
What I’ve Learned From Starting a YouTube Channel in 2020. The Best Inexpensive Lenses for The BMPCC6K. 5 Affordable Fisheye Lenses for Shooting in Small Rooms. Why the Best Camera is NOT the One You Already Have. If you like reading about gear, you’re going to love these articles about lenses, cameras, and more. In the meantime, check out this great article over at SLR Lounge that Matthew Saville wrote regarding the long-term quality of Rokinon glass. Just know what you’re buying - and if you plan to use them for a while, well, just be careful. Many filmmakers and professionals swear by them, and they’re certainly not wrong for recommending them. Nonetheless, you can’t argue with Rokinon’s image quality. I once dropped the 85mm onto soft dirt from roughly a foot off the ground.
However, while Rokinon will always hit the sweet spot between visual power and low cost, the lenses do lack in overall build quality. Rokinon’s lens design and specs resemble those of Samyang and Bower, and that’s because they’re essentially the same lens build. Last on the list is a set of lenses I’ve shot with many times.
Zoom lens of choice for most cinematographers. So, while these lenses won’t give you the exact same quality as the Master Primes, they’ll get you pretty darn close. Knowing this, Zeiss created the Compact Primes. While the Master Prime series from Zeiss is an amazing lens set, it isn’t very cost effective for independent filmmakers. Interchangeable mounts (PL, EF, F, E & MFT). Cine-style housing, based on Master Primes. Let’s look at what’s out there, and what’s actually worth your hard earned money.
And while the lenses on this list are not always cheap, they’re certainly not prohibitively expensive, and they’re all a solid investment for anyone who recognizes how professional glass can help them tell their story at a higher level. Most of us simply don’t have the means to move top-tier gear over from our Wish List to our kit. Find your new glass on this list of affordable real cinema lenses for independent filmmakers and videographers.Īfter sharing a roundup of our favorite affordable Prime lenses, I was inspired to take it a step further with a look at a few affordable cinema lenses currently available to filmmakers.