Zoom lens suggestions? Need a docu lens

Michael Solomon

Michael Solomon

Well-known member
Hey guys,

So I got staffed to DP a documentary. To preface, I've almost entirely shot narrative up until this point so it's a bit of a departure from my norm.

With that said, I currently own an all nikon mount prime set utilizing the the novoflex adapter.

After shooting twice in the field for the documentary, I'm learning that primes are not conducive at all to this style of shooting. With that said.... I know that the 18-200 stock lens would probably be my best bet.... but I'm looking for something cheaper as I can't afford the $800 price tag at the moment. Having something that can maintain f/4 or faster would also be nice but a deal breaker.

So what I'm looking for is a lens that:
1) comes in around ~$4-500
2) is available in Nikon mount
3) Offers zoom somewhere in the neighborhood of 20mm-100mm (rough guideline, could be smaller or greater range)
4) Won't have me pulling my hair out

I know I'm probably looking at off-brand which is something I'm not very familiar with. So I figured I would turn to you guys for help
 
A cheap option could be the 35-105mm f3.5 canon FD lens. A good reliable lens, good quality, nice focal length and good aperture. Also cheap, you can grab one from around 80-90 from the US, and a cheap dumb lens adapter for FD will only cost 20 bucks.
 
The Tamron 28-70 f2.8 is in your price range and a decent alternative. Also the Sigma 17-35 f2.8 is a wider and affordable lens of decent quality.
 
i recently got a Tokina/Angenieux 28-70 t2.6/2.8 not alot of range there, but dirt cheap ($200 for mine on Craigs list) given it's roots as cine lens - internal focus / zoom & fits behind a MB properly, cuts well with my Zeiss 24-70 & 16-35... both are miles away from my Nikon primes in terms of color rendition, but easly correctable.

We are looking at using our FS for a "C" cam on a doco (we own a pair of EX's already), and was thinking of a Sigma 18-200 in Nikon mount, not great glass, not great build, not great anything... but good enough, and again dirt cheap (B&H has em new for $300) and would likely live on the camera 99% of the time spent shooting doco.

and looking at my local graigslist this morning there's;
a Sony A350 with a 18-70 + 75-300, entire lot's asking price is $350.
an Minolta 28-80 for $30.
a Sigma 35-70 (f2.8/4) in Nikon mount for $25
a Vivitar 70-210 f3.5 A mount for $50
a Minolta 50/t1.8 for $25 (comes with a Minolta film body)

I might chose the Minolta 28-80, Vivitar 70-210 & Minolta 50/f1.8 for a total of $110.... and search for the pancake 16mm to fill in the wide end.

Or the package deal with the A350/18-70/70-300 for $350 all up?


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The Tamron 17-50 2.8 is a very good value. The Tamron 18-200 is slow, but depending upon your shooting conditions, might be a very versatile lens.
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys!

David W. Jones said:
Hove you considered renting for this shoot?
Click to expand...
I did, but there's probably going to be around 30-50 more shoot dates so renting isn't really practical. In theory, I should pony up and just buy the proper lens, but I don't really plan on shooting much documentary stuff beyond this one. Guess I can always buy and then resell and just chalk up the loss to "rental costs"
 
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