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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 :)

EPIC CAMERAS Save crap lenses. view test.

Mark Toia

Mark Toia

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A few months ago I was bought into a shoot were I couldn't take my own equipment. I was promised the everything I asked for, but when I turned up I got stuck with half a camera and the worst set of lenses Ive ever used professionally.
I was stuck with a set of Mk I super speeds. Which did not look like had been serviced ever... The focus on 4 of the lenses were so tight, I struggled to pull focus with them. Shot 3 blade iris always looks like shot with flares. The glass had a fog to it like they had know coatings... in short they were 30 years old poo!
The turn around time and non availability of my desired lens (Master primes) I was stuck with them.

The EPIC as a camera goes is so sharp... some say to sharp.. but all I can say is this. The EPIC saved my arse again. Being such a sharp imaged camera made up for the poor quality optics and gave me such a wonder look that I'm now wanting more of the same.

This was shot partly in Bangkok and then we moved to India the next day to finish it off. (don't ask why)

So the moral of this post is.. sometimes.. not all the time. Bad lenses actually look good... but are saved by the EPIC's 5k image quality.

Hi-res version https://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=44937318
http://player.vimeo.com/video/44937318

 
Thanks Mark.
 
I wholeheartedly agree. Love the look.
I've actually created a whole series of custom glass and plexi blocks I shoot through just to degrade parts of the image to get that kind of thing as i find the image is just far to sharp and clean to deal with sometimes. However, the idea of having a couple beat to hell lenses lying around for the right situations is equally as effective.
 
I think it's safe to say you managed to make those crap lenses look really good. Great stuff, love your work.
 
If anyone saw Midnight Express, they used the same 'crap' lenses, Stanley Kubrick was also a fan. The flair is way nicer than some modern clinically sharp lenses. No circular flair either!
 
Great stuff Mark! Love the cinematography. Those lenses really do have some great style to them. Almost anamorphic haha

I've always thought that the soft and often flawed lenses looked good on the Red One. I prefer lenses to have character rather than be clinically sharp and ultimately
boring. With this much resolution these days on the Epic, I think we've found the new formula! I guess its everyone's secret desire to have the analog aesthetic with the ease of digital. Hence the boom of instagram type filters for photos, etc.
 
There's hope yet then for a couple of old Speed Pancho Ser II which have no coatings.

The horizontal flares, were they added in afterwards to complement the general look of the lenses you used ?
 
Looks nice, did the light streaks come from the lens or did you add a streak filter?
 
This is great news -- I have loads of crap lenses! :sifone:
 
We shot my best music video on MKI Super Speeds. The three blade iris is DOPE!

I can't imagine what Mark must feel about my Contax Glass lenses - some of them are probably 25 years old!

They look magic to my eyes, and flare amazingly, but one person's magic is another person's crapola.

To each their own.

For whatever it's worth, this piece looks tremendous. Very "Bon Temps" True Blood looking!
 
Justin Nguyen said:
Great stuff Mark! Love the cinematography. Those lenses really do have some great style to them. Almost anamorphic haha

I've always thought that the soft and often flawed lenses looked good on the Red One. I prefer lenses to have character rather than be clinically sharp and ultimately
boring. With this much resolution these days on the Epic, I think we've found the new formula! I guess its everyone's secret desire to have the analog aesthetic with the ease of digital. Hence the boom of instagram type filters for photos, etc.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more. The world is flush with weird, odd analog glass.
 
Mark-

I have to respectfully disagree with your take on those old super-speeds :)
I love the way old glass looks on an Epic.
I use to own a set of Zeiss "b-speeds (I think they were the predecessors of the MK-1's you used). In terms of pulling focus they were absolute shit... 1/2 turn rotation for focus and no matter how many times you had them calibrated they never seemed to hold.

On the other hand they were soft on skin and fell off beautifully around the edges (both focus and light) - I grew to love them for this reason.

These lenses were essentially doing (optically) what a colorist may be asked to do in post (adding mild softening and vignette's). Obviously they should be used only when you're fully committed to that particular look & they certainly don't compare in any respect to Master Primes.

You wrote in your original post: "So the moral of this post is.. sometimes.. not all the time. Bad lenses actually look good... but are saved by the EPIC's 5k image quality."

I would re-phrase and say: So the moral is, sometimes, old lenses actually look better and enhance Epic's 5K image quality.
I don't mean to imply there is anything wrong with the image an Epic produces (I love the Epic)... I'm just saying "good" is subjective and depends on what look you want.

It's all very subjective.


PS. Your footage looks great.
 
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