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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 :)

Celere lenses by Hanse Inno Tech

any more news or discussion on these lenses??

C
 
Ben Scott said:
Not since that unpleasantness online with their reaction to Matt Duclos, no. Hopefully they've patched up their differences behind closed doors now.
Click to expand...

Steven and Lars have invoices to prove Matt's claims are incorrect. Lets hope it all goes away. :)

Did you know, that some very very big name lens companies purchase from the same optics manufacturing companies as what the lower prices lens companies do. FACT !

Optics making companies have catalogues full of different types of lenses optics, different coatings, different qualities. You can ask for your own secret (sauce) custom coatings when you order as well.

People seem to think Celere are rehouses of ZEENS, Because someone said they buy from the same optics company (maybe) Fact is ZEEN don't make all there own lens optics if any at all.
ZEEN ARRI ZIESS TAMRON PANOVISION ANGIE ETC ETC all just happen to purchase glass from manufacture(s) that make all types of different optics. They all purchase lens optics from outside optics companies, and probably buy certain optics from the same people as ZEEN does. So does this mean that ARRI ZIESS TAMRON PANOVISION ANGIE ETC ETC rehoused ZEEN's as well .... NO ! They just happen to use some optics from the same manufactures is all.

Celere source optics from all of the world. There front optics are from the same people Angenieux & Ziess get there's from in Germany, Other lenses from Japan and probably from China as well. Remembering that they also getting custom glass made as well. As it's all about the secret sauce. Mixed optics from several different suppliers with a formula coating that they may like and bingo. A new lens is born.

I know Steve and Lars are targeting a similar look to Leica & Cookes... A hybrid of the two. And why not. it's a good bench mark to reach.
Mechanically they will be easily on par. Maybe even better. Time will tell.

Just did a quick search, There are alot of lens manufactures out there... all supplying optics to the world. Looks like there is about 22 of them scattered around the world.
http://www.ealingcatalog.com/optics/lenses.html
http://catalog.rossoptical.com/catalog

At the end of the day, Lenses are like watches. Some fall apart the moment you wear them, others you can hand down to your kids and there kids after that.
Celere are those types of lenses that will last life time. But they are nice enough not to charge you the Leica / Cooke price tag.

Optically... people like old glass like MKIII super speeds and the like, and will pay a arm and a leg for them, Same goes for leica R and contax rehouses... I've shot all those old lenses and they are optically shit as far as I'm conferred. Full of chromatic abertions, soft edged, vignette corners, flares, bloom, distortion. But !!!! That uglyness looks charming to the eye and people love that look. I know I do for certain jobs.

I shot some of my scenes in my movie on some $300 dollar plastic Rikonons. Thinking it was to dangerous to risk expensive lenses in mud, rain and slippery rocks of Camboia.
I didnt want to test my insurance or loose expensive glass to breakage.
Guess what, the Shots look stunning !!!. But mechanically I hated them and they will their way slwoly moving closwr to the bin, Or i'll give them away. As they won't last and I don't care, for 300 bucks its cheaper than hiring. Buy a set every 12 months and throw them in the bin. Still cheaper.

I'm keen to get a set of Celere's, Why... build quality more than anything. All the same size, 77mm threads, mount options, all the same weights. Optically all the tests stack up. I bet they are not perfect, as no lens is. I can already see some minimal breathing in the video tests that are put online.
I'm sure they will loose that over time with newer models, But at 5-6k each Vs 35k each for a new Leica with the same T stop and same build quality, I think they are going to fly out the door.
Actually they are all ready. They can't even keep up with demand now.

Anyways... Moving forward
 
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I absolutely love a good Toia rant! Entertaining, and definitely educational!
 
Awesome post Mark !!

And a good look behind the curtain of real world lens manufacturing.

Now i have to ask a big question that seems to be the Elephant in the room.

Why all the negativity regarding the Xeen lenses??
Some people hate them,, some love them, but the Xeen are damn good
in the proper application and the build are pretty darn good.

Personally I think if Xeen was slightly warm and took the slight tendency towards
green away they would be Killer.

I have both a set of Xeen i own and a set of Celere i'm testing and likely will purchase.
Both have their good points and both produce beautiful images if used properly.

Curtis
 
I don't think that many would dispute the performace and ergonomics of these lenses. Aesthetics are a personal matter. The main issue is the attitude that they (the company) exhibit. The German boot they stomp threatening to hunt down anyone that takes their lenses apart to the end of the earth. Not exactly ideal to make friends or gain customers. You can make excuses about passion, emotional attachment and other stuff but at the end of the day it is about selling their products. OK I get it-they want to space themselves away from Samyang so they can justify the premium. When they initially had an idea of rehousing the Rokinons few years ago there was no Xeen talk and the offerings on the market were slim- especially in the small, compact PL lens realm. Internet could be bitch because it's all still there. They could have moved on since then. To what degree? Did they change all the glass? Nobody knows but them. It doesn't really matter because that Samyang/Rokinon "tail" from years ago will continue to pop up. They better get used to it because if they think they can intimidate anyone on social media into submission they better think again.
Anyway- that's my take on their relentless contentious defensive attitude. Nothing against their lenses and for some they may be worth the extra value. To me the Xeens, the new Fuji and Zeiss compact zooms for under 10K are just better value. But that's my strictly technical, impersonal, "engineering" take....
 
