Lens route advice for FS700?

hmm.. as I wrote above I would go the Canon route only if you already own a Canon DSLR or at least are planning to buy one.
If I cant throw you of the course an you want to shoot handheld I would prefer the 24-105 with IS over the 24-70

You did not mention what you want to shoot and what's your budget?
Do you want to shoot stills with the FS700? My RX100 is way over the FS700 stills
 
slipstrea808 said:
BUT they are routinely used for:
-Corporate shoots/industrials spots/pharmaceuticals
-Lower end commercials
-Sometimes for spots for the news
-REALITY TV (ewwwwww...)
-Event coverage
-Internet... anythin
Click to expand...
I will mostly shoot mentioned above now (also docos and shorts), in the future something maybe more ambitious.
Clermond said:
You did not mention what you want to shoot and what's your budget?
Click to expand...
At the moment my budget is very low (all money spent on camera) and will be just evolving month by month.
Clermond said:
Do you want to shoot stills with the FS700? My RX100 is way over the FS700 stills
Click to expand...
No, of course not :) But I may buy B-camera in near future and that would be A6000 or A7S and it would be nice to have a lens that could be used on that with AF as well.
I'm not really tied to that Canon route as I said: I haven't invested in anything particular so I am I free to go any route. Would prefer a versitile lens route that would be useful for any camera in the future: so if I will change in the year's time for Canon cameras (or JVC, or Panasonic or whatever) I won't need to sell all of my lenses (which would happen with e-mount lenses).
 
Last edited:
alohype said:
I will probably go Canon route but at the beginning
Click to expand...

Don't necessarily conflate 'Canon route' with 'only lenses MADE by Canon.' There are plenty of fantastic EF mount lenses that are NOT made by Canon. E.g. Sigma 24-105 F4, Tamron 24-70 F2.8 w/ IS, Sigma 50 F1.4, etc. etc. (not to mention the Sigma 18-35 in EF-S mount). Years ago, Canon held a monopoly on quality for EF/EF-S glass, but that's definitely not the case any longer -- particularly if you're on a bit of budget, or need something Canon doesn't offer.

If you absolutely need functional AF + IS do check out some of Sony's E-Mount offerings (e.g. 10-18 F4 w/ IS, 35 F1.8 w/ IS) -- they may not match the optical quality of better Canon/Nikon/Sigma/etc glass, but they can fill a niche one of those with an adapter won't. The 10-18, for example, is really well suited to gimbal shots.
 
I'm a little confused by Slipstrea808's comments that people will ask or expect you to have/use certain lenses. In my experience, I'm the one calling the shots as to what lenses I want to use for each project.

Obviously a lot of people use Canon and Metabones but I jumped from the Canon ship to Nikon glass back when I got the FS700 because I had issues with the Metabones firmware randomly closing my aperture. After that was happening on a shoot, I swore off electronic adapters. Nikon lenses have manual aperture pins that can be adjusted with a "dumb" adapter, regardless of whether or not the lens has a dedicated aperture ring.

Metabones might have better firmware now but with the Nikon adapter, I don't have to cross my fingers.
 
jshbckr said:
I'm a little confused by Slipstrea808's comments that people will ask or expect you to have/use certain lenses. In my experience, I'm the one calling the shots as to what lenses I want to use for each project.

Obviously a lot of people use Canon and Metabones but I jumped from the Canon ship to Nikon glass back when I got the FS700 because I had issues with the Metabones firmware randomly closing my aperture. After that was happening on a shoot, I swore off electronic adapters. Nikon lenses have manual aperture pins that can be adjusted with a "dumb" adapter, regardless of whether or not the lens has a dedicated aperture ring.

Metabones might have better firmware now but with the Nikon adapter, I don't have to cross my fingers.
Click to expand...

Metabones is dicey as lots of people have had problems with them, and they are pretty bad in customer support from many accounts. Though, the three I've had, had worked fine so far with no problems.

