"Affordable" S35 Glass

[Stephen Strangways]

I have no problems with the proprietary lens mount for the zooms, it sounds like the best idea to get the full functionality that they are intended to have (and some people definitely want) as no existing mount is suitable.

I had missed that the primes were PL (I was looking at Sony.co.uk which has a different technical specifications list than what you posted,) and figured it would be a shame for them to be F3 mount if they didn't need to be, and people hoped to use them on other cameras.

 

[Mitch Gross]

I used t own a set of Zeiss Contax glass for my old Aaton. Yes nice glass, but the modern Zeisss ZF and ZE lenses are better. The coatings are improved.

And Cine lens housings are about a lot more than focus scales. Axial shift, image tracking, image breathing are just a few of the important differences.

 

[J. P. Sendall]

I used t own a set of Zeiss Contax glass for my old Aaton. Yes nice glass, but the modern Zeisss ZF and ZE lenses are better. The coatings are improved.

And Cine lens housings are about a lot more than focus scales. Axial shift, image tracking, image breathing are just a few of the important differences.

I can believe it. After all a lot of the Contax Zeiss is now what, twenty years old? As for breathing on the 50 and 85 I haven't noticed breathing that throws the viewer...yet. I think I shall shoot a test for my own benefit. Would I buy the CP's? Yes, although I would have liked something faster but that would have cost a great deal more I suppose. It's almost like I can live with the Contax Zeiss but if I was doing anything with better money then I would rent above the CP's. The Contax is for personal projects as well as a few low end pro jobs. Just to add I think Sony missed a trick when they spec'd their new 35mm sensor camera the F3 with only a PL mount. There's a big market out there that would want to shoot with the Nikon, Canon and Zeiss glass like me on a camera like that.

 

[Michael Hastings]

I can believe it. After all a lot of the Contax Zeiss is now what, twenty years old? As for breathing on the 50 and 85 I haven't noticed breathing that throws the viewer...yet. I think I shall shoot a test for my own benefit. Would I buy the CP's? Yes, although I would have liked something faster but that would have cost a great deal more I suppose. It's almost like I can live with the Contax Zeiss but if I was doing anything with better money then I would rent above the CP's. The Contax is for personal projects as well as a few low end pro jobs. Just to add I think Sony missed a trick when they spec'd their new 35mm sensor camera the F3 with only a PL mount. There's a big market out there that would want to shoot with the Nikon, Canon and Zeiss glass like me on a camera like that.

I have used a bunch of Contax Zeiss and since you get them at used prices they are pretty much the best bang for your buck for good quality optics and smooth focusing. Mitch is probably right about the newer ZFs but I think you make a good point about using the Contax for tight/no budget shoots and stepping beyond the CPs if the budget is significant.

And Sony didn't spec it only with a pl mount. The PL mount is an adapter, their mount is something like an IMS mount which even if Sony does not offer them should allow it to be very easy to make other "dumb" mounts for a variety of lens types. I also strongly suspect there will be a Canon smart mount as well.

Epic and Scarlet should also allow easy to make third party mounts for anything Red doesn't offer themselves. It appears the mounts are attached with just the four screws and since the sensor depth itself is adjustable you don't have the "backfocus" and Flange focal Depth issues we had with the R1.

 

[Steve Das]

...And Cine lens housings are about a lot more than focus scales. Axial shift, image tracking, image breathing are just a few of the important differences.

Image breathing I got..the other two..???

 

[Michael Hastings]

Image breathing I got..the other two..???

I think axial shift is when the image actually moves side to side or up and down as you change focus. We had this problem on a recent music video shoot with a Canon L prime - image would jump to the left. It was pretty obvious and none of the others we had did it so we think it was a defect in that particular lens - not the design itself.

Image tracking, I don't know either

Maybe Mitch will teach us both something today.

 

[Mitch Gross]

Just to add I think Sony missed a trick when they spec'd their new 35mm sensor camera the F3 with only a PL mount. There's a big market out there that would want to shoot with the Nikon, Canon and Zeiss glass like me on a camera like that.

The Sony has a neutral mount onto which the included PL mount adapter attaches. I need to spend more than the short te I've had so far with the F3, but I believe that there are already a bunch of other mount adapters available or easily adapted for this camera.

 

[Mitch Gross]

Image breathing I got..the other two..???

Axial shift -- gently touch the focus ring and apply front/back pressure. Don't rotate it to adjust focus, just push it a bit towards the front element and back towards the lens mount. I've seen these lenses shift backfocus by 100 microns of more when applying such pressure. Can't trust any marks then.

Image tracking -- put an object dead center at the crosshairs and pull focus. As you rack, does it stay dead center or does it move slightly one direction or another? This can be a sign of alignment issues in the lens, or sloppy mechanics.

There are lots more tests like this.