I just bought the Singh-Ray Vari-N-Duo... its a variable ND with built in polarizer...
haven't tried it out on the camera yet but it does work just looking thru it and adjusting
the ND/Polarizer... also ordered enough step rings so I can use it on most of my lenses.

here's the link...

Singh-Ray Vari-N-Duo Polarizing Variable Neutral Density Filter

Please let us know how that works out. I was considering getting one as well, it's just that they seem ridiculously expensive. It would cost nearly three times what I paid for the old manual Nikon lens that I would put it on. As of right now, I'm leaning more to getting some ND filters and doing things the old fashioned way.

I'm still building my lens kit. But my question is what lens hoods are you guys using for the outdoor stuff? The flower petal style hoods, rubber hoods,....? (Post a link if possible)

JS

Maybe I posted in the wrong thread...but I'll answer my own question for now. Seems the Canon hood is the best choice, at least for IS zoom lenses. It has a bayonet mount rather than the screw on type (which could be an issue if using auto focus?). It's not the petal style though, and cost 3x as much.

JS

low light lens
 

ok so I'm a news stringer and my XHA1 is in the shop so I want to use my 5d mark II while my XHA1 is out. what would be a good lens to use for low light video I have a few lenses but they seem to not look like video I have seen here on line shot in low light with the same camera. is there a cheap way ok inexpensive way to get great low light video? the lens I own are canon 75-300 1:4-5.6 19-35 1:3.5-4.5 and the 28-135 1:3.5-5.6 now keep in mind I need something with a zoom after all most time police dont let us right up close to a fire, wreck, or shooting.

Any thought anyone

There is no zoom that will give you the sort of great low-light video that you will have seen from the Canon 5DII. They simply don't make a zoom with a large enough aperture. Most of that cool low-light video that you have seen was shot with an F2, F1.4 or even F1.2 prime lens. The telephoto zoom with the largest aperture that Canon make is an the 70-200mm F2.8L & that that can in no way be described as inexpensive at over $2000.

However if your normal camera is an XH-A1 then using your 5DII with any of your current zooms should still give decent video if you shoot at higher ISO settings (high gain in XH-A1 terms) although it will be grainier than if shot with a fast prime there will be less grain
than using the XH-A1.

I'm using Nikkor lenses with an adaptor for the 5d. 24mm 2.4, 50mm 1.8 and 85mm 1.8. They work great, the only issue is some glares and a slight vignieting at high iso and higher fs numbers. But at a range of $300 a lens it's hard to beat.

Whats a good zoom lens for the 5D for VIDEO?
 

I am looking for a good zoom lens for the 5D for Video shooting only.

Are there any lens that I could hand held (because of IS) - my understanding is that there are not....

Would the 24-105mm f/4L IS USM AF Kit Lens work well and still provide shallow enough DOF at F4?
I hear that at F1.4 etc and low values its extremely difficult to focus.

Sure -- lower f-stops make it harder to focus, but with a faster lens you can always bump the aperture (to make it easer to focus), while you can't do the opposite with a slow lens (i.e., to get shallower DOF). There's a reason why fast lenses are harder to manufacture, and hence cost more.

-- peer

Of course. F4 on 5D mark II is very fine.

Yes I hear all about fast lenses for video andi'm scratchingmy head. The DOF for a movingsubject is too thin.....I've got a chance to pick up the 17-40 F4L at a great price and it seems the way to go when my 24-105 F4L is not wide enough. The DOF is awsome and would work good to get an adequare DOF.

You will want fast lenses later when you become more used to pulling focus, I can pull focus at f1.4 on a 50mm lens now in a few takes, and you can always use a smaller arpature on a fast lens if your not ready yet. I recommend the faster the lenses the better, you'll be better off later on too.

Don't use Canon glass! There's nothing wrong with the older manual lenses. In fact, they can often be better. All my mid-focal range glass are Nikon AIs or Zeiss. You can pick them up for a song on eBay, great quality lenses and perfect for manual control.

This is my complete set that I use for the 5D2. I've swapped and changed over a period of time and I'm more than happy with my set as I have it now. I use all of them regularly except for my Nikon 24 which has become somewhat redundant of late.

Canon EF 14mm f/2.8 L II USM
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L USM
Nikon 24mm f/2.8 AI-s
Zeiss Distagon ZF T* 35mm f/2
Nikon 50mm f/1.2 AI-s
Nikon Micro 55mm f/2.8 AI-s
Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AI-s
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM II (with the 1.4x and 2x extenders)

I wanted good, fast glass, but I had a ceiling limit, so did the best I could. For example, I couldn't justify the cost of choosing a Canon 50mm 1.2L over my Nikon 50mm 1.2. I'm aware the Canon 50mm 1.2 is supposed to be superior than the Nikon, but I don't know that for myself (only what I read from a review or two). Maybe someone here has tried both, but I love my Nikon 50.

I think that 5D MKII owners need a mix of glass, if they shoot stills and video. I have a few Canon lenses, mainly for shooting stills. You need AF for stills IMHO, trying to manually focus on lenses that were designed to auto focus is tough.

For the wide end, I have the Canon 17-40 F4 L, it is a great lens on the 5D MKII, but the lens I shoot the majority of the time for video is my good old cheap Nikon 50mm 1.4 AI, it is superb to manually focus, smooth and nice feeling. I also love using my Nikon 105mm 2.8 D Micro on the 5D MKII, it is the sharpest lens I own, looks amazing,

For the long end, I have the Canon 70-300 F4.5-5.6 IS. Not a great lens but nice for stills. I rarely use it for video. I have used the 24-105 F4 L, it's okay but nothing special. IMHO, you need at least one or two really fast lenses for the 5D MKII. The DOF comes into play when you are close to the subject more. If you are getting medium shots from 10' away. the shallow DOF is not an issue. If you are getting CUs with the 1.4 wide open or at a 2.0 or 2.8, yes, it takes some practice to be able to do any kind of manual focus tracking but it can't done. When I shoot in decent light or light sets with the 5D MKII, F4.0 or 5.6 is always my goal, regardless of lens speed because all lenses look their best at those apertures and the DOF is usable, not super shallow, but shallow enough.

Dan

Got a truck load of M42 lenses - anyone using the Super Takumar 50mm f/1,4?