is Canon 24-105 f/4 fast enough for talking head interviews on C300???

N

Nicholas Natteau

Veteran
I'm at a cross roads right now regarding the final lens I wish to add in my C300 kit.

I'm having trouble deciding whether to get the faster (but much more expensive) Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 or the slower and cheaper 24-105mm f/4. I know this lens has IS and more zoom range which is great. But I'm more concerned with how this lens will perform on the C300 in situations where the talent would be well lit but the background discreetly lit.

Has anyone here shot talking head interviews with the Canon 24-105mm f/4 on the C300?
If so, how did it perform at the C300's native 850 ISO? Is that ISO level too dark for that lens?
And does aperture remain constant on that lens as you zoom in?

Thanks very much for your feedback.
 
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The aperture remains constant, but I've noticed a loss of t-stop by about 1/2 a stop when zooming from wide to full tele. It's a great all-purpose lens, and probably my most used. Works great for talking heads and docu-style shooting. If you've got any decent amount of light, even ambient, you'll be just fine at ISO 850.

IMO, this is a must have lens in any C300 kit, especially considering it's nominal price vs function/performance ratio. I've actually been thinking about getting a second one for when mine gets worn out (I use the tar out of it and it gets knocked around pretty good). Get it a used one and save some $, too, if you're so inclined.
 
I don't know what other lenses you have but if you don't already have the 17-55mm F/2.8 USM IS EF-S lens then I suggest that as the your first buy. The 24-105mm is a great lens & I use it myself but is lacking at the wide end on the crop sensor of the C300.
 
The aperture remains constant, but I've noticed a loss of t-stop by about 1/2 a stop when zooming from wide to full tele.

Same problem here wirh new Canon 24-70 f2.8 mk2
How come bloody F stop is not constant.
time to invest in PL zooms.
 
Thanks everyone. Actually I do have the 17-55mm. That's what I've been using for the most part until now. It's an excellent lens. Athough I find the zoom and focus rings a little too loose for my taste. The rings don't seem as firm/tight as the ones on the L lenses. I also figured I would get a lot more zoom space with the 24-105. I do have the 24mm and 35mm f/1.4 Canon L lenses but I mainly use those for extreme low light scenes.
 
For talking heads you don't need a zoom. The 100mm F/2.8L IS Macro is a great lens & great value. Alternatively use Canon's best lens the 70-200mm F/2.8L IS II.
 
nigelbb said:
For talking heads you don't need a zoom. The 100mm F/2.8L IS Macro is a great lens & great value. Alternatively use Canon's best lens the 70-200mm F/2.8L IS II.
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Really? I find a zoom a must for talking head work as reframing by moving the camera around is totally distracting for a subject. Also I'd like to see how far back you go with the 100mm macro on the C300, are you in the same building? ;)

The 24-105 is in my option the best choice for talking heads where you're not using two or more cameras. As stated you rarely want to be faster than f4 anyway. The 17-55 vignettes on the C300 so can be a dangerous lens to use if you need to maintain a solid background colour.
 
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The base price for a new 24-105 out of a kit is now down to about $800-$820 new. Big Value had them new on eBay last week at $750 shipped, but probably grey market. It is a good value at that price. The new 24-70 IS 4.0 should be a great lens once it is available in kits, or at it's base price 3-6 months after release. I have moved to a set of both 2.8 & 4.0 zooms, 5 total, that are going to be just about my only lenses, down from 14+: The 17-40, 24-105, 70-200 4.0, and the 24-70 II and 70-200 II 2.8. (Sorry, my "enter" key does not work, but only at DVX. Really weird!)
 
unadog said:
The base price for a new 24-105 out of a kit is now down to about $800-$820 new. Big Value had them new on eBay last week at $750 shipped, but probably grey market. It is a good value at that price. The new 24-70 IS 4.0 should be a great lens once it is available in kits, or at it's base price 3-6 months after release. I have moved to a set of both 2.8 & 4.0 zooms, 5 total, that are going to be just about my only lenses, down from 14+: The 17-40, 24-105, 70-200 4.0, and the 24-70 II and 70-200 II 2.8. (Sorry, my "enter" key does not work, but only at DVX. Really weird!)
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Great lenses, but why double up on some of those zoom ranges? What about using a combination of fast primes and slower zooms? Just picking your brain.
 
