Crafting the Frozen Image #2: Through the Lens (Article)

Posted by Jeremy T. Hanke on Oct 24, 2014 |

Earlier this year, we looked at the introduction to still photography, which went into the basic concepts to consider before you get started. Now we need to consider the core equipment: the camera (and lenses).

Which Camera do I get?

There are a ton of options for still cameras, much like video and cinema cameras. With that said, there are some pretty key basic things to look for, followed by some simple questions that can help you further refine your choices—which help avoid all the propaganda we see in advertising from the different companies.

Before we get into the questions, let’s begin with a key element: you DO want a DSLR camera of some sort, as opposed to a one-piece camera or mobile phone camera. (There are lots of amazing digital cameras out there that are tiny—including those in the iPhone—but the cost for their tiny size and price is often a lot of creative options and the polished look that can only come with detachable lenses and a wider recording sensor.)

What is DSLR? It stands for “Digital Single Lens Reflex” and it’s simply a digital camera that has standard lens mounts for using more traditional 35mm style lenses.

The second key element is that it must shoot RAW images. RAW images are uncompressed images that are essentially a digital negative. The amount of detail you can pull out of these images is incredible and really necessary for a lot of polished post-production effects. As such, you will want to shoot in RAW format EVERY time you shoot anything that’s important to you. (I can’t tell you how many people I see amazingly good, RAW-designed DSLR rigs that have them set to “JPG” and lose so many possible post-production possibilities because of it.)

With that in mind, as we look at a camera, there are some additional questions to ask:

1) Can I afford a full frame sensor, or does a crop frame sensor fit my needs?
2) Do I need just a still camera, or does it need to shoot video as well?
3) Do I need to use auto-lenses, or could I use manual lenses?
4) Am I comfortable using lens adapters for my camera?
5) Do I need to easily share lenses with my primary motion film camera?

You’ll notice I didn’t mention anything about megapixels. The reason I didn’t mention them is because, after about 6 MP, they’re a non-issue in actual photography and are used by camera manufacturers to try and sell cameras. The key elements to be aware of with super-high megapixel cameras is: (a) their images take up much more storage space than smaller megapixel cameras and (b) they are actually less light sensitive than cameras recording fewer pixels on the same kind of chip. (I also didn’t mention price point, because you will already have that in mind and the things I’ll bring up will showcase where you can save money—or spend more money.)

So let’s break these questions down:

Full frame vs. Crop Frame sensor

Essentially, Full Frame is described as being like 35 mm film, while crop frame sensors are described as being like 16 mm film. (This isn’t technically true because the recording area on a frame of film is smaller than the 35mm or 16mm size of the film cell, so full frame is more like recording on 50mm film and crop frame would be in between 16mm and 35mm.)

What’s the difference? The short answer is: the larger the frame, the shallower the depth of film you’re capable of achieving. A few years ago, you were looking at dropping $5K for a full frame sensor camera, but, now, Canon has some of them that have dropped in price to below $2K. If you can swing a full frame sensor, it will normally be more light sensitive and its ability to use all the real estate of a full frame lens will usually result in more polished images than those from a crop frame sensor. (However, if you can get a barebones full frame camera or a more complete crop frame camera, I would definitely get the more full featured camera, as you can get some really impressive ones right now for $500-$800.)

Still vs. Video Enabled

If you’re buying a modern DSLR camera, most of them are going to be enabled with video automatically. With that said, if you don’t need to do any video on your camera at all, you could snap up some older cameras for a great price. Nikon was really late to the video DSLR party, so a number of their older models are still great cameras and can be picked up at lower prices on ebay or amazon resellers. (With that said, if you get manual lenses for it, it won’t have the focus assist options that most of the video enabled cameras have, so you’ll probably want to tether it to your laptop.)

Auto-lenses vs. Manual Lenses

This is directly tied to the next question as well. While Auto-Lenses are a necessity for folks doing sports photography, they may not be something you actually need for doing publicity and dramatic pictures. Contrary to popular ads from manufacturers, many modern auto lenses just don’t look as good as older manual lenses. This is because an auto lens uses a motor to find focus; for a small motor, you need lighter materials, usually made of plastic.

A manual glass lens will almost always beat a modern plastic lens in the images it captures. (Now, there are some very expensive auto lenses, notably the “L” series from Canon, that find a way to use high quality glass and more rugged motors to compensate for this. However, I’m assuming $2-$3K on a single lens is more than most of our readers wish to pay.) Additionally, manual lenses, especially non-zoom lenses (known as “Prime” lenses), are usually able to allow in more light, which means they don’t require as much light to expose the image properly.

Now, even if manual lenses are perfectly fine for what you need, I still would recommend that you get at least one auto lens, because there are some times that you want the confidence that comes from that. (Any time you’re trying to capture behind the scenes images or other documentary style pix, a manual lens is a nightmare.)

Adapted lenses vs. non-adapted lenses

Canon cameras have some of the most robust options when it comes to video (largely due to a modding community that created a firmware mod known as “Magic Lantern” that gave every Canon video-equipped DSLR camera, from the high end 5D Mark II/III to the budget friendly T2i-T5i series, incredible cinema camera tools and abilities), but their lenses aren’t the most amazing in the world (at least not at the low-budget level).

Nikon, on the other hand, has made some of the best lenses ever with the same basic mount for over fifty years. However, there cameras aren’t normally as feature rich as the Canon cameras, nor do they have anything like “Magic Lantern.”

With that in mind, if you don’t mind mixing brand names, you can get the best of both worlds with adapted lenses. This is an ideal situation if you’re using mostly manual lenses, but would be a nightmare if you’re wanting to use all auto-lenses. (Technically, you can get auto-lens-adapters but the price point is often $100-$200 for these mechanized adapters, as opposed to $10-$20 for a manual adapter.)

Need to Share Lenses between still and cinema cameras

If you aren’t interested in adapting your lenses, but would like to be able to share lenses between your still camera and your primary motion camera, then you want to look at Panasonic DSLRs. They use the micro-4/3” lenses which are a special type of lens that’s able to be very light by removing the mirror inside. While adapting these cameras for other types of lenses is harder, these micro-4/3” lenses are currently used natively by at least part of Black Magic’s Cinema cameras and by Panasonic’s cinema cameras. As such, if you are already using Black Magic cameras or Panasonic cinema cameras, then looking at a Panasonic DSLR camera is a good idea.

Based off these questions, for my own needs, I found that the crop-censor Canon t3i (now in the t5i) provided the features that I personally needed and came in at right around $500 at the time. I picked up an 18-55 Canon auto zoom lens for $135, and then picked up some $10 Nikon Lens adapters and some old glass Nikon prime lenses (35mm, 50 mm and a 200 mm) from B&H resellers for $150 for all three. (I also had a 28 mm Nikon-mount Zeiss lens which I adapted.)

[Note: Manual lenses will normally be full frame. When a crop-sensor records that lens, it’ll zoom in on the lens “sweet spot”–the center portion of the lens—and provide an enlarged image. That means that a 50mm manual lens will behave more like a 75mm zoom lens and a 28mm wide angle lens will be a lot more like a 40mm wide angle.]

This has proven a great camera package for all the model and production photography I need to do for promotions. Camera availability will vary based on when you read this article, but the core elements that pertain to finding a good camera are based on the fundamentals of photography—which are over a hundred and fifty years old.

In our next article, we’ll move on to selecting a lighting solution for your photography!