SOLO MUSIC VIDEO - LENSES

bennylach · Jun 6, 2015

Hi all. I certainly am a newbie but I really want to do this right.

I am shooting some live acoustic guitar/vocals videos whilst recording the audio through Pro Tools in my small studio room. There will be two separate cameras, one might be human operated at times with one static, or more commonly both with be static on tripods.

The goal is to always have one that can show my whole body in the shot from a maximum 2.5m away (approx 8 feet) as the room is quite small, with the other camera to do either headshots/guitar close-ups.

I’ve been reading that a fixed 50mm lens is perfect for this application, but a 50mm on both cameras? This is where I need help…

I am thinking of buying a Canon 700d second-hand from my friend, but not sure if I even need something this good for this application.

1. What 2 lenses would you guys use if budget was not an issue?

2. What do you suggest as the lowest/cheapest camera model to get an awesome pro looking result? (I realize lighting could make or break the quality and will seek help with this elsewhere

Thanks!

dennybeall · Jun 9, 2015

If you have total control of lighting then you can get great results with an inexpensive camera, even a used D80 or something. You may want to have something to use for other stuff though so consider buying the best you can afford.
If you shoot at 8 feet with the camera vertical you'll need 24mm(36mm full frame) to get a 6 foot tall person all in. If you go horizontal(landscape) it'll take an 18mm(27mm full frame).
A 50mm(75mm full frame) will barely get head and shoulders.

TCampbell · Jun 15, 2015

In answer to question #2 first... those "awesome pro looking" results come mostly from a photographer who understands lighting, composition, and exposure. In the same way that buying a top-end musical instrument will NOT make someone a better musician ... it's the musician who needs the skill to use the instrument (and an accomplished musician can achieve amazing results even with some fairly mediocre equipment) the same is true of photography.

Mostly what videographers like about using a DSLR camera are the lenses. There's an enormous array of lenses with some amazing qualities that are either non-existent for consumer-grade video cameras and prohibitively expensive for pro-grade video cameras.

Another quality of "pro" grade video is that the camera or subject are seldom completely static. Usually something is moving (even if it's very slowly). If the focus doesn't need to change then any camera can handle the shot. If the focus does need to change then the focus either needs to be controlled manually or you want to use a DSLR that can offer continuous auto-focus throughout the shot -- and very few DSLR cameras handle that well.

DSLRs are normally used and focused using the viewfinder (putting your eye to the camera and looking through it -- not using the "live view" screen). When you use the camera this way, the camera uses it's reflex mirror to bounce some light into special focus sensors on the floor of the camera. These sensors use "phase detection" to determine if the camera is focused. Imagine taking a photo, printing it, cutting it in two with scissors, and then placing the left and right halves of that photo side-by-side but slightly mis-aligned.... that's "out of phase". But one interesting thing about the technology is that the computer in the camera can measure the precise amount of phase shift and it also knows the direction of the phase shift. This means the camera knows EXACTLY how to focus the lens (in what direction to change focus and precisely how much of an adjustment is needed.) There is no guessing -- it nails the focus. This is THE reason why DSLRs were the only digital cameras to use for sports and action photography where fast focus was critical to the work or you'd miss the shots.

The problem is... when shooting video that reflex mirror has to swing clear and that means it cannot bounce light into the phase-detect AF sensors. Instead, most DSLRs resort to a secondary focus system called "contrast detection". To understand this, imaging you are trying to take a photography of something with strong contrast... say a UPC barcode. The barcode has a "white" background with "black" stripes. If the camera is properly focused then every pixel in the image should either be "black" or "white" ... there are no "gray" pixels. But imagine if you did not focus the lens... now you'd get fuzzy edges on each black stripe. If you inspect the image close up and pixel-by-pixel you'll have some black pixels next to some dark gray pixels ... which are next to some light gray pixels... which are ultimately next to some "white" pixels. In other words you have a very gradual contrast difference between adjacent pixels. Compare that to the well-focused image where you have a "black" pixel next to a "white" pixel.

The "contrast" detect technology works well for determine if you have achieved focus... but what it doesn't knows is if the focus is too close vs. too far... or how far to adjust focus to correct for the blur. Contrast detect technology "hunts" for focus by sampling focus at a few different distances to determine if focus is getting better or worse and closes in on the solution.

If "contrast" detection is used during video, the viewer will literally see the camera perform the focus-hunt and it is very distracting (no pro grade videographer would put up with this... they would focus the camera manually.)

Somewhat recently, Canon has been working on technology imbedded within the sensor that allows it to perform phase-detect AF directly on the imaging chip itself. This means you get accurate and continuous AF without "focus hunt". But as it's somewhat recent, only their newer cameras have it.

The 70D (mid-grade cameras) and 7D II (a high-mid-grade sports/action camera) have the most refined implementation of the technology and they've recently added it to their latest Rebel series bodies... the T6i and T6s (750D and 760D) (entry-level DSLR... but this is Canon's newest and top-end of their "entry" range). I have seen this work on the 70D but not on the T6i or T6s.

The 700D (T5i) has an earlier generation of the technology. It's not quite as fast and has more limited coverage on the sensor (the 70D and 7D II cover "most" of the sensor surface with these special sensors. It almost doesn't matter where your intended focus point is.) That means the 700D will do this, but not quite as smoothly as a camera with a newer generation of the technology.

You can do this manually with any DSLR and it's not too difficult to do considering you'll be in a studio situation. Take a piece of masking tape and wrap it around the focus ring on the camera lens. Before each clip, the videographer will manually adjust the lens to a focus subject, then mark the focus position (using a sharpie marker) on the tape. Now adjust the lens to the next focus position and mark that focus position on the tape. NOW... when you actually record the video clip, the photographer has reference marks on the lens and then can manually move the focus from the fist point to the second point with no guessing involved.