STILLS: 5D2 vs Scarlet

[Adam Lewis]

Understandably, most of the discussion here seems to be regarding motion shooting rather than still shooting, but I'm coming at this from a different perspective.

Currently I do only stills shooting, DSLR, APS-C sized sensor. I'm (almost) ready to move to a 35mm sized sensor and the Canon 5D2 seems like the right camera for me, but I am also interested in learning to shoot motion. I don't really see the point in comparing 5D2 motion to RED motion. Based on some of the still shoots we've seen that use Mysterium-X it looks like the Red DSMCs will be good contenders in stills too, but they are (probably) way more expensive than a 5D if you want to get close in sensor size (I'm thinking Scarlet S35 or FF35). Okay, makes sense, all else being equal Scarlet deals with much higher data rates than the 5D, but my long term investment isn't in camera bodies (or brains), its in lenses.

This is where my ignorance of motion shooting comes in: if I buy 5D2 now and start accumulating Canon EF L glass, will that choice haunt me down the road when I want to get more serious about motion, get the latest RED brain and a Canon mount? What are the limitations/issues of using lenses meant for stills shooting on a motion camera? What about the other way around? If I plan to buy a 2/3" scarlet and start buying Red Pro Primes with later plans to buy a nicer brain, will I be screwed on the stills side?

 

[Lars Steenhoff]

focus dial range is shorter on the stills lenses vs cinema lenses

 

[Mohammed El Sharqawy]

breathing effect.. people doesn't like it..
mechanical control of the aperture is needed.. so, if AF lens used, a third party mount with external aperture control for the lens is required..

if you're ok with breathing check the zeiss still lens collection.. its nice but they don't offer the whole lens range for canon EF mount.. all range is available in nikkon f-mount.. in the end zeiss glass is worth the money..

 

[Steve G]

What about the other way around? If I plan to buy a 2/3" scarlet and start buying Red Pro Primes with later plans to buy a nicer brain, will I be screwed on the stills side?

Red pro primes are significantly heavier than most 35mm stills lenses. Not sure how light the scarlet will be as a stills camera anyway. Might not be the best for hand held stills shooting......

 

[Adam Lewis]

breathing effect.. people doesn't like it..
mechanical control of the aperture is needed.. so, if AF lens used, a third party mount with external aperture control for the lens is required..

Mohammed, can you elaborate on this "breathing effect?" I can't find a reference to anything about it or electronic aperture issues in motion.

Thanks,
Adam

 

[Tom Lowe]

To me, you can't really go wrong investing in good L-series glass. You will be able to use still glass for many types of motion shooting on Red DSMCs, especially as you are learning. Plus, those L-Series lenses can be resold easily on Ebay or Fred Miranda, etc. They hold their value well.

For the time being, I think most people who shoot pro-level stills will stick with DSLR bodies for stills. But who knows. We'll have to wait and see how the quality is with Scarlet stills. Red might have trouble competing with Canon and Nikon when it comes to ISO ratings, for example, at least with the first round of new DSMC cameras. We'll see.

 

[Chris Forbes]

I am holding on my next still camera for the same reason. Waiting to see what I'll get out of the scarlet.

 

[Noah Kadner]

Breathing is when you can see the frame appear to expand or contract when you focus. Good cinema lenses have this mostly or completely minimized, but as still lenses only need to look good for a frame this is typically much more noticeable when shooting video through still lenses.

Noah

 

[Adam Lewis]

Thanks for the info, I was able to find this test which exhibits the issue pretty clearly:

http://exposureroom.com/members/RyanEWalters.aspx/assets/88275d323b71471c95965de2a54d1748/

 

[David Mullen ASC]

What I noticed in those tests is how the focus racks on the cinema lenses were smoother because of the longer barrel rotation, some of the manual racks on the still lenses were sort of abrupt at the start and stop points.

 

[Andy Taplin]

Another option might be to wait and see what the imminent Nikon D3s has to offer against the 5D. It should be at least as good and possibly better (although more expensive). You could then invest in Nikon manual AI and AI-s lenses which will be very useable on the Scarlet as well.