I decided to make a few quick videos from default autofocus settings on the Canon 5d Mk IV. The sound is recorded by the built-in microphone on the canon 5d mk IV. What you will hear is the sound of the lens autofocusing in a quiet room using the touch screen dual pixel autofocus. The flexizone single mode was used. I was using the touchscreen to select focus between the characters and all the focus settings are the default one from the camera. I did not tweak or adjust the autofocusing settings. The footage is unedited so you can see how fast the autofocus works and how loud the lense sound if you don’t have external microphones.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Zoom (now there is the Canon Version III) on the Canon 5d Mk IV. A super handy and useful telephoto with image stabilization. I had the camera and lens mounted to a tripod for this video autofocus test.
For a cheaper lens option. Consider the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 APO EX DG HSM OS shown in the next video or the newer sports version. A telephoto is super useful for videography to compress the background and isolate the subject. This zoom range is handy and have decent reach! Watch this HSM Hyper Sonic Motor lens focusing for comparison with the canon telephoto option.
For every full-frame camera, you need to try a 35mm lens. This video was done using the original EF 35mm f1.4L USM. (Canon has a new f1.4L USM II should be a little quieter). Beautiful bokeh!
If you’re interested in a nice portrait lens for video, you might be considering the EF 50mm f1.4 USM. For a quieter version, check out the 50mm f1.8 stm). Even for photography, I have always found the f1.4 a little noisy even though it is an USM lens, the built-in mic definitely picks it up. The canon f1.4 bokeh is really nice. If you use a shotgun mic or use music over the footage, this lens can get some beautiful footage.
My favourite macro lens for canon is the Canon 100mm f2.8L USM. Look at the details in Chewbacca and the lego astronaut.
A wide angle lens is important. I got a chance to try out this Canon 16-35 f4L lense with image stabilization. Canon also has a 16-35mm f2.8L that is faster but doesn’t have IS. For video work, it is always nice to have image stabilization. The Enthusiasm Project has a good comparison between the f2.8 vs f4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2pZT8Hz2YM
Links in this blog have amazon affiliate links. If you end up getting the camera or lens from amazon, I get a small commission..