Film Courage: Zoom versus primes, which are better?
Andy Rydzewski, Cinematographer: There's zoom lenses and prime lenses. They both
have pros and cons for sure and it's a big subject traditionally, Zoom lenses are slower
meaning you can't let as much light in or they need to have more light whereas prime lenses this
is not a rule, it's just traditionally how it lays out. Prime lenses tend to be faster in terms of a
t-stop or an F-stop you can open up more and have a shallower depth of field (let more light in)
but a prime lens is like a 25 millimeter and that's all. Whereas a zoom let's say because
there's also a huge range of zooms you can have a 25 to 78 or you can have a 25 to 250
and when these lens and some of these zooms are huge so there's a lot of decision making that goes
into what lenses you're using and the prime versus zoom is one of the big ones there's also speed so
if you're shooting on let's say a reality tv show you pretty much have to have a zoom lens because
you need to be able to go in and it doesn't mean you're zooming in during a shot though it could
but it also just to reset is you know you have a wide shot and then you adjust your body however
you can but you don't want to be in the way so if you want to get a close-up on a reality show
you just zoom in from where you are that's kind of like the the very broad strokes
but there's a lot you know the like a dolly move versus a zoom in they have a different feel to
them and what's happening to the background is very different and where your character or
your subject in space the way a zoom is you zoom in it tends to it flattens the image
whereas if you're on a prime if you're on a 35 millimeter and you're moving in everything is
still staying you're able to isolate characters more so there are a lot of qualities that they're
so difficult to see and feel and i'm very lucky because last five years I've been shooting so much
so now I am at a place where a 20 what a 24 millimeter does to a you know let's say a
medium close-up shooting that if you shoot this on a 24 millimeter from right here
and then you move it back just six inches and you put on a 28 millimeter
I for me there's a big difference between the two but it's taken just hours you know
so many hours on set and and looking through different lenses and watching their effect
is what it does to the image some of it you can explain like if i'm moving my hands and i'm on
a 25 millimeter it's going to be exaggerated my face will be a little rounder what does that mean
it makes me feel maybe a little more silly or a little more cartoonish but if you move back and
even though this the the top and bottom of the frame are exactly the same on a 50 millimeter
none of those things are exaggerated anymore it's almost a little like a 50 would be normal and so
that becomes a tool and so then within that you're you're deciding like a prime versus a zoom what is
worth what are your trade-offs because on a zoom you can reset really quickly
but primes tend to have more character to them or be cleaner or you know so that it's it's all pros
and cons and and it's you know it's just like if you're if you're grabbing grabbing paints if
you're painting your house you know and they have those swatches there's like yellow but really it's
like this is goldilocks this one's dandelion this and they have such subtle differences but there
are differences and that's what lenses kind of bring they all have different characteristics and
zoom and prime are the two big categories but then even within that there are a number of
different things that will differentiate one from another and and you know time money resources
are part of that decision it's not all purely aesthetic a lot of it is like well we won't
have time to change primes or whatever like we need to be able to hustle hustle hustle
yeah so it's yeah there's there's a lot there's a lot in there what's a what's a good
starting lens aside from like sort of the stock camera lens that's going to come with the body
what would you recommend if somebody wants to upgrade just a little bit yeah I mean well so I
think you know choosing a lens if you're starting if you could only start with one lens one size and
this is assuming because different cameras have different size sensors so a 35 millimeter lens
does the lens is always the lens but if your sensor like our phones have a very small sensor
so a 35 millimeter on the well that's maybe a bad way to start that
a 35 millimeter is always the lens is the lens but if you have a large sensor then a 35 millimeter
plays very wide and if you have a smaller sensor then a 35 millimeter plays a little tighter
so your camera but the sort of standard size is super 35 is the first sensor so that's what
most things are and I would say assuming you have one of the more common cameras that I
would choose between a 35 or a 50 as the I would lean 35 but I know most people would lean 50.
and I think that's because they're close-ish to our vision or at least that's how people
say because really in reality if you pay attention i'm looking at you but i'm I can see my peripheral
vision is pretty wide so you could argue oh that's a 25 millimeter but my attention is really on you
and you could argue that that means that i'm not really watching the outskirts and so really
that's a 50 millimeter and so it's it's you know it depends now for me a 35 millimeter
is a really nice size because you can shoot a wide and you can shoot a close-up
but if you get in close on a 35 it does have a little roundness to it so it's yeah maybe maybe
the answer is a 42 which is a hard lens size to find but yeah I think those are the normal hero
sizes I would say is a 35 and a 50 I think would be the two sizes that one would start with I think
what's the best way to take care of the lenses so they're not scratched different elements yeah
working with sand for sure yeah lenses require a lot I mean you need to treat lenses like a like
a baby like they are they are even though a lot of them are built very rugged the glass is glass
and so you know i'm very lucky I have a great camera team and so I rarely touch a lens you
know my first ac second ac they bring it on they take everything out there they're you know
they take everything out with care they've they're also professionals they've been doing it for years
so but you do need to treat a lens you need to be constantly looking at when you take it off and you
put it on you need to check both sides up against the light because dust particles get in there and
if a dust particle is in the wrong part of frame it will affect your image sometimes dramatically
so you really need to take care of them some people will have a uv filter which is basically
just clear glass it does it functionally it does serve a bit of a purpose but really
I did that for a long time I've gotten a little away from it now but I have a set of Rokinons
which are cheap lenses but I think the best bang for the buck they don't have a ton of personality
but they are really good for their price like a Rokinon lens and you can get ones that have gears
on them so if you're using a follow focus and those are like I think for a and they're really
fast really fast I think they're like 200 bucks for a lens and for a good lens with gears on it
that's really fast I think that's the the best lens you can get in terms of somebody beginning
and I would just choose one of those if you can and yeah I think that's I think that's where i'd
start I still have mine and they used to have those filters on top in terms of protecting them
but now that i'm more comfortable and i'm like i'm probably not going to screw this thing up
I don't have live on there but you know if you're shooting out in the woods or shooting at the beach
or in the desert is a nightmare for lenses and for camera sensors it just gets in gears it
gets in the fan and you you everything needs to be protected and sometimes that's putting plastic or
fabric around it and yeah film equipment strong as it is you still need to treat it very gently.
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