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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 :)

Dragon Lens Coverage Information

Dan Wang said:
I don't know if this was mentioned earlier. I know that the RPP 25mm doesn't cover 6K FF, but will it cover 6K WS?
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Nope. Not cleanly. 6K HD you "might" be fine. 5.5K you're in the clear.

Haven't slept much since my Dragon has arrived, but I'm trying to knock off some of the priority lens tests before this year is out (have a feeling I'm gonna be busy). We'll have more info on Friday and likely Monday for some other glass. Already started testing.
 
Phil, man—just gotta say, thanks so much for how much you contribute around here. It's a real gift to the rest of us schmucks. You're awesome. Thanks for being so generous with your time and what you're learning along the way.
 
Thank you Trevor. It's been an interesting adventure :)

Today I took a closer look at the Leica Summicron-C Primes. All of them. Additionally I was itching to get a look at what Leica M series still lenses would be compatible now that the sensor box/bushing area has been redesigned on Dragon. When I first saw that new design a bit ago I knew immediately more M glass would fit in.



The official word on the Leica Summicron-C primes. All of them cover Dragon 6K FF cleanly. Good to go.

Now the Leica M series lenses are a bit interesting. Truthfully they were designed for a different type of imaging plane/technology. However, optically most of them look fantastic on Dragon. The new Dragon sensor box/bushing area allows for the lenses as wide as the Summilux-M 24mm f/1.4 and 35mm f/1.4 to be attached. Which is new. And they look great! Everything more telephoto from there looks good too.

A lens to look out for would be the Summilux-M 21mm f/1.4. The retrofocus design isn't ideal and you'll notice a hit in image quality. Again, this glass wasn't designed for this system. However, 24mm and up you have an extremely compact system. (I'm looking at you octocopter and lightweight gimbal peeps)

Big thanks to Seth over at Leica for allowing me to really look at the glass for a long time today. The Summicron-C Primes are nice and sharp wide open and look consistent across the set in terms of look. A slight bit of an octagonal pattern is revealed around T5.6 on the lenses, T2-T4 the out of focus bokeh renders nice and round.


That's it for this evening. More lens coverage tomorrow night or Saturday depending on when we finish.
 
Last edited:
Phil sorry if this has been covered, what about Canon 30-300?
 
Tom Lowe said:
Phil sorry if this has been covered, what about Canon 30-300?
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It hasn't been covered just yet, but I did have one on the Dragon earlier this week and I'll have the hard detailed info likely tomorrow evening.


I should mention there's a few things I'm looking for when testing general coverage:

- Port Holing - This is a hard vignette that is a physical issue and can't be corrected unless you crop in or do a VFX fix.
- Vignetting - Vignetting can range from severe to mild and often can be fixed somewhat painlessly in post, although it could create unwanted noise. Vignetting often changes form when adjusting the aperture. It can either improve or worsen the effect. In some circumstance it could create a porthole effect when stopped down.
- Uneven Vignette Illumination - This is different from field illumination. Essentially where light fall-off naturally vignettes sometimes the edge of the lens tube create a highlight, which creates an uneven vignette towards the corners and boarders of an image. This is not something that is easily fixed via post, although possible. In mild cases under typical shooting conditions you may not even see it. When UVI occurs harshly it does suck though.

There's a few other things that I make notes on, but these are the big ones that essentially tells you if the lens is usable or not and at what formats.

One thing that is important to make note of, especially with lenses designed for smaller formats is flare control. Often light bouncing around the lens tube or other bits becomes visible if you are using a lens in an "out of spec" way. Flags and Matte Boxes help with this tremendously with lenses that exhibit this behavior. However, if you are going for a flashlight into the lens sort of flare you'll sometimes see a "reverse vignette" and actually get highlights in the corners. I advise to experiment and test if you doing anything like that with S35 glass.
 
Big update today. Likely the last big lens coverage test with Epic Dragon in 2013.

Huge thanks go to Matthew Duclos for facilitating this test (and buying me lunch!).

