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Why did RED pull the 50-150mm?

Daniel Bolton

Daniel Bolton

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Its been over year since the RED ZOOM 50-150mm just disappeared, to my annoyance just when I was about to purchase one. Now the 18-50mm has also gone. Does anyone know why? I hope that RED develop another nice zoom in the future.
 
they have pulled a lot of their lens collection with no word or comment at all. The only plausible answer in my opinion is they are developing a new line of lenses...Otherwise they would have announced that they were no longer going to produce them. Just my opinion
 
I thought I read a comment from one of the RED TEAM that back when they released the original lenses, there were very few cheapish PL lenses. That has changed by now and that they are focusing their resources else where at RED. what I gathered from the post was that we shouldn't expect any RED lenses anytime soon, if ever.

I wish they would, I'm very happy with my 17-50mm
 
Jarred actually did comment on this in another thread. Jarred's post, #10

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?90394-17-50-RPZ-gone-from-RED-STORE

Basically he said they are done making glass. If you want the 18-50mm, u can get it from the original maker, Sigma for about 650 USD. The housing is different but the optics are the same. I'm sure it's the same case for the 50-150mm and someone is bound to chime in here on what glass the lens was made out of.

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?90838-Sigma-17-50mm-f-2-8-EX-DC-on-Canon-mount

Here's a further in depth discussion on the subject.

I sold my 18-50mm, got some great footage with the lens most consider "crap." Priceless in fact. Still, I can't think of a cheaper cine lens out there with the same price to quality ratio as they RED Pro Zooms.

Best.
 
Will Keir said:
Jarred actually did comment on this in another thread. Jarred's post, #10

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?90394-17-50-RPZ-gone-from-RED-STORE

Basically he said they are done making glass. If you want the 18-50mm, u can get it from the original maker, Sigma for about 650 USD. The housing is different but the optics are the same. I'm sure it's the same case for the 50-150mm and someone is bound to chime in here on what glass the lens was made out of.

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?90838-Sigma-17-50mm-f-2-8-EX-DC-on-Canon-mount

Here's a further in depth discussion on the subject.

I sold my 18-50mm, got some great footage with the lens most consider "crap." Priceless in fact. Still, I can't think of a cheaper cine lens out there with the same price to quality ratio as they RED Pro Zooms.

Best.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Will have a look at Sigma see what they got. Due to Christmas and New Year booze, I forgot I started this thread!
 
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The 50-150 was based on the previous generation Sigma 50-150. I found one of the last new ones to be had about a year ago, EF mount. Love the range, and it's great wide open. They have a new IS version, but it's not as good for filming. I wish Sigma would do something with the old design, sell it again as a cheaper option to the IS one, and then Duclos could modify it. It's the perfect range.
 
is this official? i was trying to decide between a set of reds, one of their zooms, or a set of cp2's
 
I have the original Red 18-50 and Digi Optical 50-150, love them both and because they were apparently secretly made by Cooke they both feature Cookes i technology which is very helpful. The newer Red 17-50 doesnt have the Cooke i technolgy. The Red 50-150 is actually a great handheld lens too because its fairly lightweight and small. Finding a RED 50-150 is nearly impossible because anyone who has it knows its value cant be beat.

What is a DIGI OPTICAL? Well...when RED decided to stop making these lenses it appears they or Cooke created a separate line called Digi Optical and liquidated their inventory through BH photo and at one point you could actually buy the 18-50 and 50-150 for $7500 for the pair! There is even a dead Digi Optical site - http://digioptical.com This site never had much on it, it didnt even have a phone # or email

Last year I put an google alert out for a RED 50-150 and the second it showed up in my email I contacted the seller who was in India and I managed to score it for $5000 (it was actually a Digi -Optical) These lenses are nearly identical down to the font used on the lens and color of the #'s on the barrel. Why they did this will always be a mystery...
 
When did Cooke "secretly" make Sigma lenses?

The RPZ 18-50 is Sigma glass.
 
The 17-50mm has nothing to feel insecure about. It is a BEAST of a lens.

