# 24-105 not good for video?



## frowni

I just bought a new mark iii for video purposes only. Since i bought the body, now its time for the lens. I was planning to get 24-105 since my budget is enough for that but a friend of mine says that 24-105 is useless and i cant get quality shots with it. He says i should get 24-70...its bit more expensive..is he right? I know im not a pro and bought a very expensive equipment but i had the money...you know


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## JohnTrav

24-105 is fine for video. Plus it has IS so it would be better if you are hand holding or video also. I used a 55-250 on my 7D and its no where near as nice as a 24-105 and the video still came out very good. I would just get the 24-105 and save the money. Plus the extra zoom is nice to have. A lot of people use that lens for video and have great reviews about it. 

If you bought the mark iii new why did t you buy it with the kit lens. It comes with a 24-105. It would have been a little cheaper that way


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## Buckster

Ask your friend WHY he thinks it's "useless" and get back to us with the answer.


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## EIngerson

^^^^^I'm curious to hear that also.


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## Overread

Your friend is likely missinformed and probably biased because the 24-105mm is "only" f4 and not f2.8 like the 24-70mm.

Actually the 24-105mm is one of the best zooms in the canon line for video work because its one of the few that keeps its focusing point fixed as you change the focal length. This means that you can zoom during video recording and your focus won't move. Both versions of the 24-70mm don't do this (the point of focus will shift) - even expensive ones like the 70-200mm f2.8 IS L MII shift the focus a little. For stills its not a problem as the AF can recalculate - for video it is a problem - esp on DSLR setups where you don't have quite the same focusing setup as on a dedicated video camera (though you can get close with accessories).


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## cptkid

As above, also a 2.8 is an irrelevant aperture for video. 

You cannot shoot that wide open, and you really shouldn't. 

F4 is plenty wide enough for shooting video and still having good depth of field. 

In all honesty, if you want to take video seriously, you should be shooting with primes, and never ever zooming during filming. 

I guess buying a zoom gives you the ability to shot at a number of focal lengths. However, never zoom during filming.


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## Buckster

cptkid said:


> In all honesty, if you want to take video seriously, you should be shooting with primes, and never ever zooming during filming.


That's ridiculous.


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## Overread

I can't count the number of times I've seen video zoom - it might be one of those things like HDR or selective colouring where its "WRONG" to do it until you know "HOW" to do it; but is often a cool thing lots of newbies do


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## Buckster

Overread said:


> I can't count the number of times I've seen video zoom - it might be one of those things like HDR or selective colouring where its "WRONG" to do it until you know "HOW" to do it; but is often a cool thing lots of newbies do


I see it all the time in professional motion pictures, sometimes done VERY creatively.


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## cptkid

Buckster said:


> cptkid said:
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> In all honesty, if you want to take video seriously, you should be shooting with primes, and never ever zooming during filming.
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> That's ridiculous.
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Buckster said:


> Overread said:
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> I can't count the number of times I've seen video zoom - it might be one of those things like HDR or selective colouring where its "WRONG" to do it until you know "HOW" to do it; but is often a cool thing lots of newbies do
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> I see it all the time in professional motion pictures, sometimes done VERY creatively.
Click to expand...


Why is that ridiculous ?

Zooming during filming is so offputting and very disorientating for the viewer. 

There is normally no place for it. Yes, it is used in movies, but is the OP seriously going to making feature films with his DSLR. No.


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## jaomul

cptkid said:


> Buckster said:
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> cptkid said:
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> In all honesty, if you want to take video seriously, you should be shooting with primes, and never ever zooming during filming.
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> That's ridiculous.
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> Click to expand...
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> Buckster said:
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> Overread said:
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> I can't count the number of times I've seen video zoom - it might be one of those things like HDR or selective colouring where its "WRONG" to do it until you know "HOW" to do it; but is often a cool thing lots of newbies do
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> Click to expand...
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> I see it all the time in professional motion pictures, sometimes done VERY creatively.
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> Click to expand...
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> Why is that ridiculous ?
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> Zooming during filming is so offputting and very disorientating for the viewer.
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> There is normally no place for it. Yes, it is used in movies, but is the OP seriously going to making feature films with his DSLR. No.
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I am not getting into the arguement but I recently watched a documentary on whiskey making shot with a 5d Mark II. Zooming was a feature here and regular lenses were used (I know this because the guy who made it explained how he made it). I would ask though how you know the OP is not going to make feature films or use this style in their film making. Maybe primes is the norm for this but that is why zooms may be more creative, because they are not the norm


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## HughGuessWho

Pan and zoom at the same time is quite common. In fact, I would guess that you could not find a single professional video where it is not used at some point in the film.


