when we are first starting out its often easy to shoot with the same lens over and over again. that could be because we only have one lens, it’s your favorite lens or because you aren’t sure what to use when, but there are a ton of options and just knowing what’s available out there can help you in a particular scene or project you are working on.
we always stress to put story first and uses lenses that best fit the scene. while we typically carry our faithful Canon prime kit with us we are always looking to tailor our gear to each shoot so that we are able to make the most out of it. that may mean taking advantage of a specific lens property or the size/weight of a lens and more often than not we find ourselves bringing specific gear that could really makes a difference.
sometimes you know exactly what lens fits your needs and other times you’re not sure so we find that renting is a great alternative to buying when you just want to try something out. we’ve been renting from our friends at LensProToGo for years and they’ve helped us discover new tools that help further the story and/or streamline production and post-production. recently they’re really amped up their line of cinema equipment and we’ve been trying out the Atmos Samurai external field recorder at several shoots. it’s not something we would have purchased right off the bat, and we still aren’t sure if there’s a place for it in our workflow, but it’s been great to be able to test it out in the field and see how it fits in this series of commercial productions. to us it’s incredibly important to constantly push forward and see how new ideas, new techniques and new gear can help make our films better.
so with that let’s take a look at 5 lenses we love from Canon, all of which all been instrumental in our biggest productions over the years. while you’ve likely heard of some of these lenses before, we’ll share some unique applications and the resulting footage from it.
we’ll be sharing more SMAPP tutorials in the coming weeks so stay tuned for updates. thanks so much for your patience with SMAPP as we wrap up some crucial performance improvements and add more neat filmmaking tools to help you in the field. we’ve never been more excited and are looking at having it in the App Store this August.
lil’j
Nice video, thanks for doing this. That 14mm looks well used! :)
Do you use the 14 at all on full frame like the Mk3 and the Mk2?
Or did you only use it on the crop bodies, which create an effective 22mm?
I’m a Mk2 / Mk3 user and currently use the 24 1.4L II on the steadi. Any benefit to getting the 14? (on or off the steadi).
I love renting from LensProToGo. I’ve been using their services for over a year now and they are the absolute best!
I’ve considered using the 24-105mm lens for run and gun documentary filming, but I think I’ll also try out the 135mm lens as well. Filming with primes, and choosing the right primes, really bring out the story you’re trying to tell in a documentary.
Thanks for this post guys.
we love our primes and do a lot of run and gun with primes but when you’re in a moving vehicle or going handheld the IS on the 24-105 definitely helps a ton.