I would say Nikon EXCEPT with Metabones and Canon you get IS, which is huge for any type of handheld shooting. When doing a walking shot with IS Canon lenses, it looks much smoother than if I don't use IS (especially on longer focal lengths), and that's a big consideration as your shots will look a lot smoother if you're forced to move around a lot or do handheld.

I would avoid Sony lenses because they only work on Sony cameras. I will say the Auto Focus on Sony lenses can come in real handy though. Canon works on Canon, Sony FS with Metabones, Sony F's with Optitek, RED and Black Magic so they are pretty versatile.

Like I said, Zeiss ZF Nikon Primes and Canon Zooms; but Metabones is kind of a negative because of issues many have had and the company is not exactly responsive.
 
Last edited:
jshbckr said:
I'm a little confused by Slipstrea808's comments that people will ask or expect you to have/use certain lenses. In my experience, I'm the one calling the shots as to what lenses I want to use for each project.
Click to expand...

Understandable! I should clarify. I'm the one calling the shots if I'm the DP. I'm NOT calling the shots if I'm the camera op. So if it is a 2 or 3 or (I've done up to 7) camera shoot and someone says "you have a C300 with Canon lenses?" I can say, "Yes!"

And I get hired! =)

This is a scenario that happens a lot. Reality TV especially. A lot of work I get is based on my camera/lens option. They already have the whole workflow for a project and I need the camera/lens/scenefile combo to match what they are using. It is more common with my C300 setup than my FS700. The FS700 is the B camera usually to an F55 on a multi shoot. OR it is the only camera.

Anything other than that usually just goes to CP.2's, Canon Cine Primes, and then beyond that its usually an Alexa or Red job with all higher end PL glass. That is just me and my experience, though. But people ask me mostly for EF mount L-series lenses when they hire me as a camera op. Hope that clears up where I'm coming from!
 
If you do buy a Metabones, I would suggest going through B&H in the USA and avoid buying directly from Hong Kong Metabones as their service track record has received a number of complaints. Also, I would probably pay for an extended warranty on this product (if possible), since it seems a bit temperamental.
 
Can good photo lens be really good enough for nature documentary, broadcasted on TV. I mean the picture quality, at the end of the day. Or should invest (major investment) in cinema lenses? It is 2-3 year project and in such long and unpredictable scenario rental is no option.

What is the best way to operate photo lens for maximun performance?

I already have Canon 600mm which I intend to use with fs700 and Oddyssey 7q, 24-105L, 17-40mm and metabones adaptor.

Kit lens zoom range 18-200mm is really handy in run'n'gun situation, but is this lens good for 4k filming and later broadcast (in HD)?
 
I have the Canon EF 28-300 IS L USM and im fairly satisfied with it.

Very sharp and gives a great image - compared to other similar lenses in that price range.
 
slipstrea808 said:
Anything other than that usually just goes to CP.2's, Canon Cine Primes, and then beyond that its usually an Alexa or Red job with all higher end PL glass.
Click to expand...
Curious, what glass are you referring to that is higher-end than Canon Cine Primes? I'm genuinely curious as I do not know what what all is out there.
 
Canon Cine primes are available only in EF mount I believe. They are, relatively speaking, inexpensive cinema ready primes. Schneider and Zeiss also make full frame cine primes, available in multiple mounts, in the same neighborhood price wise.

Higher end glass are considered to be Zeiss Master and Ultra primes, Leica Summilux-C, Cooke S5, S4 series to name just a few currently out there right now. Expect to pay $100K-200K plus for a set of primes.

As expensive as cine lenses are, if you bought a set when they first came out, you could have probably paid them off in 2-5 years if you placed them with an active rental house. Same as the Alexa, if you were an early adapter. I suspect the market has changed and the pay off periods can get dicey as there are quite a few options out there with both glass and of course cameras. The days of Zeiss and Cooke dominance are over.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top