If you are on a budget but need a fast 50mm prime lens, here it is. The canon 50mm 1.4 sells for about $350 and for the price i think it is an incredible lens.
There is also the 50mm 1.8 which sells for under $100 but I read horror stories about the cheap built, the fact that you can barely focus manually, some users have reported "the rear lens of the 50mm 1.8 broke loose and lodged itself in the mirror box"... Nice right ?
So back to the 50mm1.4, it is light and compact, a very comfortable lens. The bokeh is nice and creamy, the 1.4 aperture gives you the shallow depth of field that I like so much.
The day I got it I took few pictures of my dog to try it out. I just love how you can isolate your subject from the background so easily.
On the T2i the 50mm become a 80mm because of the 1.6 crop factor. This is great for portraiture.
The contrast and the colors are good, I can only recommend this lens for the price. I also got a cheap hood for it.
In video mode I've been able to shoot in very low light like never before with a camcorder...
A very good interview with Rick McCallum from Lucasfilm about shooting with a DSLR. It is all about your talent now, technology is not an obstacle anymore... Really exciting time for filmmakers, you can have access to fantastic tools at a modest cost these days.
Now anybody can go out and shoot a movie, if you have the talent...
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I read several times that DSLR cameras were great for documentaries and I never really agreed with that (cf.EX1and 5Dmark II). Yes you can shoot gorgeous footage with a DSLR but they are so many technical limitations (audio, 10min clips, ...).
Don't get me wrong I absolutely love my t2i but I share Vincent Laforet's point on view in this interview:
I specially like what Vincent is saying about movement and story. It's great to have access to great tool and high end technology but at the end of the day, am I a technician or a story teller ? Why am I shooting film in the first place ? ;-)
If you are shooting with a DSLR you already know about the sound issue. The DSLRs' built-in microphones are not very good, you could use an external microphone on the T2i but the AGC ( "Automatic gain control") remain a problem...
So one of the solution is to use an external sound device like the zoom h4n and synchronize sound/video in post-production. I just got a Zoom H4n for $240 on ebay ( refurbished, new it goes for $299) and I was blown away by the audio quality out of the box ! The built-in microphones are actually very very good. The H4n also allows you to plug 2 external microphones via XLR or Jack inputs (phantom-powered), and record up to 4 channels, resolution ranges from a maximum of 24-bit/96kHz. All that for less than $300 !
Today was another gorgeous day in the bay area so I went to Baker Beach this morning to try my H4n outside with my windscreen from redhead ( for $34) And It worked great:
Recording with the redhead windscreen:
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Recording without the redhead windscreen:
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So this is very exciting. I recently posted a blog article about shooting video on a canon 5D markII vs a sony EX1, and was comparing the two in what I do which is mainly documentary and corporate videos. The two cameras are two completely different machins and sometimes i wished i had another body like a markII or even a 7D next to my EX1... But my use would not justify such an expense. And that's when the T2i comes in (called 550D outside the US).
If you were putting money aside to buy a 7D for its video capilities you may want to wait a little more.
The new canon T2i will get all the 7D video capabilities for half the price, around $799 (body only).
Externally, the Canon T2i looks very much like its predecessor, being almost identical in overall size but with softer, more gently rounded shoulders. Under the skin, the Canon T2i brings a few features from Canon's prosumer EOS 7D model into a Rebel-class body, creating a baby brother to the 7D. Sporting an 18-megapixel sensor similar to the 7D, the Canon Rebel T2i doesn't shoot quite as fast as its big brother, but its frame rate is slightly increased over the T1i, from 3.4 to 3.7 frames per second despite the resolution increase. A new 3:2 ratio LCD also changes the dimensions of the new camera, which now has 1.04 million dots of resolution. Card compatibility on the Canon T2i includes SD, SDHD, and SDXC, and a new Eye-fi status screen improves user awareness of these special wireless SD cards. The Canon T2i's ISO ranges from 100 to 6,400, with a special high ISO option of 12,800. Movie mode also has expanded ability, covering 1080p recording at 24, 25, and 30 fps, rather than the T1i's more limited 20 fps. Manual video exposure is also available, as is an external mic input jack.
Headline features
18 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor
DIGIC 4 processor with ISO 100-6400 (Expansion to 12800)
Continuous shooting at 3.7fps
Full HD movie recording with manual control and selectable frame rates
7.7cm (3.0”) 3:2 Clear View LCD with 1,040k dots
iFCL metering System with 63-zone Dual-layer Metering Sensor
Quick Control screen to change shooting settings
Exposure compensation +/-5 stops (although viewfinder scale is still +/-2 stops)
I read several times that DSLR cameras were great for documentaries and I never really agreed with that (cf.
Hi Albert, No idea when the camera will be released, they said end of 2010 but they are usually delays... I would also consider what the other brands are baking ;-) Cheers
Thanks for information!
Any idea on when will this be officially released? I'm now having the hots for this new Panasonic camcorder. I hope this will be available on some camcorder rentals. Idaho Falls is where I usually rent camcorders and stuff and I'm looking forward to see this on their shelves once it gets released so I can try it out. It seems to be a great camcorder for independent filmmakers.