What's a versital wide angle for video and stills?

[Art White]

I have the 60D I mostly shoot stills with but I want to start using it as a 3rd camera with my two other video cameras. The only lenses I have are:

Tameron SP AF 28-75m F/2.8 Macro
Canon EF 50mm f 1.4
Sigma 18-200 3.5 - 6.3

I've been doing a lot of filming with HXP 170 and 300 over the years but it's hard to beat the these DLSR for depth of field. (I've only experimented a little bit) So, I'm shooting a wedding for stills coming up and I think I need to buy something a little wider for group shots but I want something that will work well for video too when I expand. Somebody said go with the Canon EF 24-105MM F4L IS USM because it has a nice focal length and constant aperture. Whaddaya think? I wonder if it will be fine for group stills with my crop sensor? What does F4L IS USM stand for?

Thanks!

[Noel Lising]

Originally Posted by Art White

I have the 60D I mostly shoot stills with but I want to start using it as a 3rd camera with my two other video cameras. The only lenses I have are:

Tameron SP AF 28-75m F/2.8 Macro
Canon EF 50mm f 1.4
Sigma 18-200 3.5 - 6.3

I've been doing a lot of filming with HXP 170 and 300 over the years but it's hard to beat the these DLSR for depth of field. (I've only experimented a little bit) So, I'm shooting a wedding for stills coming up and I think I need to buy something a little wider for group shots but I want something that will work well for video too when I expand. Somebody said go with the Canon EF 24-105MM F4L IS USM because it has a nice focal length and constant aperture. Whaddaya think? I wonder if it will be fine for group stills with my crop sensor? What does F4L IS USM stand for?

Thanks!

Your Sigma 18-200 is wider than the 24-105. Having said that the Canon 24-105 is a really versatile lens on a Full Frame camera, it won't be as versatile on a 60D.

[G.H. Schmidt]

On a crop body 24mm is not wide at all (nearly 40mm equivalent). Your current Sigma 18-200 is much wider on the short end (18mm). If you're looking for a great standard-lens for crop bodies, take a look at the Canon 17-55 f2.8 IS USM. It's wider and more light sensitive than your Sigma and the Canon 24-105. It's a very sharp lens and also has image-stabilisation which is great for video.

> What does F4L IS USM stand for?

F4 means that the lens has a maximum aperture of 4 (the lower the number, the more light your lens can gather, and the shallower the depth of field. Your Canon 50mm f1.4 is three times more light sensitive than an f4 lens.

L means that the lens is part of Canons "Luxury" series, these lenses are mostly very sharp, have great contrast, weather sealing and cost a lot ;)

IS stands for image stabilisation, which means the lens has a built-in image-stabiliser

USM stands for Ultrasonic Motor, meaning the lens focusses fairly quick (most modern Canon lenses come with USM)

Good luck with your lens choice!

[Art White]

Thank you and a very nice blog article. Man, they sure don't give these lenses away, do they?

[Jon Fairhurst]

On full frame, here's a quick summary:

* 35mm - a "normal" lens that is slightly wide to give it more attitude. My favorite single focal length.
* 28mm - super usable. A normal wide that you can pan without too much distortion.
* 24mm - still quite usable, but starting to get into distortion territory.
* 21mm - the most difficult wide, IMO. Too wide for normal use, too long to be a true effects lens.
* 18mm and wider - a true effects lens. I recommend a zoom so you can frame as needed in very tight quarters.
* fisheye - Two types - one one, the image fills the sensor. On the other, you get a circle image.

Remember to divide by 1.6 to get the focal lengths for APS-C.

[Art White]

Ok, that explains it. It's always difficult to balance what you need and what you think you will need in the future. I can only wish to have a dozen or so lenses for ever job!

Thanks for the help.
Art

[Daniel Epstein]

I ended up buying a 15MM to 85MM Canon lens for my 7D. It was about 800 dollars. On the downside is the ramp on the Iris from 3.5 to about 5.6. If you need shallower depth of field or faster lens then you can't really have as long a zoom.

[Art White]

Daniel,
Do you shoot groups shots with that lens or do you use a different one?