anything is fast enough - just add more light.

edit:
in the situation you described in the first post, if your talent is too well lit your background will go black. c300 iso vs noise should carry you through though even stopped down !
 
jagstang said:
Really? I find a zoom a must for talking head work as reframing by moving the camera around is totally distracting for a subject. Also I'd like to see how far back you go with the 100mm macro on the C300, are you in the same building? ;)

The 24-105 is in my option the best choice for talking heads where you're not using two or more cameras. As stated you rarely want to be faster than f4 anyway. The 17-55 vignettes on the C300 so can be a dangerous lens to use if you need to maintain a solid background colour.
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Yes..it is easier if you are after "sterile images".
just use primes
 
jagstang said:
Really? I find a zoom a must for talking head work as reframing by moving the camera around is totally distracting for a subject. Also I'd like to see how far back you go with the 100mm macro on the C300, are you in the same building? ;)

The 24-105 is in my option the best choice for talking heads where you're not using two or more cameras. As stated you rarely want to be faster than f4 anyway. The 17-55 vignettes on the C300 so can be a dangerous lens to use if you need to maintain a solid background colour.
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You shouldn't be so dogmatic. I use both primes & zooms of varying focal length for interviews. 100mm isn't that long, often I'm at 200mm or more other times I might be at 11mm. It really depends on the shot.
 
cowpunk52 said:
Great lenses, but why double up on some of those zoom ranges? What about using a combination of fast primes and slower zooms? Just picking your brain.
Click to expand...

I had a full set of primes that I never used, except for my Tilt/Shift lenses sometimes. I had 14-15 lenses total until last year (I used to have a studio.)


For example, I had an 85 1.2 that I bought new for 8 years, and I only used it once or twice, etc. What drove me to sell them was realizing that the new Version II 2.8 zooms are as good as most primes, or better in some cases. This is from Roger Cicala's review of the 24-70 II at Lensrentals:

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/09/canon-24-70-f2-8-ii-resolution-tests

"This is short, sweet, and simple. The resolution absolutely, positively kicks butt and takes names. It is way better than the lens it replaces. It’s better at 70mm than the best Canon zoom I know of, the 70-200 f/2.8 IS II. It’s even better at 24mm than the sharpest 24mm prime we have, the Canon 24 TS-E. In the center, in the corners, it doesn’t care. We only had 5 copies to test, but they were all very similar with little copy-to-copy variation."


Even with the Version I of the 24-70, I loved the lens and used it all of the time, for almost 85% of my work. I keep the 4.0 zooms for a lighter kit - I have chronic pain in both arms, hands, neck, & shoulder. Not sure if I would still keep all 3 of the 4.0 otherwise?


I did forget to add that I have the Canon 40 mm STM and 18-135 STM for use on a T4i. Those are useful in "camcorder" mode with the silent focusing. I understand they are supposed to enable the use of the STM's on the C300 via firmware in the spring. I would assume they would also release some additional, higher end lenses if STM is going to be a core part of their video lineup.


The lens reduction was partly driven by adding up the current value of my kit and realizing how much I had invested. My target is to get it down to about $25K total, from about $40K now. But once I started I really liked the idea of simplifying everything too. (I am not working much right now, off on disability. But I am trying to find a partner to do the physical end, hope to start a new studio in the spring.).)


Best, Michael
 
I own new 24-70 f2.8 mark2

1. It is not as sharp as my manual Zeiss lenses.
2. When you zoom in to 70mm you loose 1/2 stop of light.
3. It does not have the same long throw focus like Zeiss primes.
4. It is great photography zoom.
 
While not on your list, my first choice for talking head interviews is my old Cooke 20-100mm zoom. I find that changing lenses or moving the camera during an interview to be a killjoy and distracting.
 
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