favorite interview lens?

R

robfilms

Veteran
i was reading a thread on this forum and it pointed to a vimeo link.

i thought the piece being showcased was very good but there was something i really liked about the talking head interview.

i sent a pm to the film-maker and he was kind enough to share what lens he used.

which got me thinking, what is my and possibly your favorite interview lens?

fav lens with aps-c seated interview?
fav lens with aps-c standing interview?

fav lens with full frame seated interview?
fav lens with full frame standing interview?

fav lens with m4/3 seated interview?
fav lens with m4/3 standing interview?

now, i'm not talking a wishlist lens.

i want to know your "go-to" lens.

the lens that you can afford and most often use and whose results please you the most.

i'll start by sharing that i often work with a wonderful shooter here in nyc, joe friedman.

joe is a fabulous lighter, he does a great job lighting interview subjects.

on a sony aps-c system, joe uses an older sony zeiss 24-70/2.8/a-mount.

he employs an e-mount adapter and often shoots at the long end/f2.8-4.

the results are just lovely.

so, if you care to play along, what is your favorite interview lens (making note of the categories above)?

why that particular lens and any subject pix would also be a nice addition.

thanks in advance to those who care to share.

be well.

rob
smalltalk.productions
 
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My s35 cams are C300 and F55. My favorite lens for sit-downs is the Canon CN-E 135. If I need to be a little wider, the CN-E 85. Occasionally the CN-E 50 if it's really wide. The 135 easily gets 90% of the work. The Canon cine-primes are beautiful lenses that make people look great. Nice, warm skin-tones, nice focus fall-off and beautiful bokeh.
 
Run&Gun said:
My s35 cams are C300 and F55. My favorite lens for sit-downs is the Canon CN-E 135. If I need to be a little wider, the CN-E 85. Occasionally the CN-E 50 if it's really wide. The 135 easily gets 90% of the work. The Canon cine-primes are beautiful lenses that make people look great. Nice, warm skin-tones, nice focus fall-off and beautiful bokeh.
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r&g-

i have not worked with the canon cn-e line but have read the terrific reviews.

a 135mm on a super35 seems a little long or are you able to get that much distance between the lens and the subject?

(if so, lucky you! it seems like i'm always in cramp quarters.)

i would love to see a frame from the 135 or even the 85 just to get a sense of how lovely the cn-e line looks.

thanks for adding to the conversation.

be well.

rob
smalltalk.productions
 
My favorite interview lens for S35 is the Canon 70-200mm f2.8L zoom. Love the versatility, and I usually try to shoot interviews at f4-5.6.
 
Lately I've been using the Canon 70-200 f/2.8 II IS for the tight and Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 for the wide on C-series cams.


Run&Gun said:
My s35 cams are C300 and F55. My favorite lens for sit-downs is the Canon CN-E 135. If I need to be a little wider, the CN-E 85. Occasionally the CN-E 50 if it's really wide. The 135 easily gets 90% of the work. The Canon cine-primes are beautiful lenses that make people look great. Nice, warm skin-tones, nice focus fall-off and beautiful bokeh.
Click to expand...
Have you used the Canon Cinema lenses for interviews? If so, how do you feel they compare to the CN-E primes?
 
Mine are the Sigma 50-150 F2.8 and the Sigma 18-35 F1.8.
I mostly shoot interviews with 2 cameras these days and those are
the lenses I usually use. Every once in awhile I will use a 50 F1.4 prime.
I have only shot FF two times in my life, so these are S35 lenses.
 
Eric Coughlin said:
Lately I've been using the Canon 70-200 f/2.8 II IS for the tight and Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 for the wide on C-series cams.



Have you used the Canon Cinema lenses for interviews? If so, how do you feel they compare to the CN-E primes?
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I have not personally used any of the Canon Cine zooms, so I can't compare them, but everything I've read, they should compliment each other and match well. I have used the Cine-Servo(17-120) a few times, but not in "interview" situations.

The funny thing is, I'm not a fan of Canon broadcast lenses, but love their still lenses and their Cine's.
 
robfilms said:
r&g-

i have not worked with the canon cn-e line but have read the terrific reviews.

a 135mm on a super35 seems a little long or are you able to get that much distance between the lens and the subject?

(if so, lucky you! it seems like i'm always in cramp quarters.)

i would love to see a frame from the 135 or even the 85 just to get a sense of how lovely the cn-e line looks.

thanks for adding to the conversation.

be well.

rob
smalltalk.productions
Click to expand...

135mm isn't really THAT long, but I guess it depends on your style and what you consider "tight".

If I can figure out how to post pics, I'll try to dig up a screen shot/grab.
 
I'm with Stephen above... and literally just did 6 interviews today on s35... using my 1st version of Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS (but of course with IS off). Though Mitch above just reminded me there are way better lenses out there. When budget allows - I also like Canon primes or Zeiss compact zoom.
 
Screen grab from Vimeo, so the quality isn't the best.

Canon C300, 1080/23.98P, aired 720P
CN-E 135 T2.2

Cam to Cam distance(pun intended) approx. 10'.; T2.5

Cam135.jpg
 
I use different lenses depending on the project and desired look. But I would have to say my all time favorite sit-down interview lens is the Cooke 18-100mm zoom.
 
For interviews I mostly use zooms in order to vary the framing without moving the camera position. Zooms with a 3:1 range are workable, but I prefer something closer to 5:1.

For PL mounts I'm a huge fan of the Cabrio 19-90mm T2.9.

For my FS7 I often use Sony's 28-135mm f/4.

For m4/3 I typically use Panasonic's 35-100mm f/2.8.
 
I get a lot of miles from my nikkor 35-70 f3.5 manual.

Nice focus rotation, big barrel to pull, range from face and hands to face.

Round bokey at 3.5

Personally I feel the 80-200 can place you far back which is not 'intimate'

30-105 canon would probably be wonderful.

S
 
Most used is the humble Canon EOS 85mm 1.8. I run it at usually F2.8-3.5 I used to use a zoom lens and change frames in between questions but my present clients like to choose a frame and stick with it. Great lens for the money. I usually only get to play with cine lenses when we shoot project with actors or a narrative concepts but for interviews, I even use the cheapo Canon 50mm 1.8 STM. Both of these lenses aren't going to rival a $30k cine lens obviously but for my needs, for broadcast, the EOS lenses are a lot of bang for the buck. I also use some 1970s era Nikon lenses, Ai and Ais but they are much more prone to flaring and not as sharp as the Canon EOS lenses. I just used the $400.00 EOS 85mm 1.8 last week to shoot Netflix promos with a female Hollywood A-lister, publicist, clients, talent and talen't makeup artist all loved how the lens rendered the actress and these people are incredibly picky. Good glass is super important but good lighting is more important IMHO.
 
puredrifting said:
Good glass is super important but good lighting is more important IMHO.
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Yes.

I have three Canon 85's: the CN-E 85, the 85L 1.2 and the 85 1.8. The 1.8 is an incredible bargain AND it focuses closer than the 1.2. Plus it's a lot smaller and lighter, if you're trying to save weight.
 
Great thread, ya'll!

I only shoot S35, and when space and conditions allow, I often try to use my Nikkor 135 De-Focus control. I can adjust how out of focus the foreground or background elements are, and it is still tack sharp at 2.0!

on the PL side of things I'm admittedly less experienced. But so far, I like the Angie Optimo zooms. They cut well with cookes
 
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