Art

[Michael Wisniewski]

For the 60D, the Canon EFS 10-22mm is still my favorite general purpose lens followed by the EFS 17-55mm. The 10-22mm has some shortcomings, but it's a really useful lens to have, and fun to shoot video or photos. Just make sure to pack a strobe and LED for low light situations. Looking at your current lens kit, the 10-22mm is the one I'd add.

[Robert Benda]

When we're shooting dancing at weddings, where it's always dark, we attach a dimmable LED to help fill in faces, but shoot with either a 35mm on a crop sensor, or 50mm on a full frame.

Not that we want that shallow depth of field (for general dancing), or the fight to stay in focus, but we really don't want to have to setup lighting to film and that usually means something in the f/2 - f/3.2 range.

[Art White]

Michael, good point, since I don't have many lenses.
Robert, I do have a stock 35 mm that came with camera I failed to mention. Never shot dancing photos at a wedding but I have filmed several with a 170 and a LED, so I do have one of those too. Thanks!

[Kren Barnes]

We use both Tamron 17-50 2.8 or the Rokinon 14mm 2.8 on our 60Ds for wide angle shots...

[Daniel Epstein]

Originally Posted by Art White

Daniel,
Do you shoot groups shots with that lens or do you use a different one?

Art

Art I mostly shoot video with the 7D and then stills are a bonus. Yes I do shoot group shots occasionally but not a specialty for me.

[Al Bergstein]

Kren is probably right. For my 7D I bought a 10mm for those backed into a corner shots (or on a boat), but you need to keep the horizon line flat. (it's essentially a fisheye). You could also add a 14mm Canon or Rokinon to your arsenal for that ultrawide shot done from relatively tight quarters. But it distorts those on the side. You might even step up to the full frame so you can use standard lenses to get your wide shots. I would.

Your best bet is to buy a high quality 17mm to 50mm or 70mm range zoom. I don't do weddings but for my 5D bought a 24 to 105 f4. Why F4? Because the 5D can easilly make up the difference in one or two f stops without destroying the image. It also gives me IS, which for run and gun makes sense. I have a few primes for video only work when I need the finest image available. They are astonishingly beautiful quality images from the fast primes. My 50mm makes everything look beautiful. Well worth the prices. The 24 won't be wide enough for tight quarters on your 60d. You will really need to look at 18 or even 14 if you don't go to full frame. But the 14 is really hard to learn to use and I would go with the recommendations of the wedding shooters to do the deed.

While Canon is expensive, remember your lenses will outlast your bodies by 3 or 4 to 1. I have tried and been moderately happy with my Sigma and Tokina's but the Canon glass is really superb, edge to edge. I have already gone through a T2i, 7D, and now have a 5DMkiii and likely will add a C100 or C300 in the future. My lenses, except the 10mm which was specific ot the Crop Canon world, will work fine on all my cameras, and the 10 will even work with the C100. So spend your money on high quality glass.

QUOTE=Art White;1790068]I have the 60D I mostly shoot stills with but I want to start using it as a 3rd camera with my two other video cameras. The only lenses I have are:

Tameron SP AF 28-75m F/2.8 Macro
Canon EF 50mm f 1.4
Sigma 18-200 3.5 - 6.3

I've been doing a lot of filming with HXP 170 and 300 over the years but it's hard to beat the these DLSR for depth of field. (I've only experimented a little bit) So, I'm shooting a wedding for stills coming up and I think I need to buy something a little wider for group shots but I want something that will work well for video too when I expand. Somebody said go with the Canon EF 24-105MM F4L IS USM because it has a nice focal length and constant aperture. Whaddaya think? I wonder if it will be fine for group stills with my crop sensor? What does F4L IS USM stand for?

Thanks![/QUOTE]

[Brian David Melnyk]

i have the 24-105 for my 5D and it is a great versatile lens, but on my 600D is not wide enough. so i am revisiting an old Canon 17-85 IS UMS for video. The focal length is great, but the f4-5.6 is a pain, not constant and not that fast. it is mainly the IS that has made this an attractive video lens, and with the 600d's 3x cropping, with a few button pushes, you can have either 27mm f4 or 81mm f4, which is none too bad...i find i prefer to shoot video mostly around 4 or 5.6 if possible anyway, to make sure things are actually in focus.
not a great lens by any means, but if found cheap, pretty usable with a few work-arounds.