Lens for mainstream music videos with 5d??

[kataani]

Hi there,
I'm a music video director not a DOP.....so definitely not an expert on Lens etc.

Since they've added 24 p now, I've decided to buy 5D instead of 7D (with shoulder mount and other goodies).

My Lens choice for the 7D set up was.........(Budget is USD$2000- $2500)
1. Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8 ATX
2. Tamron AF17-50mm F2.8 XR Di-II
3. Sigma APO 50-150mm F/2.8 II EX DC HSM

and one cheap Prime Canon EF 50mm f1.8 or Nikon 50mm f1.8

I thought those lenses covered the whole range for me.

Now I'm getting 5D.....FULL FRAME censor. The above mentioned lens are basically for APS-C sized sensor.
What Lenses should I get now?? Please advise me keeping in mind the budget and
application.
Your help will be greatly appreciated.
I'm open to using Nikkon lens (I'd rather prefer).

Thanks,
Regards,
Pete

 

[derekhillier]

If you have no budget and cant go for canon L series with IS then I would go for nikon primes as these will have focus stops that will help with what ever follow focus you use, I'm not a great fan of zooms they make you lazy as a cameraman and the image quality is never as good as primes also they are very heavy.
Should be able to get nikon primes on ebay really cheap.

Derek

 

[egproductions]

If you have no budget and cant go for canon L series with IS then I would go for nikon primes as these will have focus stops that will help with what ever follow focus you use, I'm not a great fan of zooms they make you lazy as a cameraman and the image quality is never as good as primes also they are very heavy.
Should be able to get nikon primes on ebay really cheap.

Derek

Why would you intentionally go for lenses that will disable electronic aperture or focus control and would have to get an adapter for? Don't you want the ability to have lenses for still photography also? Having the autofocus option is even useful in video if you want to do a quick AF without magnyfying your image.

Canon L series lenses are not directly related to sharpness. Some of the sharpest Canon lenses are non L series like the 50 1.8, 1.4 or 100mm macro 2.8.

Go with primes if you can, they will be the cheapest and sharpest option. If you want a zoom lens, then the more you pay the better quality optics you will get but not even $5,000 will make as big of a difference than shooting with a lenses sharp fstops and shooting with an ISO that will give you optimal dynamic range out of the cameras sensor.

 

[Lee Wilson]

Hi there,
I'm a music video director not a DOP.....so definitely not an expert on Lens etc.

Since they've added 24 p now, I've decided to buy 5D instead of 7D (with shoulder mount and other goodies).

My Lens choice for the 7D set up was.........(Budget is USD$2000- $2500)
1. Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8 ATX
2. Tamron AF17-50mm F2.8 XR Di-II
3. Sigma APO 50-150mm F/2.8 II EX DC HSM

and one cheap Prime Canon EF 50mm f1.8 or Nikon 50mm f1.8

I thought those lenses covered the whole range for me.

Now I'm getting 5D.....FULL FRAME censor. The above mentioned lens are basically for APS-C sized sensor.

Yeah, them there lens will not work with the 5D (well they will 'work' but vignette like a polo mint). . . . .

. . . . except for the the Canon EF 50mm, which will work really well.

What Lenses should I get now?? Please advise me keeping in mind the budget and
application.

If you do not have the budget, get a single good quality zoom that covers what you need. The 'Prime, Prime, Prime . . .' thing turns up in every industry, there is always a need to establish a black arts angle, sure there are great primes out there, but the qualitative difference with a really good zoom is vanishingly small if there at all when we are dealing with video (in DSLR terms a low resolution 2k image) - I have a (albeit expensive) nikon 80-200 - f/2.8 that makes some of my primes look very very average.

Outside of a good zoom . . . . . recommendations as all time mo' fo' quality winners . . .


Nikon f/1.8 50mm . . . . (I have 5 x 50mm lenses, this one is the lightest sharpest and easiest to use, very smooth focus + cheapest!)

Sigma EX 50mm Macro f/2.8 (Macro + brilliant colour)

Samyang 85 f/1.4 (great, sharp, great, cheap, super cheap, super sharp, sharper than my £600 nikon + great + sharp + build quality like a super expensive 1960's nikon high end lens.)

