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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Nikon or Canon better for RED?

I am personally extremely excited about the Birger mount. If they can make the ff part of it smooth, then it could become a knock-out product!
 
Red Guy said:
I tried the Redrock and the Brevis on the HVX and unless you were
shooting outdoors in bright sunlight or could afford to hire a grip
truck with 2K HMI's it just was not that practical.
Click to expand...

Haha, funny thing is, thanks to the fact that I decided to go with a cheap HV20 & 35mm adapter & used Nikon lens combo instead of buying a fancy camera, I had the cash available to buy a used 1.2K Arri HMI ;) But then I am a funny fellow... also, a lot of people I know own cameras but no lights, so I thought that getting lights that I can lend to them would be better than buying a camera that sits gathering dust and going out of date when I am at work doing title graphics... I am realistic enough to admit that directing won't be my daily source of income for a while to come ;)

Sorry, this is getting OT. Regarding Nikons vs Canons, you really won't know for sure until you've played with the Birger system yourself. There are 3 possibilities:

1. the Birger system will blow you away - great responsiveness, VR / IS is a huge value add, etc. You can use their focusing system for most shots, etc.
2. the Birger system works, but there are occasionally irritating things about it that means that you would do just as well using manual Nikons for what you want to do.
3. the Birger system doesn't work well (not that likely, IMHO).

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com
 
Exactly Bruce

Knowing which lenses are best will have mostly to do with if there is much focus slop with either the cannon or nikon. It may work great but I am not sold that the stills built mechanical focus system of either the cannon or nikon will work that smoothly. Hopefully Birger will have both the cannon and nikon mount ready for when we do the LART testing and we will be able to do a little head to head testing.
 
Finner said:
Knowing which lenses are best will have mostly to do with if there is much focus slop with either the cannon or nikon. It may work great but I am not sold that the stills built mechanical focus system of either the cannon or nikon will work that smoothly. Hopefully Birger will have both the cannon and nikon mount ready for when we do the LART testing and we will be able to do a little head to head testing.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately we will have Canon, but not Nikon, for LART. At the end of the day it isn't going to be one manufacturer or the other. Each have some lenses that are very well constructed for this, and each have some that are not. The real key is going to be deciding which has the right set of good lenses that allow you to do what you want.

The Canon "L" lenses that have ring-type USM motors (I think this is all of them in the "L" series) are incredibly smooth for focusing. The $100 kit lenses with geared DC motors aren't worth the $100 that they cost, for this application. The real interesting part is going to be deciding which of the other low cost lenses (geared USM motors) that are going to be useful, for which applications.

I still don't have enough time in to speak intelligently about the strengths and weaknesses within the Nikon lineup.

We also have made it a priority to make the mounts easily switchable, just in case someone needs to assemble a set that requires more than one mount. Obviously not for switching from shot to shot, but with only four screws to remove and replace, it is really only a five minute job; requiring a dustcloth and an allen wrench. The front of the RED camera is built like a tank.
 
A small torque wrench and info on torque tightness amounts would be a very useful tool to have come with the mounts.
 
Nikon Offers a 5-year warranty on all of their lenses.
Why does Canon only offer a 1-year warranty?
Even on their L glass, it's still just 1 year.

Also, as I understand it, Nikon is expected to make a huge announcement very soon that will feature the introduction of new DSLR lenses, primes, zooms, maybe even a new tilt/shift lens or two.

People are expecting to see AF-S added across the line, larger apertures on primes, and Nikon's Nano-crystal lens coating applied across the line.
There may even be a VRIII lens, but that wouldn't really matter for RED applications.
 
Digigenic said:
Also, as I understand it, Nikon is expected to make a huge announcement very soon that will feature the introduction of new DSLR lenses, primes, zooms, maybe even a new tilt/shift lens or two.
Click to expand...

when are you expecting the nikon announcement ?
I hope they have a D200 replacement. Is it at that show in Europe (Germany ?) at the end of August ?
 
Hi,am also a Canon user(20D) recently i've been shooting exclusively on Raw and
discovered the benefits of it..c the results
CinematicFilm said:
I have been shooting with a Canon 5d dslr for the past year. The Canon digital camera are awesome! As are the L lenses. I hope that Birger can build a mount for the Red that will allow the use of the EOS lenses with Red. The Canon RAW files allow for an amazing amount of manipulation in Photoshop and I can only hope that the Red Raw will be the same for motion files.
Click to expand...
 
If Nikon goes all digital with their future lenses, which is the direction they seem to be headed, then the differences become nitty-gritty between the lenses. On the other hand, if Nikon manufactures lots of new manual aperture lenses then they might be the better way to go.

Personally I'm going with Canon lenses if the Birger mount works smoothly and is affordable. I currently use a Canon 10D (I bought it back when it was novel and random strangers would ask "What's that?!"). I've been pretty happy with Canon lens offerings, even though I usually cheap out and get Sigma gear instead.

