35mm Lenses and adapter advice for Sony EX-3

[Dean Harrington]

You should consider the SG Blade by Shoot 35 in England. I have this 35mm lens adaptor and it works very well on my ex3 and is in you price range. Specify that you are using this on an ex3. You can get lens mounts for various lens … PL, nikon, and canon are available. great piece of kit.

[Jed Findlay]

Thanks Dean,

I just sent off a message contacting them about their products. Can you advise me on what type of lenses to buy? Where to buy them?

Any thoughts on the Letus line?

I appreciate your help.

Jed

[Dean Harrington]

Personally, I like Nikon lens best but I do have a couple of canons. Visit Ken stone’s site on nikon lens. You can learn a lot about these lens there. eBay has a lot of basic lens for sale … look for f1.4 to 2.0 to get good DOF in you images. Good luck

[Jed Findlay]

Thank you so much Dean!!!

Jed

[Brent Dunn]

Try to stay with prime lenses. These are lenses with a fixed focal length such as 24 mm, 50mm, 100mm, etc.

I have a 24-70 canon L-Series lens, 2.8, that I use a lot. It isn’t a prime, but does give me some flexibility when I’m at a live event and need to zoom in or out to reframe.

I like canon lenses. I recommend the L-Series lenses. Great glass, color, & construction.

You also need to understand the F-stop. Lower numbers, such as 1.2 – 1.8 lenses are referred to as “fast glass.” They let in more light and provide very shallow depth of field when you open the lens up to full aperature. Higher f-stops….4.0 & up, let in less light and don’t work as well in low light.

Canon also makes a cheap 50mm macro 1.4 lens for around $300 that is very good for the price.

It’s hard to give you advice when I don’t know what your main shooting projects are. If I only had enough money for one lens, then the canon L-series 24-70 2.8, will give you some flexibility and a great look.

Brent Dunn
Owner / Director / Editor
DunnRight Films
DunnRight Video.com
Video Marketing Toolbox.net

Sony EX-1,
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 7D
Mac Pro Tower, Quad Core,
with Final Cut Studio

HP i7 Quad laptop
Adobe CS-5 Production Suite

[Jed Findlay]

Brent,

Your response is filled with great advice. The final comment about the cannon 24-70 lens is exactly what I wanted to know.

Our projects vary so greatly (news pieces to full blown TV ads) – we hope to use this shallow depth of field look to accentuate interviews and more artistic style stories about the programs we offer.

Thanks so much for the advice.

I notice you have the Sony EX-1 listed in your cameras – do you have an opinion on the lens adapter we use? We are leaning towards the Letus Elite package (though I really want the Ultimate) because it offers the adapter, rods for mounting, and a choice of lenses for one price.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Jed

[Brent Dunn]

I held off on the lens adapter. Once the 5D and 7D came out, I used that money toward these cameras. I didn’t like the bulkiness and additional issues working with lens adapters. (I’m a run and gun shooter)

Now that Panasonic has the AF-100, it gives you the best of what we were looking for. The ability to use the DSLR lenses with a film / video camera functions.

I’ve advised many companies on camera purchasing. I love helping people spend their money. I personally know videographers who have used these adaptors on the EX-1. They were great in their time, but when the 5D MK II came out, they all sold their adapters. I don’t know anyone who is buying adapters and would not advise you waste your money on one.

Take your cash and buy the AF-100. You won’t regret it.

Brent Dunn
Owner / Director / Editor
DunnRight Films
DunnRight Video.com
Video Marketing Toolbox.net

Sony EX-1,
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 7D
Mac Pro Tower, Quad Core,
with Final Cut Studio

HP i7 Quad laptop
Adobe CS-5 Production Suite