Hey guys,
Thanks for the great insights, I really appreciate the inputs!
And David, I will definitely look into your suggestions~ I'm going to be graduating next year, and still struggling to find out how to break into the industry haha...
I've been renting and testing, shooting and having fun with various lenses the past weeks and the ones that definitely caught my attention are the Rokinon primes and Zeiss Planar 1.4 primes! I love their textures and contrast qualities, and am planning on getting at least one or two of them. I do have a Nikon D5100 which I frequently use for photography and occasional shoots, it's just that the kit lenses and the 50mm prime feels like they are wearing out after 2 years of shooting (Feeling unamazed and bored by their performances slowly...)
I did do a short with the Zeiss lenses Nikon mount on F3 and it has amazed me by far!! And I have seen some deals on Rokinons that come with Videography tripods and ND filters so I'll definitely look into those too.
Only thing is that I really want my own light set so that I don't have to haul equipment rentals from school back and forth with so little time given when I only end up using only a key light and a reflector or a fill light. What would be some of the options for just a head or two? I would like something as hot as a Red Head 800w (was planning on buying one until I heard bad reviews about them...) for beaming stuff through the window or lighting up a room, and something fairly controllable and soft, perhaps that as the Yongnuo YN-300 LED light? I was planning on splurging a little more on lighting accessories like diffusion/CTB gels, Chinaball, a dimmer, etc... Please correct me if I'm looking at a wrong direction, I feel clueless as I speak...