Prime Lens, good for video/film?

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FishCake1994

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I'd like to buy a prime lens for portraiture but also wondering if it is a good choice for film use. I have a Nikon d90 planning on getting a 50mm prime.

Thanks.
 
Absolutely! I'm only just getting into this, but my 24L f1.4 is great on my 5D shooting footage (byte'age?)

Video is problematic on an SLR so normal functions like focus, zoom become a little 'complicated' anyway. I find my prime perfectly adequate.
 
Unsure of the crop factor, but you might want a prime that gives you a similar field of view to a 35mm lens on full frame. On canon APS-C cameras (1.6x crop) I'd be tempted to go for something like a 24mm prime. Probably the most versatile length you could get for film
 
I went from a Nikon 18-105mm and now use my 35mm F1.8 more than any other lens, I think the next purchase may be the 28mm, IMO primes are the way forward, of course on eBay etc you can find dirt cheap older lenses such as the M42 types that require an adapter for use on your camera, very cheap. :) and the older film lenses they too work nicely.. hope this helps.
 
jacob12_1993 said:
I'd be tempted by the Samyang primes (dirt cheap, smooth focusing, manual aperture) but you would have to put up with MF for photo work
Click to expand...

This. Samyang do video versions of some of their lenses with clickless apertures for smoother filming too.
 
zeiss are great for filming because of the longer focusing range and smoothness, you get very fine control and the highest optical quality. I also agree with what others say, don't get 50mm get 35mm if you are using a crop sensor, samyang are very good too but I think zeiss is a step up in quality.
 
Thanks guys! I will look into 35mm primes, I'm set on a nikon or sigma prime though, they have always done me right in the past.

Thanks again.
 
Nikon do a 35mm f1.8 which can be picked up for under £150 new. If you want f1.4 sigma make a 30mm which is around £300.
 
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