zoom or prime lens ?

Randall_Oelerich

Randall_Oelerich

Veteran
I know the obvious answer is prime lenses (fixed focal length) are best for use with an adapter like a Letus. But, if I were to go with a zoom, like a 35-105mm or 28-85mm, what speed (F stop) should I look at as a maximum when shopping for such a zoom lens? What have those of you using a Letus or other adapter with a zoom lens found works as far as F stop aperature rating on such a lens? In the immediate very short term I would be using the Letus with my Canon VIXIA HF100 (burrito camcorder), but I soon should be buying a Canon XH-A1 for use with the Letus Extreme. Any thoughts or advice or warnings greatly appreciated.
-randall
 
I had to stay at <= f4.0 when using my Letus - otherwise the groundglass pattern showed up in the footage. This is the main reason I sold it and want to get rotating adapter next. I used to use Canon FD zooms - all of them were f3.5 and they did a good job. However, I would strongly recommend getting fast primes as well. They will save you a lot of money spent on lighing and allow for extremely shallow depth of field which can be an important means of artistic expression in narrative work (not at all times, of course - many adapter newbies tend to exaggerate this)
 
Thanks Trez. Makes me think more of just going with fast primes. I will see what others say here before deciding, but I know an f1.8 or f2 would allow for very shallow DOF, and it sounds like zoom lenses would drop that to f3 or f4 and thus risk less shallow DOF, grainy ground glass starting to enter into the picture (literally, LOL). Sounds like no matter what, a set of primes is advised.

trez said:
I had to stay at <= f4.0 when using my Letus - otherwise the groundglass pattern showed up in the footage. This is the main reason I sold it and want to get rotating adapter next. I used to use Canon FD zooms - all of them were f3.5 and they did a good job. However, I would strongly recommend getting fast primes as well. They will save you a lot of money spent on lighing and allow for extremely shallow depth of field which can be an important means of artistic expression in narrative work (not at all times, of course - many adapter newbies tend to exaggerate this)
Click to expand...
 
Well, I didn't mean that, actually. Zooms allows you to work much faster. I love zooms and use them a lot, particularly for outdoor shots, when I usually don't want extremely shallow DOF then (unless it serves the script and the story). As someone pointed out, it is natural because the pupils close down in bright light resulting in greater DOF - very interesting remark! Also, I get too excited while shooting outdoor and sometimes don't care about stuff (where the hell is that f***k lens cup... nevermind), so I really prefer to change lenses as seldom as it gets. You probably won't need f-stops lower than 4.0 very often, anyway. So, the zooms will do the job! And they save time, too (even more if you have mattebox and followfocus).
I have two zooms at the moment - 35-105 f3.5 and 80-200 L f4.0. Both are sharp, but there is some distortion (easy to fix in post, but I've never done this). I wanna get 20-35 L (or aspherical) f3.5 soon. These will cover most focal lengths.
I especially like long zooms. They allow for easier framing - it is hard to compose a good frame with long primes as you need to walk a lot to get right proportions (unless you can afford to crop in post). Much easier with wide primes.
But.... fast primes pay off when you need to rent the lights... and pay for it!
 
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