If you could only have one prime lens, what would it be and why?

A while ago I had a similar dilemma. In the end I chose to not buy anything, but simply rent what you need for a shoot. Of course, this only works if you have clients willing to pay for cine glass. If you don't, then buying these lenses is in my opinion a bad investment. In case it is about a hobby, yeah, well, then you can do whatever you want! I would then go for a Zeiss CP.2 - 21mm, but that's because I like wide angle lenses. The good thing is that 21mm is quite wide, but not extremely wide; kind of a good middle ground. An the lens is among the best of the CP.2 set, which might also play a role in your considerations.
 
hjrt said:
A while ago I had a similar dilemma. In the end I chose to not buy anything, but simply rent what you need for a shoot. Of course, this only works if you have clients willing to pay for cine glass. If you don't, then buying these lenses is in my opinion a bad investment. In case it is about a hobby, yeah, well, then you can do whatever you want! I would then go for a Zeiss CP.2 - 21mm, but that's because I like wide angle lenses. The good thing is that 21mm is quite wide, but not extremely wide; kind of a good middle ground. An the lens is among the best of the CP.2 set, which might also play a role in your considerations.
Click to expand...

Agreed. The CP.2 21mm has replaced the 18mm for me, if I am to use CP.2's. When working as an AC, I also tend to suggest the 21mm to the DP's I work for over the 18mm. I ask them to consider it not because it's a great lens, but because the 18mm is well known to be notoriously the most lackluster lens of the CP.2 bunch. 21mm is a great length.
 
Yes but what he is trying to explain to you is that a true Cine lens has correct Field of View when on a cine sized sensore 35mm, super 35mm (Red,C100/300, Alexa etc). So 50mm Cine lens is 50mm on a 35mm sensor. A 50mm photo lens or a rehoused (ZF.2, CP.2, Canon Cine Glass) is not 50mm on a 35mm sensor. It is more like 72mm -Field of View.
 
Yes but what he is trying to explain to you is that a true Cine lens has correct Field of View when on a cine sized sensore 35mm, super 35mm (Red,C100/300, Alexa etc). So 50mm Cine lens is 50mm on a 35mm sensor. A 50mm photo lens or a rehoused (ZF.2, CP.2, Canon Cine Glass) is not 50mm on a 35mm sensor. It is more like 72mm -Field of View.
 
MILLET222 said:
Yes but what he is trying to explain to you is that a true Cine lens has correct Field of View when on a cine sized sensore 35mm, super 35mm (Red,C100/300, Alexa etc). So 50mm Cine lens is 50mm on a 35mm sensor. A 50mm photo lens or a rehoused (ZF.2, CP.2, Canon Cine Glass) is not 50mm on a 35mm sensor. It is more like 72mm -Field of View.
Click to expand...

No. A 50mm lens is a 50mm lens is a 50mm lens(or any focal length for that matter). Any given focal length will have a smaller F.O.V. as sensor size gets smaller and vice-versa.
 
If you only can buy one lens, then this kind of highend cine glass is not for you. You have a limited budget, so look at alternatives where you can two/three lenses for the price of one cine lens.

For shooting an enture project, I find I need 2 lenses at minimum, one lens would not work. I need a wide angle for wide shots and a 50/85 for closeups and everything else.

You can look at the Rokinon glass if you specifically requure the cine features in the construction, but if you can work with normal stills glass, then the world opens up for you, and you can get cine-like optical performers for super cheap, as long as you don't need the cine construction/gears/focus marks/consistent size etc.

Optical quality of stills lenses are excellent and can exceed cinema glass. Stills lenses are designed for a much higher quality standard than 2k, they are designed for 20-36mp images, so while there are bad stills lenses, there are many who will perform just as good as cinema lenses.

For example you can save a lot of money and buy three Canon L primes instead of one Cine primes, or you can buy zeiss zf stills glass a set instead of one cp2. These L lenses and Zeiss stills glass are excellent optical performers and are 95% just as good as their cinema siblings, who just habe much better construction and build features for cine use, but on the image quality side, for example I ve tested the 24mm cine vs the L bersuon, and they have identical image quality, the bokeh is just a tiny bit creamier on the Cine, not something I'd pay triple the price for especially if I can only afford 1 lens.

It's not to say that cinema lenses are bad or are just as good as stills glass, of course they are better, even just for the buuld features that make our lives as videographers much easier. but my point is that you can take that luxury only if you can afford it.

for 5K, with a C100, get a 24mm 1.4 L prime for wide shots, and a 50mm 1.2 prime for those gorgeous closeups. You can produve anythinf using these two excellent performers unless you really need the cine lens body features.
 
a 50mm Cinema lens has the same field of view as a 100$ 50mm 1.8 when both used on the same camera. On s35, they both habe a field of view that's equivalent to 72mm on photographic fullframe 35mm film.
 
Well with the feature I just wrapped, I'd guestimate that I shot about 85% of it on a 35mm lens (shooting on S35mm sensor). I'd guess the next 10% was shot on a 28mm, and a 21mm, 50mm and 85mm shared the remaining 5%.

I was framing for 2.39:1, which I think modifies my lens choices a fair bit wider than I'd go when shooting 1.85:1.

So, yeah... just one prime lens? I'd have to pick a 35mm for spherical, or a 50mm for anamorphic.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top