Broadcast / Pro Video Lenses

Shopping for Professional Video Camera Lenses

Video lenses are optical devices with different focal lengths, attached permanently or interchangeably to video cameras for vision, remote monitoring applications, and quality assurance. These lenses come in a range of types for various purposes.

Types of Video Lenses

With the varied types of lenses available in a wide range of price points, you have many choices, from prime lenses to zoom lenses, and from macro to fish-eye lenses. Choose the professional video lens that fits your needs.

Prime and Zoom Lenses

The focal length is fixed on prime lenses. They produce sharper images, are less costly, perform better in low-light conditions, and are lighter than zoom lenses. Zoom lenses have a variable focal length. They work perfectly in well-lit environments, but their videos may not be as crisp in dark conditions as those of prime lenses. If you're capturing video for news, special events, or documentaries, zoom lenses are faster and more efficient to use.

Wide-Angle Lenses

These video lenses have focal lengths of 14 to 17mm, giving you a broad scene view. They're optimal for capturing small interior spaces, landscapes, and events where subjects are close to the video camera.

Normal/Standard Lenses

With focal lengths of 40 to 60mm, standard lenses replicate what the human eye sees. Their distortion is less than that of wide-angle lenses, and they're ideal for documentary photo projects, street photography, portraits, and creating precise compositions. The best lenses for video are those with good image stabilization, autofocus, wide aperture, and weather sealing. You can find professional video lens cases for most any normal or standard video lenses.

Telephoto Lenses

Lenses with focal lengths of 70mm and more are classified as telephotos. They're relatively heavy and have minimal distortion, thus they're perfect for flattering portraits and capturing distant events such as sports. Consider a 50mm non-zoom lens for a medium telephoto effect. When filming a creative or narrative, use a set of prime digital cinema lenses for professional results.

Macro and Fish-Eye Lenses

Macro lenses are meant for capturing close-up images and video of small objects such as insects or flowers at a short range, while retaining sharp focus. With focal lengths of 15mm or less, and a 180-degree field of vision, they make the objects look larger while distorting the surroundings.

Video Lens Features

Integral filters are translucent or transparent gelatin elements or glass attached in the front part of lenses. They assign special colors to an image and alter the light passing through the lens. Anti-reflection coating reduces the amount of internal reflections in a camera, making the lens more efficient. The motorized zoom magnification feature makes focusing quick and easy. This is especially important for light-field photography.

B&H Video and Photo offers a range of professional lenses, from cinema to industrial video lenses. Check out the wide assortment of reliable options like Fujinon and Canon video lenses to find the right one for your needs.