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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 :)

Announcing the S.A.L.T. (Southland Alternative Lens Test)

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To everyone that showed up to work hard, and to those that are still working: Thank you! I can't wait for a systematic comparison. Hopefully we can also get a subjective paragraph or two from each of the testers, perhaps pointing out their personal winners, and why.

Will there be a follow up for Master Prime testing? I am wondering what weird planet alignment was to blame for their absence, and feel the test is far from complete without them.
 
Basically the problem was that we needed to test at a rental house that had a lot of these lenses, and guess what? The Master Primes all got rented out that day. We all agreed that we needed to test them but they simply weren't there. We depend on the kindness of strangers, as they say. And it took us all day until closing to test the lenses we did have there. Really, it would have been a two-day event to be completely thorough, so think of this as a sampler until you get around to doing your own tests.

Maybe Evin can arrange a return engagement sometime to finish the other lenses, though in some ways, Matt Duclos' work in the projection room was probably the most informative in a technical way, followed by Matt Uhry's tests of focus racks of different textures of lights, metal, a face, charts, etc. in the frame, and the least important was mine, which was a simple portrait shot against black plus some waving of a bare light bulb and a diffused Kino in the frame to look at soft and hard flare behavior.
 
Thank you David.
I've been compiling notes over the weekend and will have numbers ready soon enough.
Although my data may be the most important, it also the most subjective as the readers will not be able to see what I saw and will just have to trust my conclusions.
The footage shot by David, Evin, Matt, Brook etc. should be available and people will be able to see for themselves and take it as they will.

We did test a LOT of lenses that day and any more probably would have required a second day. I had to ditch a passenger just to fit the lenses back into my car as several manufacturers decided to leave their gear in my possession :reddevil:
 
Just an update...
I've completed conversions of all the footage to 2K Prores for projection and critique.
I've also organized all the files into sequences for evaluation as sets (S4,RPP,Optimo Etc.) as well as peer comparison where each lens is represented by focal length and presented along side it's closest corresponding lens from the other sets. This approach will allow us to gauge both how the sets match and render a unified "look" as well as how they differ from each other in areas like breathing, CA, flare resistance, ghosting, Bokeh, contrast and snap.

The visual part of the test is not meant to determine resolution, sharpness or distortion. For that we will be referring to Matt D.'s projection numbers and the stills pulled from the lens grid.

Here is a taste of Matt Urhy's stress test...
http://www.evingrant.com/flicks/Breathing.mov

Don't be alarmed if you see some CA on that crinkled foil. The whole point of these tests it to go beyond the design parameters of the lenses to see where their limits are.
Every lens we tested displayed some CA on that foil!

And David's hard/soft flare & ghost test...
http://www.evingrant.com/flicks/Flare.mov
Please excuse the compression in the blacks

Once we've had a chance to get the gang back together and view this material critically we'll compile our thoughts and create an article with both consensus opinions and individual impressions. We'll also have the hard data from the projection and lens grid along with uncompressed frame grabs, and 720P .H264 QTs (like the ones above) for download so you can check all this out for yourself. Please be patient, a few of us are out of town working so it will be at least 10 days before we have anything more solid to report.

I will say this, every lens we tested would be totally capable of feature film level production. There were no dogs in this pack.

I'd also like to give a shout out and thanks to a few people that really helped make this happen...
Robert Keslow, Brad Wilson and the whole Keslow camera staff, thanks for being a gracious host and for the rockin Za.
Richard Darge, Chris Burket and Morgan Shmidt for coming through with cameras and being there to make it all happen.
Alex Cason and Derek Edwards for ACing.
Ali, Emiliy and Aubrey for being patient models.
All the manufacturers who participated and reps who showed up to play.
 
Richard Darge said:
My favorite lenses, hands down, were the Rouge DP 16-42 & 30-80.

Amazzzzzzing glass, mechanics, optics, weight, size!!! Only major drawback is that it can't be used on film cameras but who cares when you have glass this cool!

All the other lenses were just as good, but these really stuck out to me that day..
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Have you used the DP 16-42 outside of the test? I didn't think it was out? Is it a pre-production sample?

I have the 30-80, and it is great, and hope the 16-42 is even better... How do they compare to each other?

Michael L
 
Michael Lindsay said:
Have you used the DP 16-42 outside of the test? I didn't think it was out? Is it a pre-production sample?

I have the 30-80, and it is great, and hope the 16-42 is even better... How do they compare to each other?

Michael L
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It's good - allow us 1-2 weeks to present the data in a coordinated fashion ?

Matt Uhry
www.mattuhry.com
 
Any chance you'll get your hands on the Illuminas, now that they're supposed to officially be in production ?
I'm sure a lot of people would like to hear about these...

Glenn Leibold said:
It is now official. The production of the ILLUMINA Super 35 T1.3 Lens sets has begun. We are on target for our delivery dates.:thumbsup:

Visit us on the web at www.LumaTechInc.com since it has undergone a bit of a facelift...

Cheerfully,

Glenn Leibold
Luma Tech Inc
www.LumaTechInc.com
glenn@lumatechinc.com


"I Feel the NEED, the NEED for Speed!" Tom Cruise in TopGun...
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Probably not for this test.

We are meeting tonight to project and evaluate, so results soon.

jamesedwelland said:
Oddly it might be much better if you did not meet up and discuss. Individual interpretation of the results without peer influence might be much more useful...
james
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We'll even though we are watching together, I have structured the review so that everyone involved can form and record their opinion before we discuss it. That way we preserve the most fidelity in the reviews.
 
Good luck with it all.
Thanks again everybody for all the work you put it.....

D
 
this is great guys. i have been quietly anticipating your results. i am especially interested in how RPP, Uniqoptics, compare to the standard Ang, Zeiss and Cooke.
 
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