When do I use these different lenses - NOOB question

[coachmarino]

So I have been given a pretty nice set of equipment for use at the office, generally to take video and stills for our print and digital marketing materials.

I have a Sony Alpha a7sII mirrorless camera.

I have two lenses:
FE 50mm F1.8 - Sony FE 50mm F1.8

And FE 24-240mm F3.5-6.3 OSS - Sony FE 24-240mm F3.5-6.3 OSS

What are the best use cases for these lenses?

General stills I need to take:
- staff photos
- photos of grounds
- some landscapes of community

Videos - interviews and some light action in our building

Thanks around!

 

[dxqcanada]

The 24-240mm appears to be a not-so-bad superzoom lens ... you could possibly get away with shooting everything with it.
Sony FE 24-240mm F3.5-6.3 OSS E-mount lens info

 

[TreeofLifeStairs]

The 50mm will be better for lower light since it goes to 1.8. You’ll also use it for situations where you want shallow dof. The a7sii is supposed to be geared towards taking video (although it takes great stills too).

 

[petrochemist]

The 50mm will be better for lower light since it goes to 1.8. You’ll also use it for situations where you want shallow dof. The a7sii is supposed to be geared towards taking video (although it takes great stills too).

Shallow DOF (Depth of field - the range of distances that appear to be in focus) will be of use for the portraits while the other types of shots you are talking about will usually want more DOF, though if you do low light shots around the site (grounds/site) it could prove useful there to. Otherwise I'd expect the zoom will be able to do every thing you are after.

 

[DiskoJoe]

The 50 for portraits and video. The 24-240 for landscape stuff. I'd add a wide angle like a Tamron 10-24 and you'd have pretty much all your bases covered. The wide angle is great for landscape.

 

[therealalexsays]

Staff photos would best be done on the 50/1.8. The grounds photos and landscape photos are probably better served by the wider focal length of the 24-240 lens, but it really just depends on what it is.

I would recommend using the 50/1.8 on manual focus and only for stills, unless your video is a static subject that won’t require refocusing. I have that lens, it was my first lens, and while very cheap and good optics, the AF likes to hunt a lot, has trouble locking on in some situations, and is also quite noisy, making it not so suited for video.

The 24-240 lens I have not used so I cannot speak to, but if you zoom, your aperture will change since it’s not a constant aperture lens, which will result in darker and lighter video unless you are changing your ISO and/or shutter speed to compensate - unless you’re already at f5.6.

 

[480sparky]

........The 24-240 lens I have not used so I cannot speak to, but if you zoom, your aperture will change since it’s not a constant aperture lens, which will result in darker and lighter video unless you are changing your ISO and/or shutter speed to compensate.

That's only true if you're trying to shoot wide open. If you stop down to f/5.6 or smaller, the aperture will always remain the same regardless of the focal length.