Camera operator uses Canon long lens

When choosing a lens for the Canon 5D Mark II camera you have to consider the look and feel that you are trying to create for the final visual product.

My team and I have tested and played with these lenses quite a bit. Here’s what we have learned.

Top Canon Lens Skin Tones Insights

  • Canon lenses produce wonderful skin tones, have medium contrast, and give you a wonderful gradation into the blacks.
  • They are not stark and feel soft in comparison to Nikon or Zeiss.
  • Canon lenses seem more colorful than all the other lenses available in the SLR format.
  • Focus pullers need to be aware of managing focus with this lens system due to the endless focus ring.
  • That said, the image stabilization function on the 300mm, 600mm, 70-200mm zoom, and the 100-400mm zoom is awesome.
  • I have handheld 300mm shots with the image stabilizer beautifully.

We recommend that you DO NOT use IS II

It moves the image in a way that does not feel organic and softens the image.

Canon 1DC ISO Test with Model

About Filmmakers Academy Cinematographer Mentor Shane Hurlbut, ASC

Director of photography Shane Hurlbut, ASC works at the forefront of cinema as a storyteller, innovator, and discerning collaborator, who brings more than three decades of experience to his art. He is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers, the International Cinematographers Guild/Local 600, and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Hurlbut frequently joins forces with great directors: McG’s Netflix Rim of the World and The Babysitter, plus Warner Bros. We Are Marshall and Terminator: Salvation; Scott Waugh’s Need for Speed and Act of Valor; and Gabriele Muccino’s There Is No Place Like Home and Fathers and Daughters. His additional film credits include Semi-Pro; The Greatest Game Ever Played; Into the Blue; Mr 3000; Drumline; 11:14, which earned Hurlbut a DVDX nomination; and The Skulls. Notably, his television credits include the first season of AMC’s Into the Badlands.

 

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More on Canon 5D Mark II

By Shane Hurlbut, ASC

Director of photography Shane Hurlbut, ASC works at the forefront of cinema as a storyteller, innovator and discerning collaborator, who brings more than three decades of experience to his art. He is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers, the International Cinematographers Guild/Local 600, and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.