Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • 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 :)

zeiss ZF lens - yes/no?

albert rudnicki said:
I am looking at the lens hoods right now, and I think I'll go for the most part with the 72mm (considering also 82mm).
I want them all to have the same front diameter to easily fit it on the matte box. Longer hood will also help me with the 50mm which has the most problems to fit in the MM
Found it all at B&H
Here is the hood link:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/357648-REG/Kalt_NPMLH72_72mm_Metal_Lens_Hood.html

What you think about the hood?
Has anybody found a better one?
Click to expand...

77mm step up rings have 80mm OD just like Zeiss Standard and Super Speed lenses. That is one way to make them fit universally with a production mattebox.

rgdfilmsRED said:
There is clearly a difference in the bokeh. The regular Nikons have a hexagonal bokeh, whereas the Zeiss have a circular, smoother looking bokeh. The mechanics are also very different. Picture to picture, a casual viewer wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
Click to expand...

Yes, the older manual focus Nikkors often had seven bladed apertures. Most modern Nikkors and the better MF pro Nikkors have a nine bladed aperture like the ZFs. For instance the 50mm 1.4 Nikkor has 7 the 1.2 & NOCT have 9.

This list will tell you what Nikkors have what blade configurations as well as other interesting info.
http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/serialno.html#85
 
mk07 said:
Thanks for the info. I've tried to search for examples of standard canon primes versus the L series with no luck. Do the L series primes kick over the standards? The ramp in price is pretty crazy. I shoot with standards on my 5D and am pretty happy with the shots - am I missing out on much not going with the L's?

thanks again
Click to expand...

For the best info on Canon FDs, look and post questions here: http://photo.net/canon-fd-camera-forum/

There are knowledgeable people who hang out there who will tell you which "L" series lenses really make a difference. For example, I've seen opinions from very experienced FD users touting the 80-200 L zoom as actually better across the whole length than the non-L primes of those lengths (85, 100, 135, 200). There's definitely a price difference, and there is indeed a technology difference, but I guess you'd really have to put them on the camera to know what kind of differece it makes on the RED. I have a couple of Ls and a few non-Ls, but I don't have 2 of the same focal length in L and non-L, so I can't do a side by side, but you might find a test on the site above.
 
You will be happy with this set, I just received 25 to 85 (4 lenses) and am renting them to a short film production now and so far the DP and AC are pleased. Yes they are mechanically masterful, and Peter Sensor from RP lenses did also rigged them up so they have gear rings fitted, declicks the iris and puts on 80mm front elements so they can adapt to pro MBs. You must get them modded somewhere, it makes a world of a difference in cine land, other wise people will complain and they wont bother using them.

I will share some images as they come down the pipe, I am RED tech on the shoot so I have been looking at all the footage and so far I am extremely satisfied.

Only complaints are the RED nikon mount is shifting when the AC goes to throw a fast focus pull and the image is starting to shift...where are those RED nikon mount shim kits? I thought RED was shipping those out, anyone get them?
 
Haskell said:
Only complaints are the RED nikon mount is shifting when the AC goes to throw a fast focus pull and the image is starting to shift...where are those RED nikon mount shim kits? I thought RED was shipping those out, anyone get them?
Click to expand...

I got mine - and an extra set installed on the 2nd nikon mount I just bought
 
Haskell, Tell Brett to mail you out those bushings asap. They are a must have and totally eliminate any play at all. Now you really have to screw the lens in to get it to fit. Feels like a PL again. I have zero complaints about the Nikon mount now.

For people wanting to save a little money on the de-click process of your Zeiss/Nikons, I recommend doing it yourself. Its really simple. Just remove the back of your lens, 3 screws, lift off the back cap and a small metal ball bearing will drop out or be stuck to the side of the cap. Remove it. Replace. Screw back together. Viola. No more hard-clicks. I wouldn't recommend de-clicking a regular manual Nikon or AF-D lens unless you know what you're doing. And I have no idea what I'm doing most of the time.
 
Matthew,

The only thing I would recommend is to use a 77mm threaded step up to make the 80mm OD, that way you have the option of lightweight screw on filters and hoods.

Also try and put the lens gear at roughly the same distance from the camera on all the lenses so that the follow focus always lines up.
 
