Dragon Lens Coverage Information

[Phil Holland]

Sounds like your Schneiders and the Leica C's may work ok then for 6K HD?

The Leica Summicron-C primes cover 6K FF just fine, so anything under that is also good.

The Schneider Cine-Xenar III primes all work fine at 6K HD and 6K WS. 35 and up all good at 6K FF.

 

[Nick Morrison]

The Leica Summicron-C primes cover 6K FF just fine, so anything under that is also good.

The Schneider Cine-Xenar III primes all work fine at 6K HD and 6K WS. 35 and up all good at 6K FF.

Question. Does the Zeiss Super Speeds work at 6K HD? (even the 18?)

 

[Casey Green]

Sorry if I missed it in the thread, but has anyone tested RED Zooms with Dragon 6K?

17-50mm
18-50mm
18-85mm
50-150mm

 

[CJ Roy]

Hey Phil- Didn't remember the exact number, but the Fuji 18-85 vignettes till about 40 on 6K.

 

[Ross Isaacs]

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.

Hi Phil brilliant work mate. I am a bit unclear if the Angenieux Optimo DP 16-42mm T2.8 gets full coverage or are we waiting for your test results to be published here? Thanks for your efforts.

 

[Phil Holland]

Question. Does the Zeiss Super Speeds work at 6K HD? (even the 18?)

It might. 6K HD wasn't in the build on the camera we tested months ago, but 5.5K was safe. I can test this lens again soon though.

Hey Phil- Didn't remember the exact number, but the Fuji 18-85 vignettes till about 40 on 6K.

Thank you CJ. That's very useful info.

Sorry if I missed it in the thread, but has anyone tested RED Zooms with Dragon 6K?

17-50mm
18-50mm
18-85mm
50-150mm

Oddly it seems what should have been the first zooms tested were not. My Dragon is out working at the moment, but when I get my camera back early next week I think I can track down all the Red Pro Zooms.

 

[Casey Green]

Very good, thanks Phil!

 

[T. Jordan]

Phil,

Amazing work you have achieved! Have any tests been ran for Nan's GL Standard speed prime set?

 

[Phil Holland]

Amazing work you have achieved! Have any tests been ran for Nan's GL Standard speed prime set?

Tom. Those are hard to come by out here in LA (though I hear Nan shipped a few demo units around of other lenses), but since these are based on FF35 Zeiss Contax Prime Lenses I would believe they all cover just fine. A good deal of the galss Nan rehouses if FF35 glass and should be okay at 6K FF with Epic Dragon. The 11-16mm will have problems on the wide end however.

 

[Ketch Rossi]

Wish I had known, I had the 50, 85 and 135mm, there but sold the 50 & 135 and just brought the 85mm to sale over to Barcelona, and yes, Nan does great work indeed.

I really wanted to keep them, but at the end I decided to pay more, lot more and get the Schneider Xenon, great lenses, even if only with 3 focal for now.

FYI, I believe that that picture shows the older version, this is the current version...

 

[Phil Holland]

Wish I had known, I had the 50, 85 and 135mm, there but sold the 50 & 135 and just brought the 85mm to sale over to Barcelona, and yes, Nan does great work indeed.

I really wanted to keep them, but at the end I decided to pay more, lot more and get the Schneider Xenon, great lenses, even if only with 3 focal for now.

The biggest benefit, and this is important to me personally to how I work a vast majority of the time, is you get consistent aperture/T-stops across the set you have now.

It's actually one of my biggest gripes with the CP.2s and CN-Es. Although I do use the EF versions of the CN-E glass pretty often.

 

[Ketch Rossi]

The biggest benefit, and this is important to me personally to how I work a vast majority of the time, is you get consistent aperture/T-stops across the set you have now.

It's actually one of my biggest gripes with the CP.2s and CN-Es. Although I do use the EF versions of the CN-E glass pretty often.

Indeed Phil, that was also one of the selling points with the Xenon...

 

[T. Jordan]

Tom. Those are hard to come by out here in LA (though I hear Nan shipped a few demo units around of other lenses), but since these are based on FF35 Zeiss Contax Prime Lenses I would believe they all cover just fine. A good deal of the galss Nan rehouses if FF35 glass and should be okay at 6K FF with Epic Dragon. The 11-16mm will have problems on the wide end however.

