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Diopters for the RPP's?

M

Mike Yonts

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I have a shoot coming up that may involve some really tight shots. I could rent a macro lens, but thought I would investigate what a set of diopters that would screw onto the Red Pro Primes might cost to purchase. Aside from a few mentions here and there, I haven't found any source for these online. They'd need to be 105mm-– that's what my polarizer for the RPP's is.

Has anybody had experience with diopters on these lenses? Does anybody know where to get them?

Thanks,

Mike Yonts
 
The RPP's have incredible close focus ability out of box, but if you need evenmore macro I would recommend just renting a Diopter that will work with your mattebox. However if you want a thread on one to get even closer and you want to own it:

Here is a Kenko +0.3
http://www.ebay.com/itm/105mm-Close...ra_Filters&hash=item3f1c08fdf2#ht_2534wt_1056

and another option:
105mm thread to series 9 thread adapter + any one of these:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?atclk=Circular+Sizes_Series+9&ci=158&N=4256189579+4294955292

Or 105mm (coarse thread - not sure if this is what RPP's use) to 138mm and then add 138mm diopter
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ns=p_PRICE_2|0&ci=158&N=4256189579+4294955255&srtclk=sort
 
Thanks for that information, Dan! Considering the prices of those 138mm ones, rental may be a better option after all...

The RPPs do have great close-focus, don't they? But I do think I'll need just a little more.
 
How tight do you have to go?

If you have to match shots with the rest of a film then my suggestion won't work-- but if these are isolated shots then what I do is use Canon macro lenses. For under $3000 I get the Canon mount and a set of great macro lenses. The 100mm Canon macro is considered to be an excellent lens. Even though its not an L-series lens I would put it against any of my L-series lenses any day of the week (so long as what I was shooting is less than 6" away LOL)

I know this suggestion was the opposite of what you wanted, but in some cases this is the least expensive and gives you the best results for macro work
 
The main thing I need to get is a tight shot of the little Google field as somebody types in some search terms. So the frame would maybe be an inch high or so.

I've also been thinking in the direction of using a Canon-mount lens since I already have a Canon mount in addition to my PL mount. I've traded the mounts back and forth plenty of times, although never during a shoot. Maybe it's time to try that...
 
Dude if you already own a Canon mount then at least throw a 100mm Canon macro on there as a test... you might have the same reaction I did... "Wowsers! That's crazy" its a whole new world in Macro land. And i think it will cost about the same amount versus a good set of diopters

Perhaps a seasoned Cinematographer might disagree with me, but I would think that matching the RPP's to a Canon macro shooting a computer screen wouldn't be that hard, since looking at a computer screen closeup is so weird-looking to begin with that it won't matter what lens you shoot it with

However, this reminds me of a good point I should bring up-- LCD screens or whatever screen you are shooting is made of up little pixels that actually look kinda distracting up close. You may want to do a test with whatever lens you are using because its quite possible that a really good lens could actually bring out "too much" detail in the LCD pixels. Perhaps a Macbook with a Retina display could be an interesting solution to this... any thoughts on that?
 
Thanks for your help, Jason! Yeah, I think you're exactly right that I won't have to worry about ultimate image quality if I'm shooting a closeup of a computer screen. You're talking about this lens, right:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/194451-USA/Canon_4657A006_100mm_f_2_8_USM_Macro.html

I guess if I'm planning to switch mounts anyway I could also consider 77mm diopters on my Canon 70-200. Looks like you can get a set of three of those for $100-$150.
 
Yes, the extension-tube idea had occurred to me too, although I'd never used one. Back to the PL world, there's this on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arri-PL-mount-extension-tube-F3-Alexa-RED-One-Epic-Scarlet-camera-adapter-/261025232611?_trksid=p5197.m1992&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D14%26meid%3D2021204578842037808%26pid%3D100015%26prg%3D1006%26rk%3D1%26

Looks like it would have the effect of moving the close focus distance closer, although the ad doesn't actually say that. I wonder if anybody has used this with the RPPs and the Epic?
 
That's a good price for what it is, and yes it would move the close focus much closer and void the ability to go to infinity.

The only thing I would fear would be "too close" of focus where nothing can be focused at all...but might be worth a look.

Mike Yonts said:
Yes, the extension-tube idea had occurred to me too, although I'd never used one. Back to the PL world, there's this on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arri-PL-mou...2021204578842037808&pid=100015&prg=1006&rk=1&

Looks like it would have the effect of moving the close focus distance closer, although the ad doesn't actually say that. I wonder if anybody has used this with the RPPs and the Epic?
Click to expand...
 
The RED 18-50mm zoom is an unsung hero as a macro lens - not as fast as the RPPs - but you can get very close with it, they are pretty easy to borrow or rent for cheap - if you don't want to have to swap lens mounts - and pretty dang sharp, as a macro.

That could be an easy solution.
 
Thanks for your help, everyone! You may have hit the nail on the head, Meryem–-I pulled out my old 18-50 and wow! Close focus is 8 inches, which ends up being about two inches from the front of the lens. I'll do some more tests, but it seems to get as tight as I will need. It would have been fun to buy a bunch of stuff, but this will probably do the job.
 
I'm with ya on this one. The 18-50 works great and I found a great set of 72mm screw-on diopters for it!


Meryem Ersoz said:
The RED 18-50mm zoom is an unsung hero as a macro lens - not as fast as the RPPs - but you can get very close with it, they are pretty easy to borrow or rent for cheap - if you don't want to have to swap lens mounts - and pretty dang sharp, as a macro.

That could be an easy solution.
Click to expand...
 
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