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Must have lenses for DSLR!?

Hey guys I recently bought myself a Canon 60D. I upgraded from using a Nikon coolpix P100 and Canon Vixia Hf-M300 because both don't really have interchangeable lenses. I am graduating high school this year and will get a lot of money (hopefully) and was wondering what are some must have lenses? Or lenses for certain situations that you guys use and found very likable and worthy. Currently I only have the CHEAP 50mm f1.8 which is the only lens I own because I did not want a kit zoom lens. Any suggestions besides the 50mm f1.8 would be great and what do you think would be ideal lenses recommended for shooting a short for say T.V or something?
 
Thanks I'll take that into consideration. Also I have not studied crop factors and am not sure how it works. Does anyone have a good explanation about that so I know how lenses will be portrayed with different cameras?
 
I have the tamron 17-50 with vibration compensation and it's on my camera 85% of the time. The rest of the time I use the canon 1.4 (I got that over the 1.8 even though it's more expensive I think it really helps having the 1.4 when you need a little more light and the bokeh looks incredible, but from what I've seen the 1.8 does great as well) I also use the tokina 11-16 for wide shots and I think it's great for what I need.

I hope this helps give you an idea of lenses to get. I think the big thing to remember is to have a nice zoom, a nice wide lens, get a 50mm for all the out of focus but not to close shots. Then fill in the gaps with whatever else you need.

If I could only have one lens on a desert island I would have to choose the tamron just because of it's flexibility. I
 
Like MOST questions... How much money you got?

Something wide (28mm on a FF or 18mm or so on a 1.6 crop)
Something normal (50mm on FF, 28mm on crop)
Something medium tele (85mm on FF 50mm on Crop)
Something long (135mm on FF, 85mm on Crop)

That can all be done with 2 zooms or 4 primes. There are focal lengths in between there (like 35mm FF) that are nice to have as well.
 
Do you want to go down Zoom Route or Prime route?

Primes, I like this set. Relatively cheap, awesome image quality and built quality:

Samyang 14mm F2.8
Samyang 24mm F1.4
Samyang 35mm F1.4
Samyang 85mm F1.4

That's my kit. Would be nice if they make a 50mm. I am a huge fan of their lenses.

For Zooms, you would want something like:

(Something wide) Canon 8-15mm L ?
Canon 24-70mm F2.8L
Canon 70-200mm F2.8 L
Maybe one fast prime like a Canon 50mm F1.4 for low light!
 
Do you want to go down Zoom Route or Prime route?

Primes, I like this set. Relatively cheap, awesome image quality and built quality:

Samyang 14mm F2.8
Samyang 24mm F1.4
Samyang 35mm F1.4
Samyang 85mm F1.4

That's my kit. Would be nice if they make a 50mm. I am a huge fan of their lenses.

For Zooms, you would want something like:

(Something wide) Canon 8-15mm L ?
Canon 24-70mm F2.8L
Canon 70-200mm F2.8 L
Maybe one fast prime like a Canon 50mm F1.4 for low light!

Thanks for this Phil! Did you use those Samyang lenses for your T2i? BTW, Samyang is the same with Rokinon right? :)
 
I'll throw my vote in with Phil again. The Rokinon, Samyang, Bower, Pro Optic etc primes are fantastic. I just have the 14 and 85 at the moment, but they get used more than any Canon lens I use, except maybe the 24-70L when I need a little versatility.
 
I personally use a Sigma f1.8 24mm and 50mm but would like something in the middle. I have also used the Samyang's and the 85mm is a really lovely lens. Sometimes the 24mm will feel too far while the 50mm will feel a bit too close so having something in the middle ala 35mm is good too. For now if you're going for real basic, the 50mm is good for dialogue while the 24mm is a decent wide.
 
Thing thing with lens focal length is there are no good and bad, no right or wrong. An example of this: Martin Scorsese hates long focal lengths and uses wides, where as Akiria Kurosawa used long focal lengths extensivley, filming entire films on them.It depends on you and your projects and your personal style.

That said, many famous filmmakers are advocates of 'learning' on a 50mm focal length, which would be a 32.25mm lens, or 30mm to make it even, it's a normal perspective so you can't really go wrong.

It's a very personal affair, the lens (camera) is a tool and I can guarantee is Refn, Haneke, Boyle or De Heer shot their next feature on an iPhone I would love it.

