....Advice needed on 35mm lenses...

[Christina Ava]

Dear fellows,

i need your advice on which 35mm lens i should get for my FF Canon.

 

Initially  i wanted to buy the 35mm 1.4 L new or second hand...

But that also means i need to sell a kidney with a price tag of (new â‚¬1,172.09 the cheapest i can find in EU).

 

i know the lens, i have touched smelt and slept with it, its lovely.

 

Then there is the Sigma ( :wacko: )plastic fantastic.... 

35mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART Lens

 

a lot of marketing words but i have no idea if its worth it.

 

does anyone own the Sigma used it for video?PLEASE post a video with this lens..

Do you have in mind any other good 35mm lenses for video that dont require selling body parts in order to own?My two lenses to accompany this one is  the zeiss 50mm 1,4 EF, and the canon 85mm 1,2 FD converted to ef..

 

thank you c.

 

[Pascal Garnier]

One great alternative is the Canon EF 28 1.8.    It only costs 1/3rd of the 35 1.4, is just a little bit wider and almost as sensitive.  
It's a great lens for video too (I shoot weddings too during summertime).

 

Not the best test I could find, but gives you an idea : 

[Mozim]

 

Then there is the Sigma ( :wacko: )plastic fantastic.... 

35mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART Lens

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plastic fantastic? Do yourself a favour and check out the lenses of the new Sigma Art series. Their build quality is as good as it can get. I only got to check out the fantastic 18-35mm f/1.8 Sigma Art lens but the 35mm f/1.4 is very similar. The build quality is fantastic. 

 

Compared to the Canon 35mm f/1.4L, the Sigma is supposed to be better in almost any regard and it's cheaper, too. There are tons of reviews of the new Sigma 35mm f/1.4, you should check them out. Bottom line of almost any review is that the new Sigma 35mm f/1.4 is as good, if not better than the Canon at a better price point. 

 

If you can live without AF, you should definitely check out the Walimex / Samyang / Rokinon (different brands but they're all the same lenses) 35mm f/1.4. It is fully manual, focus ring feels great and it also has an aperture ring. It also comes in a cine version with built in gears for a follow focus. And it's less than half the price of the Canon. Covers full frame, too, and the build quality is very solid as well. Optically it's supposed to be on par with the Canon. Build quality of the Canon is a bit better, and of course the Walimex lacks autofocus or any electronic connection to your camera. But for around 350€ used, this is the 35mm lens you should get when you're on a budget. 

[Christina Ava]

Compared to the Canon 35mm f/1.4L, the Sigma is supposed to be better in almost any regard and it's cheaper, too. There are tons of reviews of the new Sigma 35mm f/1.4, you should check them out. Bottom line of almost any review is that the new Sigma 35mm f/1.4 is as good, if not better than the Canon at a better price point. 

thanks for the advice, i dont follow  specs reviews because sometimes you read the specs and it looks great and then you see the actual footage and its meh! for me the lens is not mainly sharpeness, but color too, skin tones and overal feel. Thats why i want to see some footage..before i say its good...also i love the red rings of canon at a fault...:)

[Christina Ava]

One great alternative is the Canon EF 28 1.8.    It only costs 1/3rd of the 35 1.4, is just a little bit wider and almost as sensitive.  
It's a great lens for video too (I shoot weddings too during summertime).

hi pascal, great idea, although the 1.8 is a bit of stopper, i try to film at dark with natural light so 1.4 is important to me...but good idea to search something a bit wider.

[JohnBarlow]

What about the Samyang 1.4/35?

[fuzzynormal]

Since you're looking for a lens that does video, and all video shooting on Canon is MANUAL, look at good old manual lenses in your focal length/f-stop range for options.

 

Lots of glass to consider.  Anything from Pentax to Hasselblad could be used.  Nikon lenses, especially the famous 35 1.4 from the 70's/80's (and still made today), looks good insomuch that it has the visual traits of that era of lenses, for better or worse depending on your subjective opinion.

 

And since you're in the market for a lens with character as well as affordable... Think about it, borrow one and try it.  It's around $500 used.

 

Otherwise, the Sigma or the Samyang/Rokinon is probably the best bet for a new lens in the budget cost/performance range.

[mtheory]

Very happy with the recent EF 35mm f2 IS, it recently dropped in price too.

[Bioskop.Inc]

I assume when you say you've got a Canon FF, you're talking about a 5D & they are pretty damn good in low light.

But it all depends on how low light you want/need to go.

As you already know a v.good fast 35mm will cost you an arm & a leg.

So you either bite the bullet & spend the cash or buy something cheaper/slower (f2/2.8) & get Neat Video to clean up your footage (NV really is that good & its sharpening tool is the best).

 

The problem with a lot of the lenses mentioned is that they aren't great wide open, hence why they're cheaper.

The Nikon 35mm f1.4 ain't great wide open, but the f2 is much better.

I've got the Zeiss ZE f1.4 & have gone Russain @ f2 across the board for video, except the Helios 40-2 85mm f1.5 - i really like my Mir-24M f2.

[KarimNassar]

boils down to 2 choices imo

 

- want cinema housing on your lens, better suited for video, at the expense of losing autofocus for photography : samyang 35mm cine lens

 

- want excellent price/performance, no cinema housing, with autofocus for your canon camera when taking pictures: sigma 35mm 1.4

[Bioskop.Inc]

Canon FD 24mm f1.4 - anywhere from £500-800 on ebay (you could be lucky & it has the red ring you're after!)