 

[kataani]

Thanks a lot for your kind replies ....derekhillier, egproductions and Lee Wilson.

We usually use a lot of wide angle shots in music videos. So I definitely need one Ultra-wide lens as well.

Here is my new list of Lenses within $2,500 budget.........

1. Sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 HSM
2. Canon 50mm 1.8
3. Samyang 85mm 1.4
4. Canon 100mm 2.8

and two zoom Lenses
5. Canon EF 28-135 mm 3.5-5.6 IS USM
6. Canon EF 100-300 mm 4.5-5.6 USM
(I know they are not Pro quality but I've no other choice with this budget)

I've one question about Canon 100mm...........There are three different kinds available
(1) Canon EF 100mm 2.8 L IS USM Macro for $879
(2) Canon EF 100mm 2.8 USM Macro for $ 500
(3) Canon EF 100 2.0 USM for $ 390

Question: Is there a huge difference in terms of Quality (of pictures) taken with 100mm 2.8 L IS from 100MM 2.8 USM? and also 100mm 2.0?
Which one suits my Video needs more and why?
Can I get away with just 100mm 2.8 or should I get 100mm L IS?

Is Image Stablization really important even in Video??

Thanks in advance,
Regards,
Pete

 

[squig]

I've heard good things about the Samyang, they have a 14mm prime coming out next month.

The problem with zooms is they tend to breathe more than primes making them useless for focus pulling. I recently picked up a nikon 28-105mm zoom for $100 but it breathes a lot and is unusable. Until I can find a zoom that doesn't breathe I'll stick with my nikkor primes.

 

[Lee Wilson]

I've heard good things about the Samyang, they have a 14mm prime coming out next month.

The problem with zooms is they tend to breathe more than primes making them useless for focus pulling. I recently picked up a nikon 28-105mm zoom for $100 but it breathes a lot and is unusable. Until I can find a zoom that doesn't breathe I'll stick with my nikkor primes.

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8.

 

[Lee Wilson]

We usually use a lot of wide angle shots in music videos. So I definitely need one Ultra-wide lens as well.

Well . . . . everything is a bit wide(r) on a full frame sensor, if you are used to 'normal' cameras, moving to a full frame sensor basically makes your 50mm look like what a 28mm would look like on a Nikon/Canon crop sensor. . . .

5. Canon EF 28-135 mm 3.5-5.6 IS USM
6. Canon EF 100-300 mm 4.5-5.6 USM
(I know they are not Pro quality but I've no other choice with this budget)

They can still produce pro quality results, video (rather than stills) is much less demanding of lenses, good lenses are better up to a point, remember you are only shooting on a 2MP camera when shooting video, less than the resolution of the stills camera on your mobile phone.

I've one question about Canon 100mm...........There are three different kinds available
(1) Canon EF 100mm 2.8 L IS USM Macro for $879
(2) Canon EF 100mm 2.8 USM Macro for $ 500
(3) Canon EF 100 2.0 USM for $ 390

Question: Is there a huge difference in terms of Quality (of pictures) taken with 100mm 2.8 L IS from 100MM 2.8 USM? and also 100mm 2.0?
Which one suits my Video needs more and why?
Can I get away with just 100mm 2.8 or should I get 100mm L IS?

USM = very quiet focusing, not of any real interest to folk shooting footage, having a Macro facility is really useful for close ups, and IS is very useful.

Or if you want to save some cash get a x2 teleconverter for very very little money - which will give you:

Canon 50mm f/1.8 (and with the teleconverter) 100mm f/3.5
Samyang 85mm 1.4 (and with the teleconverter) 170mm f/2.8

(you would need to get the Samyang in a Nikon mount to use the TC on both or get a couple, one in each mount, I have a really good Nikon x2 TC I got secondhand for $40).

Is Image Stablization really important even in Video??

Yes !! Especially for longer focal lengths, IS works amazingly well with video.

click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKAjKfF8OS4


. . . .

 

[kataani]

thanks a lot folks.