Lenses for Low Budget Film

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ivanacsar

New member
Hello. We´d like to ask for advice as we are making a 90 minute film however we are very new to the game. We are working with a very low budget. We know how unrealistic this may sound but we are dedicated to our project. We have decided to purchase the GH2 (and hack it). We are wondering if anyone has any tips on lenses, in general and particularly for low light and interiors. We are tossing up several options: buying the 14-42mm kit lens and complementing it with, for example, Canon FD 24 mm f/2.8 (the 50mm is too long for our purposes) or Nikon 35 mm f/2. Our main question there is whether the f/2.8 is going to be fast enough if we are shooting interiors with low light (a room with windows but no direct sunlight, for example)? My aunt has also offered to sell us a Vivitar 28-85mm f/2.8-3.8 and in that case we wouldn´t buy the 14-42mm. However, this lens is made by Kiron and we have read that perhaps its of a lower quality. We are also worried that if we use the Vivitar with a Canon or Nikon lens that you will be able to notice two different aesthetics. Is this the case with video? Thank you very much in advance.
 
If I had to choose just two lenses for a project, I think right now my money would be on the Rokinon/Samyang 35mm 1.4, and the Panasonic 20mm 1.7 "Pancake" (I shot an entire short with it for a 54 hour film contest this weekend, and loved it). Using 3x with the Samyang would bring you up to a decent focal length for close ups. (It's a $500 lens though), but the 20mm can be rented for around $100/month. The 24mm 2.8 FD is a great little lens, and with proper lighting, it'll work well for you.

Since you're on a budget, why not go with the 50mm 1.8 Nikkor AIS, and rent the 20mm Pancake for a month, which would run you around $180-210 total. I know you say the 50 is too long, but I think you'll find having something a bit longer will prove a good idea.
 
The 14-42 is useless for interiors/lowlight.

Consider these:

Noktor 12mm 1.6 $499
Pancake 20mm 1.7 $350
Canon FD 50mm 1.4 with adapter $99 + $20 on ebay

You really should get a 50mm, it's cheap and great for CUs.
2.8 is too slow, you want 1.8 or lower.
Cutting between different types of lenses should be fine, eg. pancake and FDs. You can also soften and color correct in post to match.
 
f/2.8 is fast enough for interior work, but I would be sure to have a tripod or video-monopod on hand.

If you can find it, I would recommend buying the 14-45mm kit lens, which is a sharper lens than the current 14-42mm kit lens. ( it may cost $100 more, but it's much sharper on the longer focal lengths )

BTW, Kiron is actually a very good brand, but I would not replace the Panasonic kit lens with it. A 28-85mm Kiron lens would be a good addition to the kit lens. ( the kit lens has very useful image stabilization, and is very sharp despite being quite a slow lens )
 
Thank you for all of your replies. We like the option of the Pancake and the 14-45 mm kit lens. We´ll keep the Canon FD 50 mm in mind as everyone raves about it however our problem is related to the small space in which we´ll be working. We have also found a Pentax C Mount 8-48 mm that looks good. Does anyone know if there would be compatibility issues with the GH2? A couple of other options that we have found are: a few SLR magic, Konica Hexanon 40mm 1.8 and Vivitar 24mm 2.0. Any thoughts would be very much appreciated. Also, if there are any Melbourne users, does anyone know a good place to rent lenses? Thank you again.
 
Just wondering... You are taking an effort to figure out what lens you are getting, do you have the rest of the gear needed to make a viable 90 minute movie, such as lights, audio gear, camera support, and the like?
 
The Vivitar 24mm f/2.0 would be a great "standard" lens, and is plenty fast enough for available light shooting.

The Pentax C mount might not cover the full M4/3 sensor, so you might end up using this with the GH-2's ETC mode ( 2.6x magnification ).

Konica 40mm f/1.8 would also be a good lens, though I guess you have to decide how many different lens adapters you want to use. ( or buy an adapter for each lens and just leave it on )
 
David W. Jones said:
Just wondering... You are taking an effort to figure out what lens you are getting, do you have the rest of the gear needed to make a viable 90 minute movie, such as lights, audio gear, camera support, and the like?
Click to expand...

Yes we are also currently researching all of the other gear. We wanted to ask specifically for lenses in this section of the forum. Also, the camera and the lens are first on the shopping list.
 
ivanacsar said:
Yes we are also currently researching all of the other gear. We wanted to ask specifically for lenses in this section of the forum. Also, the camera and the lens are first on the shopping list.
Click to expand...

If you're investing in the look of your film, I think lights should be your top priority. The kit lens is sharp enough when well exposed, and it can be bad practice to just fall back on exposing with fast glass instead of a crafted look, especially if you're getting into features. That'll also save you from blowing too much money in a direction you may not be comfortable with later.
 
If you're really low budget; a couple of homemade 'china balls', (a decent, say 100 watt lamp and socket fixture in a paper lantern), a few yellow work lights and or clamp lights, if artfully used, can be helpful in both adding to the base level of light so you can use slower lenses and can add to dramatic effect. However, a big part of what you lose by going that cheap is controlling the light.

And if you are going to use just practicals, i.e. existing table lamps, I'd say f2 or faster is a good way to go. I have a Canon fd 50mm f1.8 lens and it really didn't get sharp until f2.2. Some lenses get soft wide open, so keep that in mind.
 
Sorry for the delay in reply. We have bought the vivitar 24mm f/2.0 and will get the kit lens 14-45mm. We´ll see how we go with these for now. It´ll be a process of trial and error, we´re arming our patience with ourselves. We might also look into hiring the pancake for a week to shoot the scenes with the lowest light (and to get a feel for it). Thank you so much for the lighting tips, our next step is to look further into lighting and audio and its always great to have a cheap home made option under our sleeves.
 
"I think right now my money would be on the Rokinon/Samyang 35mm 1.4..." Thinking about picking up this lens. I have the GH2 and my partner a 7D. Can we swap this lens between cameras? Which adapter for my cam? Thanks
 
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