24mm, 28mm or 35mm lens?

A

analogs

Well-known member
I'm struggling on which lens to purchase for my Canon 5D3 for video. I have a 16-35mm f2.8 lens but I find f2.8 limitting.

My options are:
  • 24mm f1.4 lens
  • 28mm f1.8 lens
  • 35mm f2 lens
Has anyone gone through the same dilemma and what did they end up purchasing and why.
I am thinking about getting a 35mm lens because it is cheaper and easier to find used and has less issues with soft corners or vignetting when stopped down fast but I am concerned that it may not be wide enough. I have a 50mm 1.8 also which I find too tight for most situations.

Thanks
 
You already have all three of those focal lengths covered with your zoom, so figure out "where" you're using the zoom the most. What focal length do you most often set the zoom at when shooting? Which ever gets closest out of 24, 28 and 35 is probably the best bet. Also depends on what you're shooting? They're all pretty wide on a full frame sensor.
 
I owned a Ziess 28mm, 35mm, 50mm and 85mm, plus a Tamron 24-70mm.

I found I rarely used the 35mm and 85mm and sold both of those as I needed the $$$. I use the zoom for 24mm when needed, but find my workhorses are the 28mm and 50mm if that helps
 
Thanks people for the replies!

I am considering getting the 28mm because it seems to be in the middle of my dilemma and Sigma seems to be the better model on the 28mm side at f1.8. I checked out the 4mm difference and I do not have enough experience to know whether 24mm is going to be an issue.

Anyone here who have been shooting for a while found that they were not using 24mm that much.

What size lens do they usually use for that cinematic look??
 
I see more difference between 24mm and 28mm than between 28mm and 35mm. I pick the 24mm when I want to go *really* wide and I don't mind having an extreme perspective. If I want a wide shot without extreme perspective, either 28mm or 35mm will do.
Availability of great lenses at nice prices is an issue, too: there are some great 35mm lenses around, some of them quite cheap; that's not the case at either 28mm or 24mm.

The sigma 35mm f/1.4 and the samyang 35mm f/1.4 are both amazing lenses (the sigma even better than the samyang, but they are close enough that sampling variation will change that relation depending on which site you look at, and I like purely manual lenses, so for me it would be the samyang, even if build quality is rather poor) (more here)

on the other hand, the canon 28mm f/1.8 is far from a stellar performer
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/...meraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=2
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/...meraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=1
 
Depends what you're shooting. I do a lot of broll stuff at events or business profile type videos and the 35 is always my main lens. I have the Rokinon 35 1.4 and it's great, really sharp. If I had one lens to shoot with it would be the 35, it's a good balance.
 
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