Total Beginner

Awesome...I think my biggest issue previously was that I was getting lens advice from photographers...not video people...

Would a variable f-stop have any practical application other than price point??
 
Get a Nikon 50mm f1.4. Great lens, cheap ($80 -100) on ebay and a Nikon to EOS adapter ($10)

Best bang for buck.
 
ArtsnFartsNCrafts said:
Next question: for a first lens: prime or zoom? And why (other than the obvious reasons)
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The answer to the question, from my perspective, greatly depends on the person asking. For someone familiar with either SLR cameras, or interchangle lens video cameras, I usually recommend starting with a basic set of primes.

For new shooters, or those new to interchangeable lens cameras, I recommend 2-3 zooms to start covering the 18-300mm range. This will allow you to cover nearly any scenario with just a couple of lenses.

Once you find out your "style" of lensing, and what focal lengths you tend to shoot at most often, buy fast primes in those lengths. And fill in as you are able. Sooner or later, you'll shoot something where you NEED F2.0 or faster, and you'll be darn glad to have them at your disposal.
 
any advantages or disadvantages to getting the canon 50mm 1.4 over the nikon? Or is it, once again, a pepsi/coke thing?

I would imagine getting the canon would save me having to get an adaptor...
 
PerroneFord said:
4. The smaller the sensor, all else being equal, the more DOF you will have.
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Wrong. And I hear this a ton.

Your depth of field will not change because of the size of the sensor. If the lens is designed to project a smaller image circle, then yes, the DOF will change. However, an 85 f1.8 on a 7d and a 5d will produce the same DOF and out of focus areas. Bokeh will look the same as well. You will just have the cropped image visible.

Now if you move the camera back to frame the image the same as on the 5d, you are increasing distance to the subject, focusing closer to infinity, and increasing your DOF. However, that is not because of the sensor, it's because of how you chose to frame the image/subject.
 
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So I visited my dad tonight who pulled his old bell and Howell camera out...attached to it was a canon 50mm 1.8....probably from the late 70s or early 80s...it's older, few scratches..could use a cleaning..aperture still seemed to work just fine...any way to mount this on the 7d?? Would I need an adaptor on a lens that old?
 
ArtsnFartsNCrafts said:
So I visited my dad tonight who pulled his old bell and Howell camera out...attached to it was a canon 50mm 1.8....probably from the late 70s or early 80s...it's older, few scratches..could use a cleaning..aperture still seemed to work just fine...any way to mount this on the 7d?? Would I need an adaptor on a lens that old?
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Most likely it's a 16mm camera. You'll have to find out the model number and google it. But most of the 16mm cameras used C-mount lenses. You can probably find an adapter for it.
 
The old Bell and Howell is most likely a rebadged Canon FD mount SLR. It would not be worthwhile to try to adapt that to a 7D.
 
japollner said:
Wrong. And I hear this a ton.

Your depth of field will not change because of the size of the sensor. If the lens is designed to project a smaller image circle, then yes, the DOF will change.\
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This is an excellent point. And my wording here was very vague. I wasn't talking about putting a lenses on a camera. I meant changing cameras. Such as comparing the 7D to an EX1 or the EX1 to an HVX.
 
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