Thanks Phil. I figured they would work on 6KFF but wanted to get your thoughts. How bad is the 11-16 Tokina on the wide end? How far to you have to push in until you pass the vignette?

 

[Nick Fury]

Thanks Phil. I figured they would work on 6KFF but wanted to get your thoughts. How bad is the 11-16 Tokina on the wide end? How far to you have to push in until you pass the vignette?

I started to see some at 12.5mm on monitor, with the Tokina 11-16.

Thank you very much

Fury

 

[Phil Holland]

I started to see some at 12.5mm on monitor, with the Tokina 11-16.

Thank you very much

Fury

Thanks Fury. I pick up my camera near the end of the day. Hard testing glass "using the force"

 

[scott devitte]

I don't quite get the constant aperture complaint with the CN E. Okay, The Xenon are 2.1 across the board. So starting with the 135 at 2.2 and going 85,50,35,24 set to 2.2 you have 5 lenses at a constant aperture + the ability to open up to 1.3 or 1.5. Only the 14 at 3.1 doesn't fit. I would rather have the extra stops. Maybe I am missing something but is there something wrong with being able to open up past 2.1? Please educate me- 4 of the Xenons are a stop slower than the Canons and it's a selling point?

 

[Phil Holland]

I don't quite get the constant aperture complaint with the CN E. Okay, The Xenon are 2.1 across the board. So starting with the 135 at 2.2 and going 85,50,35,24 set to 2.2 you have 5 lenses at a constant aperture + the ability to open up to 1.3 or 1.5. Only the 14 at 3.1 doesn't fit. I would rather have the extra stops.

It's more of a preference thing for me. I don't want this to effect others technique or preferences either, but if you're curious I have a whole thing about consistent looks which stretches across the total lens design in terms of how it draws. Consistent aperture, iris design, coatings, etc..... There's obviously the potential for how you work. For instance if you light to T2 and you need to go wide with a lens that doesn't allow to hit that iris from the get go, that requires more light. Additionally a lens that starts at T2.8 in operation with lenses that are faster is exhibiting a slight difference in look and performance in terms of a lens being stopped down or not.

These are some of the reasons that top tier sets are consistent aperture. Essentially consistent look, iris at given value, and also no reason to relight because a lens choice.

Just to give you a crazy example, the Leica Summilux-C Primes and Zeiss Master Primes exhibit different, yet consistent looks across various apertures. So if you shoot and light to T4 on say the Summilux-C Primes they all maintain a uniform look which comes in the form of consistent iris design and optical performance as the lenses are stopped down. Above that, the entire set was designed to play nice with itself and is color matched via the optical design and coatings. So everything cuts together extremely smoothly. That's the name of the game really.

I stress, this is my personal preference, so don't read this as the way things always need to be. It's the way I like my lenses. There's plenty of lenses out there that are all across the board in terms of aperture and look. That doesn't make them unusable, that just makes them different.

 

[Will Keir]

And films.

There's plenty of lenses out there that are all across the board in terms of aperture and look. That doesn't make them unusable, that just makes them different.

 

[Nick Morrison]

I think the most important thing is to know your glass. Know how to make it work, to make the best imagery possible out of it. Every lens has it's flaws, and hopefully it's advantages. Some lenses do almost everything well: ie Master Primes and the new Leicas. Others do only a couple of things well, and others manage to do at least ONE thing exquisitely.

I'm mesmerized by what Hoyte Van Hoytema said recently about shooting on Her. For the beach scenes he wanted to use a certain K35 zoom, because he loved how that lens flared. Just adored it. Not sure how great that zoom is overall, but it's clear to me that FLARE is very special to Mr.Hoytema, that flare made this lens magical to him. And I loved that idea about glass. It's doesn't all have to be perfect. But if you can find something special in a lens and exploit it, maybe you can make magic too.

 

[Will Keir]

Well said Nick. Wish you could have made to to SALT III.

Lenses can take time to learn. It's important to shoot various lenses and focal lengths for comparison and perspective. Shooting in the right situation to find that magic spot/look/feel/flare will take time. I wish I had sometime to shoot all this glass Phil has tested.

It's doesn't all have to be perfect. But if you can find something special in a lens and exploit it, maybe you can make magic too.