DSLRs are the most common type of camera used for film and video production. They offer high image quality and flexibility, but they also cost a pretty penny.
This can make purchasing one a stressful process. There is also a lot of jargon surrounding camera lenses, which, if you're new to filmmaking, can feel as if you're reading a foreign language.
That's why we are here to help! This guide will show you the top five lenses for DSLR filmmaking, from budget options to professional-grade gear.
We have also included a handy buyers guide and FAQ section to ensure that you are able to make the most informed and confident purchase possible.
Take a look!
Best Lens For DSLR Filmmaking – Comparison Table
Best Lens For DSLR Filmmaking- Reviews
If you're on the hunt for a lens that will make essentially no noise as you film your masterpiece, look no further than this STM Canon lens.
In fact, this lens combines excellent optical standards with cutting-edge and innovative performance.
The Canon EF-S 10- 18mm f/4. 5-5. 6 IS STM Lens is one of the best lenses for shooting videos with an APS-C sensor camera.
It's a fast prime lens that offers excellent sharpness across its entire focal range.
This lens comes equipped with a 4 group optical zoom system. It also includes a large-diameter element, a UD lens element, enhanced lens coatings, and an aspherical lens element.
As such, this lens provides super high-resolution and high-contrast images. With this lens, you don’t need to worry about glare or aberration.
In fact, thanks to the circular 7-blade aperture, even the background blur is refined.
This lens offers excellent sharpness across its entire focal range. It delivers quick, reliable, and quiet wide-angle performance, making it perfect for filmmaking.
For the price, this lens is of excellent quality.
As a bonus, this lens is rather light. In fact, it weighs just 1.1 lbs (500g). In turn, you won’t struggle to carry this lens around with you when you’re on the hunt for the perfect shot.
- STM Lens – it will focus quietly.
- Wide-Angle – this lens is ideal for wide-angle shots.Â
- Enhanced Lens Coatings – produces high-resolution and high-contrast images.Â
- Lightweight – easy to carry around.Â
- Price – excellent, given the quality of the lens.Â
- Maximum Aperture f/4.5 – not ideal for low light situations.Â
If you're a keen YouTuber, you've likely heard of the Sigma 18- 35mm f/1. 8 ART DC HSM Lens.
It rose to fame thanks to its endorsement by many different influencers, including MKBHD, and has since become a favorite (amongst those who can afford it).
More often than not, it is sensible to be skeptical of any products that are being promoted by influencers – particularly those that are as expensive as this one.
However, we promise you that this lens truly does live up to the hype.
It features a maximum aperture of f/1. 8 which means that you can shoot in low-light conditions without having to use a flash.
The lens also features a minimum focusing distance of 11 inches or 28 cm.
Consequently, this lens has incredible overall performance – which is no surprise, given Sigma's long history of innovative products.
In fact, this lens draws on that history and incorporates a wide, glass-molded, aspherical lens with Special Low Dispersion glass.
In turn, this feature works to compensate for any aberrations and curvature even at the widest angle. Consequently, this lens is very versatile.
It is ideal for portraits, landscapes, filmmaking, still life, snapshots, and close-ups.
The Hyper Sonic Motor ensures that the autofocusing feature is super speedy and very accurate. As a bonus, this lens is also particularly light weight.
Thanks to the use of Thermally Composite Material in its construction, it is small but very durable.
- Excellent Resolution – the lens is capable of producing extremely detailed images.Â
- Hyper Sonic Motor – the autofocus speed is quite impressive.Â
- Thermally Composite Material – this lens is lightweight and durable.
- Maximum Aperture f/1.8 – perfect for low light conditions.Â
- Special Low Dispersion Glass – compensates for aberrations and curvature.
- Price – this lens is very expensive.Â
If you are a faithful Canon customer looking for the perfect lens to make films on your Canon DSLR, you won't find a better match than the Canon EF-S Lens.
In fact, this camera is particularly ideal if you plan on using it to record interviews.
Just like the lens described above, this lens boasts a large aperture of f/2.8 which makes it suitable for shooting in low-light conditions.
The lens itself features a large circular aperture that helps to create the perfect background blur, drawing special attention to your subject.
Additionally, the construction of the lens includes UD and aspherical elements.
