Canon 7D - Which lenses for video
 

What would your recommendations be for a lens set to be used with the 7d shooting in a wedding video environment.

Option A - On a budget
Option B - With an eye on weight i.e. flying with a Merlin
Option C - Quality over budget

Apologies if this has been asked already. If not, then I am sure there will be plenty of others interested.

Back in the day when most of us shot weddings with medium format "press" cameras, TLR's (Rollie & Mamiya C33/C330), and Hassleblad or Mamiya RB67 and no zoom lenses, I'd cover a whole wedding with the 'Blad and its "normal" 80mm F2.8 Planar. On an APS-C size sensor a 24mm will be a tad wider coverage than that (38mm FF equiv).

So (on a budget) I'll start out with an EF 24mm F2.8 (coming FedEx in a couple of days) and an EF 50mm F1.8 (metal barrel model left over from EOS film cam days and lens already on hand). I'm retired and not in any imaging business endeavor so what I do is largely for video challenges and any other projects that catch my fancy.

I've already worked some with the 50mm F1.8 on a T1i and will have a chance to work some of the "kinks" out of using the 24mm before the 7D comes available. I missed the "pre-order" so am on B&H's "Notify when in stock" list.

So those two are what I'll start out with, I'll still have the 18-55mm "kit" lens that came with the T1i, and a 55-250mm EF-S, plus a 70-210 EF zoom left over from the film kit (don't know if I'll "insult" the 7D by putting the 18-55mm "kit" lens on it but on occasion may need that wide end).

"L" glass is out of my budget range but an awful lot of the good looking footage we are seeing is shot with them.

OK, just found this post that made for interesting reading.

ProLost - ProLost Blog - Canon7D

Now...PLEASE do not take anything I say as Gospel, I am happy to confirm that i am at the "throwing rocks at the moon" stage.

Wait for someone who knows what they are talking about to confirm.

If I read the article correctly, then a good choice may be

EF-S 17–55mm f/2.8 IS (27–88mm equivalent due to crop factor)

and the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS (112-320mm equivalent due to crop factor)

Telephoto EF 135mm f/2.0L USM - if you can afford it. looks like the results from it would be exceptional.

Another ive been looking at and it seems like its good value is the 35mm f2
FM Reviews - EF 35mm f/2

Ill probably stick with primes for the moment as the ratio of iq:price is better.

Would have helped if I had looked in the right place to start.

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/canon-eo...stly-lens.html

I think what I'm going to do is go with the 7D kit lens, and use my Tamron 17-35 for wider angles. I also have an f1.8 50mm but it's way too long for much of what I do. The Tamron is 2.8 but only at the wide end, from 17mm to about 20 or 21mm. I'm also considering that Sigma f1.4 30mm. That would be about a 48mm equivalent, close to a "normal" lens and fast enough for low light conditions. Or if money permits, they also have a nice 20mm that is (I think) an f1.8. That would be very close to the wide angle on my XH A1, so it would probably be best if I wait and spend more on it. Last time I looked that 20mm was over $550.

However, I'm going to go with what I already have for awhile and see if I really do need to spend the money on a faster wide angle lens.

Canon 7D walk around lens (video)
 

Hi Guys, Need some help with this pricey decision. I will be using the 7D primarily for video and want to get one good walk around lens. I will be using the camera mainly for personal family videos as I use an EX1 for work. The two lenses that I have narrowed it down to are the Canon 35mm 1.4L or the Canon 24-70mm 2.8L. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Why FF Lenses? Why "L" Series?
 

I know everyone has their own POV on the matter of lenses, so here's mine…

If you know you're going to be staying with a crop-sensor camera (APS-C of the 7D) and not moving to a 5D or similar, why go with full-frame "L" lenses? Yes, "L" series are built to a higher standard (or so I hear), and having owned both the 24-70mm "L" f2.8 and the 70-200 IS USM f2.8 lenses in the past, they are nice. But for the price, for a "walkaround" lens for video of family and what-not, I wouldn't spend the money on "L" series glass.

My suggestion would be to look at the 17-55mm f2.8 EF-S lens from Canon. You'll get more wide coverage, and a fast f2.8 lens (for zoom).

Now, if you have your heart set on one of those two lenses, it's hard to beat the 24-70.

I lug around my 24-70mm L lens even for everyday family stuff. I've gotten use to the weight years ago. It's important for me to photograph/video those moments in the highest quality possible. (I'm also picky about CA fringing, which can make a photo look amateurish if there is too much CA, so it's L lenses all the way for me.)
Just my two cents.

I have the 24-70 for the 5D and I rarely shoot beyond 24/35mm. So on the cropped 7D, you will be losing a lot on the wide end. If you can deal with that, the 24-70 is awesome for video and photo. Just make sure you have some sort of stabilizer on the farther end (like a monopod).

Personally, I think the 16-35 2.8 would be a nicer but I guess that might be out of your price range.

Have you compared the 24-70 on the 5D vs 7D? After I switched to full frame, I've found it difficult going back to a crop-sensor without a using a different set of lenses.

I think the 17-55 Canon is a no-brainer choice (or the Tamron equivalent for the more budget minded). The 24-70 doesn't seem wide enough on a crop sensor for a walk around lens. I agree with Stephen that the L series lenses may be overkill when their are very nice non-L options. I think the L-series glass probably makes more of a difference for stills.

I bought the 17-55, sitting here waiting for the 7D to arrive.

In my opinion the ideal choice is the new EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens. I've been told by Canon USA that it has a very high build quality, and it would be a "L" series lens if not for the fact that there will never be an "L" designation for the EF-S line. It's made for APS-C and provides a field of view equal to 24-136mm.

It is to the 7D what the EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS is to the 5D Mk. II, and that is a multipurpose zoom lens which is sufficiently wide with a bit of telephoto reach (actually it has a slightly longer zoom ratio over the 24-105). It's the one I have my eye on. I believe the 7D kit lens is going to be the EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens; but frankly I think the new EF-S 15-85mm is going to be a choice for better overall quality (it's about $800).

If you're going to be shooting mostly indoors, then I agree with Stephen's suggestion above for the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 (around $1000).

As a second lens with a longer reach, I'd go for the EF 70-200mm f/4 L (without IS if it's mostly for video, since you'll be shooting from a tripod with this lens), for $650. The same lens with IS goes for $1200 or so. There's an f/2.8 version of this lens which is bigger and quite a bit heavier, not to mention more expensive (if I recall, it's $1200 without IS and around $2000 with IS).

For those on a budget, there's also the EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS for only $600.

I'm confused now. So is an EF-S Lens rated at 17mm going to be wider on an APS-C than an EF series lens? I guess what I"m asking is if the EF-S 17mm is truly 17mm or is it 17mm x 1.6x crop factor still?

All focal lengths are given with respect to full-frame 35mm standards; so a 17mm EF-S is the same as a 17mm EF lens.

It'll be 17mm times 1.6 -- the focal length of the lens is what it is. It's called a 17mm
because that's its actual focal length, it doesn't matter if it's EF or EF-S or IMAX.

Because you have a general idea through experience with 35mm still photography what kind of field of view you get through various focal lengths, you have to do a little math to get the conversion. 17mm on an EF-S lens designed for an image plane the size of an APS-C sensor is in fact 17mm. But the resulting field of view is going to be more telephoto than what you would expect from a full frame camera (one point six times more, in fact).

So it's important to note that the numbers on the side of an EF-S lens are *not* 35mm equivalents, but rather the actual focal length of the lens. Multiply by 1.6 times to get an idea of what the field of view will look like relative to your experience with 35mm still photography. Hope this helps,