Which is your favorite lens for interviews?

V

videoshot

Active member
I was wondering what is/are your best/favorite lens for interviews shots? I have the FS-100 lens kit but it's not best in low light situation and for shallow depth of field and got the Novoflex for Nikon mount and got myself the Tokina 11-16 for wide angles shots and i have ordered more than two month ago the SEL24F18Z 24mm f/1.8 and still waiting for it to arrive (my supplier keep pushing date arrival every week!!!)
what would you recommend for another lens for interviews (not only)? got a budget of €500 to €700, not Canon lens, E mount or Nikon mount or maybe Sony mount (will get the Sony LA-EA2 adapter)
Thanks:thumbsup:
Samer
 
Hey, considering the mount and budget, I'd go for a Zeiss 50 1.4, personally I'll use either 35, 50 or 85, depending on location or what I want. I heard the Rokinon 85 1.4's optics are good, but have not used it myself. I also use my 70-200 quite a bit for a second angle.

Just my two cents, good luck!
 
thanks Vladi, Zeiss 50 1.4 looks good choice, i just googled that and found a cheap one with Nikon mount...looks interesting, good price also, i will certainly consider on purchasing one of these..Zeiss is a great glass...was considering also one of these: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/36977-USA/Nikon_1433_Normal_50mm_f_1_4_AIS.html or maybe this one: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/818649-REG/Sony_SEL50F18_50mm_f_1_8_Telephoto_Lens.html
there are so many choices out there...any other thoughts?:smile:
 
hey Vladi, just saw some video on your Vimeo page,great stuff..which slider do you have?..i was thinking about the Stealth slider from Kessler,i already have Dana Dolly and i use it with my PMW-350 but now i need something easy to set up (with a tripod) for the FS-100.
regards
Samer
 
That 50mm Nikkor looks nice, good price too. I have three sliders, Kessler Pocket Dolly, Konova & a 5' K2. But if I had to buy again, I'd probably go with Cinevate's Atlas 10 FLT, I used it and its the best, very smooth and solid.
 
I personnaly use the Rokinon 35 and 85 a lot for interview. 24 is a bit on the wide side for interviews IMO but can definetly be used. A 50 is also handy and easy to find in Nikon mount and even in the e mount now.
 
I use either my Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 or my Zeiss 50/85mm f/1.4 depending on
how far away I am from the subject and how far I can actually get. Have to
say Nikon glass is much sharper than I expected very surprised by how
much I'm digging that 80-200 and also the 17-55.
 
Zeiss might be overkill for the 1920x1080 resolution. I'm sure it's built like a tank and has wonderful ergonomics, but it's a budget buster for a single lens. Here is the 'cheapskate' route I took.
40mm f1.8 Konica (thin, sharp, fast, and dirt cheap), 50mm 1.8 Nikon AI-S, and an 85mm f1.4 from Samyang/Bower. These three should get you great results anywhere from 5' to 15' from camera and will let you shoot with the lowest of light conditions. The added bonus is that you can roll in with lower wattage lights and still capture lots of ambient background lights. I paid around $400 for all three lenses. Only the 85mm was a new (full price) purchase. When travelling light, I'll go with a 28-50mm f2.8 (mine is a Sigma w/Nikon mount).
 
I will disagree on the overkill portion with respect to other features these lenses
bring. Nine aperture blades which is not common on all lenses mentioned so far
and other characteristics that make them desirable over others.

Now with sharpness it's always good to start with a lens that isn't
soft. Regardless of 720 or 1080. It really does help with the overall
finished and final image. Currently on a sharpness kick actually. However
it's still not 100% biased as it's generally appealing for most projects
to not be soft.

It's perhaps sometimes less noticeable at times perhaps but with
certain applications these lens 'characteristics' can be desirable and
sometimes sell what you are trying to drive home.

With that said I would love to adapt a 100 year old lens to my FS100
for fun. There was an impressive video doing just this albiet on a
different camera not the FS100. Was quite impressive...
 
Canon FD 50mm f1.4, cant be beat for price and look overall, you can pick one up for about 50 bucks. I am hanging out to try some Sony Alpha lenses though.
 
thank you guys,that's the beauty of the FS-100,lot's of options out there...i have to pick one as soon as possible,maybe a good 85mm used lens or a new 50mm,...must say it was easier with the PMW-350 and B4 mount !!!
 
When doing a sit down interview with a single camera I prefer to use a zoom lens so I can change up the framing. My go to in this situation is my Cooke 20-100.
 
I think kit lens would be great if it wasn't so damn slow!!!:Drogar-Mad(DBG):
David,..am i wrong or your lens (Cooke 20-100) have same price of the FS-100?!
 
My Lomo 75mm 2.2 has pretty much been my go to, but I recently purchased a 150mm Lomo, which will come in handy when I'm shooting interviews with ugly backgrounds that I want to drop off.
 
Sigma primes are a good alternative. 20mm f1.8 30mm f1.4 and for reading script, 50mm f1.4 . Price is right. The 30mm however will only work on aps-c. I find my 20mm and 50mm on my body more than anything.
 
The Rokinon 85mm f 1.4 is pretty good and affordable.
Keep in mind that shooting in low f stop for interview is not always a good idea.
you will probably want to be in the f4 when shooting interview since people tend to move while talking.
 
Nostalgic said:
..when shooting interview since people tend to move while talking.
Click to expand...

Thats the fun of it - shoot open and watch like a hawk to keep them sharp - great fun one someone is droning on about their latest corporate initiative

Seriously that why Im cool with my 3.5 lens which I do indeed shoot at 4

Itys interesting that noone else is mentioning zooms, Im a fan of going for some varied framing (trying to reframe in a moment which will not be in the edit)

S
 
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