35mm Equivalent to EX3 Lens at DVinfo.net

Mitchell Lewis · September 3rd, 2010, 08:16 AM

I frequently shoot both video and stills while shooting. I've noticed that the EX3 we use has a very powerful lens. Even when I mounted a 100-400mm lens on our Canon 5D Mark II, then EX3 lens was still more powerful.

Does anyone know what lens I'd have to buy (rent) for our Canon 5D Mark II to equal the same power as the EX3 lens? In other words, the subject would fill the frame the same as when viewed using the EX3.

Thanks in advance.

Steve Phillipps · September 3rd, 2010, 09:08 AM

It's because of the sensor size, the smaller the chip the greater the magnification. The EX3 with its 1/2" chip has about 5x the magnification of the full frame 5D. So if you have a 50mm lens on the EX3 you'll need a 250mm lens for the same shot size.
Steve

Mitchell Lewis · September 3rd, 2010, 09:38 AM

Hmmmm......okay. I think I now understand the magnification thing. But if I'm zoomed all the way in on our EX3 what lens would we need for our Canon 5DM2 to have the same magnification? I'm guessing that it's something like 600mm. But that's just a guess.

Steve Phillipps · September 3rd, 2010, 10:05 AM

The EX3 lens goes up to about 80mm so you'd need around a 400mm to match it.
Steve

Piotr Wozniacki · September 3rd, 2010, 10:12 AM

It's easy to find out in the EX1/3 specs, that the lens is roughly 30-420 mm in 35mm terms (not sure of the exact numbers at the moment).

Mitchell Lewis · September 3rd, 2010, 10:48 AM

Thanks Steve. But in my side-by-side experience, a 100-400 Canon lens wasn't enough. Maybe the magnification is actually more than what you're thinking?

Appreciate the help.

Steve Phillipps · September 3rd, 2010, 03:30 PM

Could be to do with the aspect ratio. The EX will be 16:9 while the 5D is 3:2? Therefore even though you'd have a 5x ratio on one side the other side and the diagonal might be more?
Steve

Derek Reich · September 4th, 2010, 08:33 AM

You may already know this, but you might consider getting a Canon 7D for your 400mm lens. With the crop factor (the 7D is an APS-C sensor as opposed to the full-frame sensor of the 5D) your 400mm will be the equivalent of 640mm or so. The image quality of the 7D is stellar. The cost of a 7D body will be much cheaper than any super telephoto of quality you can find to mount to your 5D. (MUCH cheaper!)

If you're looking for maximum telephoto, of course you can get a Nikon or Canon mount for your EX3, and achieve some astonishing magnification. At over 5X crop factor, you will never find any 35mm equivalent to match the kind of tele possible on an EX with that combination on your 5D (or 7D) though.

Serena Steuart · September 5th, 2010, 01:21 AM

The 35m "equivalent" focal range is 31.4 to 439mm. I wonder if you need to match the FOV because the 5D records (in stills) a 21Mp image, which will stand some cropping while still matching the EX3 resolution. In fact the stock lens suffers some aberrations at max focal length, so the 5D image can be greatly cropped and still give you matching resolution. If you want to match video and still DOF, cropping has advantages there also.

Steve Phillipps · September 5th, 2010, 01:39 AM

The 5D doesn't record 21MP in video mode though, it's downscaled to 1920x1080 so 2MP.
Steve

Serena Steuart · September 5th, 2010, 06:49 PM

True, but as I read the post the need was for 5D stills FOV to match EX3 video FOV.

Steve Phillipps · September 6th, 2010, 02:47 AM

Right, sorry Serena I missed that.
Steve

September 3rd, 2010, 08:16 AM	#1
Mitchell Lewis Trustee Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Kennewick, WA Posts: 1,124	35mm Equivalent to EX3 Lens I frequently shoot both video and stills while shooting. I've noticed that the EX3 we use has a very powerful lens. Even when I mounted a 100-400mm lens on our Canon 5D Mark II, then EX3 lens was still more powerful. Does anyone know what lens I'd have to buy (rent) for our Canon 5D Mark II to equal the same power as the EX3 lens? In other words, the subject would fill the frame the same as when viewed using the EX3. Thanks in advance. __________________ Sony EX3, Canon 5D MkII, Chrosziel Matte Box, Sachtler tripod, Steadicam Flyer, Mac Pro, Apple/Adobe software - 20 years as a local videographer/editor

