Dragon and Vintage Set for Feature

[Lakis Amarantithis]

I think it's be a great idea to open a thread about all kinds of cine lenses here, their character, samples etc.

The Panasonic and Letus anamorphic adapters may look good up to 55" in a tv but are not good for the big screen. Cheap glass. No matter what you will try or in post if it's shot cheap there's nothing you can do.
For your budget Leica R's are the best choice.

 

[Brian Merlen]

I like Kowas, they flare awesome. I'd go for those vs spherical lenses, or cheap faux anamorphic adaptors..

 

[Rolf Kestermann]

Just throwing this out: If this is Your first feature, all this rummaging through lens choices to create a vintage look is completely academic. Get a sharp wide range, close focusing zoom
and call it a day, because a shoot is about time efficiency and even the time to change a prime, resetting the follow focus, changing the disk etc will piss off the most patient actors and
directors. You can plan Your look to be created in post ahead of time, but don't increase Your troubles on set with esoteric invisibles like anamorphic Kowas or soft K35s. Lighting, composition and motion count for 95% of cinematography, camera choice should be defined by its practicality of frame rate, resolution, weight etc and lens degradation shouldn't be
a choice to start a shoot, but something to finish in post. This romantic notion that antique lenses will provide a look of classics in this digital age is absurd. Its easy to recreate the
look of times past, its hard to create a new look, even harder to stay on track in production.

 

[Tommaso Alvisi]

Rolf,

while I generally agree, there are some old lenses which are particularly difficult to simulate in post.

And even if you can, it's time consuming during post while being "real-time" at the time of shooting,
plus it's another thing entirely to have the possibility to pre-viz the effect in production, on set.

This is especially true with anamorphic glass (except maybe master anamorphics which are almost too clean).

 

[Nick Gardner]

The K35 lenses are an old mechanical design. They make problems for remote-control follow-focus.

Just to be clear, having done several features on k35s, using them with a remote follow focus is absolutely no different than using a ziess standard or superspeed. There is a bullshit video put out by the first AC on I think American hustle claiming that due to the mechanical design the k35s couldn't be used with a wireless FF. He was just completely wrong in almost everything he stated. If you watch the video he goes on about "lost motion" technically, what he's saying is that the lenses were so worn than there was mechanical slop in the helical which allowed for too much backlash. In the video he shows moving a preston hand controller and the lens not moving. Except the drive gear isn't moving either. You can not move the drive gear of the lens and not have the barrel of the lens move - they are machined out of the same piece of metal. If the drive gear isn't moving then something is wrong with the preston.

I have no idea why he posted this horribly flawed video, but I assure you, k35s properly maintained are more or less the exact same mechanical design as every other lens from that era. Only two of the lenses I think have floating elements, and there really just isn't that much complicated shit mechanically in an old lens. It's raelly fancy nut and bolt scenario. I actually think zeiss speeds are worse than k35s for steadicam work as the k35s don't bind as much with a clip on matte box.

All that being said, k35s and most lenses from that era can be a challenge to pull focus with as they are more poorly marked than modern lenses, have varying focus throws and smaller barrels.

K-35s are great lenses ;-)

Nick

 

[Clint Lealos]

Ditto Nick. I just shot a feature with K35s and we did a ton of Movi shots using the 24mm and 35mm mostly. The 1st AC used a RedRock remote focus the whole time with great success. Not sure what that dude in the article experienced, but it sounds like he had a bad set and tried to pin the blame on the design. Anyway, K35s are lovely lenses in a million different ways.