Lens Kit for Documentary Style Shooting

H

Heartfelt

Well-known member
I and planning to shoot interviews, narrative and industrial shop footage. I have the opportunity to gear it up with a bit more budget than I am used to and here is what I am thinking for lenses:

Zeiss 15mm 2.8 (pricey) for walking about
Zeiss 25mm 2.0 for interview footage
Zeiss 50mm 1.4 for closeups with nice bokeh

One thing in addition to the image appeal that I like is the long focus action for video work.

They will be on a M43 camera, doubling the focal length. Does this look like a "does most things" kit for the purpose? The other choice is to grab Nikon or Canon lenses, saving money and providing more lenses for more options.

What do you think?
Rob
 
I've never used any of those, but I'd think on an m43 camera you might need something wider than 15mm for walking around, if by 'walking around' you mean handheld shots while moving. With the crop that's like a 30mm, and without image stabilization you'd need some pretty steady hands (or a steadicam setup of some kind) probably. But my hands are pretty shaky, perhaps it won't be a problem for you. I'd try it out before dropping that kind of $$ on a lens if I were you, though.
 
I plan to use a steadicam, shoulder rig and tripod per situational needs. While "obviously" new, what I am after is some wow factor with the optics. That is the draw to Zeiss. I love what I see in the posted examples I have found. So with that said and with you both having a different perspective:

Would you mind sharing more about your approach with regards to lens choice?
 
I'd get the Tokina 11-16 to put the wow factor in the wide shots, then a mid range, and long zoom, as well as a fast fifty.
 
Guess it all depends on what kind of documentary you want to shoot. The earliest cinema verite guys shot with zooms (often the canon 8-64mm) for a reason. I love the way some of my old, manual primes look on the Gh2, but frequently I don't want my subjects to know I'm going in for a close up--would ruin the moment. That said, there are many styles of documentary that don't require an unobtrusive camera.
 
As far as style, to my unaware brain, documentary is that. But, from the areas of which I am expert, I realize how that sounds and I apologize for the lack of depth, here.

I will be shooting webisodes in a documentary style, similar to this:
 
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Thanks Rob,

Based on the two examples you showed us, I'd use a fast, constant aperture, mid-range zoom. Something like the Red Pro Zoom 17-50 comes to mind, coupled with a follow focus unit. Of course you can substitute a Nikon 14-24, just make sure whatever you get is par-focal (in other words, it stays in focus as you zoom in or out).
 
bill totolo said:
Thanks Rob,

Based on the two examples you showed us, I'd use a fast, constant aperture, mid-range zoom. Something like the Red Pro Zoom 17-50 comes to mind, coupled with a follow focus unit. Of course you can substitute a Nikon 14-24, just make sure whatever you get is par-focal (in other words, it stays in focus as you zoom in or out).
Click to expand...

Thanks. The Nikon looks like a winner with the rep it has.
 
Thanks guys for all the replies. I have been chewing on things and thinking.

Here is what I expect in terms of shot selection:
  • Creative shots of business unit building and signage
  • Creative and typical shots of people operating industrial equipment and welding
  • Shots of story lead chatting about business as they walk "somewhere"
  • Shots of story lead chatting about business while at desk or seated elsewhere
  • General b-roll shots of office environment, industrial shop (wide)
  • Shots of vendor (my company) installing equipment
  • Shots of conference room chats

On conference room and interview shots with story lead, I want to set up two cams,
the second being set and forget.​

With these things in mind, I don't think I want to have any longer lenses. I am already on a crop factor of two and if I had to do something, I can use digital zoom for emergency or whip out the dreaded kit lens.

It seems like the focal lengths that are popular are 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm. With the Nikon 14-24 being a 28-48 for me, I am considering grabbing a 35mm (70) and perhaps a 20ishmm and a 25mm (50). The redundancy give me something similar for the second camera.

Does this sound logical?
 
Heartfelt said:
As far as style, to my unaware brain, documentary is that. But, from the areas of which I am expert, I realize how that sounds and I apologize for the lack of depth, here.

I will be shooting webisodes in a documentary style, similar to this:
Click to expand...
I like the flow of both of these videos. I'd love to be able to shoot stuff like that. My only observation was it was a bit too much hand shake for me (but few others probably notice it).
 
I think I saw in one of their videos about "them", that they use a camcorder with a shotgun and no shoulder rig or tripod.
 
Heartfelt said:
As far as style, to my unaware brain, documentary is that. But, from the areas of which I am expert, I realize how that sounds and I apologize for the lack of depth, here.

I will be shooting webisodes in a documentary style, similar to this:
Click to expand...

I think you're going to give your audience a headache if you shoot in this style for anything longer than a couple of minutes. Just my $.02.

As for lenses, I think you'll find that even an 85mm on an m43 is a bit short for a CU setup in interviews.
 
Hi Steve,
thanks for the reply. Can you explain what you mean by "in this style"? I ask for learning sake.

You think 170 is short for "CU"? I assume you mean close up? (just being clear for my sake).

Thanks for sharing anything further that you can.
rob
 
As for lens focal length, the question is how close do you want the camera? The answer can depend on the setting, but if you have room it's usually better to get the CU camera out of the way of the interviewer, other camera, light stands, boom stands, etc. Also, the crop factor thing is a bit of a sticky widget. We base these factors on a 35mm still frame, which has a different aspect ratio (3:2) than HD (16:9). IMHO it's not really a 2x factor on this sensor, more like 1.7 or so.
 
Just watched Vortex Media's "How to setup and shoot awesome interviews with LED Lights".

They also talk about setting up the shot and in large rooms like to have the camera 16-18' away. Yikes! They are using camcorders so I am sure that is part of the reason... somehow. I assume they are creating a shallow DoF by zooming in.

I expect to try and have the camera between 5-10' away. After thinking this through more, watching a training video and using my FD50mm on my home rig last week, I think one lens I purchase will need to cover 50mm or greater to hit this distance. Is there a way to be sure? I haven't seen a tool to calculate this specifically.

I will need to stay with primes as I will not have help with the shoots. It will be a one man show so I will need to to setup with a monitor in front of my seated position, set DoF shallow but deep enough to handle "some" movement in the chair and leave it, watching the monitor for problems.

I will likely create some movement in editing with slight zooms as to not kill the quality.
 
After watching that same video I bought a 50-135mm f3.5 Rokkor MD for my GH2. At 8-10', it provides head-and-shoulders at 50mm, and hairline to just below of chin at 135mm. Nice lens by the way - much sharper than the 28-85mm Rokkor, which I also tried.

I have a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 for wider shots.
 
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