Which 3 focal lengths for my film?

I have the budget for 1 Canon L series prime and maybe 2 other ~$400 ones. Which sizes should I get?

I will be shooting on a 60D.

I used to have an 85mm for my portrait photography, but I feel like having to stand that close to my actors will be distracting for them.

Everyone seems to recommend 50mm because it's closest to human eyesight, but that's not necessarily important to me.

I'm definitely going to need to shoot a lot of scenes in a small bedroom and I'll want to be wide enough to get my actor and an entire wall in frame. Will a 35mm do that?

Also, sometimes my actors will be eating on a restaurant patio, and I'll be across the street stealing some shots (medium would be ideal).

Which 3 would you recommend and which of the 3 should I spend the extra money on?
 
Good wide lenses below 24mm are expensive. They cost about a grand, like the tokina 11-16 or the canon 10-22. If you're going to be in a small room where you need wider than 24mm, i would just rent the lenses. Or you can look into second hand/vintage lenses. I don't know exactly how small your bedroom is but ill bet you'll need much wider than a 35mm to get the shots you're thinking of.

There is nothing wrong with the 85mm or even longer for closeups. And you would not be standing too close to your actors with it. In fact, you would be standing further away to get the same framing than any other wider focal length.

Generally, if you are getting only three lenses, you want to cover your basic shots and get something like a 24mm/28mm, a 50mm and an 85mm. Then you can fill in the gaps later by going wider, adding in a 35mm etc.
 
I like 28, 50, 85, 150 (or zooms to fit those ranges). In primes, this is a good variety of ranges to get a variety of looks from just about any given camera position.
 
If your bedroom is really small, I'd say 18mm may be necessary, Check ebay and try to find good used glass to save some dough. whats the lighting like, if you don't need below a f/2.8 you may be within your $400/lens budget. Look for some vintage lenses and possibly use an adapter to stay in budget. the possibilities are really endless for lens choice these days.
 
This is all very helpful, thank you.

The room is not that small, just an average bedroom. Light will all be natural and/or practical lamps.

I'm not so interested in used or vintage lenses. The budget is really not the problem. I'm looking at the canon site now and I can basically get any prime lens between 20mm and 135mm for around $500 or under. Also I can spring for one L series (maybe the 50mm for $1,600?)

just can't decide if I should get something like:

20mm, 50mm, 100mm
or
28mm, 50mm, 85mm
or
35mm, 85mm, 135mm

or any combination...
 
Why not use the money to rent a set of CPs? Or to buy a good zoom that will cover the entire range?

Even the best zooms that would cover the range don't go past 2.8 and since I'll be in low light I want at least 1.8, 1.4, 1.2

I'm very interested in the zeiss CPs, thanks for that suggestion... Although this is a feature film so renting anything for a month or 2 gets pretty pricy. Also, it would be nice to be able to sell my lenses after the project and make a decent chunk of my money back.
 
Go Rokinon! L quality glass without autofocus or zoom. You can get 3 or 4 of them for the cost of one L lens too. 14 2.8 ($350-400), 24 1.4 $(700), 35 1.4 ($500), and 85 1.4 ($279). Stellar lenses!
 
Even the best zooms that would cover the range don't go past 2.8 and since I'll be in low light I want at least 1.8, 1.4, 1.2

I'm very interested in the zeiss CPs, thanks for that suggestion... Although this is a feature film so renting anything for a month or 2 gets pretty pricy. Also, it would be nice to be able to sell my lenses after the project and make a decent chunk of my money back.

To each their own, I personally like to stick around f/2.8 anyway because I hate the super-shallow DSLR look and I also hate how soft the cheaper lenses get wide open.

How long do you plan to shoot for? How many lenses do you need? On a $2k lens budget (?) you'll probably be able to get a full set of Zeiss CPs for 4 working weeks. If you go into your local rental houses, you can probably get even better deals. If you only need 3 rather than 6, you'd probably see the rate cut by 1/3rd or so.
Have you thought about perhaps buying some cheap older lenses? Say, FD mount for example? If you're only going for the focal lengths, then you could buy a full set of 6 for <$500 if you buy smart.
 
To each their own, I personally like to stick around f/2.8 anyway because I hate the super-shallow DSLR look and I also hate how soft the cheaper lenses get wide open.

How long do you plan to shoot for? How many lenses do you need? On a $2k lens budget (?) you'll probably be able to get a full set of Zeiss CPs for 4 working weeks. If you go into your local rental houses, you can probably get even better deals. If you only need 3 rather than 6, you'd probably see the rate cut by 1/3rd or so.
Have you thought about perhaps buying some cheap older lenses? Say, FD mount for example? If you're only going for the focal lengths, then you could buy a full set of 6 for <$500 if you buy smart.

