General L series lens Help

Brandon, have you shot with any other camcorder before your DSLR?

A good starting point for any lens quiver is a quality standard zoom. Something that covers the the area from wide (17mm or 18mm) to standard (50mm), with decent low light ability. Examples of such lenses include the Canon EF-S 17-55, The Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 and the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8.

Once you've shot some stuff with something like this, you'll know whether you want more telephoto reach (eg a 70-200mm f/2.8), more width (check out the Tokina 11-16), better lowlight performance or more sharpness (prime lenses such as the Canon 50mm f/1.4, Sigma 30mm f/1.4).

I wouldn't recommend just going out and buying a bunch of lenses that fill up your budget. You'll end up with lenses you won't use at all, and others that you don't use to their full potential or for their main strengths. Figure out exactly what you need first, borrow or rent it if possible to get a feel for exactly how it'll perform and then purchase accordingly.
 
I also thought about suggesting the tamron 17-50 f/2.8 non-vc: it's relatively cheap, and offers great quality for a zoom

the only problem I have with that approach is that eventually you won't want to use that lens a lot: once I got primes for the most common focal lenghts, the zoom only goes to the camera whenever I'm in a project in which I don't have time to go around changing lenses

plus, it won't work on a full frame body

even so, it's a great lens, it's cheap, and this may be the best way to know what focal lengths you will most likely need (and if you end up not using it, you may resell it afterwards at a very small loss: $100 is a small price to pay for knowing that you're spending your $2000 wisely)



edit:
oh, I forgot!! there's another great reason for going for a zoom like that one (or the 24-70L if you are on full frame): so you already have a lens with autofocus for those occasions when you want to shoot stills
having that very decent modern zoom may allow you to get vintage primes instead of modern lenses, which is a very cheap way to get really amazing glass
a set of vintage leica-R (elmarit 35 + summicron 50 + elmarit 90) with image quality comparable to L primes (some say even better) will run you about $1000 ($1400 if you go for the summilux 50 instead of the summicron)
http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2010/02/06/still-lenses/
http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2010/07/03/leica-r-mount-lenses-for-the-canon-hdslrs/

Leica lenses ordered by f/2.8, then f/4 MTF sharpness, best to worse, with canons for comparison:
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Leica-ElmaritR-90mm-f28-944
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Leica-SummiluxR-50mm-f14-941
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Leica-SummicronR-50mm-f2-940
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Canon-EF-50mm-f14-USM-22
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Leica-ElmaritR-35mm-f28-937
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Canon-EF-50mm-f18-II-24
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Canon-EF-35mm-f20-16
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Leica-SummicronR-35mm-f2-938
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Leica-ElmaritR-180mm-f28-952
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Leica-ElmaritR-28mm-f28-935
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Leica-PC-Super-AngulonR-28mm-f28-936
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Leica-ElmaritR-24mm-f28-934
(and this obviates the fact that the nicest quality of these leitz lenses is not sharpness, which is great, but bokeh, which is amazing)


edit2: as you see, I love my vintage lenses...
 
Last edited:
deltoidjohn said:
Brandon, have you shot with any other camcorder before your DSLR?

A good starting point for any lens quiver is a quality standard zoom. Something that covers the the area from wide (17mm or 18mm) to standard (50mm), with decent low light ability. Examples of such lenses include the Canon EF-S 17-55, The Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 and the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8.

Once you've shot some stuff with something like this, you'll know whether you want more telephoto reach (eg a 70-200mm f/2.8), more width (check out the Tokina 11-16), better lowlight performance or more sharpness (prime lenses such as the Canon 50mm f/1.4, Sigma 30mm f/1.4).

I wouldn't recommend just going out and buying a bunch of lenses that fill up your budget. You'll end up with lenses you won't use at all, and others that you don't use to their full potential or for their main strengths. Figure out exactly what you need first, borrow or rent it if possible to get a feel for exactly how it'll perform and then purchase accordingly.
Click to expand...

I used to shoot with an HVX200a then switched to my Canon T2i. I like prime lenses.
 
