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Canon T2i Lenses
I’m looking lenses. I have the kit 18-55mm lens, but I need better ones.
I’m trying look for affordable ones.I was looking at the 50mm f/1.8 lens for $99.
Is it decent? Any other good ones?What makes good DOF?
What’s the difference between EF and EF-S?Brandon Morris
http://www.brandonmorris.com
I my Mac’s. -
13 Replies
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We are using a set of Nikon primes (35mm, 50mm, and 85mm) with the cheap kawaphoto adapters from eBay. We’re shooting a feature with them on the T2i right now. Sorry, don’t have footage to show yet – we’re still in production. We LOVE the Nikon lenses – we miss zooming, but it forces us to be better filmmakers. Strongly recommend a good light meter, too. Check this link out for DSLRs and used lenses:
https://nofilmschool.com/dslr/
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
What do you mean zooming? Why couldn’t you zoom?
I have 3 older nikon lenses for my 35mm film cam.
I was looking at the adapters too.
Do they break easily like everyone says?I wouldn’t be able to use the internal light meter bc the adapter correct?
What light meter do you reccomend?
Would I use the reflective ball or the scope for the light meter?Brandon Morris
http://www.brandonmorris.com
I my Mac’s. -
If you use adapter you lose all the internal meters and to set the aperture with the camera. Not the end of the world and a lot of people want to do everything manual. If you already have good/fast nikon lenses get a good adapter for sure. The ones the pros recommend are around $75.
the 50 1.8 is a good lens but that type is really bad in manual focus. I would get the 50 1.4 instead but a lot more expensive but a much more usable lens for video.
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Prime lenses have a fixed focal length – no zoom.
We have one adapter for each lens so we don’t swap them out. Since they were only $15 or so each, it was a nothing expense. I’ve not had problems with them breaking so I can’t answer that question. I don’t think they’re really designed to come off easily and I can’t imagine holding up a shoot because I wanted to switch from the 35 to the 50 so we just have them all set up already. If you spend $100 on a used Nikon 35mm lens, it wouldn’t make sense to jeopardize the whole thing with a cheap adapter. These are cheap so we have extras instead. There’s always a way around a problem. 😉
This is where we got ours from: https://shop.ebay.com/kawaphoto/m.html
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
I COMPLETELTY missed the part where you said prime.
Haha, ok.Yeah I bought one from the same place.
I figured I would just buy one per lens and a few extras.
I just read a lot places saying the cheap ones were too much hassle from breaking.Is the 1.8 that bad?
I’ve seen the 1.4 online, a lot more expensive.Brandon Morris
brandonmorris.com
i my mac. -
If you find the stock 18-55 lens that came with the camera you would be okay with the 50 1.8. I’m saving up for the 1.4. but I’m thinking about going to Nikon manual lens route, you just need a light meter, and the nikon have the adapter ring on the lens so you don’t need the body for that.
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Depends on what you shoot. We shoot a lot of video with natural light at night, so the faster the better. I have an f2.8 35mm, 50mm 1.8 (awesome), and 85mm f2 which makes everything look gorgeous (portrait lens) and the narrow DOF makes for great cinema. 😉 The only one I wish were faster is the 35mm. I would kill for a 1.8 or 1.4. Maybe not kill, but maybe pee in a pool or something. 😉 If you plan to shoot in tight quarters, consider a decent uber wide-angle like 18mm or 24/28mm or something (the 35mm is just too long sometimes). If you plan to do a lot of long shots or nature video, think on a 105 or longer if you think you’ll need it. I’m a big fan of Nikon glass, too.
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
Your question “what makes good dof”, is the ability to shoot with a lens wide open, such as f1.8, it means the lens will only focus on a small amount in the scene, leaving foreground and background out of focus. You get this effect in bright sunshine, or daylight by stacking neutral density filters and maybe a polarizing filter on the lens, to cut down the light and use a wider aperture.
The cheap lens adapters from Ebay work fine, I’m so cheap I only have one and change it to different Nikon lenses. The only issue I had with it, are the micro screws that hold the two parts together were loose, so I tightened them up.
Nikon lenses are good, I do meter with these lenses in manual, the meter scale on the top plate of the 7D does register the light. I have found the old Nikkor lenses to be one stop out, I find I need to open up the aperture one stop over what the meter says. The adapter wont work with aperture priority metering, but it will work as a light meter. You need to get Nikon lenses with aperture rings on the lens itself, to be able to control the aperture setting. Old Nikon lenses are typically called Nikkor and I have the AI versions from the 1980’s.
Lastly zooming with your kit lens will as you zoom change aperture, if you start with a wide open aperture of f3.5 then zoom, at the mid point of the zoom the lens becomes a f5.6 lens so your exposure changes, leading to a flickering on your movie.
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What about a Canon FD 50mm F/1.8 lens?
I found one on craigslist and the guy said it should work with the T2i, but everywhere I read said it shouldn’t work.What kind of lightmeter is affordable?
Brandon Morris
http://www.brandonmorris.com
I my Mac’s. -
not sure if its the same one but I’ve used a canon 50mm 1.8 on my t2i, it was a decent lens but absolute hell to pull focus with. I would also reccomend going the nikon prime route, I have a set of them and love em.
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