Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • 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 :)

Breathing on RED lenses

F

fisherofmen

Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
0
I attended the RED demonstration at Film Tools earlier today, and was impressed with everything there. However, I was a little disappointed by the amount of breathing in the RED 18-50 lens. It breaths and not just a little either.

Are other people finding the same thing? Also, is there away to correct for the breathing in post? (The RAW file actually captures a bigger image than just the frame, right?

Just curious as to your thoughts.
 
Thanks for the link--it was very helpful. I didn't play with the lens too much and don't/haven't worked with a lot of lens, so that probably accounts for my inexperienced conclusion. Anyway, to my eye it just looked like a lot of breathing, but I didn't compare it to any other lenses.

Quick question though. One thing I've been wondering about is how would you deal with breathing--heavy or otherwise--if you were racking focus in a shot? You don't want any sort of breathing there, since it just looks weird.

Thanks.
 
it's difficult to hide lens breathing on a static camera with static subject shot ..
you can hide it some on camera moves or subject moves or combination of both ...

if you shoot 4k and frame a little loose you can correct some in post by either pushing in or pulling out ( opposite way of the breathing ) ... takes some practice and do some test ...

the Red lens does breathe allot if you turn focus right/left ... from my observation most persons that jsut turn right/left to see the breathing are not doing a realistic focus pull .. i see them going from 8" to infinity and back ... try 5' to 8' or 7' to 15 ' still some breathing but nothing like 8" to 50ft.

in general the more a lens cost the less breathing ... so breathing may come down to your wallet ...
 
I've been very pleased with the 18-50. It breathes a bit, but it's not an obscene phone call.
 
Curt's LCS will compensate for breathing (or at least that's what they're working on making it do now...)

Sorry Curt if I'm speaking out of turn, but it's info I got from viewfactor.com
 
Its a $6k lens, You should cut RED some slack.
For $43k you can get a Zoom without breathing.

Use it as a varilble prime.
Problem solved.

I have used mini Zooms for years, Both expensive and Non expensive models and I must say, the RED 18-50 punches well above its weight.
Bang for buck, there is nothing better with a PL mount attached.
 
Big T said:
Use it as a varilble prime.
Problem solved.
Click to expand...

How's that?

Surely you change the plane of focus with prime lenses??

And considering it as a VP disadvantages it even more as I expect alot from Prime Lenses..

Little confused sorry...

I'd love to have a quick look at a 18-50 (and a 50-150 when availble) .. Anyone have the 18-50 in central London.. Happy to pay something to just check it out!

regards

Michael
 
I'm not big on zooming during a shot... so I'm golden. Just wish it was a little faster... but like everyone says... it's pretty sweet for a $6k lens... if I want something faster I'll rent for the day.
 
It seems that some people are unclear on exactly what "breathing" means.
It has nothing to do with a lens being a zoom or prime (well that's not entirely true, the mechanics of zooms usually make them breathe more), it's the zooming effect created by the front element moving when the lens is focused.

I used to be more concerned about the breathing in Red's lenses and also in my still camera lenses, since I'll also be using the Birger mount. But then I saw this:

http://www.freshdv.com/2007/10/freshdv-reviews-five-follow-focus-systems.html

Check out the first video on the page at around 7:50. It's an 85mm Zeiss Superspeed. I've not really seen any comprehensive breathing tests comparing different cine lenses, but that's a lot of breathing on that Superspeed. The freshdv guys actually posted this in another thread(sorry, I couldn't find it again) as a reference as to how much this lens breathes. And it seems that longer lenses tend to breathe more than wide angle. But... That's much more than I would have expected from cine glass.

I didn't see a mention of breathing on most of the primes in that thread that Gibby linked to at the top of the page. Maybe Gibby or someone who has tested a bunch of lenses could add more info, since I'm not about to go and rent a bunch of cine lenses to see the difference.
 
parisrem said:
Check out the first video on the page at around 7:50. It's an 85mm Zeiss Superspeed. I've not really seen any comprehensive breathing tests comparing different cine lenses, but that's a lot of breathing on that Superspeed. The freshdv guys actually posted this in another thread(sorry, I couldn't find it again) as a reference as to how much this lens breathes. And it seems that longer lenses tend to breathe more than wide angle. But... That's much more than I would have expected from cine glass.

I didn't see a mention of breathing on most of the primes in that thread that Gibby linked to at the top of the page. Maybe Gibby or someone who has tested a bunch of lenses could add more info, since I'm not about to go and rent a bunch of cine lenses to see the difference.
Click to expand...

Hi,

Remember superspeeds were designed 30 years ago and are no longer made. In their day they were fine but modern Cine glass is way better. Until Mini 35's & Red came along they sold pretty cheap too.

Stephen
 
Big T said:
I

I have used mini Zooms for years, Both expensive and Non expensive models and I must say, the RED 18-50 punches well above its weight.
Bang for buck, there is nothing better with a PL mount attached.
Click to expand...

Hi,

Ever tried a Cooke 20-60? They sell below a Red 18-50.

Stephen
 
I'm not big on zooming during a shot... so I'm golden
Click to expand...

Use it as a varilble prime.
Problem solved.
Click to expand...

Neither of these comments have anything to do with breathing. We are talking about an apparent change of focal length while Focusing, not zooming.
 
For the price of the red lens the breathing is quite small in comparison to other options at that price point. IMHO breathing is not the problem of the red 18-50.
 
Myktyl said:
I'm not big on zooming during a shot... so I'm golden. Just wish it was a little faster... but like everyone says... it's pretty sweet for a $6k lens... if I want something faster I'll rent for the day.
Click to expand...

Very very smart.:wink:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top