Ideal Lens For recording Video

[John Mc]

Hi guys, I might be asking a question that i might not be able to get answered,but here go's.

Im recording Video footage for a Friends Lan Event. its going to be over a weekend in June and there hoping to have around 60+ people attending.
As its going to be pritty much 48hours of Gaming Madness i want to capture alot. The camera is going to be mounted to a tripod,which will either have wheel's or be mounted to a flat bed trolly (im thinking this one would be best as i can stand on it and have someone push it)

What i want is something that gives me a wide shot,as well as something that zooms close slightly.
This weekend i was using my Kit lens,which was okay, but it performed quiet poor when zoomed,and not too much better when it was wide.
I was thinking of hiring an Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM or a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM.

The difference will be that the L lens doesent have Is. But im thinking it wont matter too much as it will be on a tripod.The advantage of having the Ef-S lens would be that its simular in that the way it focuses to my kit lens. So i can practise with my lens.


If there are any better options out there,i wouldnt mind hearing them.Im using a Canon 500D (T1i),

Thanks for the imput and time

John

 

[Village Idiot]

IS is not something you want for video. You can see the image jump when the sensor moves. IS is made for long shutter speeds and since you're shooting video, it won't really do the job as intended and can produce a negative look. It can make the image look jumpy.

Why did the Kit lens look bad? You don't want to go too wide either. You're going to get the typical wide angle distortion once you start getting too wide, so matching up shots will be difficult. You could have one shot that's extremely wide and completely distorted and then have the next shot that's zoomed in and looks completely different. I really only like to use perspective distortion when I'm going for a specific effect. Typically, I'll stick to 35mm-85mm (which 85, is still a bit long for me) prime lenses.

And if you're you're going to try and zoom without a follow focus, forget about it. Unless you have a loose zoom ring and the steadiest hands in the world, you're probably going to get jerks in the focus by just attempting to zoom with the ring.

 

[Formatted]

How much zoom do you want?

A 24-70 could do great, but then again if you need more than that there is the 70-200.

I'm not an expert on video (and this is why I want a separate video sub-forum)

 

[Village Idiot]

How much zoom do you want?

A 24-70 could do great, but then again if you need more than that there is the 70-200.

I'm not an expert on video (and this is why I want a separate video sub-forum)

It'll never happen. The owners don't really care about this forum.

OP - Also, keep in mind to either not pan too fast or to have a solution for fixing jello shots in post.

 

[dnavarrojr]

IS is not something you want for video.

IS works great for video. You just have to know its limitations and use it properly. I never shoot any video hand-held without an IS lens.

 

[Village Idiot]

IS is not something you want for video.

IS works great for video. You just have to know its limitations and use it properly. I never shoot any video hand-held without an IS lens.

DSLR video with an IS lens? Every time I use it I notice the jumps and that's not something that I want in a finished product.

 

[dnavarrojr]

 

[John Mc]

The kit lens just didnt work too well when the Aperture was at 5.6, the only reason i used it at wide was cause the aperture was wider.even with the Film iso at 1600,which i think is the most my camera is able to record at it didnt record to well,the footage was still rather dark. This is the reason ive my choice of two lens's. im swaying towards the 24-70 as i plan to shoot from abit of a distance away, around 30 ft or less,im hoping this to be enough. i do have a 70-300 for my pentax,which i may buy a pentax-canon mount and shoot manually if need be.
As for having Steady Hand's. Im a Trained Marksman, Have to have Steady hands to get that awarded im going to look at solving the focusing issues but

Edit: Im looking at the 24-105 Is L also,after watching a video on youtube about IS on Dslr's.

 

[Derrel]

IS is not something you want for video.

IS works great for video. You just have to know its limitations and use it properly. I never shoot any video hand-held without an IS lens.

Your two video samples shot with Canon IS zoom lenses, prove the point that IS can work on video captures.