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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 :)

Buying a Lens Kit

I agree full frame is something to consider... CP2, Schnieder Xenons, Canon Cine, is what I am going for...In my dreams I buy all of them, hell with the price
 
Bob Gundu said:
Where the heck are those ultra speed Zunow lenses?
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You must have missed my post:

Phil Holland said:
So I've got some bad news on the lens front here. I've been in constant contact with Zunow and Alphatron regarding the Imperial Primes, they were a T1.5 set of primes that covered FF35 and ideal for Dragon plus they were going to be very affordable.

redNAB_0042.jpg


This morning I got an email that I won't quote, but there were some quality control issues regarding these lenses and the last batch made prior to IBC wasn't exactly up to snuff.

At the end of that mail, it was mentioned that there's a good probability that these lenses won't make it to market.

So in terms of "designed for full frame" that's giving you. Zeiss, Schneider, Canon as options in the immediate future.
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Which very much sucks. The prototypes at NAB, which to date are the only actual set of these lenses, looked pretty good. They were supposed to be T1.5 25, 35, 50, 85mm primes and they were adding something like a 12mm T2.8 and 120mm T2 later on. They were targeting a $3-$4K price. Hopefully they find a way to rectify their quality control issues, but I'd say these lenses are pretty far out right now. Like over a year. I still bug these guys occasionally though. Maybe the magic lens unicorn will visit them and make this happen.

The Schneider Xenon-FF Primes are "for sure" happening and soon. So those are something to get excited about.
 
Phil Holland said:
You must have missed my post:

Which very much sucks. The prototypes at NAB, which to date are the only actual set of these lenses, looked pretty good. They were supposed to be T1.5 25, 35, 50, 85mm primes and they were adding something like a 12mm T2.8 and 120mm T2 later on. They were targeting a $3-$4K price. Hopefully they find a way to rectify their quality control issues, but I'd say these lenses are pretty far out right now. Like over a year. I still bug these guys occasionally though. Maybe the magic lens unicorn will visit them and make this happen.

The Schneider Xenon-FF Primes are "for sure" happening and soon. So those are something to get excited about.
Click to expand...


Ah man. How did I miss that post? I was really looking forward to these. Thanks for the update!
 
What about the new Sonys? They likely won't cover Dragon but nobody has tested them yet either. Obviously Sony doesn't have the "name" but that could change over time. Everything I've read about is positive. Just wish someone would throw them on a Dragon soon.
 
Arrghh.. those Zunows looked perfect for me (on paper, anyway.)

I keep bouncing between the idea of getting a decent set of lenses that I could keep forever or just getting ultra-cheap alternatives (Rokinons or an older/slower zoom) as a hold me over until I can afford a proper set.

I was hoping for FF35 since that's the future, even if we crop into s35 the majority of the time (seriously, sensors are way easier to make bigger than filmstocks were/are), preferably on the faster side -- t1.5 would be fantastic, presuming that at T1.8~2.8 they'd perform exceedingly well, and if you need the 1.5 additional stops they're there -- and lastly, switchable mounts. It seems to me moving forward there's always going to be an in-between where it'd be nice to have good cinema glass on more consumer friendly mounts (not just PL).... GH4 is rumoured to be 4k, 422 200mbit... that's pretty huge and there'll likely not be a PL option for that camera (but m43 to EF are already out there.) I'm not a fan of the CPs; they have a shorter focus throw than normal (especially towards the end... going from 15ft to inf is like 5 degs...)

I dunno... For rentals it's really tough. If you can't afford glass that competes (or has character -- Cooke, K35s, Older glass that is specialized), I'm not sure there is an affordable kit that will help drive your rental business. It's all master primes and ultra primes... and cabrio and optimo zooms. Big rental houses throw that shit in now. I can get a full set of SuperSpeed mk3s for barely any money... less if renting camera/grip/lighting kit too. It's crazy.
 
I'm talking to a few rental houses about the possibility of renting on consignment. One person advised me to buy rehoused cooke panchros. any thoughts on that? I haven't used them but he says they are very popular at the moment. Also what's your opinion of working with a rental house?
 
Phil Holland said:
You must have missed my post:




Which very much sucks. The prototypes at NAB, which to date are the only actual set of these lenses, looked pretty good. They were supposed to be T1.5 25, 35, 50, 85mm primes and they were adding something like a 12mm T2.8 and 120mm T2 later on. They were targeting a $3-$4K price. Hopefully they find a way to rectify their quality control issues, but I'd say these lenses are pretty far out right now. Like over a year. I still bug these guys occasionally though. Maybe the magic lens unicorn will visit them and make this happen.

The Schneider Xenon-FF Primes are "for sure" happening and soon. So those are something to get excited about.
Click to expand...

Phil -how would we source those Schneider Xenon Full Frames? How soon is soon?
 
Jeremy Torrie said:
Phil -how would we source those Schneider Xenon Full Frames? How soon is soon?
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You'll see them shipping in larger quantities in 2014 and through the usual suspects. I think Filmtools and B&H will list them. I am still being told that approximately 60 sets of the first 3 lenses (35, 50, 75) will happen this year. I'm 99% sure those are all spoken for.

I think one of the trickier things going on here is opening up cinema grade and manufactured lenses to the lower cost market may yield a supply versus demand issue. The truth could be said about cameras and other accessories at this level too.

Remember there are certain lens sets that have less than 10 complete sets in existence. Most popular cinema glass sets float in the hundreds realm though. However, newer glass like the Leica Summilux-C primes haven't reached that realm yet due to the time it takes to manufacture them. These things are priced to sell in the thousands range, which is a new market in reality for glass like this.

This is one of the big reasons Canon and Zeiss didn't go and reinvent the wheel when making the CN-E and CP.2 primes. Those are all based on mass produced still lens designs and simply put into cinema housings.
 
Well here's hoping I get my Epics upgraded to Dragons in November...as such I really want to find a great set of primes to work with the cameras that I can own since we do so much of our own shooting. From what I've seen from you Phil those Schnieders are pretty sweet and also cover the 6K sensor...
 
What would be you budget?
I guess your price range would be between 10k and 20k more likely
For that amount i would recommand you, like many people before me the RRP (5lenses 2nd hand around 17k), but seriously i really think that you should get something more rare, more unique.
In your location, (NYC right?) they'll be a lot of RRP renter. so you could make the difference by buying some sort of unique lenses, i'm not talking about anamorphics lenses like lomo, they are to specifics and you wont be able to use them on all your project, but maybe you should consider going for some old lenses "cinemod". I really (really, really) love my ZEISS contax set by GL optics, they are a bit heavy but damn! the look is gorgeous. I met at the IBC this year the guys from p+s technik introducing me with the primecircle Panchro lenses rehoused.... marvelous!

I think you may have a lot of fun using old lenses rehoused, and you'll be able to rent them with barely no concurence in your location.

I would recomand: Contax set (rehoused)- leica R (rehoused) - Panchro
If you prefer to stay clasique go for CP2 or RRP (people most likely look for CP2)


I might be a little silly, but consider having those lenses in EF mount not PL. why? why not! Everyone has a EF mount for his camera (exept the happy Alexa and F65 owners) you be able to rent it to a lot of people (Happy owners of BMC, 5Ds, 7D, FS700, REDs, GH2/3, BMCpocket, AF100...) that just a thought, but i know that personaly i prefer so much EF mount for the versatility. (as long as the lenses are not 3Kg)
 
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