Haskell said:
You will be happy with this set, I just received 25 to 85 (4 lenses) and am renting them to a short film production now and so far the DP and AC are pleased.
Click to expand...

im already sold on getting this set.. purchasing 28-85.. maybe 100 this week...
ONE question tho..
How hard is it to change the aperture? It seems like it would be so close to the mount and trying to get fingers in there would be a dounting task.
and will it be a lot trickier with the ims mount?
 
matthew.. i emailed you the other day about some zf questions on a set.
I am looking to get my set real soon, and was going to have you gear it, but id be interested in hearing about what you have, so i can do a one stop shop.
PM me or email me and let me know.
Zakaree@digitalcinemacameras.com
 
Mike Prevette said:
Matthew,

The only thing I would recommend is to use a 77mm threaded step up to make the 80mm OD, that way you have the option of lightweight screw on filters and hoods.

Also try and put the lens gear at roughly the same distance from the camera on all the lenses so that the follow focus always lines up.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback Mike.

The gears would definitely all be the same outside diameter. This way, switching lenses does not require adjusting the follow focus.
 
Quick question - is there a specific reason why the outer diameter of the focus rings is what it is?

Personally I rather like the focus rings with larger diameters as they give a little more fine control. Am I an idiot?

Agreed they should all be standard though - for easy swapping of lenses without follow focus hassles, etc.

It would be cool if you make a set of focus rings for the other Nikon-made lenses that matches the ZF focus ring set in outside diameter as well - in case we need a 35mm 1.4 for example?

Also, once you put these on, do we have any chance of taking them off again (eg to sell 2nd-hand to still photographers, etc)?

Agree on the niceness of Mike's 77mm threaded step-up suggestion.

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com
 
The gears are in fact removable. Our process involves custom cutting each individual gear to each lens so that the fit is perfect. This way, we eliminate the risk of slipping and/or binding. With a little force, you can remove the gears for cleaning, selling, or whatever.

As for the increase in control with the larger gears, were talking a very, very minor increase in actual travel. This could also be assumed when referring to the size of the gear on the follow focus and the size of the actual follow focus handle. I think it's best to keep the gear on the lens as low profile as possible so that they conform to industry norms.
For example, if you use a case for your lenses, the hole for the lens would obviously have to be as large as the largest diameter on the lens. If the gear is much larger than the lens, You will have a lot of room for the lens to wobble around in the case. Not too important, but still.
 
Where is that 18mm? I noticed its now available on the german site...wait a second, nevermind...BH is now taking orders? Well how about that. Who is going to be the 1st to take plunge and show us some stills?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/575023-REG/Zeiss_1486_397_18mm_f_3_5_Distagon_T_.html

In exchange I will show a frame grab from one of my Zeiss ZFs (85mm) working on the last job I teched....a short film directed by Carlos Berrios called the "Lost and the Found". I will post DPs full name soon (sorry Malcolm!). All I am missing to complete this set is the 18 and 100 macro and I will call it a day.
 
I wonder how the new Zeiss ZF 18mm compares to the older Zeiss Contax 18mm. I have a pretty stout collection of Zeiss Contax lenses, but lack the 18mm.
 
i want all of the zeiss zf EXCEPT the 18mm. it's a f3.5 and i can't justify the price when i could get the 17-35 f2.8 for about the same money...
 
rgdfilmsRED said:
I wouldn't recommend de-clicking a regular manual Nikon or AF-D lens unless you know what you're doing.
Click to expand...

I didn't take your advise. Not that I know what I am doing - far from it. I was just curious to see if it could possibly be that easy on a Nikon lens. I opened up a manual 35mm F2. There were 5 screws on the back plus one tiny one on the aperture ring. No ball bearings. Just a small strip of spring steel with a convex bump on the end that clicks into a groove on the inside of the aperture ring. The steel strip had two tiny pins holding it in place. I didn't remove the strip. I just wanted to see how it worked.

I have been intrigued with the ZF lenses. But, I already have a set almost identical to the ones Dustin Cross has for sale. The Nikons worked really well on my Redrock M2. I haven't put the Nikon mount on my RED yet to try them out on it. Is it really worth it to spend the money on a set of lenses to replace a perfectly good set I already own?
 
Matthew Duclos said:
Thanks for the feedback Mike.

The gears would definitely all be the same outside diameter. This way, switching lenses does not require adjusting the follow focus.
Click to expand...

Since you have to move the follow focus out of the way to remove or mount the lens why do the gears have to all be the same diamater?
 
chuck colburn said:
Since you have to move the follow focus out of the way to remove or mount the lens why do the gears have to all be the same diamater?
Click to expand...

Of course not. This is simply a decision made to keep the lenses uniform.
If a customer wanted different diameters we can do that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top