Sony E pz 18-105 zoom questions?

[jeff]

I have two questions about using Sony's E PZ 18-105.  First if I zoom in on my subject, particularly when shooting multiple interviews at the same location - let's say there is a gap of time and I allow the camera to go into sleep mode the zoom is not longer framed correctly but has zoomed out.  Because everything is internally there's no manual way to tape the lens.  Is there a solution for this?

 

Second question,  using the lens for video, the zoom is rather abrupt is there anyway to set it for a much slower push in /pull out?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

jeff

[tinplater]

Set the "sleep time" to 30 minutes, at least that will give you half an hour before it goes down.  I know of no way to alter the zoom speed.

[Pieter]

The zoom lever at the side of the lens makes it possible to zoom very slowly if you shift it just a tiny bit. It takes quite a bit of practice to determine just how much to slide the lever as the zoom only starts after shifting it by about 1mm.

 

Practice makes perfect though: I very much enjoy the smooth zoom action by the PZ: gently increasing zoom speed and slowing down rather than a jerky instant full speed zoom action. Or barely noticable but very constant zoom creeping in.

[Username]

Or, you could avoid zooming during filming, using only one 

selected FL within each shot. Zooming while filming looks 

very artificial unless that camera is also moving ... which is 

usually done with an assistant and a real cine lens. A zoom 

is more convenient than a 3-lens turret, offering more FLs. 

but if you think of it as a turret, you won't think of changing 

FLs during each take.