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## Buckster

cptkid said:


> Buckster said:
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> cptkid said:
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> In all honesty, if you want to take video seriously, you should be shooting with primes, and never ever zooming during filming.
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> That's ridiculous.
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> Click to expand...
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> Buckster said:
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> Overread said:
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> I can't count the number of times I've seen video zoom - it might be one of those things like HDR or selective colouring where its "WRONG" to do it until you know "HOW" to do it; but is often a cool thing lots of newbies do
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> Click to expand...
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> I see it all the time in professional motion pictures, sometimes done VERY creatively.
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> Click to expand...
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> Why is that ridiculous ?
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Because it's a statement that's so untrue, it's elevated to the point of, "silly or unreasonable and deserving to be laughed at."



cptkid said:


> Zooming during filming is so offputting and very disorientating for the viewer.


Thank you for your opinion, Siskel.  That opinion hasn't stopped every "serious" filmmaker from using it in every "seriously" produced, directed and filmed professional video made or seen in quite a while.



cptkid said:


> There is normally no place for it.


Except for...


cptkid said:


> Yes, it is used in movies


:er:



cptkid said:


> but is the OP seriously going to making feature films with his DSLR. No.


Don't know, and neither do you.  Don't care either.  It can be used in ANY kind of film, even "serious" films made by people who want to take video "seriously", like, oh, I dunno - PROFESSIONAL FILMMAKERS who quite obviously take video "seriously".

By the way, what makes you the expert on this, especially in the face of it being used in pretty much every actual film made by people who take video "seriously" that any of us have ever seen?  How in the world do you justify your statement in light of that blatantly observable indisputable fact?


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## Juga

Buckster said:


> cptkid said:
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> Buckster said:
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> That's ridiculous.
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> Why is that ridiculous ?
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> Click to expand...
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> Because it's a statement that's so untrue, it's elevated to the point of, "silly or unreasonable and deserving to be laughed at."
> 
> Thank you for your opinion, Siskel.  That opinion hasn't stopped every "serious" filmmaker from using it in every "seriously" produced, directed and filmed professional video made or seen in quite a while.
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> Except for...
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> cptkid said:
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> Yes, it is used in movies
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> Click to expand...
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> :er:
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> cptkid said:
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> but is the OP seriously going to making feature films with his DSLR. No.
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> Click to expand...
> 
> Don't know, and neither do you.  Don't care either.  It can be used in ANY kind of film, even "serious" films made by people who want to take video "seriously", like, oh, I dunno - PROFESSIONAL FILMMAKERS who quite obviously take video "seriously".
> 
> By the way, what makes you the expert on this, especially in the face of it being used in pretty much every actual film made by people who take video "seriously" that any of us have ever seen?  How in the world do you justify your statement in light of that blatantly observable indisputable fact?
Click to expand...


I have professional film friends and I think he should have said zooming isn't widely used for film unless it is artistic and used very rarely. At least my film friends share this sentiment.


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## HughGuessWho

Juga said:


> I have professional film friends and I think he should have said zooming isn't widely used for film unless it is artistic and used very rarely. At least my film friends share this sentiment.



Don't watch very many movies these days, huh?


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## Juga

HughGuessWho said:


> Juga said:
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> I have professional film friends and I think he should have said zooming isn't widely used for film unless it is artistic and used very rarely. At least my film friends share this sentiment.
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> Don't watch very many movies these days, huh?
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I do but I don't make them also film isn't limited to movies. 

Read my comment more thoroughly


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## TCampbell

I have two friends who do professional video.  They'll both tell you that it's not so much that zooming is "bad" -- more that most amateurs tend to over-use it and do it wrong.  Also, sometimes zoom is really zoom... but often times (and particularly in high-end productions), "zooming" is really a camera mounted to a dolly on a track and the camera is physically moving.  

In still photography, we use the terms "front focus" and "back focus" to refer to focus error (most of the time anyway).  In video, they refer to par-focal focus and the high-end video lenses allow the camera operator tweak focus on a subject when zoomed "in" as well as when zoomed "out" to guarantee that they'll stay focused when zooming (and they call those points the "front" and "back" focus.)

You might be interested in the Lensrentals.com article on the topic:  LensRentals.com - Photo Lenses for Video

Also note near one of the final pages he lists lenses which are "parfocal" (meaning if you focus your subject, then zoom, your subject will remain focused... you will not have to re-focus after zooming.)


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## Overread

Interesting, I knew the 24-105mm was parfocal, but I didn't know that the 24-70mm original was as well (heck I can swear I recall reading that it wasn't).

That said interesting that both the MII of the 70-200mm f2.8 IS and the 24-70mm f2.8 IS both seem to drop the parfocal feature.


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## hille141

Digital Rev TV is filmed almost exclusively using a 5DIII and a 24-105L.  I did a variation of a test I saw on their channel.  Turn on the live view mode and zoom to 10x on the display.  Flip back and forth between the IS on and IS off.  It makes a huge difference, especially at longer focal lengths.  In my case it was also on a crop sensor (T3i).

The video is here and gives some pretty basic tips on getting good video results with a DSLR.


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