Today we have coverage information on zoom lenses, here's a few that were tested:



And here's a list of zoom lenses tested with new coverage information on the first post.
  • Angenieux Optimo 19.5-94mm T2.6
  • Angenieux Optimo DP 16-42mm T2.8
  • Angenieux Optimo DP 30-80mm T2.8
  • Angenieux Optimo 15-40mm T2.6
  • Angenieux Optimo 28-76mm T2.6
  • Angenieux 45-120mm T2.8
  • Angenieux Optimo 24-290mm T2.8
  • Angenieux Optimo 28-340mm T2.9
  • Angenieux 25-250mm HR T3.5
  • Arri Fujinon Alura 15.5-45mm T2.8
  • Arri Fujinon Alura 30-80mm T2.8
  • Arri Fujinon Alura 18-80mm T2.6
  • Canon CN-E 14.5-60mm T2.6
  • Canon CN-E 15.5-47mm T2.8
  • Canon CN-E 30-105mm T2.8
  • Canon 30-300mm T2.95-3.7
  • Fujinon Cabrio 19-90mm T2.9
  • Focus Optics RUBY 14-24mm T2.8
  • Zeiss CZ 15-30mm T2.9 (not released until April 2014)
  • Zeiss CZ 28-80mm T2.9
  • Zeiss CZ 70-200mm T2.9


The only big shocker out of this bunch is the Alura 30-80mm, which covers 6K FF and does pretty well in terms of resolving power on the wide side. Lenses like the Zeiss Compact Zooms or lenses using rehoused FF35 glass aren't big shockers in covering 6K FF.

I might have a couple sets of primes to test next week and there's a few more zooms around I can hit, but it will likely be 2014 the next time I look into more Epic Dragon lens coverage tests.
 
Evin Grant said:
Any chance the 21mm 2.8 ASPH would work with the Dragon? I can't wait to try my 35, 50 & 90 Crons ;)
Click to expand...

It will fit now, which is the good news. Optically though it may not perform as desired, it's just made and optimized for a whole different system. Best to test it out.

Also, all your Angenieux glass fits snuggly in the circular cut out in the sensor box/bushing area (which is why I think Red actually designed this and the Leica M glass fitting is a bonus). But no Motion Mount for the Optimo DPs, they just protrude way too far to make that a reality.
 
CJ Roy said:
Any idea how well the Fuji Premiere 18-85 covers?
Click to expand...

I'll have an answer next week or next year :) Couldn't find a free one today.
 
How about that Duclous / Tokina 11-16mm 2.8? Vignettes a little at 11mm on Epic FF 5K...would be interested to know how well it does on Dragon throughout the range, it's one of my favorite lenses.
 
Charles Bergquist said:
How about that Duclous / Tokina 11-16mm 2.8? Vignettes a little at 11mm on Epic FF 5K...would be interested to know how well it does on Dragon throughout the range, it's one of my favorite lenses.
Click to expand...

I'll slap it on tomorrow. I know it will cover at 15 and 16mm, but it's gonna be a bit soft in the corners.

I did some test shots yesterday evening with a 14mm prime at 6K FF and it's freaky wide :)
 
Phil Holland said:
Thank you Trevor. It's been an interesting adventure :)

Today I took a closer look at the Leica Summicron-C Primes. All of them. Additionally I was itching to get a look at what Leica M series still lenses would be compatible now that the sensor box/bushing area has been redesigned on Dragon. When I first saw that new design a bit ago I knew immediately more M glass would fit in.



The official word on the Leica Summicron-C primes. All of them cover Dragon 6K FF cleanly. Good to go.

Now the Leica M series lenses are a bit interesting. Truthfully they were designed for a different type of imaging plane/technology. However, optically most of them look fantastic on Dragon. The new Dragon sensor box/bushing area allows for the lenses as wide as the Summilux-M 24mm f/1.4 and 35mm f/1.4 to be attached. Which is new. And they look great! Everything more telephoto from there looks good too.

A lens to look out for would be the Summilux-M 21mm f/1.4. The retrofocus design isn't ideal and you'll notice a hit in image quality. Again, this glass wasn't designed for this system. However, 24mm and up you have an extremely compact system. (I'm looking at you octocopter and lightweight gimbal peeps)

Big thanks to Seth over at Leica for allowing me to really look at the glass for a long time today. The Summicron-C Primes are nice and sharp wide open and look consistent across the set in terms of look. A slight bit of an octagonal pattern is revealed around T5.6 on the lenses, T2-T4 the out of focus bokeh renders nice and round.


That's it for this evening. More lens coverage tomorrow night or Saturday depending on when we finish.
Click to expand...

Amazing news!!!!

Leica, Zeiss, Voigtlander rangefinder lenses till 24mm wide should cover Dragon 6K without so many issues I hope so.

What about Leica M 18mm f/3.4 ASPH that has amazing sun flare performance?
 
Thank you Phil.
 
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