NormanBates said:
I also thought about suggesting the tamron 17-50 f/2.8 non-vc: it's relatively cheap, and offers great quality for a zoom

the only problem I have with that approach is that eventually you won't want to use that lens a lot: once I got primes for the most common focal lenghts, the zoom only goes to the camera whenever I'm in a project in which I don't have time to go around changing lenses

plus, it won't work on a full frame body

even so, it's a great lens, it's cheap, and this may be the best way to know what focal lengths you will most likely need (and if you end up not using it, you may resell it afterwards at a very small loss: $100 is a small price to pay for knowing that you're spending your $2000 wisely)



edit:
oh, I forgot!! there's another great reason for going for a zoom like that one (or the 24-70L if you are on full frame): so you already have a lens with autofocus for those occasions when you want to shoot stills
having that very decent modern zoom may allow you to get vintage primes instead of modern lenses, which is a very cheap way to get really amazing glass
a set of vintage leica-R (elmarit 35 + summicron 50 + elmarit 90) with image quality comparable to L primes (some say even better) will run you about $1000 ($1400 if you go for the summilux 50 instead of the summicron)
http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2010/02/06/still-lenses/
http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2010/07/03/leica-r-mount-lenses-for-the-canon-hdslrs/

Leica lenses ordered by f/2.8, then f/4 MTF sharpness, best to worse, with canons for comparison:
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Leica-ElmaritR-90mm-f28-944
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Leica-SummiluxR-50mm-f14-941
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Leica-SummicronR-50mm-f2-940
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Canon-EF-50mm-f14-USM-22
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Leica-ElmaritR-35mm-f28-937
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Canon-EF-50mm-f18-II-24
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Canon-EF-35mm-f20-16
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Leica-SummicronR-35mm-f2-938
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Leica-ElmaritR-180mm-f28-952
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Leica-ElmaritR-28mm-f28-935
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Leica-PC-Super-AngulonR-28mm-f28-936
http://www.photodo.com/lens/Leica-ElmaritR-24mm-f28-934
(and this obviates the fact that the nicest quality of these leitz lenses is not sharpness, which is great, but bokeh, which is amazing)


edit2: as you see, I love my vintage lenses...
Click to expand...

I am on a Canon T2i right now but I would like lenses that can still be used on a 5D, when I do upgrade. I was reading one of the links you posted, so if I were to go to an L series lens get a Zeiss lens instead because its more of a cinema lens?
 
zeiss lenses have long throw focus (the focus ring rotates something like 270º from closest to infinity, instead of 45º), which is closer to what you'd find in cinema lenses, and helps a lot if you have to focus manually
 
brandondull said:
I used to shoot with an HVX200a then switched to my Canon T2i. I like prime lenses.
Click to expand...

Well then, compare the HVX's lens and APS-C Field of view to their 35mm equivelants: The HVX lens starts at a 35mm equivelant of 30mm F.O.V. So that would equall an 18-19mm lens on a t2i. Now you can figure out what focal lenghts and lenses are most useful to you based on how you used to use your HVX - did you always shoot it at full wide? Or were you always near the long end of the zoom (About 250mm on APS-C or 400mm on full frame)? Or maybe somewhere in the middle (100mm on APS-C or maybe 180mm of full-frame) or often around 2x (a 35mm on APS-C or 50mm on full frame)?

Why exactly do you prefer primes? For sharpness? For their wider availability in vintage mounts? For longer focus throw on older lenses? For their faster apertures? If you give us a better idea about how you work and what you are looking for in your equipment, then we will be able to make better recommendations for you!
 
deltoidjohn said:
Why exactly do you prefer primes?
Click to expand...

in my case:
1) nicer images (totally subjective)
2) better bokeh
3) sharper
4) faster

of course, it doesn't hold true for all lenses (I find the canon 50mm f/1.8 II can ruin lots of shots with its awful bokeh, while the 70-200 f/2.8 seems to be a zoom that delivers pretty images with great bokeh)
 
deltoidjohn said:
Well then, compare the HVX's lens and APS-C Field of view to their 35mm equivelants: The HVX lens starts at a 35mm equivelant of 30mm F.O.V. So that would equall an 18-19mm lens on a t2i. Now you can figure out what focal lenghts and lenses are most useful to you based on how you used to use your HVX - did you always shoot it at full wide? Or were you always near the long end of the zoom (About 250mm on APS-C or 400mm on full frame)? Or maybe somewhere in the middle (100mm on APS-C or maybe 180mm of full-frame) or often around 2x (a 35mm on APS-C or 50mm on full frame)?

Why exactly do you prefer primes? For sharpness? For their wider availability in vintage mounts? For longer focus throw on older lenses? For their faster apertures? If you give us a better idea about how you work and what you are looking for in your equipment, then we will be able to make better recommendations for you!
Click to expand...

I like primes because of fixed focal lengths. Since I already have an 8mm and 35mm I am thinking about going with the following Canon lenses: 20mm F/2.8, 24mm F/2.8, 50mm F/1.4, 85mm F/1.8, & if there are any other suggestions let me know!
 
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