That said, I was unsure of what focal lengths to use to, I didn't want the Kit Lens (Great choice as kit lens is shitty IMO) I wanted to start getting primes and I started out with the 50mm 1.8 like you (which is a 35mm 80mm on your camera, great short telephoto length for portraits/medium close ups and talkies etc) so I got a cheap zoom that covered the 'normal' range so I could test each focal length and see what my next prime would be. The cheap zoom I got was the tamron 17 -50mm f2.8 constant aperture (around 300 delivered from DWI, Grey Import)

I have a Canon 600D, same crop as yours so it's effective field of view is around 27mm - 80mm on it. It's a really good lense and stays on my camera 95% of the time, if you've got enough light and dont need that extra couple of stops (going down to primes f1.4 etc) then the Tamron is an excellent choice to begin with.

Because of the time spent with this Zoom lens I have narrowed my first prime down to either a 24mm, a 28mm or a 30mm (38mm, 45mm and 50mm respectively). I'm leaning more towards the 30mm as Sigma make a pretty good one that isn't too expensive, the 30mm f1.4 which shouldn't be too much more than $400, if you're in doubt go 50mm right?

If I had "a lot of money" (what does that mean anyway? Can you post your budget so we can get a better idea) I would get a better camera, but that's just me.

For my 600D if I had a decent amount of money to spend on lenses I would get:

Canon 50mm 1.4
Sigma 30mm 1.4
Tokina 11 - 16mm 2.8
A 24mm, probably the Samyang or something in that price range

Don't forget about Audio, it's (more than) half the viewing experience and people will forgive flaws in PQ easilier over flaws in Audio!
 
I'm about to buy a Sigma 30mm 1.4. The main goal now are low light scenes, in which I will bring enough light to the characters but not to the background. Anyone can tell me if it is a good option or exists a similar gear better than that? The camera is the GH2.
 
I'm about to buy a Sigma 30mm 1.4. The main goal now are low light scenes, in which I will bring enough light to the characters but not to the background. Anyone can tell me if it is a good option or exists a similar gear better than that? The camera is the GH2.

There is a Voigtlander Nokton f0.95 (yes, you read that correctly) 25mm M43 Lens that works on your GH2, with the 2x crop it would be equivalent to a 50mm. I've read it's an amazing lens. It costs about $1,000 though, so depends on your budget. But if your GH2 is hacked and you plan to keep it for a while, or your next camera is a Pana af100, this would be a good investment.

There is also a Panasonic 20mm f1.7 pancake lens (40mm on 2x crop) that I've read good stuff about, cheaper than the Nokton, about $400 I believe.

There are also two great Olympus f2 constant zoom lenses for m43 sensors that are great apparently, a 14 - 35mm and a 35 - 100mm (28 - 70mm and 70 - 200mm respectively). They are around 1,000 each as well I believe.

I was considering a GH2 at one stage (still am, depending on how good the BLack Magic is and what other's bring out). The wider zoom, 14 - 35mm would be the only lense I would need for a long time. I would probably start off with the 20mm panack first, save for the wider zoom, save for the longer zoom, then save for the 25mm Nokton and be very very happy until I needed something wider than a 28mm equiv.

EDIT: Not 100% sure on the mounts needed, do a quick search before purchasing obviously.
 
Hey gibbo, what a wonderful lens this Voigtlander Nokton 25mm! I was watching some videos with this. Look this test, really nice low light image: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xntrWJbOmRM

But this lens costs U$2.000 here in Brazil. Runs away from my budget at this moment. So I'm still with the Sigma 30mm. I'll watch videos of this 20mm oh the Panasonic.

Yep, great lens. Is your GH2 hacked?

Check out Ebay US, there are plenty for around $1000 USD: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=voigtlander+25mm&_nkwusc=voitglander+25mm&_rdc=1

Bhphotovideo.com have it for $1200: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/754598-REG/Voigtlander_BA305A_Nokton_25mm_f_0_95_Lens.html

But don't dismiss the 20mm pancake, good results and good in low light too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn5LFbWtp04
 

Actually, I do not have the GH2 yet. I just decided to buy it after several days looking for a U$1.500 DSLR.

There's no point I buy on ebay, because when the product arrives at the customs of my country, it will receive a tax burden of 80% or even 90%. If you include the dealers' profit, you will find the reason of things here cost 2x or 3x more expensive.
 
Actually, I do not have the GH2 yet. I just decided to buy it after several days looking for a U$1.500 DSLR.

There's no point I buy on ebay, because when the product arrives at the customs of my country, it will receive a tax burden of 80% or even 90%. If you include the dealers' profit, you will find the reason of things here cost 2x or 3x more expensive.

Well that sucks! What if they mark it as a gift?
 
Well that sucks! What if they mark it as a gift?

This method worked a few years ago. Currently, no more. The federal agents opens the products and compares with similar prices on the internet. Often, if the declared value is not real, we end up paying more than you would pay this amount, because they level by the more expensive similar item.

It really sucks because there is no reason to the government charge this tax, once Brazil do not produce any similar gear. I mean, the only reason is take our money away.
 
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