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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 :)

FINALLY!!! Got my Canon mounts and just tested the hell out of it!

Just received the new Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II. An amazing lens, extremely sharp, IQ, bokeh and character even at 600 f/5.6 with 2xExt III is stunning. AF is a bit slow but should perform better with upcoming EPIC builds. Overall it is at least as good as the RED 300mm, my favorite RED Prime, and a portable and relatively affordable 600 f/5.6 solution (2720g incl. 2xExt III). Now waiting for a Wimberley Head..
 

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Here I think that everyone has a point. We just have to go with what is needed as Ketch said.

To be honest I dont think that blowing up to 800% is really useful. To mathematically check sharpness yes but otherwise if it looks good at 100% it looks good. I'm sure Canon glass is a match to MP if you just compare one still. Many great photos in the world are taken with canon glass, by photographers who dont compromise their image quality. So no doubt there. But.. Cine glass is built for more than that. Throw, ruggedness, ease of focus repeatability, aberration etc etc are all factors to consider. On big budgets directors dont like to lose time because the ac is having a hard time focusing with a "cheaper" lens.

Having said this I'm relieved we can pull shots off with stills glass. Apart from RPP I might never own other cine glass. Just too expensive for a small studio. I'm more than happy the stills glass can get such amazing results. The fact we are even considering comparing lenses of such different money value is already a biggie. So cheers for that. I wish to see someone testing the Nikon AIs primes. I love the look of Nikons and they have a decent throw as well. Build quality is good as well and super portable as well. Someone with the Optitek mount perhaps.

Cheers and thanks to all.
You are an inspiration to us all.
 
Mark,

I have just caught up with this thread but thanks so much for taking the time to show us there examples.

Cheers
 
The shots look nearly identical, but seriously I won't judge a lens based on a shot taken at an f-stop of 5.6
 
Kim Frank said:
The shots look nearly identical, but seriously I won't judge a lens based on a shot taken at an f-stop of 5.6
Click to expand...

exactly I was just about to say one was at 5.6 and the MP wide open....If I had the budget it would be a no brainer to go with the MP's but on a budget or for fashion dsmc, canon is perfect.
 
Yusuf Thakur said:
Hi Mark, Ketch,Joseph.

I have been reading this post and having a huge laugh. I have known the secret of using Still Lenses on Video/Film cameras with astounding results for over 15 years. When I let the cat out of the bag with JVC HD100, having a simple adapter made by Zoerk
which allowed me to mount Nikon Lenses, a huge number of guys quickly caught on with, the best part of it was reading books
on how they came up with this brilliant idea later. After that lesson I just keep my mouth shut and do my work.

Incidentally Dubai is mentioned a number of times in this post where I happen to live and run a company for the last 12 years, so enjoy the place.

And as Mark mentioned we have all made our millions and done most of the stuff within our respective fields.
But learning never stops, LIVE,LEARN,ENJOY.

NEVER believe you have the solution to anything, there will always be a smarter guy who
can do it better,cheaper and faster.

Yusuf Thakur
VFX, Dubai
Click to expand...


Hi Yusuf,

sorry we didn't get to meet in any of my Dubai trips, but I promise we will next time... ;)

Indeed, this is the market, and this are the times in which we are today, and He/She whom does not adapt, then remains left behind.

One must always take advantages of new technologies, and new ways of expressing one self artistically, and also in conducting business.

Of course when talking about business, that depends what the business is, and most importantly whom the clients are, and what are their specific demands.


But, again to each is own, and this goes not only for the individual professional but also for the individual piece of gear.

I have been using Canon glass for as fa as I can remember and have used some that most of you guys never even seen come to market,
yet I have a place for Canon 35mm STILL glass, as I have a place for 645 STILL glass, and of course a place for the various Cinema glass... ;)

Even so there is the exception, and the few which like many of us here, experiment with one and the other, none will replace each other, NONE!!
 
Hey Mark,

Great thread. Really good info here.

I trust your judgement because you "bitchslap us with images" not with any bullishit.

Just images.

Thanks,

David
 
I just finished shooting another quicky music clip for my daughter... (yes another one!)

Decided to use the CANON glass for it all... Its my first project ever using stills glass on RED, I just wanted to see all the things that would catch me out....
Better to do it on a personal project, not a paid one.

