I'm new to the world of interchangeable lens cameras, whether it's still or video, I'm a newbie. I recently bought my first video camera of this type. Since its my first, I don't yet have a collection of lens, and no experience with what lens is best in what situation. I have bought some inexpensive eBay lens. I have B&H wish list of lens (that I've read people use with my particular camera).

I'm curious if anyone has/had a particular book, or website, that they used when they were first starting off? To learn about how different focal lengths achived what results, with this or that type of lens. I know nothing beats, practice and first hand experience, but since I've yet to buy a lot of lens, I'd love a little of this knowledge, to aid in prioritizing my shopping list.

For example, when filming a mid shot, and I want a moderate depth of field (slightly out of focus, but not entirely), would I use a 50 1.4, stopped down a couple stops, or a longer focal length lens, wide open (placed further away from the subject).

Any recommend and reading material?

Thank you for all the help m

I went the youtube route. Folks like nextwaveg, greatphotographytips, photogavin, smickphoto, terrywhitetechblog, theslantedlens and my personal favorite snapfactory have great tips. Much of it is photography but the information about gear, composition, lighting, post-processing and other business tips transfer to video quite well and were enough to get me started.

I'd also recommend the book The Digital Photography Workflow Book by Juergen Gulbins and Uwe Steinmueller filled in a lot of the how-to after shooting. Get the kindle version, reader for a PC/Mac is free, as it's only $10. It has a slant toward Lightroom and Photoshop but does cover a wide range of tools. It's mainly for photography but much of the info (filenaming, backup, jumping between programs) transfers to video and I use photography with video so I end up using most of the book anyway.

GL

Jeff,
You need to learn "Fundamentals of Photography". Search on that and pick courses and tutorials that match your learning style.

You want to learn the relationship between focal length and depth of field and how it's affected by the camera lens and sensor. Here's an article that may help with some of it:
Depth of Field Myth (http://www.bluesky-web.com/dofmyth.htm)