Jacek

Very good point, i'd have to 1000x agree on the attitude approach.
 
Jacek Zakowicz said:
I don't think that many would dispute the performace and ergonomics of these lenses. Aesthetics are a personal matter. The main issue is the attitude that they (the company) exhibit. The German boot they stomp threatening to hunt down anyone that takes their lenses apart to the end of the earth. Not exactly ideal to make friends or gain customers. You can make excuses about passion, emotional attachment and other stuff but at the end of the day it is about selling their products. OK I get it-they want to space themselves away from Samyang so they can justify the premium. When they initially had an idea of rehousing the Rokinons few years ago there was no Xeen talk and the offerings on the market were slim- especially in the small, compact PL lens realm. Internet could be bitch because it's all still there. They could have moved on since then. To what degree? Did they change all the glass? Nobody knows but them. It doesn't really matter because that Samyang/Rokinon "tail" from years ago will continue to pop up. They better get used to it because if they think they can intimidate anyone on social media into submission they better think again.
Anyway- that's my take on their relentless contentious defensive attitude. Nothing against their lenses and for some they may be worth the extra value. To me the Xeens, the new Fuji and Zeiss compact zooms for under 10K are just better value. But that's my strictly technical, impersonal, "engineering" take....
Click to expand...

Interesting to see that your reaction to the Lar's and Steven's response as a "threat"
I think standing up for your companies reputation is important. RED had the same problem back when they launched, JIM & Jarred smashed the haters with a very heavy hand. So much so they bannd people and would seel cameras to them.
I personally would have sent in the lawyers. But thats me.

I personally loved Lar's and Steven reaction, It made me want to own there glass even more because they are protecting my purchase.
 
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Curtis boggs said:
Awesome post Mark !!

And a good look behind the curtain of real world lens manufacturing.

Now i have to ask a big question that seems to be the Elephant in the room.

Why all the negativity regarding the Xeen lenses??
Some people hate them,, some love them, but the Xeen are damn good
in the proper application and the build are pretty darn good.

Personally I think if Xeen was slightly warm and took the slight tendency towards
green away they would be Killer.

I have both a set of Xeen i own and a set of Celere i'm testing and likely will purchase.
Both have their good points and both produce beautiful images if used properly.

Curtis
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with ZEEN's at all.
Amazing bang for bucks.
 
Mark Toia said:
Interesting to see that your reaction to the Lar's and Steven's response as a "threat"
I think standing up for your companies reputation is important. RED had the same problem back when they launched, JIM & Jarred smashed the haters with a very heavy hand. So much so they bannd people and would seel cameras to them.
I personally would have sent in the lawyers. But thats me.

I personally loved Lar's and Steven reaction, It made me want to own there glass even more because they are protecting my purchase.
Click to expand...
Send in the lawyers to whom?
I personally have no horse in this race but have been there admittedly and just trying to lend a hand in PR. I guess market will decide but they just seem a bit nervous judging from these jittery posts.
Rightfully so IMO...
By the way I wish them all the best in their journey- just to be clear. It sure ain't the easy, beaten path....
 
Jacek Zakowicz said:
Send in the lawyers to whom?
I personally have no horse in this race but have been there admittedly and just trying to lend a hand in PR. I guess market will decide but they just seem a bit nervous judging from these jittery posts.
Rightfully so IMO...
By the way I wish them all the best in their journey- just to be clear. It sure ain't the easy, beaten path....
Click to expand...

Spoke to Steven a few days back. They are inundated with orders, So they are far from stressing.
I personaly think its good to cut rumours at the knee's nice and early, as they turn into believable wild fires if left unattended. Seen it happen many times before.

They siad there piece and moving on.
 
In fairness they did also, a couple of days later, state they were perhaps a bit over-emotional and reached out to Matt and invited him to their factory and Matt suggested the remainder of the conversation be behind closed doors (as it should have been from the start).

The downside of that is only the bad bit of the back and forth is in the public domain and I think there is a ton of goodwill towards Matt in the community so people felt defensive of him.
 
I very quickly tossed this little "test" together and by no means would consider it the final word.
However looking at the street lights in the attached image there is a very obvious difference in
the Celere and Xeen lenses.


17240672_10208998219329070_7725887844897133973_o.jpg
 
Depth of field looks deeper on the top one
 
The top one is much sharper but has much more coma off axis. Trade offs I guess...
 
I'd like to point out that there is actually a huge difference between Xeen and Standard Rokinons.

If you can believe it - Samyang actually made the coatings more annoying looking in Xeens (to my eyes).

When something uses too strong of a coating for flare resistance you often end up with much uglier flares on top of Coma as seen in the test.
 
Maybe Im late to the party but what did Matt say about the lenses?
 
Dan, in comparison to your "love" of Xeen
what are the lenses that you would go to as a 1st choice?
Curious.

The Celere does seem to have a faster depth of field fall off.
At least to me looks very pleasing.

The flair on the Xeen is very much tied to T Stop. as you see it flairs or blooms
like the photo at T1.5 but as soon as you stop down to T2 it cleans right up.

Curtis
 
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