In turn, these provide a very impressive image quality throughout the entire zoom range – which is ideal for filmmaking!
Thanks to its ring-type ultrasonic motor (USM), inner focusing, and newly developed autofocusing processes, with this lens you'll be able to autofocus very quickly and quietly, which is completely necessary if you are going to use it for filmmaking.
This lens is also weatherproofed so it is great for outdoor photography. And, as with all Canon lenses, this lens carries a one-year warranty.
As such, this lens is truly an all-around winner – if you're a Canon fan, you can't go wrong with this model.
- Large Aperture f/2.8 – perfect for low light filming.Â
- Ring-Type Ultrasonic Motor – silent and fast autofocusing.Â
- Weatherproofing – ideal for outdoor photography.Â
- UD and Aspherical Lens Construction – produces high-quality images throughout the entire zoom range.Â
- Expensive – this model is quite expensive.Â
If you want to shoot some amazing footage, then you need a wide-angle lens. This Rokinon model will help you achieve just that.
It has a focal length of 50mm, which means that you can capture a lot more of the scene than you would with other lenses.
If you're a fan of Rokinon, you likely know how long-awaited this lens has been.
Its release was anticipated for quite some time, and we can assure you, now that it's here, it really does live up to the hype!
This new style of Rokinon lenses now boasts dual focusing scales, with one on each side of the lens. Additionally, it has been tested to be color-matched.
This will ensure the same color and contrast in video production.
Additionally, this 50mm prime lens comes equipped with a lens hood and de-clicked aperture.
This means that you are able to adjust the focus gears without needing to worry about them making a sound that will be audible in your recording.
When it comes to sharpness, this lens produces excellent results across the entire frame. The lens offers a decent amount of detail retention.
However, because of how wide the field of view is, there may be some distortion at the edges.
- Large Focal Length – perfect for capturing a large portion of the scene.
- Dual Focusing Scales – allows you to easily focus while keeping the camera steady.
- Color Matched – ensures that the colors remain consistent throughout the entire frame.
- Lens Hood – protects against dust and moisture.
- Color Fringing – reviewers have noted that color fringing can occur.Â
Finally, we just had to include this Sigma model in this list.
If you're looking for the perfect hand-held camera lens, you need to check this one out – especially if you aim to use your lens to shoot interviews.
This lens is a standard zoom lens designed specifically for full-frame cameras.
It features a maximum aperture of f/2.8, allowing you to get creative with depth of field. It even works wonderfully for portrait photography.
It’s built from metal and glass, ensuring durability and reliability. However, it is also very lightweight and compact, making it the perfect travel companion.
And, since it’s compatible with both APS-C and full-frame sensors, it’ll fit into most digital SLRs.
This lens comes equipped with Sigma's anti-shake feature, OS. This means that you can use shutter speeds that are approximately 4 times slower than otherwise possible.
It also has a quick and quiet autofocus feature.
Additionally, this lens uses Sigma's own FLD glass elements. These have a performance that is essentially equal to that of fluorite.
In turn, this lens provides excellent correction for all types of aberrations, and the Super Multi-Layer coating works to reduce flare and ghosting.
- FLD Glass Elements – similar to fluorite and will provide excellent aberration correction.Â
- Compact Metal & Glass Construction – makes it both durable and easy to carry around. makes it both durable and easy to carry around.
- Anti-Shake OS Feature – reduces blur.
- Quiet Autofocus – fast and accurate auto-focus system.
- Manual Focus – you need to move the switch to change to manual focus which may be frustrating for some.Â
Buyers Guide: How To Choose The Best Lense For Filmmaking
If you're still struggling to figure out which lens is best for your needs, take a look at our ultimate buyers' guide below.
We cover everything you need to consider so that you can make the most informed decision possible.
Prime Vs Zoom
The first thing you need to consider is whether you want a prime lens or a zoom lens.
Primes are lenses that have fixed focal lengths. When using a prime, you are unable to zoom in or out. This may sound like a disadvantage, however, this can be advantageous.
It means that the optics within the lens have been constructed to work perfectly and seamlessly for that one focal length. As such, these lenses actually tend to have superior performance.
