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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 :)

35k to spend on Lenses, any Advice

Thanks Jeff & Pawel... will call Abel tomorrow. It seems like dollar fluctuations don't affect prices at all. I was hoping with a strong american dollar you would see cheaper prices on cine lenses.
 
Take a vacation to Germany, have a beer, bring empty pelican cases, fill em with zeiss master primes, and I'll bet you notice the extra power of the $ :)
 
Just to toss out a thought. But with the 18-85 RED Lens being out I would wait and see what the primes are like. Based upon what I'm seeing, please Ketch or someone else correct me if, i'm way off but it seems far to say that the Primes will likely be somewhere in the S4's, UP, MP area of performance. Some one should line up the primes(S4's, UP, MP) to the 18-85 and see how the compare.
 
Reactor88 said:
Just to toss out a thought. But with the 18-85 RED Lens being out I would wait and see what the primes are like. Based upon what I'm seeing, please Ketch or someone else correct me if, i'm way off but it seems far to say that the Primes will likely be somewhere in the S4's, UP, MP area of performance. Some one should line up the primes(S4's, UP, MP) to the 18-85 and see how the compare.
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I'm absolutely in Love with the RED 18-85 Zoom, it is a fantastic lens, and I'm confident in saying that the RED Primes will be Fantastic as well, this RED line of "PRO" lenses has nothing to envy on any S4, and UP, I would not put the RED Primes on a comparison to the MP series as till now we know that they are not Super Speeds, and that is the only reason why I still favor the MP above all current lenses as I'm a Lover of very Shallow DOF and shooting in available light with very little artificial lighting intervention.

But as I mentioned to Jim few times, if RED was to produce RED Primes at T*1.3 I will forget any other lens manufacturer ever existed all together, as the RED "PRO" series is that GOOD!

ciao
 
I owe a set of Elites - they're really nice but they go soft when opened more than T2. So until Optars is out I won't expect them to be better.

There's a reason for MP being the best.

Don't get this wrong but so far Zeiss is the prince and king when it comes to T1.3
 
If you guys could only get two master primes... which ones would you chose?
 
facetmedia said:
If you guys could only get two master primes... which ones would you chose?
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Only two?! :wacko: I guess I'd have to say it'd be the 18mm and the 35mm for me. Because for general compositions those are the two focal lengths I like most. Yes the more exotic focal lengths (like 14mm) can offer some really cool effects, but if I'm spending that much on a lens, I want it to be a focal length I use all the time.
 
Grug said:
Only two?! :wacko: I guess I'd have to say it'd be the 18mm and the 35mm for me. Because for general compositions those are the two focal lengths I like most. Yes the more exotic focal lengths (like 14mm) can offer some really cool effects, but if I'm spending that much on a lens, I want it to be a focal length I use all the time.
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Does the 14mm master prime introduce curvature like a fish eye lens? I would love to see some frame grabs from anyone that has shot on the 14mm.
 
Grug said:
The Master Prime 14mm? No it's completely rectilinear. 14mm, rectilinear and T/1.3 :love:
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Wow!... lovely. Any disadvantages with this lens? Compared to the other zeiss master primes at the widest focal lengths?
 
facetmedia said:
Wow!... lovely. Any disadvantages with this lens? Compared to the other zeiss master primes at the widest focal lengths?
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From what I've seen of the Master Primes in action, there is only one possible disadvantage to them - size and weight. They're big lenses, so you have to keep that in consideration.

But in terms of optical quality and performance, they're the pinnacle of photographic lens technology (i.e. there's a reason they cost so damn much!)
 
Grug said:
From what I've seen of the Master Primes in action, there is only one possible disadvantage to them - size and weight. They're big lenses, so you have to keep that in consideration.

But in terms of optical quality and performance, they're the pinnacle of photographic lens technology (i.e. there's a reason they cost so damn much!)
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there is one gigantic disadvantage of the master primes: they are very, VERY sensitive. they need to be constantly maintained, and can easily go out of alignment, and to fix them you have to send them to germany.

i rented a couple of them from Birns and Sawyer for a one day shoot to try them out, and i loved the look, but, a few days after i returned them, i got a call from Birns that apparently one of the lenses had been dropped. I knew that was not true, because the lenses never left my side, and the whole day i shot in one place, with the camera on a dolly, so i ask Birns to let me examine the lens, and there was not a single mark on it anywhere. i questioned them further, and talked to another rental house, and i learned that, apparently, just normal transport in a foam case, can shake one of the master primes out of alignment, apparently even crushing some bushings or something inside, that will end up costing the renter (me) around $1,700 in repair. i also learned that Zeiss recommends these lenses not be transported in a foam case, but rather suspended, and not facing down, but rather sideways.

now, you have to understand, i owned a full set of digi-primes for a couple of years and sold them (to Birns) and they where in perfect shape, so i know how to take care of things. so this "damage" that we supposedly did must have happened when taking the lenses, in the case given to us, into and out of the equipment van, because that is the only possible time that what this could have happened, and i tell you, i never dropped the case either. all i know is that i am never renting Master Primes again, and definitively not from Birns. apparently the ultra primes can take a lot more use.

so please, unless you can support them, stay away from buying them, and when you rent them, get plenty of insurance, because you very well might need it.
 
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