And Jarred said that they have something cooking in the back burner... RED is not done with lenses. But lenses seems to be wisely postponed until REDRAY and Dragon are rolled out. Enough redvolution for one year, or a few. They are changing everything. That's enough already.

RED will probably release their next glass in their cine-internally-motorized flavor, as they announced forever ago. No need to rush that, but it will be a nice step forward when they arrive. Reliable, durable, top shelf wirelessly controlled IQ; at RED prices.

A'ts my guess. I don't know... maybe because they said so. :)
 
Well I know the first round of Red 18-50's had some problems (the barrels on some were no smooth) and a lot of people sent them back to get reworked - which Red did at no cost but this caused a wrath of people claiming that these lenses were not good. But I bet if Red released them now they would sell good because their are so many more PL mount cameras available now. On the other hand if RED stops making lenses and focuses on making cameras thats fine with me because they are doing an excellent job updating the Epic features and developing new technology.

But who knows, RED could turn around and release a whole new gamut of Lenses...
 
Their last lens was their best, and every single one before it. This is RED, expect better than the last and the last is a beauty.

You could shoot an entire movie with the 17-50mm T2.9 RPZ. Ever since the release of the heavy but great RPPs RED has known how to make a barrel. And their coatings were already scary for the competition, starting with their first generation.
 
My crystal ball says that RED will re-enter the lens market at some point with a electronically self driven series. I would agree that they are not in a rush and will be closely monitoring the offerings of others in search of the right value proposition - don't see them wasting effort on a me-too line.

The optically quality of premium still lenses (assuming a good sample) is sufficient for all but the most demanding applications so I see the trick being to fit them with motors biased more toward smooth movement rather than the sloppy high speed motors that make sense for still auto-focus applications.

FWIW the lens that I think would sell like hot cakes is a more affordable version of the Fujinon Cabrio 19-90 with the servo grip. I don't doubt its a corker of a lens, but at $40,000 its a reach for most owner/ops. I think a lens with a similar range, weight, stop and servo grip under $20K from any of the usual suspects would sell very well as an everyday lens suitable for a lot of projects.

Cheers - #19
 
Blair S. Paulsen said:
My crystal ball says that RED will re-enter the lens market at some point with a electronically self driven series. I would agree that they are not in a rush and will be closely monitoring the offerings of others in search of the right value proposition - don't see them wasting effort on a me-too line.

The optically quality of premium still lenses (assuming a good sample) is sufficient for all but the most demanding applications so I see the trick being to fit them with motors biased more toward smooth movement rather than the sloppy high speed motors that make sense for still auto-focus applications.

FWIW the lens that I think would sell like hot cakes is a more affordable version of the Fujinon Cabrio 19-90 with the servo grip. I don't doubt its a corker of a lens, but at $40,000 its a reach for most owner/ops. I think a lens with a similar range, weight, stop and servo grip under $20K from any of the usual suspects would sell very well as an everyday lens suitable for a lot of projects.

Cheers - #19
Click to expand...

You're not kidding re: the Cabrio being a good one to emulate. A surprisingly good lens. And with the Dragon coming (all those stops and high ISO) we find ourselves wondering: why shoot primes? And the second you ask that question you think: wow $38k is cheaper than a set of Panchros... Plus its got 3 motors built in, compact, light, cable managed, with no need for a studio matte box... Now we can hardly wait for the 85-300. So I actually think its not a bad deal at $38k. I can't imagine how crazy good a deal it would be if you could match its quality for $20k...
 
If Fujinon could sell that lens at $20K and make money they would, they are pretty much the only Co. that's doing the ENG range zooms for S35 and they do it very well. I just got a chance to project the 85-300 Cabrio at Duclos and it's gorgeous. The 19-90/85-300 combo is a 2 lens dream package but the technology is probably priced right where it needs to be, I don't think you will see the same range available for cheaper for quite some time. Of course that's what rental is all about.

Also it's important to understand the compromises that need to be made for this range/weight ratio, the 85-300 does breath a bit and ramps to T4 past 218mm.
But the distortion is very well controlled and the contrast and resolution is superb.
 
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