Illumina Test - Red One-Mx, Arri Alexa

[Ryan Patrick O'Hara]

Seems to be all about the QC?

[Michael Hastings]

Seems to be all about the QC?

Gregory has two sets of Illuminas that just arrived that were matched at the factory for 3D. Customer that ordered is having trouble gathering funds.

It would be great for someone as a matched pair but if stereo sale doesn't come through in the next week or so will be sold separately.

Gregory lives about a mile from me here in Weston and I talk to him regularly because I am having him work on a 14mm for underwater use. These "reviews" are all over the place and being a video and SLR guy I don't feel qualified to give a serious recommendation. I do know that these latest sets are having the mechanical parts made with more modern CNC equipment than the previous sets so maybe a bit better QC. My suggestion is that if you are serious that you arrange a demo and fly to Florida with a cashier's check or ability to arrange a wire transfer online, check them out and if they work for you, take them home - probably not much more expensive than shipping costs and there won't be any questions.

As some of you may know Gregory still has a pretty strong Russian accent, which can be a little difficult to follow on the phone. So if you would like me to facilitate this just give me a call.

If you fly in and buy, I'll talk Gregory into taking the cost of a flight off of your sales price. If you don't you can go spend an evening on South Beach and it won't be a total loss. :-)

[Steve Gal]

I took a look at the latest version a couple of weeks ago. Image looked really nice but i did not shoot any chart tests. Maybe I can get the latest set to have tested or Nathaniel has a set. They also came out with a 135mm.

[Rob Gardner]

I wonder if there is also the issue of the culture of customer service as it is (or isn't) in Russia. QC problems can happen to anybody, depending on the price, the commitment of the company to high standards and luck. Red has issues from time to time, but they show themselves to bend over backwards in the customer service attitude department and most people take things in the larger balance. Russia, like most post Soviet places, has a deep history in which the customer is always wrong and it is not easy to erase that completely. But I am a little uncomfortable with this kind of completely negative review being brought forward (and so amplified) by another party, when it is only one example of an unhappy customer. Of course he might be entirely correct in this too, but I think there are more things working here than one guy's experience. Just my 2 cents.

[John Fairstein]

Thanks for posts people,

I really would urger caution with dealing with this company. The lenses did not perform optically, but mechanically they just felt poorly made. They're painted not anodised, the 50mm focus movement just chocked and got very tight for most of the turn. Finally, to top it off the Iris movement on two of the lenses were gritty and grabbed....

I thought the MK II Illuminas had anodized barrels. Can anybody confirm? Sorry to learn about your experience Adam. I hope Lumatech makes it right for you.

[Dennis Guskov]

The link is down!!! Really curious to see what this is all about, as I am considering buying a set myself. Anybody can repost or direct me to a place where the video still exists? PLEASE!

[roryhinds]

I've had nothing but good dealings with Luma Tech. I love my Illumina's although I have heard of a few bad eggs I'm lucky to have an amazing set of lenses.

Contact me off list if you like... rory"at"minefilms"dot"com

[Carelton Holt]

The video was removed in part as a result of a full refund being issued to the owner. See the following thread: http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=55496 We are also interested in a set and are lucky enough to have a dealer about 3 hours away. I hope to be able to do some testing later this month and will gladly post some results. I have seen several good reviews and they certainly look reasonable in the Portland test. And there is no doubt that Nathaniel Kramer is shooting plenty of beautiful content with them. But, there seem to be several negative reviews (some legit and other mere speculation)... enough to make us a bit nervous. Though they seem to be a reasonable deal, it is still a hefty five figure number and for that one should expect some consistency. I will post some footage as soon as I am able. Cheers....

[Nathaniel Kramer]

So finally i can post the images that i shot for Spirit and Flesh magazine.. all shot on illumina glass.. here is a link to the story directly... also, you will see another story i shot "VS" both as stills and video (video will be released this week)

http://www.spiritandfleshmag.com/new.../fashion/envy/
and here is the motion