Zoom lenses are lenses that allow you to zoom from one focal length to the next. You can use them to take photos of distant objects or close ones.
Professional zoom lenses are designed to give you the ability to get closer to your subject than any other type of lens. Because of this, they can be used for portraits, landscapes, and even macro photography.
However, zoom lenses generally cannot achieve f/stop numbers as low as prime lenses.
Image Stabilization
If you're new to the DSLR video game, one of the most important things you should do is purchase a lens that comes equipped with image stabilization.
If you're looking at a Canon lens, those with an image stabilization feature tend to have ‘IS' in the name.
We recommend that you opt for a lens with image stabilization because hand-held filmmaking can often result in ‘micro-juggles'.
If you have your eye on a lens that doesn't have image stabilization, we recommend purchasing a tripod to correct the problem.
Electronic Or Mechanical Focusing
Most modern camera lenses enable you to turn a focus ring to adjust the focus. When you do so, an electronic motor will adjust the focus.
Generally speaking, the focus will change depending on how quickly you alter the focus ring.
If you can preset focus pulls on your camera, or you often use autofocus, then this is unlikely to be a problem.
However, this method won't work very well for you if you want to consistently change the focus manually.
If this is the case, it is likely that you will get along better with lenses that have mechanical focus rings. Or, you may be interested in vintage prime lenses – these are also designed for completely manual focus.
Mount System
You should always check if the lens you want to buy fits your camera before buying it. Every different manufacturer of cameras has a different system for connecting lenses to the cameras.
Some common mount systems for DSLR cameras are Canon EF, Nikon F, and Sony E. Some cameras use other mounts, like MFT and Fujinon X, etc.
When upgrading lenses, you should consider what camera and lens mount you're going to be using in the future too.
Types Of Lenses
It is important that you purchase a lens that will work perfectly for you and your projects. Take a look at the common lens types for filmmaking below.
Wide Angle Lens
These lenses are very handy for shooting master shots of a whole set. They are also great for getting in close and working within tight spaces.
They're easy to handhold, and the perspective looks wonderfully dramatic. Distortion is noticeable, but not too bad. This lens is great if you are on a budget and need or want to shoot with only one lens.
Standard Lens
These lenses are great for portraits because they give a beautiful and natural perspective. However, they may provide some distortion when used for close-ups.
These lenses are good options if you want to focus creatively, however, they aren't necessarily the best if you need everything to be super sharp.
Portrait Lens
Portrait lenses, formally known as medium telephoto lenses, are the shortest lenses you can purchase that will still give an undistorted close-up.
Generally speaking, they are quite fast, making them great options for low-light situations. They also provide the best images when used with a tripod.
Telephoto Lens
Longer telephoto lenses are great for flattening perspective, isolation, and bringing distant objects close. However, these lenses do come with some large drawbacks.
They tend to be large, heavy, and slow. They also require a tripod.
Ultrawide Lenses
These lenses are to hold and have excellent depth of field. However, due to the large size of the lens, the edges of the shot and close-ups are likely to come out quite distorted.
If you're looking for a lens that can provide a dramatic and interesting perspective, an ultrawide lens might be a good option, but they are very expensive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are There Any Other Lenses That Are Good To Shoot Video Apart From Canon Lenses?
There are many different kinds of lenses available to filmmakers today. Some are better than others, and some are cheaper than others.
Whilst Canon lenses are excellent, don't be fooled into believing that you need a Canon lens to make a good film.
In fact, both Sigma and Tamron make a number of really great lenses for video. These products are actually often perceived as the cheaper versions of Canon lenses.
As such, these brands are ideal if you're on a budget that can't quite stretch to Canon.
Rokinon is another manufacturer of lenses that tend to work wonderfully for filmmaking.
Rokinon has gained a lot of popularity over the last five years because they make a wonderful set of cine prime lenses that are perfect for videography.
Are Expensive Lenses Worth It?
Generally speaking, more expensive lenses tend to produce a better image quality over the entire focal length range.
They also tend to produce more consistent image quality over cheaper models, and usually have a wider aperture.
However, if you're new to filmmaking, you don't need an all-singing and all-dancing lens.
Just make sure that the one you purchase is appropriate for your needs, has an image stabilizing feature, and is fairly durable.