REPORT CARD:
*Shit to manually focus. (but we all new that)
*Amazingly clean edges... no vignetting.
*Sharp as... but smooth, Very smooth... Better than I hoped for.
*Great at night, smooth and creamy, little to no specular bounce, meaning good coatings.
*Low flare threshold but when there is a lens flare, its not a pretty one.
*AUTO focus on the EPIC is quick to prefocus when not recording... I really like it. No need to ZOOM in for a look, it just snaps to sharps with little hunting. Low light AF is a slower. When you roll and want to focus its abut 1/4 speed. (I'm sure this because the chip is processing information and trying to focus at the same time)
*After a bit of getting use to, I think I became faster in setting focus with canon glass than my PL glass.. Sad!
* Setting Aperture is a bore. the toggle just in front of the record button on the side grip is the logical place to have a aperture adjuster. The up and down buttons are just to slow and awkward. I'm quicker at setting the aperture with the touch screen or through the EVF through the thumb controls.

Over all rating. is 7 out of 10 from me. (which could slip out to a 8.5 out of ten if the AF gets quicker and the Aperture gets quicker to adjust and the aperture dial gets reassigned to a better place.
Put it this way, My ZIESS MKIII's I only give a 6 out of 10,

To be honest... I doubt I'd use these lenses much in the world I work in, Big crews, with big gear, big shots, cranes, heads, Mo Con etc... forget it.
But for simple arty jobs, were you want to travel around the world with a back pack shooting art, Yes please.

Here's a couple of stills from the shoot.

Brooke_grades_01.jpg
 
What makes me most happy about this is the wonderful work you are doing for your daughter. I just love that you are using your great talent for making images to help her music career.

The tests are appreciated. I found the same things with the canon glass I have used.

The 2.8 16-35 has some very weird corner blur at the wide, I find I miss the actual aperture ring. Prefer having it on the lens.
I find the 50mm 1.2 does have a really nice lowlight image and is much sharper wide open than I expected.


Thanks again for sharing Mark!

David
 
Mark your Canon shots look awesome. And your "making art" comment is hilarious. You've also been a big help. I've bought a whole Contax Zeiss prime set, and your post this week has pretty much validated a lot of what I was thinking: that still lenses can do a lot of what PL glass can do, and that having a manual aperture ring is a big plus.

When I can afford real PL glass I will, but for now...I'll be happy doing art with my Zeiss primes!

Be well.
 
Mark Toia said:
Same... I think the NIKON glass maybe better... you get the aperture on the lens.

And thanks :)
Click to expand...

Yes.

And the Nikon Glass is really easy to declick so you can have some nice smooth flowing iris action.

The Nikon 17-35 has really nice corner sharpness but portholes a bit at 2.8, 5.6 -22 is surprisingly sharp with little distortion corner to corner.

David




David
 
David Battistella said:
Yes.

And the Nikon Glass is really easy to declick so you can have some nice smooth flowing iris action.

The Nikon 1735 has rally nice corner sharpness but portholes a bit at 2.8, 5.6 -22 is surprisingly sharp with little distortion corner to corner.

David




David
Click to expand...

The Nikon 17-35 is a thing of legend in the still world. Not to be dramatic, or anything...
 
Nick Morrison said:
The Nikon 17-35 is a thing of legend in the still world. Not to be dramatic, or anything...
Click to expand...

(not wanting to Jack Mark's Canon thread) :)

I have captured a boatload of EPIC material with that lens. It's really a sweet piece of glass.


David
 
David Battistella said:
(not wanting to Jack Mark's Canon thread) :)

I have captured a boatload of EPIC material with that lens. It's really a sweet piece of glass.


David
Click to expand...

OK, won't detour too much from original thread. All I'll say is that in the still world the only lens that comes close to the Nikon 17-35 that I know of is the Contax N 17-35, but that has to be converted to EOS by Conurus, and its a royal pain in the ass.
 
Nick Morrison said:
The Nikon 17-35 is a thing of legend in the still world. Not to be dramatic, or anything...
Click to expand...

I've been shooting with 17-35 for more than a year now. Recently I've had a thought about selling it and investing the money in some primes...but what I realized 15 minutes after this thought came is that I just can't give it away, even if I won't use it on future projects I will still keep it for myself, it has a special place in my heart.

Back on topic now: Great thread, Mark, very interesting to read and full of valuable info. Have you tried to pull focus with Redmote's little wheel? I remember Jarred saying that you will be able to do that even on a regular Redmote.
 
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