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Lenses For New Studio


Tim Pipher

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Hello again. Construction will be complete soon on my new studio in Vero Beach, Florida. It's almost time to order our equipment.

 

Our sound stage consists of a 40 ft. X 40 ft. area, almost all of which is a green screen cyclorama (40 ft. across the back wall and 20 ft. up two side walls. We'll be recording to a Sony SRW 5500 HDCAM SR deck, using two F900R's and one 4:4:4 camera (an F23 if they're ready). We'll be employing an Orad HD 3D virtual studio system.

 

My initial plan was to use new Canon 11 X 4.7 zoom lenses on all three cameras.

 

However, a used dealer says he could get me a great deal on 3 "barely used" lenses -- a Canon 18 X 7.6, a Canon 21 X 7.5, and a Fujinon 13 X 4.5.

 

My question is whether I should save some considerable money and go with three different used lenses, or should all my lenses be the identical for the good of our three camera shoots?

 

We plan to do features and misc. TV shows, mostly inside the studio but also on location.

 

I'd appreciate thoughts on any of our tentative equipment choices, especially the lenses.

 

Thanks!

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Those are three nice lenses, but I don't think I'd mix the Fuji with the tw Canons. Canon basically makes a set of three HD zooms, and those are the other two from the one you were considering. Again, e Fuji is a great lens but Fuji and Canon do not look the same so I wouldn't mix. Think of Fuji as being like Cooke and Canon to being like Zeiss, to vastly oversimplify things.

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I agree. I have both Fuji and Canon lenses. The Fujinon are just a bit softer than the Canon. With your greenscreen work the sharper image might be better for you. The Fujinon also have tendency to look even softer when the extender is flipped in. Speaking of which, the Canon 4.7 is a great lens, but if you are having to do longer zoom shots with the extender on, you will definitely notice the difference in the clarity through the extender. You may want to consider at least having one lens that is longer for the times you need to shoot with a compressed perspective or drop the depth of field. I don't think you will necessarily need the longer lens for your green screen work, but it might be helpful working with other set ups.

 

Just my thoughts,

Tracy Eakes

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I agree. I have both Fuji and Canon lenses. The Fujinon are just a bit softer than the Canon. With your greenscreen work the sharper image might be better for you. The Fujinon also have tendency to look even softer when the extender is flipped in. Speaking of which, the Canon 4.7 is a great lens, but if you are having to do longer zoom shots with the extender on, you will definitely notice the difference in the clarity through the extender. You may want to consider at least having one lens that is longer for the times you need to shoot with a compressed perspective or drop the depth of field. I don't think you will necessarily need the longer lens for your green screen work, but it might be helpful working with other set ups.

 

Just my thoughts,

Tracy Eakes

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