Cooke s5/i

[Opeyemi Ilesanmi]

Does any one know the focal lengths on offer and prices..

i will also like to know if they are to be compared with master prime lense or ultra.

If you are to choose between cooke s5/i and Zeiss equivalent, which one whould you chose and why

 

[Adam Ekblad]

There we go!

Thanks,
Adam

 

[Philipp Hartmann]

Hi Opeyemi.
My 10 cents on this are:
I'd take the cooke i5 lenses as i'm a big fan of cooke lenses but that is just a very personal preference. I don't think i5's are an item you just buy however.
they are pretty much non-existant on the used market and I believe it will take up to a year, for them to deliver if you order them now. So unless you know of a set being sold, they just might not be an option.
Now I don't know what camera you are using, but lens coverage is a big factor for a lot of people wanting to shoot at 5K.
The cooke's might not cover 5k in the lower focal lengths! (i wouldn't be bothered by it, but many others would).
here is a link to check out the focal length.

http://www.cookeoptics.com/cooke.nsf/products/fiveilens.html

As for the Master Primes, they are considered the ultimate in lenses and they cover 5k down to 16mm as far as I know. (there are some coverage tests conducted by users of this forum)

If you're not sure but do have the choice, maybe just rent a set each for a day and test them.
So ultimately, at that quality level it comes down to taste (and availability)

Good Luck, looks like you have big things planned.
Phil

 

[alejo taube]

As far as I know the only Cookes that are ment to cover the 5k sensor and the future dragon are the mini S4 / aka i/panchros

 

[A. Clint Litton]

Coverage aside, the 5i's are amazing, and I think they are far more comparable to Master Primes rather than Ultra Primes. This is most likely applicable in terms of price, speed/aperture, size/weight. They're actually bigger than master primes IIRC, though not by much...and they are heavy. It wouldn't surprise me if the Master Primes have larger coverage, but considering the Dragon's 5k is said to be equivalent to S35, these lenses should cover Dragon 5k just fine...on a related note, while I believe people have claimed that the miniS4/panchros have larger coverage than S4's, and maybe 5i's, I don't recall hearing that the miniS4's are made to cover 6k on the Dragon, though they do cover 5k on the MX sensor.

As others have said, they're not really easy to just go out and buy, and it'll take some deep pockets. But if you like the Cooke look over Zeiss, and you need a faster lens than T2 (S4), and weight/bulk is of no consequence, the 5i's are lovely. I would definitely lean that way, myself, as I find the Zeiss too sharp for digital sensors (I know you can always add diffusion, but that's not always the preferred option), whereas the Cookes have a more pleasing focus fall off and are a bit easier on faces, etc.

That said, I just had my first hands-on experience with the Leica Summilux-C's, and while I wasn't able to really delve into the lens characteristics, the size and weight of them were incredible, and would leave me reluctant to choose either MP's or 5i's if I was spending a ton of money on fast glass. From what I did see, they were a lovely combination of size, speed, and contrast.

If you can find a rental house, it would be good to do some side-by-side testing between the cookes, zeiss, and if possible, the leicas just to really see how the sets render images differently...

 

[Ryan De Franco]

+1 on everything said above. Agreed all around.

Here are the prices you asked for. http://www.zgc.com/s/p/cooke_zgc5i.html

I would be concerned about buying six figured worth of lenses if you can't feel an aesthetic difference in the image. Get thee to a rental house! Hire a model for the day, shoot skin, shoot objects, shoot texture. feel how the lenses move and respond. your heart and hands will tell you want you want.

I envy your position, as does everyone who reads this thread!

 

[Mark K.]

It's a tough call between the Cookes and the Zeisses, because image-wise they both offer quite different looks. The Zeiss glass tends to look cooler, and punchier with more contrast, so they're really great for providing an image that feels 'modern'. The Cookes on the other hand, look warmer and a bit softer in general, so for anything with a 'period' or nostalgic setting - they're absolutely the go-to glass.

So both are fantastic, it's just a matter of which suits your content better.