Filmmakers using new DSLR technology have been graced with the ability to use cameras that allow for interchangeable lenses without having to use Depth of Field (DOF) adapters. DOF adapters inevitably limit light from hitting your camera’s sensor and therefore often slightly degrade the image quality.

However, with the advent of DSLR’s with video capabilities filmmakers are now given access to cameras that shoot 24p and can handle interchangeable lenses without an adapter. Camera’s such as the Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 7D and Canon 1D Mark IV are all capable of holding an assortment of lenses.

Filmmakers who choose these Canon cameras will then need to ask themselves the following question: “what should my lens kit consist of?”

In our opinion, your first lenses should be lenses that don’t quickly become redundant. It’s also helpful to have a “normal”, telephoto and wide angle lens. You’ll be looking for quality, speed and adaptability. But of course lens preference is subjective. What works for one filmmaker may not be ideal for another. For example a fiction filmmaker looking for a moody, textured and shadowed look will want to shoot in dark environments which means lens speed would be a priority. On the other hand a documentary filmmaker working on a project about animals in the wild would likely place more emphasis on the telephoto capabilities of a lens rather than just its speed.

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Message by:  Lights Film School
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And of course, price is always and issue for documentary and fiction filmmakers alike. Some filmmakers will be able to spend $2500 while other filmmakers will only be able to spend $300. Some filmmakers will like the colors and contrast of the Carl Zeiss lenses and others will prefer the colors and contrast of Nikon lenses. The point is there is no “one size fits all” answer. Different lenses have their own “character”. The world of filmmaking would be in a tragic state if we could mathematically deduct what the “best” or “perfect” lens was.

So where do we start then? Well, if you’re looking to start an adaptable lens kit that will allow you to work in both indoor and outdoor environments, with landscapes and portraits, during both night and day and lenses that won’t break the bank, then the lens choices below will serve as great starting point.

Canon owners looking for lenses may become quickly confused when starting their search for compatible lenses. Let us help clear the air. Just because you have a Canon body that does not limit you to only using Canon lenses. New adapters are being created that allow you to attach Nikon and other lenses to your Canon body. In fact recently a new adapter was built that would allow you to attach your older FD lenses to your EOS body (Called an FD to EOS adapter).

There has also been the development of the PL adapter which allows DSLR filmmakers to attach older cinema lenses to their Canon body.

Similarly, there are “independent” lens manufacturers such as Carl Zeiss and Sigma who manufacture lenses that fit directly on to the Canon 5D, 7D and 1D. These manufactures make lenses with “mounts” that will fit different camera bodies. For instance Sigma makes lenses with different mounts to fit Canon, Nikon and Pentax bodies.

The point being is that the options are slowly working their way towards limitless. As a filmmaker you’ll work on different projects and hopefully get the opportunity to work with different lenses along the way. Through this process you’ll discover your own aesthetic preferences. A good place to start would be to rent lenses. The cost of renting a $1500 lens is often only $35 – $50 / day.

That being said let us guide you with some ideas and suggestions that would help you start building your own lens kit.

You’ll need to start somewhere. One of the most important first lenses to buy would be a 50mm prime lens. Prime lenses are lenses with a fixed focal length which means that they don’t have telephoto capabilities. A 50mm lens is also roughly comparable to how the human eye sees which is why you sometimes hear them called a “normal” lens. They are neither too wide nor too narrow. They are also relatively inexpensive, generally costing anywhere from $200 – $500. You should consider a fast lens for your “normal” lens. I’ve used many but I really like the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4.

Next, I would buy a telephoto lens. Canon makes some really great telephoto lenses but they are more expensive than some of the independent brands available. Carl Zeiss isn’t making telephoto lenses anymore but you can get used, as well as older (never been used) Zeiss lenses at camera equipment stores.

In fact, I was just in a camera store this morning. I myself use the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 which is a great lens but it also costs around $1600 to buy new. While in the camera store I looked through their used section and I found a little Nikon 80-200mm f/4 lens for $200. With an adapter I could attach this to the Canon 5D, 7D or 1D and I’d save $1500. The lens was in great shape. The only down side is that it wouldn’t shoot as well in low light and it requires manual focus.

Another option in this range was a new Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 lens for $1059. It has almost the same specs as the Canon EF 70-200mm (mentioned above), but it’s roughly $500 cheaper.

Given these options, if I didn’t already have my Canon telephoto lens I would have gone with the $200 Nikon lens and used an adapter to put it on my 5D. It would be a great lens if you’re on a tight budget.

Next, I would buy a wide angle lens. I really like Zeiss lenses. I love the color and contrast they offer. True, they can be a little expensive, but you can get them built with a Canon mount so they’ll fit right on your 5D, 7D or 1D body. That being said, if you have a limited budget I would recommend getting the Tokina 11-16mm. It’s a popular lens amongst DSLR indie filmmakers and it’s been used in some of the most breathtaking work I’ve seen. Best of all… it only costs around $600. You’ll likely find it a little too wide on the 5D but it looks great on the 7D.

