First Time Canon T3i and Lenses

M

MindStudios

So, I've been working with a T3i for the past few months or so borrowing it from the tech college that I went to. But now that school's over, I am camera-less. I've gotten used to the T3i and really like it, and I've heard almost everywhere that it is one of the best-value cameras for amateur filmmakers.

So, I'm ready to buy my own, but I'm a little overwhelmed with all the choices of lenses presented to me.
Through my very limited research, I'm wondering if this is a good setup:

The camera body only (refurbished)

Canon EF-S 55-250mm (refurbished)

Canon EF 50mm

I'd like to stay below $800.

So, first questions.....Is the 50 mm necessary? The reason I would get it is because it seems widely known as a 'must have' or very good basic lens, and I'd like to have a non-zoom lens since they are said to have better low light quality (correct?).

And also, do you think it would be a better deal if I got the camera with the kit lens and bought only one other lens? And if so, which lens would complement the disadvantages of the kit lens?

I feel like I'm finally stepping into the 'real world' of film because up until this point I've simply tampered in the more artistic side and not the technical one. I still haven't even gotten into lights and sound, but one step at a time right? I really want to nail down my camerawork before moving onto the others.

Anyway, thanks for the help!
And I will probably order pretty quickly (within the next day or so) so that I have it by next weekend.
 
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MindStudios said:
So, first questions.....Is the 50 mm necessary? The reason I would get it is because it seems widely known as a 'must have' or very good basic lens, and I'd like to have a non-zoom lens since they are said to have better low light quality (correct?).
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50mm is essentially a 'standard' lens. Back in the days of SLR film cameras, cameras were sold with 50mm primes, rather than kit zooms like we see today. Now, SLRs are 'full-frame' (like a 5D) so it doesn't quite translate 100% to an APS-C sensor like that of a T3i.
With that said, the 50mm f/1.8 is the cheapest, fastest Canon lens around. For <$100, you get f/1.8 which lets a whole lotta light in - about 2-3x the amount of light as the kit zoom you link to. This is good for low light scenes as you can allow a lot more light to hit the sensor, or alternately in scenes with a bit more light, you can afford to lower the ISO and open the aperture a little.

'Non-zoom' or 'prime' lenses do not necessarily have better low-light capabilities or better image quality simply for the fact that they are non-zooming. There are many expensive zoom lenses that would beat out cheap primes. The difference is that zooms are a lot more expensive to make, at least comparative to a prime. Therefore, you'll get faster lenses with better image quality cheaper on a prime than you will a zoom.

And also, do you think it would be a better deal if I got the camera with the kit lens and bought only one other lens? And if so, which lens would complement the disadvantages of the kit lens?
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I'd get a camera body with no lens, and then buy better lenses than the kit lenses.

I feel like I'm finally stepping into the 'real world' of film because up until this point I've simply tampered in the more artistic side and not the technical one. I still haven't even gotten into lights and sound, but one step at a time right? I really want to nail down my camerawork before moving onto the others.
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Here's the thing: Some will disagree with me, but IMHO I think it's only worth delving into the real technical side of things if you in fact want to be a Cinematographer, Gaffer etc. If you want to be a Director, you should be focussed more on the artistic side. Indeed, Directors should have a cursory knowledge of the technical side, but I've worked with Directors who have very little idea about the technical side, and we've created great things! In fact, it perhaps means they've been less pre-occupied with the specific technical aspects and are able to focus on what they need to as a Director.
I would recommend teaming up with someone who does know the technical stuff and bouncing off each other - complementing each other where the other lacks (film is, after all, a collaborative medium!)
 
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jax_rox said:
Here's the thing: Some will disagree with me, but IMHO I think it's only worth delving into the real technical side of things if you in fact want to be a Cinematographer, Gaffer etc. If you want to be a Director, you should be focussed more on the artistic side. Indeed, Directors should have a cursory knowledge of the technical side, but I've worked with Directors who have very little idea about the technical side, and we've created great things! In fact, it perhaps means they've been less pre-occupied with the specific technical aspects and are able to focus on what they need to as a Director.
I would recommend teaming up with someone who does know the technical stuff and bouncing off each other - complementing each other where the other lacks (film is, after all, a collaborative medium!)
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I would mostly agree with that. I at least want to get a basic understanding of each side of filmmaking so that I don't feel useless in those aspects.

So, I will probably get the 50mm since it is fairly cheap, but I just need to decide on a second lens.
Is the 55-250mm a good choice? I'm not sure if I should find something with a little wider angle....
Maybe this?
 
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For general filmmaking purposes, I don't see much use in a 55-250mm. I think you'd get FAR more use out of something like the stock 18-55mm. Especially with the crop sensor, you're gonna want (need, really) a wide option, and if you're too broke to get a wide prime (like me), the stock comes in very handy.
 