If you're debating the issue, why not compare similar lenses from the two companies:
Canon 70-200
Nikon 70-200

Picture quality is the ultimate determination and won't show in the numbers, but if the picture quality does end up indistinguishable, then the closer-focusing; shorter lens size; and greater F-stop range of the Canon make it the winner in my eyes.
 
never mind
 
I appreciate all the work Evin has done here with Nikkors, but now the EOS adapter is immenent, would anyone have a reccomendation or a link to the best EOS lenses for use on the RED?

From what I understand, we need a newer one with a smooth motor action. Therefore making my old 50mm lens probably redundant.

Any thoughs out there for a decent but affordable lens kit with canon? I feel the nikkon crowd have got it easy from all the info here :-)
 
The 85mm 1,4 (or 1,8 not sure) L serie prime is one of the best lenses of all lenses, to recommend one. :)
 
How about getting the EOS mount and then use Nikon adapter to use both Canon & Nikon lens.
Best of both world.
Do people/expert see any issues?
 
Nikon on Canon EOS mount?

Nikon on Canon EOS mount?

sandesh said:
How about getting the EOS mount and then use Nikon adapter to use both Canon & Nikon lens.
Best of both world.
Do people/expert see any issues?
Click to expand...

Sandesh, at first I though no because the EOS mount won't work the Iris, but then I realized that if you use manual nikon lenses it should still work. Now you have me intrigued because I almost definitely will be using the Birger EOS mount so that we can use the 10-22 for underwater work, but it would be nice to be able to use some of those Nikon manual lenses that Evin raves about - so this might give us the best of both worlds.

So back to the experts - should this work without any major problems?
 
darkline said:
I appreciate all the work Evin has done here with Nikkors, but now the EOS adapter is immenent, would anyone have a reccomendation or a link to the best EOS lenses for use on the RED?

From what I understand, we need a newer one with a smooth motor action. Therefore making my old 50mm lens probably redundant.

Any thoughs out there for a decent but affordable lens kit with canon? I feel the nikkon crowd have got it easy from all the info here :-)
Click to expand...

Checkout http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-Lens-Reviews.aspx for Canon reviews, they're pretty thorough. Skip to the bottom of the page to see a list of most of the lenses. The reviews seem to be unbiased and he doesn't go overboard. Seem like very honest and complete opinions of the lenses. One problem however is that he is not discussing them in a cine environment, so no mention of breathing or pulling focus etc.

If you are going to go Canon and can afford it go with the L Series as they have some beautiful glass. Buy brand new if you can (BH Photo do them cheaper than anywhere else I've seen, even most of the imports on eBay). They hold their value pretty well so even if you find you're not using them you'll be able to get back most of your money when you come to resell them. The downside of this is that you won't find cheap second hand ones which is why I say to buy brand new.

Glazarus said:
The 85mm 1,4 (or 1,8 not sure) L serie prime is one of the best lenses of all lenses, to recommend one.
Click to expand...

The 85mm 1.2 II L series prime is better than either of the 1.4 or 1.8 as is the predecessor. However it does have an extending front element to it, but it's not too big so there ought to be ways of getting around it.
 
AquaVideoRed206,
EOS mount can practically take any lens from Nikon...to ... whatever lens with an adapter... Has this issue been discussed on redforum... or should we start another thread?
 
dxmetal said:
Digigenic said:
Nikon Offers a 5-year warranty on all of their lenses.
Why does Canon only offer a 1-year warranty?
Even on their L glass, it's still just 1 year.

Also, as I understand it, Nikon is expected to make a huge announcement very soon that will feature the introduction of new DSLR lenses, primes, zooms, maybe even a new tilt/shift lens or two.

People are expecting to see AF-S added across the line, larger apertures on primes, and Nikon's Nano-crystal lens coating applied across the line.
There may even be a VRIII lens, but that wouldn't really matter for RED applications.
Click to expand...
when are you expecting the nikon announcement ?
I hope they have a D200 replacement. Is it at that show in Europe (Germany ?) at the end of August ?
Click to expand...
Succesor to the D2x/D2h series is expected first. Sometime this summer, with a release for fall/winter.
New lenses are expected around the same time, shortly thereafter, there might be a D200 successor.
But with the reported specs of the upcoming Canon 40D being leaked out today, I see no reason for Nikon to feel concerned enough to rush out a D200 successor.
The date being whispered and occassionally yelled out in forums as of late is July 26th.
That is when Nikon will be having a huge meeting of some sort to usher in their 90th anniversary.
Things are really quiet right now, though. No leaks. There's been some reasonably good speculation and some winks from people who've got a solid reputation for being great sources in the past, but there've been no real leaks of real images from ads or hidden literature on the specs on the web or anything.
So, as of right now there's nothing truly definitive, but eyes are fixed on the 90th anniversary later this summer.
 
How would the canon IS lenses work on Red? In theory they are obviously designed for taking stills, but is there any reason this wouldnt give good image stabalisation on a moving shot?
 
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