September 3rd, 2010, 09:38 AM	#3
Mitchell Lewis Trustee Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Kennewick, WA Posts: 1,124	Hmmmm......okay. I think I now understand the magnification thing. But if I'm zoomed all the way in on our EX3 what lens would we need for our Canon 5DM2 to have the same magnification? I'm guessing that it's something like 600mm. But that's just a guess. __________________ Sony EX3, Canon 5D MkII, Chrosziel Matte Box, Sachtler tripod, Steadicam Flyer, Mac Pro, Apple/Adobe software - 20 years as a local videographer/editor

September 3rd, 2010, 10:12 AM	#5
Piotr Wozniacki Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Poland Posts: 4,086	It's easy to find out in the EX1/3 specs, that the lens is roughly 30-420 mm in 35mm terms (not sure of the exact numbers at the moment). __________________ Sony PXW-FS7 \| DaVinci Resolve Studio; Magix Vegas Pro; i7-5960X CPU; 64 GB RAM; 2x GTX 1080 8GB GPU; Decklink 4K Extreme 12G; 4x 3TB WD Black in RAID 0; 1TB M.2 NVMe cache drive

September 3rd, 2010, 10:48 AM	#6
Mitchell Lewis Trustee Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Kennewick, WA Posts: 1,124	Thanks Steve. But in my side-by-side experience, a 100-400 Canon lens wasn't enough. Maybe the magnification is actually more than what you're thinking? Appreciate the help. __________________ Sony EX3, Canon 5D MkII, Chrosziel Matte Box, Sachtler tripod, Steadicam Flyer, Mac Pro, Apple/Adobe software - 20 years as a local videographer/editor

September 4th, 2010, 08:33 AM	#8
Derek Reich Major Player Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Washoe Valley, NV Posts: 304	You may already know this, but you might consider getting a Canon 7D for your 400mm lens. With the crop factor (the 7D is an APS-C sensor as opposed to the full-frame sensor of the 5D) your 400mm will be the equivalent of 640mm or so. The image quality of the 7D is stellar. The cost of a 7D body will be much cheaper than any super telephoto of quality you can find to mount to your 5D. (MUCH cheaper!) If you're looking for maximum telephoto, of course you can get a Nikon or Canon mount for your EX3, and achieve some astonishing magnification. At over 5X crop factor, you will never find any 35mm equivalent to match the kind of tele possible on an EX with that combination on your 5D (or 7D) though. __________________ www.zooprax.com

September 3rd, 2010, 09:08 AM	#2
Steve Phillipps Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Wales Posts: 2,130	It's because of the sensor size, the smaller the chip the greater the magnification. The EX3 with its 1/2" chip has about 5x the magnification of the full frame 5D. So if you have a 50mm lens on the EX3 you'll need a 250mm lens for the same shot size. Steve

September 3rd, 2010, 10:05 AM	#4
Steve Phillipps Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Wales Posts: 2,130	The EX3 lens goes up to about 80mm so you'd need around a 400mm to match it. Steve

September 3rd, 2010, 03:30 PM	#7
Steve Phillipps Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Wales Posts: 2,130	Could be to do with the aspect ratio. The EX will be 16:9 while the 5D is 3:2? Therefore even though you'd have a 5x ratio on one side the other side and the diagonal might be more? Steve

September 5th, 2010, 01:21 AM	#9
Serena Steuart Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Studio Alnitak, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Posts: 640 Images: 3	The 35m "equivalent" focal range is 31.4 to 439mm. I wonder if you need to match the FOV because the 5D records (in stills) a 21Mp image, which will stand some cropping while still matching the EX3 resolution. In fact the stock lens suffers some aberrations at max focal length, so the 5D image can be greatly cropped and still give you matching resolution. If you want to match video and still DOF, cropping has advantages there also.

September 5th, 2010, 01:39 AM	#10
Steve Phillipps Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Wales Posts: 2,130	The 5D doesn't record 21MP in video mode though, it's downscaled to 1920x1080 so 2MP. Steve

September 5th, 2010, 06:49 PM	#11
Serena Steuart Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Studio Alnitak, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Posts: 640 Images: 3	True, but as I read the post the need was for 5D stills FOV to match EX3 video FOV.

September 6th, 2010, 02:47 AM	#12
Steve Phillipps Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Wales Posts: 2,130	Right, sorry Serena I missed that. Steve