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Cracker Funk said:
For general filmmaking purposes, I don't see much use in a 55-250mm. I think you'd get FAR more use out of something like the stock 18-55mm. Especially with the crop sensor, you're gonna want (need, really) a wide option, and if you're too broke to get a wide prime (like me), the stock comes in very handy.
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If I got the camera with the kit lens, it would still be worth it to get the 50mm right?
Also, did you see my latest post that mentioned the 18-135mm? Wouldn't that be better than the 18-55mm?
 
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The 50mm will get you a lower f-stop and that will come in handy. It's cheap, lots of people like that lens, so it's probably a worthy investment.

18-135, over 18-55? Sure, why not? They're both Canon, I would expect similar quality. Only obvious difference is price. Of course I can't predict your actions, but I suspect that the more telephoto regions of that 18-135 lens won't get used too often.
 
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That 18 - 135 will cover just about every purpose you'd want to use other than nature photography, for which you're looking at more like a 250-400ish kind of range... for general filmmaking, 135 is plenty, I just spent a day walking around campus with my 135 prime... it's more telephoto than I was expecting. I like the look of the 135 from a spatial compression stand point as well. Not too much, but still a little more abstract than moving closer with a wider lens.
 
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The 18-135mm is still a pretty slow lens, and you'll be able to open up the aperture and let more light in with a faster lens such as the Tamron mentioned above.

May I ask why, in fact, you specifically want two lenses? Spending more money on a better/faster zoom is going to be better than spending small amounts of money on two cheap lenses.
 
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I survived on a 50mm lens for a few months, i sold my kit lens as it was crap, dont bother with it unless you get it for free or under £40.

i just bought a new samyang 14mm its the shizzle! so now that paired with my 50mm mk2, i can get pretty much what i need, although i think my next lens will be a samyang 35mm, or i may upgrade the mk2 to a 1.4 50mm, but its undecided.

do not get the kit lens, its not worth it!
 
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I don't really agree with 8salacious9. I use the 18-55mm kit lenses heaps. If you want any kind of steadicam shot, handheld shot or anything wide, the 50mm will become quite awkward. I applaud you for surviving like that, but I personally don't see that being possible. To get a simple wide shot of an actor standing up requires you to be at least 5 metres away I would say, just because the focal length is so close.
 
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MileCreations said:
I don't really agree with 8salacious9. I use the 18-55mm kit lenses heaps. If you want any kind of steadicam shot, handheld shot or anything wide, the 50mm will become quite awkward. I applaud you for surviving like that, but I personally don't see that being possible. To get a simple wide shot of an actor standing up requires you to be at least 5 metres away I would say, just because the focal length is so close.
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i mean for the money he could get what i got now, im not sure what that would be in dollars, but a used t3i, used 50mm mk2 and a used or new wide lens would be in his budget so he could have it covered, but then again its all about how good he is, can he hold the cam stead like a surgeon with a knife aswell as move or is he shaking stevens, all depends.
 
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jax_rox said:
The 18-135mm is still a pretty slow lens, and you'll be able to open up the aperture and let more light in with a faster lens such as the Tamron mentioned above.

May I ask why, in fact, you specifically want two lenses? Spending more money on a better/faster zoom is going to be better than spending small amounts of money on two cheap lenses.
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I guess I just want to have some more choices in my shots. It's not completely necessary that I get two, if there is a lens that is a really good stand-alone lens.
 
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MileCreations said:
Considering My body and twin lens kit cost that same amount it seems relatively decent. Though I personally probably wouldn't use those SD cards.

Although it seems to be more of a photography kit than a film making kit
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Yeah, I went ahead and bought it. It came with the 18-55mm which would have cost $520 and that's really only what I care about. I'll probably sell any of the extra stuff that I don't need.

What's wrong with the SD cards?
 
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I think the SD cards are alright, but the space might be a bit small for some. In my mind, I thought of Transcend as a cheap/low quality brand, but from my quick search, it seems most people who use them stick by them.
 
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cheeseandachallenge said:
I think the SD cards are alright, but the space might be a bit small for some. In my mind, I thought of Transcend as a cheap/low quality brand, but from my quick search, it seems most people who use them stick by them.
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Well with the T3i I used from the Technical College, it used a transcend 16gb class 10 sdhc card and it worked fine. And for now, I think the 16gb and 8gb will be enough.
 
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I used 8 and 16gb cards at school. They were ok, but I generally needed to copy my footage to a computer after only a couple of hours of shooting (because the card would be full) - and most of this time I was using external audio recording (reducing the file sizes on the camera). This, again, wasn't a huge deal - but when one of my films involved 'proper actors' (one guy who was the name theater actor of my town - not a big deal on an international or even national scale, just in my little town) and another good theater actor, having to stop in the middle of everything for 10 minutes to extract footage became very awkward, stressful and unprofessional.

Furthermore, I was lucky to be shooting at home. If you're shooting at another site, and can't copy your footage periodically, then you're screwed, unless you want to waste time looking through shots you won't use (and you'd be surprised how often you might want a shot you thought you wouldn't use).

they will suffice, but they're not ideal. I'd sell them too, and invest a little bit more in storage. Just my 2c.
 
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