Which lens for RED ONE?

[Brett Varvel]

I am brand new to the RED community. I just ordered my RED ONE recently and am eagerly awaiting it's arrival. I will be shooting a feature length film next summer with it and I am trying to determine which route to go with my lens choice. I want the most cinematic look I can get. I only have around $60,000 in the budget for lenses. Could anyone help me out with choosing a lens set, or a few primes, etc...

I have done a lot of research and am leaning towards Zeiss Ultra Prime, Zeiss Digi Prime, Zeiss CP.2, or Cooke 5/i Prime.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.

[Tim Bradley]

I would put the Red Pro Primes on the list to look at too. They are faster than the CP.2s as well as cheaper than the rest. Not to meant they are great lenses.

[Cail Young]

$60k??

Buy two lightweight zooms (Optimo DP set 16-42 and 30-80 or the new Arri LWZ set) and rent a couple of long/wide primes.

Contrary to popular opinion, T2.8 is plenty for shallow DOF and you'll rent those lenses out to others for years after the shoot.

Ultra Primes are great but current lead time is very long, unless you buy 2nd hand.

Digi Primes are 2/3" glass, no good for RED.

CP.2 are great but variable stop on the wider end.

Cooke 5/i lovely but very high maintenance and very expensive and have a huge lead time.

RPPs are great but very heavy.

In short, either buy a couple zooms, or rent for the shoot and use the savings on lights!

[Dave Blackham]

The CP2s are by far leas prefered in your list.

[Brett Varvel]

Thanks for the great advice. Those Optimo Lenses look great.

I'm definitely wanting a few good Primes for the film. Does the RPP's provide that true cinema look? I have not seen many films shot with the RPP's.

[Mike 'Fireman' Ross]

Another negative vote on the CP2s. Schneider Cine Xenar hasn't been mentioned as a possible prime set, probably for good reason; I've heard few good things about them and many bad.

Whatever you end up buying, I think you should consider putting $6k of your budget on a RPZ 18-85mm from the 'battle tested' section of the RED store; big & heavy but unrivaled bang for the buck. It's the lens I've used more than anything else on my R1. They also have the RPP 18mm and 300mm there for $3k and $3.5k respectively; that's a heck of a lot of pretty decent glass for ~$12k total.

http://www.red.com/store/battle-tested

Mike

[Trinity Greer]

I just bought a set of Illumina s35 1.3 speeds Shot with them on my short film "Through Blood" and the they perform great! great lens for the money, very fast and very sharp.Light weight and generate a beautiful look.

[Brett Varvel]

Hey Trinity. Could you post a link to your short film... "Through Blood"