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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 :)

New Zeiss Compact Primes Revised

The following 5 lenses that weight about 1kg/2.2 lbs each could save your R1-M-X handheld/stedicam "ass" on a budget:


1. Upcoming RED Pro Zoom 17-50mm T2.9 for a general use (about $6000).

2. Upcoming Carl Zeiss Compact Prime 28mm T2.1 Mk2 for available and low light (about $4000).

3. Upcoming Carl Zeiss Compact Prime 35mm T2.1 Mk2 for available and low light (about $4000).

4. Upcoming Carl Zeiss Compact Prime 50mm T1.5 Mk2 for available and low light (about $4000).

5. Upcoming Carl Zeiss Compact Prime 85mm T1.5 Mk2 for available and low light (about $4000).

Total: $22000.
 
Sanjin Jukic said:
The following 5 lenses that weight about 1kg/2.2 lbs each could save your R1-M-X handheld/stedicam "ass" on a budget:


1. Upcoming RED Pro Zoom 17-50mm T2.9 for a general use (about $6000).

2. Upcoming Carl Zeiss Compact Prime 28mm T2.1 Mk2 for available and low light (about $4000).

3. Upcoming Carl Zeiss Compact Prime 35mm T2.1 Mk2 for available and low light (about $4000).

4. Upcoming Carl Zeiss Compact Prime 50mm T1.5 Mk2 for available and low light (about $4000).

5. Upcoming Carl Zeiss Compact Prime 85mm T1.5 Mk2 for available and low light (about $4000).

Total: $22000.
Click to expand...

Heck, if your interest is in moving into shooting professionally with your own equipment, you could shoot on a full-frame DSLR like the D3s or 5DmkII, skip the 17-50mm entirely, and have yourself a 4-lens prime set for just $16,000 - which would allow you to get a camera, mic, and basic support kit for around $20,000 all up.

Make some money with it and you could eventually move on to a proper digital cinema camera like the Red.

Given that from an operational perspective, professional-level focus control is more important than absolute image quality, I'd say that makes it a very interesting proposition.
 
Sanjin is already a reduser.
 
Sanjin Jukic said:
The following 5 lenses that weight about 1kg/2.2 lbs each could save your R1-M-X handheld/stedicam "ass" on a budget:


1. Upcoming RED Pro Zoom 17-50mm T2.9 for a general use (about $6000).

2. Upcoming Carl Zeiss Compact Prime 28mm T2.1 Mk2 for available and low light (about $4000).

3. Upcoming Carl Zeiss Compact Prime 35mm T2.1 Mk2 for available and low light (about $4000).

4. Upcoming Carl Zeiss Compact Prime 50mm T1.5 Mk2 for available and low light (about $4000).

5. Upcoming Carl Zeiss Compact Prime 85mm T1.5 Mk2 for available and low light (about $4000).

Total: $22000.
Click to expand...

Sanjin, thanks for this.
 
But why would you buy the Zeiss compact primes instead of the Red One primes? I suppose if an important consideration was weight that could certainly be a factor. Has anyone done a direct comparison between the two for image quality?
 
Compact Primes are less expensive and physically much smaller and lighter in weight. Sanjin noted the old prices but the new series will be something like six lenses for around $20K. And unlike the RPPs, the Compact Primes will cover Full Frame 35 should you eventually move to that format. Not just 5K, but FF35.
 
And not only that. They are dead sharp. I shot a feature this summer with Compact Primes and the only drawback was T2.9 on the wider ones. The 18mm even has only 3.6. 50 and 85 mm have T1.5. The lenses are very nice indeed. Bouquet, color rendition. I liked them.
 
Rob Castiglione said:
But why would you buy the Zeiss compact primes instead of the Red One primes? I suppose if an important consideration was weight that could certainly be a factor. Has anyone done a direct comparison between the two for image quality?
Click to expand...

In addition to what has already been said about image quality, coverage, bokeh, scale accuracy, weight and size, don't forget Zeiss build quality. These lenses are built to last. With an ISO 800 sensor the slower T2.8 and 3.6 lenses are hardly a huge compromise against what you certainly gain.
 
Additionally, the 50 and 85 are faster than the fastes RPP. T1.5 vs T1.9. Not a huge deal but it is a stop of light which can certainly come in handy at times. Keep in mind that the Compact Primes are rehoused ZF still lenses and will pretty much cover all sensor formats that red will release within the next year or two. I am not sure about this but since the Zeiss lenses are designed for FF sensors, there will be a slight crop factor when using the lens of the MX sensor. Im am not sure about the magnification factor but it is very low. I remember someone saying that it was around 1.2X.
 
Mitch and Michael said it. Pretty much everything I was gonna say... Gotta be quick around here. ;)
Sanjin gave prices, but he didn't mention that when purchased in a "set" there is a discount. I believe the options are a set of four and a set of seven lenses. I'll be very happy when these Zeiss rolling out the interchangeable Canon and possibly Nikon mount in the form of CP.2.
 
Go with the Duclos Tokina lens. One of the best wides on the market with a "If feel like I am stealing" price to boot.

Or, there are some fast wides made by Zeiss, Illumina and Cooke but they are rather pricy (if you need wides that go into the T1+ range).
 
Mitch Gross said:
Compact Primes are less expensive and physically much smaller and lighter in weight. Sanjin noted the old prices but the new series will be something like six lenses for around $20K.
Click to expand...

Hi Mitch

Matthew's web article mentions that new features include "300 degree focus rotation"

Is this confirmed?

He also states "Eventually nothing above f/2.8 in the set." Any more information on your end?

Thanks!!!
Alex Boothby
 
Alex Boothby said:
Hi Mitch

Matthew's web article mentions that new features include "300 degree focus rotation"

Is this confirmed?

He also states "Eventually nothing above f/2.8 in the set." Any more information on your end?

Thanks!!!
Alex Boothby
Click to expand...

Confirmed. I think even the current Compact Primes have 300 degree rotation.

As for the T-stops, I know this is the direction (or better!) that they're heading, but I'm not at liberty to reveal more.
 
Matthew Duclos said:
Mitch and Michael said it. Pretty much everything I was gonna say... Gotta be quick around here. ;)
Sanjin gave prices, but he didn't mention that when purchased in a "set" there is a discount. I believe the options are a set of four and a set of seven lenses. I'll be very happy when these Zeiss rolling out the interchangeable Canon and possibly Nikon mount in the form of CP.2.
Click to expand...

Matthew - I'm confused. Am in fact debating this very question right now, trying to make a final decision between a set of RPP's vs Compact Primes.

In an earlier post, you said the RPP's were comparable in quality to the Zeiss Ultra Primes, which to my understanding are of *higher* quality than the Compact Primes... - am I missing something?

http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=41424
 
Matthew, thanks for the information concerning the discounts for sets. Are you able to say what the discount will be for the set of four and seven respectively?

Cheers
 
Sorry to double post but I do have a follow up question concerning the quality of these lenses.

I suppose it is a kind of natural assumption that the compact primes might be considered the bottom end of the Zeiss offerings. That is why I was naturally gravitating towards the Red Primes which I have used and have been very impressed with. Is that assumption simply mistaken?
 
20K for rehoused lenses does not seem like a good deal to me. When I can et a decent PL mount set of rehousings for 10K maybe I'll bite.

But for 20K, I'll buy another set of RPP's or put it towards a specialty zoom.
 
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