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Lenses for beginners

J

jorge krausch

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Hello

Im about the acquire a Red Epic kit. everything but the lenses and cards for now...
Id like to know if you only had 1000 pounds (UK) to spend on lenses. (canon mount) which lenses do you recommend to at least get started?
Used ones is OK. Id like to do DP work with my RED Epic X in London, starting with schools and small projects etc. Camera and lenses will come included in my cost of DP.

What lenses do you recommend?

Many thanks for sharing your wisdom. ;)

George
 
Old Nikkor lenses and buy the ef adapter I think are some of the best starting lenses for price/quality. After that it's really tricky, if you don't have a background in lenses. For someone coming from a different field and getting RED, i'd recommend the "Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Zoom Lens". There are huge differences in quality of the canon lenses, make sure you get the ones with the "red" ring around them.
 
Yeah the L-series from canon is great. Might wanna check out some of Rokinon/Bower/Samyang offerings in their prime cine lenes
 
Hi George, As other recommended manual lenses are a good idea. If you go with "electronic" lenses from Canon make sure you outfit them with focus gears and invest in a follow focus unit. That will get you started in the right direction.

A 24mm or 25mm is pretty much a must have for most of us who shoot on Red. That's a good first focal length, or like Patrick said the 24-70mm f/2.8L II is good way to really get going. Then build wider and longer off that. For narrative work many folks don't shoot past 85mm or 135mm and don't shoot wider than 18mm. That's just an observation on what I see rental houses out here kit out consistently and what other shooter use. However, at some point you'll want to explore lengths past those ends to figure out what you can do with them and what looks they produce.
 
THe Samyang/Rokinon lenses are a good buy for primes. THe new 24-70 II looks pretty awesome. As soft as the original is, I find I use that lens the most, followed by my Rokinon 35mm f1.4.

For interviews the 70-200 F2.8 II is the go to lens.
 
Max Nguyen said:
Reduser, Björn Benckert pointed out great low cost cine style Canon mount lenses from Rokinon that look pretty good for the price. Manual focus only. Looks like a great starter kit. 24mm,35mm,85mm at T1.5. Ultra wides are a bit slower.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=Rokinon+cine&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=

There are some sample images someone made with these lenses somewhere on this forum.
Click to expand...


I JUST bought this set, have on my epic right now.... So far so good. The 24mm @ F1.4 is a bit smeary, like a super speed wide open, and quite warm. They dont flare very much, if at all which is weird considering at wide open they are so smudgy. The gak clears up by F2 and a half. Would use @ F2.0, and F1.4 in emergencies.

Going to do a full write up in the next couple days.
 
Hello Timur,

Can you send me a link to your write up you do for these lenses? Very interested.

Timur Civan said:
I JUST bought this set, have on my epic right now.... So far so good. The 24mm @ F1.4 is a bit smeary, like a super speed wide open, and quite warm. They dont flare very much, if at all which is weird considering at wide open they are so smudgy. The gak clears up by F2 and a half. Would use @ F2.0, and F1.4 in emergencies.

Going to do a full write up in the next couple days.
Click to expand...
 
Without question, if you are new to lenses, this is where to start. Your tastes will expand from there but it might take a year of shooting first. Then you will be in a better position to understand/appreciate a $10,000 glass purchase if you feel you need it. I don't own any Rokinons but for the price/performance this is where you start.

Max Nguyen said:
Reduser, Björn Benckert pointed out great low cost cine style Canon mount lenses from Rokinon that look pretty good for the price. Manual focus only. Looks like a great starter kit. 24mm,35mm,85mm at T1.5. Ultra wides are a bit slower.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=Rokinon+cine&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=

There are some sample images someone made with these lenses somewhere on this forum.
Click to expand...
 
Timur Civan said:
Going to do a full write up in the next couple days.
Click to expand...

It would be great to know the optical performance or the Rokinon. I wonder why they are so "cheap", compared to the Canon primes it's about 1/3 of the price...

I have some AI and AIS Nikon lenses (50mm 1.2 AI, 35mm 1.4 AIS) wich where good on the 5D even at 1.4 / 2, but are too soft up to about 2.8 / 4 for the Epic. I like the wide focus scale of these AI/AIS optics it's why I went with them.

Pat
 
Hi Patrick :) was born in lausanne.. I go there every year.. How is freelance DP work there? Thanks for the input everybody!!! Amazing community feel in reduser.. I find the 24-70 L 2 particularly interesting.. but is it wide enough when open? Anybody has footage they can show shot with the 24-70 on an epic?
 
11-16 Tokina is (IMHO) a fabulous wide-angle lens, very popular amongst RED users. $600+US new. Lots of footage samples shot on Reduser to view.
Then I would look at either the older (discontinued) Canon 24-70 2.8 which can be bought used all over (ebay for eg).
OR
go with what I bought, the new Tamron 24-70 f2.8 instead, which I am really enjoying. New for the price of the used Canon. Caveat here is the Stabilizer feature is not currently active on REDs, but at least it HAS one, something even the new Canon 24-70 does not offer. Yes, its not as ruggedly constructed as the Canon, but also 1/2 the price (new vs new). Optically any tests I have read are pretty much a wash, Canon better at some focal length/apertures, Tamron better at others....

you can get both the Tamron and the Tokina around your price range (?? tho with odious UK taxes...??)

Stu Aull
SX 199
Alaska
 
Jason Rivera said:
Looks like Samyng (Rokinon) kills the Canon, no?

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/...meraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=1
Click to expand...

I have cut over mainly to zeiss and full cinema primes, but wow i would have saved some money with the samyong/rokinon ... if those charts are correct (anyone know how accurate the digital picture site charts are?). I'm thinking of getting a cine set of Rokinon just for random corporate work, since it's so light and inexpensive.
 
From what i just saw, the 24mm is the weakest, F1.4 is for emergencies only. F2.0 is good, F2.8 is EXCELLENT.

My Canon 85mm F1.8 is a "Good one". Tack sharp wide open. The 85 Rokinon is very similar. good at a F1.4, RIDICULOUS at a F2.8. so sharp.

the 35mm is very good, a tad soft at F1.4, but cleans up by F2. I've used Canon 35mm F1.4L 's that were literally out of focus wide open. ( should have been in for service or never sold due to QC)

Gonna take em outside tommorow. Get some high detail wides.
 
Rokinons

Rokinons

Hmm, these lenses look good. Do the rokinons breathe much when pulling focus?


Craig Lees
Scarlet X
 
Craig Lees said:
Hmm, these lenses look good. Do the rokinons breathe much when pulling focus?
Click to expand...


I saw a Youtube video a week or so ago (i'd post it but I'm at work right now and the IP is blocked) showing a Rokinon on an Epic in NY/NJ at night. One comment said that there was "no breathing." I'm new to lenses so I can't really say there wasn't although I didn't see any myself when focus was being racked throughout the video. Again, my eye isn't trained to spot these sort of things yet. See if you can find it on Youtube and let us know what you think. I'm curious to know what lens-inclined-people have to say about it.
 
Surprised no one has mentioned Contax Zeiss yet. Shot below with Contax Zeiss 85mm f1.4 bought for £435. Super sharp at f2 upwards and can get you out of trouble at 1.4 for sure. Flare is nice as well as the famous Zeiss colour. Glass is the same as in the CP2's but your paying a quarter of the price almost. Focus throw is generous for a still lens. Housing solid metal. Heavy lenses generally but very sweet a these prices.

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