Where are you finding Compact Primes for $2k a month? The best I can find is $3500.

Places like Division Camera and AbelCine have them going for between $4500 and $9000 a month.
 
Where are you finding Compact Primes for $2k a month? The best I can find is $3500.

Places like Division Camera and AbelCine have them going for between $4500 and $9000 a month.

$9k a month? I can get Zeiss PL Ultra Primes for that. And that's local prices which seem to be about half of US pricing.. Where are you located? Who's your local hire place?
 
$9k a month? I can get Zeiss PL Ultra Primes for that. And that's local prices which seem to be about half of US pricing.. Where are you located? Who's your local hire place?

I'm just outside Atlantic City. Closest rentals places to me are in NYC (2 hours away) and Philly (1 hour).

Ultra Primes at AbelCine (NYC) are $9k a month for 6 lenses; Compact Primes are $150 a day per lens. So $900 a day for 6 lenses x 10 days for a rental month.
 
How many of the set do you think you'll need? Considering you were originally planning 2, could you get away with three? I've always found going in and chatting to the guys at the rental place will always get you the best price. Discussing your situation always tends to help. Even if you can get a student on board the production, you may even be able to get them to pick up the gear and get a 25% student discount. Local rental places also only charge per day of use, so if you are planning to shoot on Friday, they'll only charge you the single day rental even though you can't actually return the equipment until the Monday. Essentially they don't charge you for weekends unless you specify you will be shooting on the weekends.

Wow, $9k is a of money for a 6-set of EF CP Primes. PL Mk3 Super speeds here cost $6k/month full price, 5-set of Ultra Primes costs $8,400/month and usually you can negotiate those prices down a bit if you're a lower budget production. I'm not sure if you guys have similar charges (ie, no charge for weekends) but even lensrentals.com has a 6 set of CP primes for $2350 for 21 days, $2950 for 30 days. And that's if you need the whole 6..
 
Is there some artistic reason you refuse to light?

My film is an indie drama which focuses on story and character. Most of the shots will be handheld and it will have a very authentic feel. There will be no music that doesn't happen on screen and no light that isn't part of the scene.

Originally I wanted to shoot this way because it's quicker and cheaper, but I've been doing tons of research and it's very common for this style of film to shoot without lighting setups.

Although my script is complete with dialogue, my actors will have plenty of room for improv and they will be free to move within the space and not have to worry about hitting lots of marks.
 
Although my script is complete with dialogue, my actors will have plenty of room for improv and they will be free to move within the space and not have to worry about hitting lots of marks.

I would hate to be your focus puller. Do you realize how insane it is to shoot at f1.4 and also just allow your actors the freedom to go wherever they want.
 
I would hate to be your focus puller. Do you realize how insane it is to shoot at f1.4 and also just allow your actors the freedom to go wherever they want.

I shoot bands performing live studio sessions at least once per week and some of those guys tend to move a lot in their performances so I'm used to it. I shoot at 1.4 and move around as much as they do. Like I said, everything is handheld, shot much like a documentary. Although I will not always be in 1.4 considering this is a feature film and there is a variety of different scenes in different locations that require different lenses and apertures. Hence the reason for this thread. I just wanted to get an idea for the best 3 lens lengths to cover my bases.

Thanks to the few of you who offered opinions on my original question.
 
10-17ish, a 50 and a 85 if I only have 3 ...I like to clamp down on the f-stops myself and try and shoot a lot f5.6 and higher. I am usually a one man band so to speak and as a result I usually have minimal lighting. I hate shallow DOF unless the scene must have it. I prefer to have less grain than I usually get shooting w 1.8 or so. I try to get better lit scenes so I have more to play with in post.
 
In that case, I'd suggest a zoom. Have you ever wondered why news and doco cameras tend to use zooms? It's not because they can't be bothered changing lenses, it's because they often don't have time. Things happen instantly and you need to be able to pick up and go, not have to spend 5 minutes changing a lens. That's also why you'll rarely see news or Direct Cinema type docos shooting at 1.4 or even using DSLRs for their setups that aren't set up and staged interviews, or beauty shots. I'm curious how you're going follow completely improvised action properly if you have to change lenses all the time? And, how the hell you're going to achieve any kind of continuity between mid's, close ups and wides if it's all improv. That's why you generally lock off all physical improv in rehearsals, because you generally need to know where the character is going to be when, not only so you can light it but also for continuity and all sorts of other reasons.
 
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