F0.95 Lens For A Canon T4i?

[CuriousPR]

Hello, everyone.  This is literally my first post on here.  I’m a veritable newbie, have a Canon T4i, am preparing to shoot a short film, and am wondering what the lowest f-stop I can get for a lens that would fit my Canon would be.

I saw the film  “Upstream Color”, thought it was absolutely beautifully-shot, and read that it was filmed on a Panasonic GH2 w/a lens that was f0.95 (!).  I looked online and found a “7artisans 35mm f0.95”, and a “Meike 35mm f0.95, but I don’t know if those lenses can fit a Canon T4i.

Can they?  Does anyone know of any f0.95 lens(es) that can fit or be adapted to fit on my Canon T4i?

Thanks very much in advance for all the responses.

Cheers!  🙂

[rs-eos · Accepted solution]

Neither of those brands of lenses would work with your camera.  There would need to be something capable of using an EF (or EF-S) mount.

The fastest aperture being sold by Canon today is f/1.2 (EF 50mm f/1.2 L and EF 85mm f/1.2 L).   You can potentially rent the Canon EF 50mm f/1.0, but do know that it would produce very soft images.

The fastest lens I have used is the 50mm f/1.2L.  When mounted to my EOS C70 via the 0.71x adapter, it will gather light as an f/0.9 lens (though for depth-of-field, it still remains an f/1.2).

Finally, do note that depending upon the distance to your subjects, capturing in such wide apertures can lead to extremely narrow depth-of-field.   The EF lenses I mention above also do not have any IS in them which could futher the challenges for video.

[rs-eos · Accepted solution]

Neither of those brands of lenses would work with your camera.  There would need to be something capable of using an EF (or EF-S) mount.

The fastest aperture being sold by Canon today is f/1.2 (EF 50mm f/1.2 L and EF 85mm f/1.2 L).   You can potentially rent the Canon EF 50mm f/1.0, but do know that it would produce very soft images.

The fastest lens I have used is the 50mm f/1.2L.  When mounted to my EOS C70 via the 0.71x adapter, it will gather light as an f/0.9 lens (though for depth-of-field, it still remains an f/1.2).

Finally, do note that depending upon the distance to your subjects, capturing in such wide apertures can lead to extremely narrow depth-of-field.   The EF lenses I mention above also do not have any IS in them which could futher the challenges for video.

[CuriousPR]

Firstly, thank you very much for your thoughtful and thorough response, Ricky.

So I have to find a lens that is “capable of using an EF (or EF-S) mount”.  Good to know.  Thank you.  So if the info on the lens description says “uses EF/EF-S mount”, then I can potentially purchase that lens and it would either fit directly on my T4i or be amenable to fitting with an adapter?

Regarding the 50mm f/1.2L you mentioned (what’s the L stand for, by the way?  What’s the difference between f/1.2L and just f/1.2?), I’ve discovered that in the relatively tight quarters that I’ll likely be filming, the wider framing of a 35mm lens might be what I should try to get.  That in mind, do you know if there is, say, a Canon EF 35mm f/1.0? - and if there is, would that lens fit directly on the T4i or would it need an adapter?

“do note that depending upon the distance to your subjects, capturing in such wide apertures can lead to extremely narrow depth-of-field.”

Yes.  To at least some extent, I think this rather narrow depth of field might be what I’m actually going for.

“The EF lenses I mention above also do not have any IS in them which could futher the challenges for video.”

What is “IS”?

Thank you again for your response, Ricky.  Very much appreciated! 🙂

[rs-eos]

Here are some terms defined:

L: denotes a Canon L-series lens.  L-series lenses are high quality and typically come in the widest apertures.  Canon doesn't make a non-L f/1.2 50mm.   Their other two EF 50mm lenses are the f/1.4 and f/1.8.  For the new RF lenses (for R-series Canon cameras), they also make two 50mm lenses: RF 50mm f/1.2L and RF 50mm f/1.8

IS: Image Stabilization.  Extremely useful if doing hand-held video work.  Not necessary if always using a tripod.  May be useful if using gimbals (not sure on that).

The widest aperture Canon EF-mount 35mm lens is the f/1.4L version.

Note also that if you're attempting to film with the absolute shallowest depth of field, filming with a full-frame camera along with say the 50mm f/1.2 L would do the trick.  Here, due to being a full frame camera, you'd get the actual 50mm field-of-view.  As you found, a 50mm on your crop-sensor (APS-C) camera leads to a narrow field-of-view (around an 80mm if on full frame).

[CuriousPR]

Again, very useful and helpful information, sir.  Greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

“The widest aperture Canon EF-mount 35mm lens is the f/1.4L version.”

Do you know if that particular lens would fit on a Canon T4i?  Do EF-mount lenses in general fit a Canon T4i?

“Note also that if you're attempting to film with the absolute shallowest depth of field, filming with a full-frame camera along with say the 50mm f/1.2 L would do the trick.”

I believe that my T4i is not full frame, correct?

“As you found, a 50mm on your crop-sensor (APS-C) camera leads to a narrow field-of-view (around an 80mm if on full frame).”

Does this mean that my Canon T4i is a “crop-sensor (APS-C)” camera?

Thank you again for your responses.  This is helping me understand the terrain better and get a more accurate understanding of what direction to concentrate my efforts.

[rs-eos]

Yes, your camera has a crop-sensor (APS-C) and not a full frame sensor.   APS-C is approximately the size of Super 35.

Your camera can work with any EF mount or EF-S mount lens.

[CuriousPR]

Your camera can work with any EF mount or EF-S mount lens.

Great, sir.  That is definitely good to know.  Both you and ebiggs1 provided me with some very useful information here.

Thank you very much for this.

[ebiggs1]

"You can potentially rent the Canon EF 50mm f/1.0, but do know that it would produce very soft images."

People had trouble focusing it as they do even with the EF 50mm f1.2L lenses and blame Canon for poor quality.  The famous/infamous EF 50mm f1L isn't as sharp compared to what? Certainly it would be considered less sharp than a Sigma 50mm f1.4 Art but the EF 50mm f1L has no peers really so compared to what? . The EF 85mm f1.2L is essentially just an EF 50mm f1L tweaked for FL and just as difficult to use properly. In a camera there is a difference between the f ratio of a lens and the f-stop of the camera.

(Hopefully less screwed up man I don't know what was wrong with that reply but I think its fixed.)

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

" Does anyone know of any f0.95 lens(es) that can fit or be adapted to fit on my Canon T4i?"

No and I suspect there never will be a sub f1 lens for any Rebel. The f-stop number is the ratio of the focal length of the lens to the size of the aperture. The size of the hole in the diaphragm will need to be larger than the diameter of the objective lens. What this means as you go sub f1 and start approaching f0, physics works against you until it becomes an impossibility. Long way around but Ricky is correct in the fact the lens would have serious problems with aberrations and distortion. Along with an extremely shallow DOF which would make focusing very difficult.

All this is just to advise you the stick with a lens in the f1.4 or f1.8 aperture range and to you will be much more successful and happy.

[CuriousPR]

The f-stop number is the ratio of the focal length of the lens to the size of the aperture. The size of the hole in the diaphragm will need to be larger than the diameter of the objective lens. What this means as you go sub f1 and start approaching f0, physics works against you until it becomes an impossibility

You just sent me on a quick research jaunt with this comment that helped lead me to a much better understanding than I had before of some of the concepts that are being discussed here - so thank you very much for this elucidation, sir.  Very much appreciated.