 

The Lens Doctor rates it, but his price for having converted it is £995 - interesting info on his website about the lens (scroll down)

 

http://www.thelensdoctor.co.uk/page13.html

 

 

This is an interesting/extensive list about M42 lenses & whether they hit the mirror on a 5D - but forget that as its quite list of lenses on offer!

 

http://www.panoramaplanet.de/comp/

[Christina Ava]

boils down to 2 choices imo

 

- want cinema housing on your lens, better suited for video, at the expense of losing autofocus for photography : samyang 35mm cine lens

 

- want excellent price/performance, no cinema housing, with autofocus for your canon camera when taking pictures: sigma 35mm 1.4

Hi Karim, i dont care about photography that much my interest is in video, i ve heard that the samyang is not good wide open from people that use the lens...do you have it?

i havent seen any footage with the sigma 35mm, in photography its ok but video is completely different, and the lens should have a good chemistry with the camera, i would love to see footage shot on a mark 3 with a sigma....

 

br c.

[Christina Ava]

 

What about the Samyang 1.4/35?

Hi John i ve heard they are not good at all at 1.4, there are a couple of brands like samyang that you actually get what you paid for, sigma is another brand that puts me off, but theres a lot people saying good things about the new "art" line, only it concerns photography, not sure about video.

[Christina Ava]

Canon FD 24mm f1.4 - anywhere from £500-800 on ebay (you could be lucky & it has the red ring you're after!)

 

The Lens Doctor rates it, but his price for having converted it is £995 - interesting info on his website about the lens (scroll down)

 

http://www.thelensdoctor.co.uk/page13.html

 

 

This is an interesting/extensive list about M42 lenses & whether they hit the mirror on a 5D - but forget that as its quite list of lenses on offer!

 

http://www.panoramaplanet.de/comp/

this looks like an interesting lens the 24. i own the 85mm 1.2 converted  from the lensdoctor, and its serious eye candy, the FD line features some superb lenses for video, only problem is the conversion with the mirror and not focusing to infinity even after the conversion in some cases.

[Pascal Garnier]

If a lens is good for photography, it will be more than good enough for video.

Photography places much higher demands on lenses than video.  

Especially a Canon DSLR, which resolves way less detail than other DSLR's.  Your footage is always determined by the weakest link in the chain, and in the case of a Canon DSLR for video, that is the sensor (followed by the codec).  

I've migrated from Canon to Panasonic and the sensor on those cameras make my vintage M42 glass look like it's a completely different lens.

 

There's very little use in putting very expensive lenses on a Canon DSLR, since the qualities of the glass will be compromised by the sensor and codec Canon uses.  Even if you might move to another platform in the future, it makes very little sense to invest your money in Canon glass, since it's hard to adapt to other camera mounts.

 

I work with a professional fashion photographer regularly and he swears by Canon's regular's EF lenses (not the red L series) for his photography.  This is someone who has the means to buy L series glass and is a pixelpeeper by nature.

 

But if you have money to burn, go ahead.

[Bioskop.Inc]

this looks like an interesting lens the 24. i own the 85mm 1.2 converted  from the lensdoctor, and its serious eye candy, the FD line features some superb lenses for video, only problem is the conversion with the mirror and not focusing to infinity even after the conversion in some cases.

He has recently changed his FD conversion technique & there's no mirror hitting anymore.

He is a fountain of knowledge & has never given me bad advice. He does recommend Vivitar lenses alot & has a 35mm f1.9.

If not go searching for what you want & he'll convert stuff for a small price - added bonus is his Fluid aperture conversion.

The fastest FD 35mm is an f2, so the 24mm f1.4 seems a better bet/fit.

I'd be patient - go out stalking secondhand shops & ebay, as you can be lucky.

[Sebv]

I have used Samyang (non cine) 24mm and the 35mm canon 28mm and 24mm on full frame 5d

heres a quick review

 

- Samyang (bower-rokinon) 24 and 35mm lense both have great sharpness that makes them easier to focus and and focus ring are real nice for video work that help down side they are bulky

 

- the canon 28mm 1.8 is a nice short and light lense I find it good wen use for close up and medium close up more than that and focusing on subjects gets tough because it is a lot more soft than the samyangs also it as lot more vigneting specialy if you put a filter in front of them

 

- the canon 24L great lense but for video wen you can have the Samyang for third of the price and a clean image well hard to beat

also the Samyang as less chromatic aberration anyway mine did  

[andy lee]

I hightly recomend the SIGMA 30MM f1.4 it is insanely sharp , superb bokeh

I use this lens alot , it is a fantastic work horse lens

and cheap on ebay

 

 

BTW Sigma make some stunning lenses do not be put off , I have alot of Sigmas and they are just as good as Canon

no issues there

[JohnBarlow]

According to photozone the Samyang spanks the Canon in all respects except AF of course but is 1/3rd of the price

 

 

http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/657-samyang35f14eosff?start=1

 

http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/516-canon35f14ff?start=1

[fuzzynormal]

it concerns photography, not sure about video.

 

It it works well for photo, it'll be fine for video.