Nikon 50mm f/1.8 G or 35mm f/1.8 G lens for low light situations (video)?

Ktn20

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Sep 30, 2014
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Hello,

I’m planning to buy a new lens for my DLSR Nikon D5200, main purpose is to make nightclub promos(video). I guess it’s no brainer, that the lens must have wide aperature, because of the low light situation.

So I have two lens in mind: Nikon 35mm f/1.8 G(which acts like a ~50mm lens, because my DSLR is DX) or Nikon 50mm f/1.8 G(Which acts like a ~75mm lens, because my DSLR is DX)?!

My wish would be to take "Deep“ shots, with the background blurred out. Something similiar: https://vimeo.com/73570808

So which lens would you suggest?

Thank You
 

giantbucket

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Nov 17, 2013
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for a fixed (non-zoom) lens, i'd go for the 50. in the future, buy a wide-angle zoom like 10-24 or something affordable in that range.

actually, do you have the 18-55 kit lens? if you do, set it to 35 and tape it so that it doesn't change, and shoot like that for a day. then move it to 50 and tape it and shoot for another day. you'll "see" which one you prefer in terms of feel, space, width, etc.
 

Relly Rale

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Nov 26, 2014
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I used a 50mm on my canon t2i for 3 years before I upgraded to my Nikon d7100 I could do everything with my 50mm but when I got a 35mm 1.8 on my Nikon I felt like I was missing so much in the frame. my 35mm is my now go to lens when filming but I also have a sharp a 50mm 2.0 AIS lens to accompany with the aperture ring which saved me money and gave me that control I was missing with the Nikon and video/aperture situation. Its all based on your needs. The 50mm will work well but if you need that wider shot you'll have to back up
 

Mitchell Robinson

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Sep 18, 2013
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Hey there,

The 50mm focal length has always be the "bread and butter" focal length for filmmakers due to the fact that it creates an image that mimics the look and feel of what we see through our own eyes. That said, i can only image that a nightclub situation is going to be a pretty cramped space anyway. For that reason and that reason alone I would try and get my hand on the widest lens you can. If you must have either of these 2 lenses it has to be the 35mm as it give you the most freedom inside a tight space. However, i would even go as far to say that you should think about a 20mm lens. I have the Canon 20mm F1.2 and it doesnt perform well on a full frame. But on your DX framed camera you shouldn't see any visible distortion.

That would be my recommendation!

Goodluck!
 

giantbucket

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Nov 17, 2013
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ONLY when used on 35mm sensor / film frame sizes. any other frame size necessitates a different focal length to achieve the same field of view (measured in degrees). in reality, it's all about the FOV, not the FL. but nobody seems to get that.

agreed, though, that in a nightclub wider is likely going to be better. you can always crop in photoshop (but you can NEVER go wider after the fact), and there's less chance of lens flare destroying the image, so wide ought to be relatively safe.

except wide fast (low light) lenses are $$$$$. and clean high-iso images that work with slower lenses are $$$.