ENG SD Pro B4 mount lens for HD?

[Teague Kennedy]

primes are absolutely not an option for me. I do reality tv. super 16 zoom maybe good option? I will for all of my pay work be finishing no higher than 1080. I think I will need greater depth of field, so 35mm may not be best option.

[J. Bernard Vallon]

In that case Id say go with the S16 zooms, or the nikon zooms. Remember, regardless of format size, depth of field on a 50mm lens will be the same, roughly, for ALL 50mm lenses. If you get a B4 10-75, the depth will be the same as a s16 10-75, or a nikon 10-75. The lenses id look at are the nikon 17-35 or the 28-70, and use the super 16 format on the RED. That will give you the sharper depth you need for reality shoots. I'd maybe find something wider though, because of the smaller footprint.

Some people are talking about the Voigtlander 12mm f5.6. Trouble is its so close to the sensor the, the light rays out of the rear element aren't very parallel, resulting in vignetting on a digital sensor. If your shooting s16 cropped, it might help that problem, and fill your need for a mega-wide lens. f5.6 would give you near infinite focal depth, but it would be no good in low light.

[Axel]

We did a comparison of resolution of HD and SD lenses at a Rental house with state of the art equipment on a HDX 900.
We compared SD Fuji 10x4,7 with Canon HD wideangel
and SD Fuji 15 x 7 with Canon HD regular lense.
The processing of the camera was shut down and just the pure image from the lense measured. With the wideangel the Canon HD had an 8% resolution advantage.But on the regular lenses resolution was identical.
We only did the measurement test - no actual shots were taken to compare other parameters.
regards Axel

[Martin Drew]

In that case Id say go with the S16 zooms, or the nikon zooms. Remember, regardless of format size, depth of field on a 50mm lens will be the same, roughly, for ALL 50mm lenses.

While it is true that a given focal length lens will display the same DOF whatever the format, remember that a 50mm lens used in 35mm cine format is going to give half the magnification of a 50mm lens used in S16mm cine format. So for a given magnification 35mm cine gives less DOF, that is why so many film makers want to use 35mm cine format.

I would have thought the Canon 8-64 T2.4 S16mm lens would probably fit the bill, very light at 3.9lbs, no noticeable breathing. They have a great reputation and you can find them around secondhand at a reasonable price.

[tj williams]

B4 type lenses for 3 chip cameras will have problems on the RED single chip system. These lense are set up to serve the light to chips which are slightly diferent lengths back fm the lens due to differences in colored light. several mfg build optical correctors in the range of 3K to 5K THese also correct the mount to PL. Why when the Sd lens itself isnt that much less than a decent S16 lens? for adapters see Les Zelig in NY on the web.

[Steve Gibby]

B4 type lenses for 3 chip cameras will have problems on the RED single chip system. These lense are set up to serve the light to chips which are slightly diferent lengths back fm the lens due to differences in colored light. several mfg build optical correctors in the range of 3K to 5K THese also correct the mount to PL.

There's an active thread on RED User addressing B4 mount lens use on RED One, and optical correction via the Abakus 132 adapter here: http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=392

[Brian Broz]

I work at a sales/rental house and can't tell you how many times I've heard "DPs" say that they prefer the more "filmlike" image and "smoothness" that an SD lens provides on an HD camera!!
Also, in my experience, most (but not all) HD broadcast lenses are noticeably sharper than their SD equivalent...when mounted on an SD camera such an SDX-900 or BVW-600/700.

FWIW,

Brian Broz

[donatello b]

"the Canon 8-64 T2.4 S16mm lens would probably fit the bill, very light at 3.9lbs, no noticeable breathing. They have a great reputation and you can find them around secondhand at a reasonable price."

i've seen them used in the 9000-9500 range - is that a reasonable $$ ??