GH2 Best Video Lens

tinbeo said:
How far was the camera in front of talent? Is this one man shoot-interviewing? I have the 20mm and just want to learn. Thanks
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In some cases the camera wasn't far at all. A few feet. I had an interviewer with me but I could've easily interviewed them myself. Just flip out the screen and turn it so that you can stand/sit to the side of the camera and still see the screen. Many of the interviews in this video were shot with just me as cameraman and interviewer, but at that point I didn't have the 20mm - http://vimeo.com/16265759. The ones in available light were just me, the lit ones were with an interviewer.
 
My vote goes to fast manual lenses:

25mm f/0.95 Voightlander is my favorite "normal" lens, but it's damn expensive, so you might consider looking for used Canon FD or Nikon AI-S 24mm f/2.0 lens. ( or a $100 used Kiron 24mm f/2.0 if you can find one )

I tried both Canon FD and Nikon AI-S, and both were great, but in the end I went for the Nikon F mount because:

1- You can find Zeiss ZF lenses in Nikon F mount ( I don't think Zeiss ever made Canon FD lenses )

2- You can mount Nikon AI-S manual lenses on some of the new Nikon DSLR bodies like the D7000 ( for higher grade still photos, and I when you want to shoot wider angle video with the 1.53 crop sensor )
 
tinbeo said:
How far was the camera in front of talent? Is this one man shoot-interviewing? I have the 20mm and just want to learn. Thanks
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Like CColton said for his, it was just a few feet in front. Not very far at all. On some sit down interviews for other videos, I would actually bump their feet sometimes with the tripod.

For these, it was myself on the camera, someone who works for the college asking the questions (this could have been done by me, and I would often prod more out of the talent with more questions), and on this day, I had someone helping me. For these, he was holding the reflector. You can probably see the light move a couple of times in the video-- that's the reason. I could have easily done it by myself, though.

KarlSutton said:
hi what were you stepped down to & how strong was the ND filter? Looks great!
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Thanks! These were all wide open at 1.7 and I honestly have no idea what the ND filter was set to. The one I have doesn't have hard notches. But it was probably fairly close to being all the way closed.
 
John Caballero said:
Well, get a lighting kit with high wattage. That will solve the 14-140 slowness. Shallow DoF outside? Get the lens opened at f4 and back off a bit and zoom in. It works wonders.
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I agree with John, creative use of the 14-140 can give you some great results. The 20mm pancake is a great lens as well. I've used both and like how they complement each other.
 
Good morning guys! (In Germany it's already afternoon but I think most of you come from America or round there so that I rather say 'good morning'. )

What I want to say is: Wow!!! I did not expect so many answers. You're great! :thumbsup:

Let's go over it!

Almost everybody recommends a 20mm pancake. Having mentioned it at the beginning of this topic, too (I'm quite sure I did, didn't I?) and having heard so many good points about it that will be my first lens.

Well, that was rather easy to decide. I'm not sure so far what else I should buy.

You mentioned:

Canon FD 50mm 1.8 (1.7 makes no difference, does it?)
Olympus 9-18mm
Panasonic 14mm 2.5
Nikon 50mm
and 14-140mm (but that's too expensive)

I'd also add 14-45mm to our 'list'. Could anyone of you tell me something about it? Has anybody worked with it?

Hmm. I can't buy everything that's clear. :grin:

A Canon FD 50mm 1.8 sounds not so good to me because it's quite cheap but also very old. Are you sure I can make great shots?
Nikon 50mm could be better, couldn't it?

Oh! What I forgot to say is that I do want to work with artificial light but I've only got one flood light so far. If I have got more money, I'll go and look for a lighting case or two more floodlights.

There! I'm sure I'll buy a 20mm Pancake.

What lens would you recommend me else?

Thanks again!

Have a nice day.

Daniel

@Chris: "One of my friends" war natürlich komplett falsch. Man sagt "A friend of mine", stimmt es? Darauf hat mich meine Lehrerin schon ziemlich oft hingewiesen. ;)
 
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The Canon FD 50mm f1.8 is older but certainly not bad. I use it a lot; it's very sharp, and as you can tell in the video zenogears posted, its color is also great. Don't be afraid to buy a lens if it's a little old; it could be a great deal, you just have to make sure whoever you buy it from took care of it.
 
Thanks to everyone.

I'm sure it'll take a little till I've got my 20mm Pancake because it's more expensive and I really don't want to jump the gun on buying it.

There! I've got two lenses now: 20mm pancake (soon) and Canon FD 50mm 1.4

What else would you recommend me as alternative?

Thanks.
 
My lenses:
Panasonic 14-140mm f4-5.6 IS
Panasonic 20mm f1.7
Canon 50mm f1.7
Tokina 80-200mm f2.8

So far I have not wanted a shot that could not be done with one of the above.
 
Daniel007 said:
Thanks to everyone.

I'm sure it'll take a little till I've got my 20mm Pancake because it's more expensive and I really don't want to jump the gun on buying it.

There! I've got two lenses now: 20mm pancake (soon) and Canon FD 50mm 1.4

What else would you recommend me as alternative?

Thanks.
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I have those two lenses and they are awesome. I will say that the Panny 20mm and the Canon FD 50mm have a very different look, so they might be hard to match in the same project, especially if you are doing a narrative piece. Right now I'm trying to save up to try to get some wider and longer Canon FD glass to work with the 50mm. I got the Canon FDn 28mm 2.8, but I'm not digging it nearly as much as the 50mm, so down the line I'm hoping to get the 85mm and 20mm FDn to see how I like those.

But the Panny 20mm also kicks serious butt, I just find it sharper with more contrast than the Canon FD glass. I would love to find something affordable that is longer and still pretty fast that is a good match for the Panny 20mm...
 
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