- This video is all about the only lens
that you need for any camera.
(upbeat electronic music)
So today we're talking about one lens only,
however I'm not talking about just a specific lens,
lens manufacturer, anything like that.
So as creators we obviously have so many choices
when it comes to lens however I've found that there
is one lens that I always go to no matter what I'm doing.
This lens is always on me wherever I go
and I use it to get awesome cinematic b-roll
or to do things like shoot interviews,
or just grab whatever footage that I need.
And that lens is a 50mm prime.
So matter what camera I'm using,
I aways have a 50mm prime with me.
And you might say that,
yeah, that lens is a very common lens,
it is because there is a lot of uses for this lens.
The 50mm is like the perfect focal length
to basically get any type of shot that you need,
the only place that I would say
that it doesn't work that well is vlogging
because you can't get the camera far enough away
when you're holding it out in front of you
but every other use, you can use a 50mm
which is pretty amazing.
So I shoot on the Panasonic GH5
and the equivalent to a 50mm is my 25, 1.4
and you need a prime because primes open up wider,
you get a larger aperture,
so a 1.4 lets more light in that say a 2.8
and when you have that ability to let more light in
you can get that shallow depth of field look,
that's how you create that really cinematic look,
the very soft focus in the background
and that's important when you wanna shoot
awesome cinematic b-roll.
Now with this focal length, you basically have the ability
to shoot your close ups, your mediums, your wides,
your extreme wides, whatever you want
without having to move too far away from your subject.
So when I'm shooting I can go in tight,
I can walk in closer to my subject,
get a nice, tight, closeup shot of something,
that I could also move further away and get a wide,
and you don't have to get too far away from the subject
to still be able to get a nice wide shot.
If I was using something like an 85,
like an 85 is a beautiful focal length
and you can get some very awesome footage with it,
however you have to get very far away from your subject
to use it for a for a bunch of different types of shot.
The 50's kind of like, right there in that perfect range
where you get that nice, soft background,
you get that cinematic look, but you also have the ability
to get these different styles of shots.
Now another thing that's really cool about the 50
is that you can use this on gimbals
and get some awesome footage.
So one of my favorite combinations is using my 50mm
on my gimbal and be able to get
that shallow depth of field look while also
getting some silky smooth shots.
You can do some cool parallax effects when you spin around
a subject and it really gives you that like
cinematic quality to your footage.
So I wanna stress that you should be using a prime
and not just for the shallow depth of field,
that's obviously a major aspect about primes,
you get shallow depth of field, they're very sharp lens,
however when you force yourself to work with
a single focal length, it forces you as the creator
to get more creative with what it is that you're shooting.
You have to think about your shots
more than just standing there and reframing using a zoom.
So when you actually wanna get in tighter,
you have to walk forward to the subject
and make that conscious decision to do that movement
and make that change.
It forces you to think about what it is
that you're shooting before you hit that record button.
You don't have that ability to quickly zoom
and grab the shot if you're too far away.
So using primes will actually make your technique
stronger as a creator because you're going to be
putting more thought into the images that you're creating.
And I know a lot of times when we get a camera
we go instantly for the zoom that has as many focal lengths
as possible to try to keep costs down and give yourself
the most flexibility when it comes to shooting.
The issues is those lens don't have fast apertures,
a lot of times they're not consistent apertures,
and having a zoom lens that goes from super-wide
to super-punched in, isn't going to force you
to be creative.
When you have a single focal length
and you have a wide aperture,
you have all the tools at your disposal
to make awesome footage and you're not limited
by yourself because you're gonna have to be actively
engaged with the process of shooting.
Now one thing to note is that
when you're shooting on these fast primes
and you wanna get that shallow depth of field
you're gonna need to use an ND filter.
Now I'll includes some links down below
to some more tutorials on getting
shallow depth of field and some other techniques
that really work well when you're working with primes
but for the most part, 50mm lens are one of the cheapest
primes that you can get for any camera
and that's another big reason why I suggest having a 50mm
no matter what camera you're shooting on.
It's a good lens to add to your arsenal.
If you're only shooting with like one lens as it is,
a 50 prime is the next lens that you should go for
or if you're looking for a light setup
and you just wanna run and gun it with one lens
then the 50mm is a great lens to always be shooting on.
I think one of the things that hinders us as creators
is this constant focus on new gear, new products
and all these new devices.
Honestly all you need is a camera and a lens
to be able to start creating awesome content.
You don't need all these bells and whistles,
you don't need 30 lens,
you don't need all these weird contraptions
that are coming out with for cameras,
the story matters most
and being creative is what matters most.
You can get away with making awesome content
with a single camera and a single lens
and you can do some really cool stuff with just one lens.
And one more thing about 50mm primes is that you can get
really cheap vintage versions of these lens
for next to nothing, you can go on eBay right now
and get a 50mm prime for like 25 bucks.
So depending on what camera you're using
you can adapt these lenses to your camera.
On the GH5 you can easily adapt Canon FD lens
which are old-school lens, they're like $20
for a 24mm which is equivalent to about a 50mm
when you put it on this Micro Four Third sensor.
Obviously the disadvantages, you don't have auto focus,
however now you have a $20 50mm lens
that will get you awesome footage.
And I've had a lot of success working with vintage lens
because they do bring a different character to your footage.
I'll put a link down below in the description to another
video I did where I tested a $20 vintage lens
to a $1200 lens, and I tested these two against each other
and put some polls up on all my social media,
and it's interesting the results I got.
So guys I have a challenge for you.
I want you to get a prime and that is the only lens
that you use on your camera for an entire month.
Now obviously if you're working with clients
you're gonna have to change things up,
depending on the client,
what I'm saying is, for all your creative projects,
everything that you're going to produce in the next month
try to force yourself to use one focal length
and only play with one lens.
Because what's gonna happen is that,
A, you're gonna learn how to use this lens
and you're gonna master this lens.
And you're also gonna figure out new ways
that you can use a single focal length
to get the different shots and to get the different angles
that you need to create your content.
It's an interesting exercise to do
and it definitely will advance you as a creator
and take your footage to the next level.
So guys, if you're new here to this channel,
make sure you hit that subscribe button,
there's a lot of awesome film-making tutorials,
camera reviews, also I have the creatorfilmschool.com
which is my nuts to bolts, everything you need to know
course on how to be a creator or a filmmaker.
And guys, I'll see you on the next one.