Which lens is best with the Canon 5D Mark IV and Video Shooting

[awhite269]

Which lens is best for video shoots with the Canon 5D Mark IV, the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM lens or the Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM lens?  Even though the 28-300mm lens has a longer focal length I've read online that with the type of zoom and it's length and weight there is difficulty in focusing and such in video mode.  Thoughts?

[wq9nsc]

If you are shooting from a tripod the lens weight and length are less important but hand held while trying to watch the back screen becomes a greater challenge as lens weight and balance changes.  

As Canon cautions, different lenses can create both video and soundtrack noise as focus and/or zoom is changed during shooting.  I haven't used either of the two lenses you are considering but I would try both to check for those specific problems before settling on a choice.  The audio noise could be addressed via using a good directional mic but the video banding or noise would be a bigger issue.  The aperture change of the very wide range zoom will exacerbate lighting and color shifts if you zoom during video and have the aperture set wide open.

I shot a very small amount of video using my 1DX II and although the quality through a good lens is excellent I didn't use it long enough to ever get used to video via the screen on back. I don't ever use live view for the same reason.  It is OK with a tripod but a lot of what I was doing was short snippets of video during a sports match where I needed to go handheld and I ended up buying a Canon XF-400 camcorder for that use and basic family recordings.  The built in lens quality isn't up to the L series DSLR quality (as expected) but is more than sufficient for the video I shoot and I much prefer the ergonomics of looking through the eyepiece after years of SLR photography.  If I ever need critical quality video I will use the 1DX II but video from that body will always feel awkward to me and lens balance will have a lot to do with the feel.

Rodger

[Waddizzle]

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@awhite269 wrote:

Which lens is best for video shoots with the Canon 5D Mark IV, the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM lens or the Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM lens?  Even though the 28-300mm lens has a longer focal length I've read online that with the type of zoom and it's length and weight there is difficulty in focusing and such in video mode.  Thoughts?

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Food for thought:

I have used the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM on an EOS Cinema C100 body, and made a startling discovery.  The apertures on some lenses can be pretty noisy, the 24-105mm was pretty loud.  Maybe I have a bad copy that needs repair.  

I never noticed the aperture noise shooting stills because the shutter noise drowns it out.  Most cinema lenses have continuous aperture adjustment.  It would seem that the 24-105 wants to be moved in discrete steps, not the smooth continuous adjustment that is frequently used in video.  It was worst when the aperture was set for 1/4 stop adjustments.

It is this aperture behavior is what seems to separate Canon’s STM lenses from the rest of the lineup.  The apertures on STM lenses adjust smoothly, almost as if they were electronically declicked, if that makes any sense.  I found that the EF 35mm f/2 IS USM was very good for video use, especially on a C100.

But, most STM lenses do not mount on a full frame DSLR.  I think the thing to check would be how noisy is the aperture as you adjust it when the camera is in video mode.  This is something that you can only discover through testing it yourself.  Also, focusing noise can be just as loud as aperture noise.  Once again, this is something that does not show up in any specs.  You have to use it and test for it.

Maybe someone with one of those lenses you cited can do a focusing and aperture noise test for you and report results.

[Waddizzle]

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@awhite269 wrote:

Which lens is best for video shoots with the Canon 5D Mark IV, the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM lens or the Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM lens?  Even though the 28-300mm lens has a longer focal length I've read online that with the type of zoom and it's length and weight there is difficulty in focusing and such in video mode.  Thoughts?

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Focusing:

Many lenses do not maintain focus as you vary the focal length.  The ones that do maintain focus can cost in the thousands.  Maintaining focus is the job tasked to a focus puller, while camera operator controls exposure.  One guy operates the camera, while the other guy operates the lens.

I would expect lenses with as wide of a focal ratio as the 28-300 to be highly susceptible to focus breathing as you vary the focal length.  Maintaining focus as you vary focal length is not as important shooting stills as it is shooting video.

But, the latest Canon bodies have DPAF, Dual Pixel AF, which is very good at automatically tracking subjects and maintaining focus in video modes.  So, I would take the complaints with a grain of salt, and look at the gear they are using when they make such complaints.

Even if they complain about focus breathing with a DPAF capable body, that does not mean that they are using DPAF properly, or even at all for that matter.  Also, Canon has released different versions of DPAF.  The older versions do not work as well as the latest iteration that should be incorporated into the 5D4.

[cicopo · Accepted solution]

I don't shoot video but do use the 28-300 a lot & you need to know that it's a push / pull style zoom which may be a bit tough to use for video as zooming in or out can cause you to shake a bit putting you off target. It's also a bit more difficult to zoom nice & smoothly compared to a twist zoom.

[awhite269]

I decided to go with, as my all purpose photo and video lens, the Canon ZOOM LENS EF 24-105mm F4L IS II USM lens.  The push/pull telephoto zoom lens would have been good for photos, but, yes, not so good for video shoots.  I looked at the Canon's 24-70mm 2.8 lens, but having that extra telephoto zoom and image stabilization than wider aperature I think will be better for me, overall.