The video below was shot on the Canon 7D using the Tokina 11-16mm & Zeiss 50mm f1.4 with a Nikon mount.

For those of you who don’t already know, a 35mm depth of field adapter is an attachment you put on your video camera and it allows you to attach 35mm lenses from still cameras onto your video camera. The difference this has on your final video product is massive and impressive. Attaching a 35mm lens to your video camera allows you to control the focal length and most importantly the depth of field within your shot. You will also now be able to use wide angle lenses, telephoto lenses and so on to control the look of your film.

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IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR EXPOSURE, RECOGNITION & EVALUATION THEN CONSIDER IMPROVING YOUR FILMMAKING SKILLS BY SIGNING UP FOR OUR INTENSIVE 4 MONTH ONLINE FILMMAKING COURSE HERE.

Message by:  Lights Film School
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This is exciting because up until fairly recently this possibility has not existed for filmmakers. Large Hollywood productions have always had this ability. However, independent filmmakers using consumer or pro-sumer level video cameras have not had this option.

There are a few major players in the 35mm Depth of Field (DOP) adapters industry. Redrock M2 and Brevis 35  are the two biggest names. The problem is that although their products are great, they cost independent filmmakers upwards of $1300 for the attachment alone. Once you start buying lenses and flip adapters, this price will increase dramatically.

The reason we wanted to review the Jag35pro was because the price tag is only $275. This makes a 35mm Depth of Field adapter considerably more reasonable for independent filmmakers. Best of all you can get the adapter made to fit old Canon FD lenses. These lenses are great and can often be picked up for $25 – $100 each on Ebay or in your local used camera shops. You can also get the adapter made to fit Canon EF lenses. These lenses are newer and often more expensive, but we recommend keeping your costs down by getting FD lenses unless you already have fast EF lenses ( f1.2- f2.8).

You can watch some test footage with the Jag35pro below

Best Images of 2008 from jehu Garcia on Vimeo.

Overall this product is fantastic. We have been using this product for a week now and we are incredibly impressed with the capabilities of the Jag35pro.

The most impressive features of this product are obviously its technical ability to help create a shallow depth of field in your video footage. Before adapters became available, this option was only available to video cameras that cost upwards of $4000. Now you can attach a Depth of Field adapter to a $100 camera and you get great control over your depth of field. Overall, the Jag35 pro is a great product for filmmakers on a tight budget.

Another great and unexpected feature of this product is that it adds weight to smaller camcorders. In the past we’ve liked shooting with heavier cameras because they don’t have the some high levels of noticeable shake as lighter cameras. Once you’ve attached the Jag35 lens adapter and lens you’ll have added quite a bit of weight to the camcorder which produces more stable footage.

We also thought that the vignetting within the image would be worse on an inexpensive producuct. For those of you who don’t know, vignetting is the change in brightness or saturation around the periphery of the image. You’ll notice in some of the test footage above that the 4 edges of the frame where slightly darker than in the center. However, the vignetting was not terrible at all and some cases people find this effect desirable. Of course it existed slightly within our footage, but all we needed to do was zoom in very slightly to get rid of the darkness around the corners of the image.

We also knew that because the light would need to go through a few more layers of glass that the camcorder would need to have its exposure adjusted in order to avoid underexposure. However, this was not as bad as we anticipated. While we definitely needed to manually increase our exposure a couple of notches to achieve our desired level of exposure, the darkening of the image was not of considerable consequence. That being said, on cameras with 1 small CCD chip you might experience troubles shooting in low light conditions with this adapter.

The quality of the image is also not degraded at all. We expected increased graininess or pixilation but the image remained clear and clean. Of course high quality lenses which don’t have scratches or dust in them are important in achieving a clean image as well.

The only downsides to this adapter is that without the flip hack, it reverses the image. This means you’ll see the image in your LCD screen upside down and backwards. This can obviously be easily fixed in post production. However, shooting this way can take some getting used to. After practicing for a week I am already much better at composing each shot. You can also order a flip hack if you don’t like shooting upside-down.

We also lost our ability to zoom using our camera’s zoom control. We could zoom very slightly which also helped get rid of the vignetting, but after a certain point the image becomes completely blurred. This means you’ll need to reposition yourself closer to your subject rather than using your camera’s zoom to do the work for you. This however, is of little importance to us in most of our shots.

The biggest upside to the product is its ability to maintain a great image quality and obviously the price point is incredibly attractive as well. The biggest downfall is that you’ll need to adjust both the manual focus on your camera and the focus on the lens that is attached to the adapter. This makes “run and gun’ shooting very difficult. This may make the adapter more difficult to use on documentaries or in situations where there are a lot of unknowns in terms of movement. However, as we stated above, as time goes on we get more and more confident with the flipped image and trust in our abilities more and more each day to compose beautiful images using the Jag35pro.

You can order this product from their website at:
http://www.jag35.com/