ENG Zooms

[Ben Coleman]

I have been searching over the forum for info on the different lens mounts for the Scarlet 2/3". It seems that most people that will use that body would like it for primes or manual zooms. What I am having trouble figuring out is what kind of ENG type zoom lens could I use on it for run and gun. I am getting mixed signals about B4 mount lenses and 3 chip vs. single chip lenses. Not that I would never use a prime but my main workhorse would be in the range of a 16x to 20x zoom. Basically I need a setup to take the place of an HPX300 and I am trying to figure out what kind of glass I should begin to look for. Is the B4 mount something that should be avoided? Is there a major difference in the actual lens on a 3 chip camera other than the distance to the sensor? These are the kind of questions that I am having difficulty getting a clear answer to.

 

[David Rasberry]

Worst case you can use the PL mount with a B4 adapter which corrects the back focus for focal plane sensors. This is already available for RED 1. There should be a dedicated B4 mount released at some point for the new cams though. B4 lenses have to be optically corrected for single focal plane sensor cameras as they are designed to focus RGB through a prism splitter at different depths for 3 chip cameras.

The other alternative that is probably a superior choice for image quality compared to most lower end B4 lenses are the current gen Canon S16mm film lenses. These are only 10:1 ratio though and a bit slower than the typical B4 ENG lens at T2.4. Not cheap either if you figure on adding servo zoom or focus functions. They are comparable in price to mid-high end B4 EFP HD zooms though.
Hopefully there will be some new alternatives coming down the pike for Scarlet and other 2/3" focal plane cameras like the SI2k as the market increases. With Red's relatively high volume production approach, there may be some decent and reasonably priced new zooms within a year or two.

 

[Ben Coleman]

That was what I was figuring on, the PL to B4 adapter. It is not the most graceful way of getting what I want, yet. Maybe I'll stick to the fixed until there is better lens selection available. I did read somewhere around here about a possible B4 mount but that it may cost a bit more. I'll be interested to see how much it will run.

 

[Mitch Gross]

The optic to correct for 3-chip to single image plane is not that huge a deal. The standard adapter also has a slight magnification to get the image to cover 2K. A lens mount could easily be made with an optical flat with the coatings necessary to cross from 3-chip to single image plane. But someone has to do it. ;-)

 

[Ben Coleman]

The optic to correct for 3-chip to single image plane is not that huge a deal. The standard adapter also has a slight magnification to get the image to cover 2K. A lens mount could easily be made with an optical flat with the coatings necessary to cross from 3-chip to single image plane. But someone has to do it. ;-)

I'm liking where this is heading! :smiley:

 

[Mitch Gross]

Don't take the smiley to indicate that we're going to make this. RED may ver well be making this so it would be financially prett foolish for us to. But if RED decides not to bother right off then perhaps we will ...

 

[Andy Pratt]

I'm hoping to be able to slap a HJ40x onto a scarlet. crossing my fingers for a dedicated B4 mount

 

[Jacek Zakowicz]

coatings?

coatings?

The optic to correct for 3-chip to single image plane is not that huge a deal. The standard adapter also has a slight magnification to get the image to cover 2K. A lens mount could easily be made with an optical flat with the coatings necessary to cross from 3-chip to single image plane. But someone has to do it. ;-)

I guess the coating technology advanced faster that I thought. I don't know about any coatings that can correct lateral dispersion but maybe Mitch has some inside info:001_tt2: