Canon 7D footage/lenses for review

[Ian S Lewis]

http://is.gd/KtUDb2

Filmed using Canon 7D
Tamron 17-50, f2.8
Tokina 11-17, f2.8
Canon 100mm f2.8

How much of a difference do you think all canon glass would make - is it really worth the huge capital investment for a small business?

[Buba Kastorski]

Not much, Canon glass is better, there is no argument, but there is no way your clients and even majority of people here will tell you one from another, especially looking at web compressed files, so as always - go with your budget

[Brian Brown]

If you're only shooting video (and not also stills), you can get by with less-sharp glass. In fact, some softness will help combat the inevitable moire issues with these cameras. Again, if you're not shooting stills, you can pick up some vintage manual focus lenses for a fraction of new Canon EF glass. Nikkor, Contax, Pentax, Yashica... great prime glass out there.

I picked up a Nikkor 50mm/f2 for $5 at a local thrift store. It's very sharp and contrasty wide-open, lovely focusing... I use it all the time for video.

Naturally, you won't gain any Image Stabilization with vintage glass, and some shoots need this. And if you're needing to shoot stills, AF is pretty necessary past 50mm.

[Ian S Lewis]

I did try some Olympus glass and was very disappointed. Maybe I should look into vintage lenses again (the focus really are sweet). I did play with some Canon L glass recently and found that hitting critial focus through the LCD VF was much easier. Thoughts anyone?

[Brian Brown]

All vintage lenses, just like modern ones, are not created equal. Most mass-produced lenses of the last 40 years will still have some meaningful reports and tests out on the Web that you can find. It's hard to go wrong with any of the Nikkor primes, since Nikon has always prided itself on great glass. Plus, you can get used to focusing the "wrong" way.

You've already got a great start on your lenses. I certainly wouldn't replace any of them, just look to see what's missing (in terms of focal length) for what you're trying to shoot.

For weddings, I think your next big investment should be the venerable 70-200mm/2.8 with image stabilization. The Canon MkII will set you back around US$2,500, though you can still find used copies of the inferior MkI for half that. Sigma does make an "OS" lens competitor, so it might be worth investigating.

Another lens worthy of consideration is the EF 85mm/1.8. You can't shoot hand-held with it (no IS), but on sticks it's a really beautiful lens. This is my go-to lens for 90% of my interviews (I do mainly corporate video, so lots of "talking heads"). You 100mm/2.8 might be close enough to it, though the extra stop and slightly-shorter focal length might be desired indoors.

I also just bought an EF 200mm/2.8L used that's absolutely flawless and stunning wide-open... but it's mostly for stills, since it's a very loooong lens to try to video something w/o stabilization assistance.

You'll never go wrong investing in L glass, assuming that you always stay with Canon bodies. But even if you don't, there's a major market out there in used ones, and they hold their value very well, so I don't think it would be a big risk. As I said before, video makes very little demand on the sharpness of a lens, so it's more about the speed of the lens and its ergonomic operation, and whether or not it offers any stabilization for hand-held work. That said, look for lenses that are reasonably-sharp at their fastest aperture. I have two old primes that I got for almost nothing, since their blades were stuck wide-open, and that's all I ever want them for... dark interiors when I need a fast lens, and the extra stop or two over my AF zoom makes ALL the difference.

[Ian S Lewis]

Thanks for the advice Brian - pretty much what I had considered, but it is always nice to have another opinion.

[Rafael Diaz]

Really nice work!


" Filmed using Canon 7D"
Tamron 17-50, f2.8
Tokina 11-17, f2.8
Canon 100mm f2.8

Just wondering - since I recently bought the 7D -
Did you shoot most of the wedding on this page using those lenses you mentioned?
http://danavideoproductions.co.uk/blog/

What kinda of GlideCam do you use?

Thank you in advance
Rafael

[Ian S Lewis]

Hi, all the stuff shot this year was using the above kit, shot as a single shooter. We have invested in better audio equipment this year, and will only upgrade our 17-50 lens for Canons I.S. version next year as it is the lens I use for 75% of all shots and the most important to get IS on, eventually I will get the 100 mm replaced too. Thanks for the feedback. Re glidecam - I use the Steadicam Merlin

[Rafael Diaz]

Thank you Ian,
Really nice cinematic work! your work looks awesome.
Thank you for sharing the insides :)

Rafael

[Tim Sargent]

Very nice film mate.

Love the style, just like mine.

I've pretty much got the same kit, although with the addition of a the 70-200L from Canon (yet to be used)

[Monty Wentzel]

Originally Posted by Ian S Lewis

http://is.gd/KtUDb2

Filmed using Canon 7D
Tamron 17-50, f2.8
Tokina 11-17, f2.8
Canon 100mm f2.8

How much of a difference do you think all canon glass would make - is it really worth the huge capital investment for a small business?

With a little work the groom could sound exactly like Simon Cowall. But I TOTALLY AGREE with the poster who said there would be little difference. But I have seen L lens footage shot on a 7d and the only thing that made this guys street footage jump may have been an L lens. I don't think an L lens will be appreciated in every scene, but some times under certain lighting an L lens may make the image worth the extra bucks.

That being said your footage was so good what REAL difference would it have made? Probably not that much.

Monty

[Todd Mizomi]

Originally Posted by Ian S Lewis

Hi, all the stuff shot this year was using the above kit, shot as a single shooter. We have invested in better audio equipment this year, and will only upgrade our 17-50 lens for Canons I.S. version next year as it is the lens I use for 75% of all shots and the most important to get IS on, eventually I will get the 100 mm replaced too. Thanks for the feedback. Re glidecam - I use the Steadicam Merlin

Ian, that is some amazing work! All shot as a single shooter?!? How many cameras are you using and how do you manage carrying all that - cameras/lenses/tripods/merlin/etc around during the wedding day without assistants?

[John Wiley]

As far as image quality goes you won't really see much difference in for video between what you have now and a set of L series lenses. What would change is the handling and features - things like bigger and smoother zoom/focus rings, build quality, full time manual focusing, faster AF, USM, better IS etc might not make your image better but it can certainly make it easier to do your work.

Its all a matter of whether or not you are comfortable working with your current lenses or not - the Tamron, for example, gives me excellent images, but I often forget to flick the AF switch when going from stills to video mode or from video to stills, which results in me missing shots occasionally while I wrestle against the AF motor (in video mode) or wonder why nothing is happening (in stills mode). But for me, I shoot video 95% of the time so it's only very rarely that this becomes an issue - and the rest of the time I'm happy to have an extra $800 in the bank.

[Jack D. Hubbard]

Ian
A really classy piece. Congratulations.
Jack Hubbard

[Jonathan Shaw]

I have the Sigma 70 -200 with IS, great lens and for video very comparable to the Canon L. I use it all the time at events and it is extremely useful.