Best Lens(es) for Cinematography?

Hey all!

Just a quick question. I recently got the Nikon d7100 with the 18-105mm lens.. and I love what it can produce so far.. but I was wondering what lens I should have (when I get the money)? My dad is giving me his old Nikon 50mm f/1.8D (Which I know a 50mm lens is a must have).. and his 28-70mm lens. What are your opinions on the best lens or lenses for cinematography? Would you prefer something like a 35mm lens? I'm mostly new to all of this.. and really have a passion to get into cinematography and photography on the side. Let me know what you all think!

Thanks,
Josh

I think the best thing to do now is to start shooting to see if what you have works well for you. After you get a feel for what kind of shooting you want to do then you will know what you need if anything. Don't buy anything yet because if you do then you will probably figure out that is not what you need of want.

Quick reply! Thanks!

I understand that I should probably learn a little more and figure it all out. But in my mind right now, my vision for photography is to shoot landscape and photography.. my hometown is Coeur d'Alene and the scenery there is fantastic. I plan on doing portraits and weddings here and there for free to get experience and I think the set of lenses I have now would do well. Now, as for the cinematography part.. I want to do things like this guy. (I plan on getting a glidecam within the next year so I can start practicing with it). I have all these ideas that come to mind that I want to express through video but just need someone to guide me. I don't plan on buying anything soon.. probably not for another half year to a year. But I would just like to know what would be good!

If you want the "best", forget about nikon. But, i know that is not realistic. Stick with primes and shop around for older lenses. If you want to take a gander at the best, look at Panavision (don't think that just anyone can buy them though) or look at these:zeiss cp.2| B&H Photo Video

If you like the rough gritty old 70's style cinema look and you have some pretty deep pockets it is hard to beat Leica R lenses with a good F mount adapter. Oh what I would give to have a 75 Summilux R for my Nikon camera.

Yes I was going to mention the Zeiss primes but the Zeiss ZF.2 lenses would also work fine. It should be a lens that can work well with the follow focus ring, so you don't actually need auto-focus, you could go with some older Nikon Ai-S lenses. Ideally if you get a zoom lens, it should be one that does not change its aperture with focal length so that you can keep the shutter speed constant, and use a variable polarizer to change the amount of light hitting the sensor. The Zeiss primes are made to have less rotation for a given amount of focus to make focusing easier and quicker.

As far as focal lengths it really depends on the subject matter. Your 50 mm 1.8D is great because you can then shoot wide open, use a variable ND filter, and get that bokeh that is important for a cinematic look. A lot of DSLR shooters use zooms, however. The only time you use primes is for major productions where you can switch out the lens between shots and can afford an entire set of primes. As for regular DSLR lenses, I would personally get an 85 1.4, 50 1.4 or 1.2, and a 35 1.4 or 24 1.4 if you can afford it. Maybe also a fast medium telephoto like a 180 2.8 or 200 2.8 (or 70-200 2.8).

Josh said:

I plan on doing portraits and weddings here and there for free to get experience and I think the set of lenses I have now would do well.

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Like the Joker says, "If you are good at something, never do it for free". You should charge something for your work so that people know you take it seriously. You don't have to charge much, say $50 for a portrait session and $250-500 for a wedding. But it is your time and your clients will know that your work is worth something, rather than nothing. That actually helps their confidence in you, and encourages you to also deliver for them. If you have friends you want to practise portraits on, then that's fine free is ok but if you are doing it as a service, you should charge for that even if just a little bit.

crycocyon said:

Like the Joker says, "If you are good at something, never do it for free". You should charge something for your work so that people know you take it seriously. You don't have to charge much, say $50 for a portrait session and $250-500 for a wedding. But it is your time and your clients will know that your work is worth something, rather than nothing. That actually helps their confidence in you, and encourages you to also deliver for them. If you have friends you want to practise portraits on, then that's fine free is ok but if you are doing it as a service, you should charge for that even if just a little bit.

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You should at least charge enough to cover your expenses,
and those can be substantial.

I like Nikkor zooms and have no problem using even a G lens for my "Home Movies".
Mint used Pro FX Glass is the best investment. All of mine have gone up in value.

First off cinema lenses{often shortened to just "cine"} are not necessarily better lenses optically speaking. What makes a cine lens is the following. First off they have a clickless aperture so that you can change it while filming. Second they use t-stops instead of f-stops. T-stops are rated for the actual light that is "transmitted" so that lenses match each other. Another thing that cine lenses have is a geared focus ring so that a follow focus can be used. Lastly they have the markings on the side of the lens instead of the top.
Some brands such as Zeiss go an extra step with their cine lenses and make them the same size or as close to the same size as possible. This is done so when you change a lens it takes less time. On a cine camera rig there is a matte box and follow focus that attaches to the lens and if the lens is larger/smaller it takes much more time to change. On a production set time is money! 10 minutes could cost as much as $10k on a big budget production.
SamYang{sold under other brands like Rokinon} make some very nice and affordable cine lenses in Nikon mount.