EOS T1i with Leica lenses

saneproductions

saneproductions

Veteran
Hi All,

I just picked up a T1i for personal use. I have some friends who do sketch comedy and I would like to collarborate with them to make a few short webisodes located mainly in a coffee shop that my friend owns. I have access to production resources as I am a producer by day with medium sized local production company so lighting/sound should be fairly easy. That said, I don't plan on doing things in a very complicated way. I will use a regular slate and a digital audio recorder with a boomed mic to do my double system. I plan to shoot in the evenings after the coffee shop is closed and need to get by with an arri softbank kit (1k,2x650,300,2x150, chimera) and a couple of misc other heads as needed such as a 2k fresnel or 1k fresnels.

I have some Leica lenses that I plan on using with the T1i (shooting 720p which is fine for the web).


I got this adapter (with focus confirmation)
http://www.fotodiox.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=340

Leica Lenses
35mm Summicron F2 (56mm with crop)
50mm Summicron F2 (80mm with crop)
60mm Macro-Elmarit F2.8 (96mm with crop)
135mm Elmarit F2.8 (216mm with crop)
180mm Elmar F4 (288mm with crop)
180mm Elmarit F2.8 (288mm with crop)

Questions:

Do I have enough coverage with these lenses?

Are these fast enough to use on this camera for a short film?

Wide Angle:
It seems like if I had a superwide I would be covered. I was thinking of renting/buying the Canon 17-40L F4, but this won't work because it is too slow right? Suggestions? I can't really go out and spend tons of money on another lens right now as this is a "just for fun" project.

Would I be better off just borrowing an HVX200 or HPX500 for the shoot?

Post Production:

I plan on using the advanded format conversion process in compressor to convert all footage to DVC Pro HD 29.97 before editing and finish as normal.
 
Could be a bit difficult, your sensor size has a 1.6x crop factor, meaning that your 35mm lens is now the equivalent of a slightly long normal lens (56mm). You may need wider angle lenses than that, especially if you are in tight spaces. A Canon 24mm f1.4 would complement things nicely. Consider sigma though if you don't have the budget, they make a couple of wider angle lenses which are fast and totally acceptable. Additionally in full HD, unfortunately as you know you are at 20 frames per second, which is really not ideal. In SD the camera should be ok .
The Leica lenses are good, not the fastest but sharp and suitable.

I might as you say consider the Panasonic instead at this point if I were you, because of the T1i's built in limitations.
 
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The main difficulty is depending on the size of the shop you may need something wider. Anytime im shooting inside a house usually, i mostly use my 28mm 2.8, and often i wish i had something wider (its all i can afford at this point).

Looks like the widest you have is your 35mm, id sort of mental story board out some of your shots and see if your location has enough space to get your wides, mediums, and establishment shots. One thing you can do if you dont have enough room, is shoot your wides from outside the window looking in.
 
yoclay said:
Could be a bit difficult, your sensor size has a 1.6x crop factor, meaning that your 35mm lens is now the equivalent of a slightly long normal lens (56mm). You may need wider angle lenses than that, especially if you are in tight spaces. A Canon 24mm f1.4 would complement things nicely. Consider sigma though if you don't have the budget, they make a couple of wider angle lenses which are fast and totally acceptable. Additionally in full HD, unfortunately as you know you are at 20 frames per second, which is really not ideal. In SD the camera should be ok .
The Leica lenses are good, not the fastest but sharp and suitable.

I might as you say consider the Panasonic instead at this point if I were you, because of the T1i's built in limitations.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply!

It sounds like if had a 24mm, I would be all set. keep in mind the t1i gives you no manual control of the iris, so I need to find a wide angle that has manual iris (preferably one I can use with my Leica adapter so I don't have to buy another $150 adapter). I suppose I could check into the nikon options and see how much their adapters are. You know the canon 24mm 1.4 is $1700 right? It looks like f2 or f2.8 is all I am going to be able to afford in something 20-24mm range. Seems like I would shoot all the lenses at the same stop and have to work off my slowest lens anyway (which if I mainly use the 35 and 50 would be f2) (or 2.8 if I use the 60, 135 or 180). I should clarify that the leica lenses came from my grandfather and father (I didn't go out and spend that kind of money, but I will be happy to use them).

As far as format goes, yes 1080p is only 20fps, but the 720p is 29.97, so I can stay HD (720 is totally fine by me).

Are f2 or f2.8 lenses fast enough to shoot video or is it a huge difference moving up to f1.4? I know that it is twice as much light, but coming from the hvx200 or the hpx 500 this camera should be faster right? (at least faster than the 200 which is slow as hell IMHO).
 
jonE5 said:
The main difficulty is depending on the size of the shop you may need something wider. Anytime im shooting inside a house usually, i mostly use my 28mm 2.8, and often i wish i had something wider (its all i can afford at this point).

Looks like the widest you have is your 35mm, id sort of mental story board out some of your shots and see if your location has enough space to get your wides, mediums, and establishment shots. One thing you can do if you dont have enough room, is shoot your wides from outside the window looking in.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! How is it shooting at f2 or f2.8? Are the lenses fast enough for you?

Thanks for the idea about shooting the wide through the window! I may try that! I could also rent something for the day of shoot until I can find something in my price range. What lind of 28 f2.8 are you using?

It seems like if I could find a 24 f2 I could shoot the whole short film at f2 (using the 35, 50 and a 24 if I can find one).
 
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