Zeiss compact primes

[Justin Marx]

They are straight from a Rental house.

I have a set of CP2s and never saw anything as soft as your shots.. You need to call your rental house and Make sure they shim them properly after changing mounts.

 

[Matt Ryan]

I have a set of CP2s and never saw anything as soft as your shots.. You need to call your rental house and Make sure they shim them properly after changing mounts.

yeah ive used CP.2's plenty of times but this time every lens in the set produced these soft results... Here's some stuff I shot on CP.2's that were sharp. Here and Here and finally Here.

also the 18 in the set now is complete junk... Don't get me wrong, they are good lenses, but for my money I'd personally choose the RPP's despite their weight. I don't like that the set doesn't have consistent speed through the range and the slower end has a slight color shift which I along with several other users mentioned in another thread about the CP.2's.

 

[Erik Naso]

I’ve rented a set of CP.2’s. 28, 50, 85 several times from the same rental house and have had excellent results. Someone messed up when they changed the mounts.

 

[Justin Marx]

yeah ive used CP.2's plenty of times but this time every lens in the set produced these soft results... Here's some stuff I shot on CP.2's that were sharp. Here and Here and finally Here.

also the 18 in the set now is complete junk... Don't get me wrong, they are good lenses, but for my money I'd personally choose the RPP's despite their weight. I don't like that the set doesn't have consistent speed through the range and the slower end has a slight color shift which I along with several other users mentioned in another thread about the CP.2's.

All lenses have their positives and negatives.. I find them to be extremely sharp (when calibrated properly), light, and invaluable when needing pro lenses for a 5/7D shoot. I agree the 18mm, and 25mm suck..

 

[George Su]

I looked at a cp2 35mm at Filmtools today, and the focus ring was not very smooth. i wouldn't say it was stiff or jittery, just tougher to rotate than I expected. the cp2 18, 25, and 85 were all pretty smooth.

Anybody else experience this with the 35?

 

[albert rudnicki]

They are a good lenses.
I own a set of Ultras, but the image wise I would shoot with CPs without a blink of an eye.

 

[Jason Rudd]

My 35mm CP2 also has a somewhat stiffer focus and aperture ring than the 21 or 85. I was thinking of returning it, but it's manageable, and not that stiffer than the others. Interesting to know that this might be a "trait" of the 35's for some reason.

Overall I really like the CP2's. I don't need razor sharp images. I need to be able to FOLLOW THE ACTORS. The difference practically between CP's and say Master Primes for my uses and the budget level of what I shoot is pretty marginal. I wouldn't get a whole lot more jobs by owning a set of UP's or MP's or even RPPs and in many ways it would get in the way of presenting an affordable package. That said, just using a set of still glass Zess ZFs would probably bone me. Right tools for the job, always!!

I looked at a cp2 35mm at Filmtools today, and the focus ring was not very smooth. i wouldn't say it was stiff or jittery, just tougher to rotate than I expected. the cp2 18, 25, and 85 were all pretty smooth.

Anybody else experience this with the 35?

 

[Rex Phillips]

All lenses have their positives and negatives.. I find them to be extremely sharp (when calibrated properly), light, and invaluable when needing pro lenses for a 5/7D shoot.

I agree. I've used them for RED Epic and 5DMII. Sharp. Waiting for my Scarlet to test them but they will be the same as Epic.

 

[Mick van Rossum NSC]

I own a set and just shot a feature with them. At first I was very happy with them, but when projected on the big screen; they just fall short, especially wide open. You hardly notice it for TV stuff, they are fine, but there is a reason UP's are three times their price. I put them on a lens projector at the Zeiss dealer and then you really see where they loose it. The 85 though is very good, even wide open, and the 2 CF's are great (50 and 100) . I love their weight and size, and they are very well build, but they just don't "pop".

 

[George Su]

I own a set and just shot a feature with them. At first I was very happy with them, but when projected on the big screen; they just fall short, especially wide open. You hardly notice it for TV stuff, they are fine, but there is a reason UP's are three times their price. I put them on a lens projector at the Zeiss dealer and then you really see where they loose it. The 85 though is very good, even wide open, and the 2 CF's are great (50 and 100) . I love their weight and size, and they are very well build, but they just don't "pop".

Mick, this is very interesting. I have not read anything like what you have said about the CP2s. Could you go into more detail about how the lenses fall short?