kit will be plenty of reach for a video kit and shares the same look as the 17mm.
For filters I have gone with Hoya Pro polarisers and ND’s basically because I already have some of them and want to be colour consistent.
A note on colour. between brands. Olympus cameras produce cooler and contrastier images naturally, with their lenses ranging from warm to neutral. Panasonic cameras tend to produce brighter, lighter colour (lime rather than spruce greens) and generally warmer files, although sometimes a little thinner looking. Their lenses tend towards a similar look. Keeping the brands to their own stables tends to exaggerate their respective looks. Mixing the two brands can produce a range of effects (I like the 8-18 on the EM10 for example), so I may have to add an Olympus back in as backup and to get the full range of colours I want. The G9 tends to be more effected, which is ideal, as I have mostly Oly glass.
*By limited I mean mainstream videographer cameras, limited to a form of LOG, that can’t shoot RAW video or even deeper LOG profiles.
**The G9 has a lossless 2x converter option for video so I can literally double all my lenses, giving me 24-600mm full frame range Ove two zooms and “double” primes. The little OSMO has a 26mm lens.