Must have lens?

[cutman21]

What are(is) the must have lens(es) for filming? I have just the one, 14-42mm(gh2). Genre:horror, suspense, drama. Shooting mostly indoors.

 

 

Thanks,

Karl

[/p/]

Zeiss DigiZoom 17-112mm T1.9

 

[Julian]

Primes. Bright primes.

 

Cheap: buy an adapter and search on ebay for cheap manual lenses, like a 24mm f/2, 35mm f/1.8, 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/2 (or brighter... depends on how much you want to spend). Finding a cheap (ultra)wide angle is more difficult. You could go with a Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 for example.

 

Reasonably affordable, new: Samyang 24mm T1.5, 35mm T1.5, 85mm T1.5

 

Pretty expensive, very bright: Voigtlander Nokton 17,5mm f/0,95, Nokton 25mm f/0,95m Nokton 50mm f/0,95

 

Buy the M43 speed booster (check the topic on the forum)(check the topic on the forum) when it arrives in April, to make your lenses wider and brighter. It won't work on the Nokton's.

 

The options are almost endless... it really depends on what you want and how much you want to spend. I'd say start experimenting with cheap second hand stuff. If you really like a certain focal length, think of investing in a more expensive (brighter) alternative.

[andy lee]

on a gh2 I really like the tiny Pentax 18mm f2.8 from the Pentax 110 camera

these tiny lenses are cheap and great they have character

the 18mm is great I have stopped it down to about f5.6 using a washer stuck on the back of it

 

Also Pentax 25mm f1.4 cctv lens is great on a gh2

 

Canon L Series 24-35mm f3.5 is my most used lens on Gh2 it is adsolutely stunningly sharp and has a very ciematic look

[JBraddock]

@cutman21, hoping you wouldn't consider this as an act of stealing your topic but I also have a similar question. 

 

I will buy D7100 body only when it comes out unless something unusual is revealed through reviews. I've forced myself to use prime lenses to better myself at composition and I am quite happy with how it turned out. I want to add a couple of prime lenses to my collection, mainly for video.

 

Does it make sense to start off with Nikon AI-S 28mm f2.8 and AI-S 85mm f2, both of which have excellent reviews. The only lens I have right now is 35mm f1.8 AF-S. I know that 28mm is very much close to 35mm but I'd like to have manual lenses.  I have the budget to buy all three at the same time and was wondering if there are better alternatives. I am not a professional neither photography or videography is my day time job.

 

Thanks,

[Julian]

@JBraddock: it makes perfect sense. The 35mm AF-S will be a bit more cumbersome to use while filming, because you can't change aperture in live view. So the manual lenses are the better choice. The 35mm will be great for photography (autofocus) though.

 

If I were you I would add a 50mm as well. You can get a 50mm AF-D 1.8 or the small E series 50mm pancake for cheap. Or a nice bright 50mm f/1.4 if you can afford it.

 

The 85mm is going to be pretty long because of the crop factor. Also you might want a wider lens. 28mm x 1,5x will give 42mm fullframe-equivalent.

[JBraddock]

Thank you Julian.

 

I have four prime lenses in mind actually. In addition to those two mentioned above, I have eye on Nikon 50mm AI-S f1.2 or at least f1.4 as you've suggested and a wider lens (not sure which model). I think these four lenses should be more than enough for me. I also like the idea of shooting anamorphic but I doubt that I can afford one that easily. I might get an anamorphic filter at least.