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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 :)

First Look - Schneider Xenon FF-Prime Lenses

A still from 60fps (1/60) mixed lights, with some little primary correction, no filters. What can I say, I love this lens. We have been testing 5K / 60 fps with lovely results, color information comes just nice (a little shift to get a realistic look), aperture is not an issue to me. Paired with the Sekonic color meter, is a breeze to calibrate WB to taste on the Epic-X. This lens look beautiful for documentary purposes. At 60fps they shine. We´re VERY happy with them... Cheers to every FF owner!. :wink5:
 

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Both stills are from the 75mm, same sequence.
 

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How do they compare against Ultra Primes or Mini S4's? I know they are in a different price range but still...Im curious...Im trying to decide between a set of mini s4's, the Xenoms or a 3 set of UP. I never used the Xenoms but Im quite familiar with the others.
From what Ive read so far the Schneiders are neutral in color, like UPs, but mellow like the Cookes and as bonus they cover full frame. Is the CA wide open the only cons?
 
Daniel Grosseman said:
How do they compare against Ultra Primes or Mini S4's? I know they are in a different price range but still...Im curious...Im trying to decide between a set of mini s4's, the Xenoms or a 3 set of UP. I never used the Xenoms but Im quite familiar with the others.
From what Ive read so far the Schneiders are neutral in color, like UPs, but mellow like the Cookes and as bonus they cover full frame. Is the CA wide open the only cons?
Click to expand...

Tricky battle there and wildly different price points when comparing to Ultra Primes.

Optically speaking the Ultra Primes before the best of the 3 options laid forth. Though they also breath the most overall.

As for the Cooke Mini S4i Primes. Decent lenses. I'm not totally in love with a prime set at T2.8 straight away though.

The Xenons do have the best coverage out of these 3 choices. They are also the least expensive option. You can get a full set for the price of a single Ultra Prime in reality. The CA wide open seems to be the main con under high contrast situations. They do render in a lovely way however.
 
Thats true Phil. The more footage I see the more I'm liking the 'character' of the lenses. I dont know why I had the impression they would be a little clinical in my eyes but these lenses are far from that. And price is ultimately a big factor that forces us to choose lenses. I think bang for buck, nothing can beat the Xenons at the moment. I think they make a pretty solid investment in my opinion. Theses lenses are being compared to others easily 2 or 3 times their prices and holding well if not overcoming their performance. I'm sure this will ultimately be my pl set.

Kudos to all posting stills and footage shot with the Xenons. Its the best way to judge a lens. As much as I like seeing charts and specs I love seeing real world footage.
 
There are times I feel kinda dirty for really getting the discussion going on the CA back when I first got the Xenons… Yes, it does exist in serious high-con situations, but there are ways to cope with it and I've also found it to be more manageable when not shooting a Dragon with goofy old OLPF!!!

That said, I really like the Xenons. They make a very pretty image. I'm eagerly awaiting my 25mm and 100mm additions to the kit. No word just yet...
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
They make a very pretty image. I'm eagerly awaiting my 25mm and 100mm additions to the kit. No word just yet...
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"Cinematographic" works for me, as I mainly like the way film looked/looks. When you correct the normal CA of the FF, as when looking at their 60fps, they´re just beautifully perfect. 5K Epic shows this very nice.
Also waiting for that same couple...
 
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Jeff Kilgroe said:
There are times I feel kinda dirty for really getting the discussion going on the CA back when I first got the Xenons… Yes, it does exist in serious high-con situations, but there are ways to cope with it and I've also found it to be more manageable when not shooting a Dragon with goofy old OLPF!!!

That said, I really like the Xenons. They make a very pretty image. I'm eagerly awaiting my 25mm and 100mm additions to the kit. No word just yet...
Click to expand...

Can anybody tell me how to best correct CA with motion? I'm usually working with FCP X, After Effects and Resolve.
 
Good stuff, Bob. :)
 
Does anyone have a test of these vs the RPP's? I am interested in sharpness and color rendition. Really would like to buy a set of lighter lenses to replace my RPP's and this is about the best set when you consider price as a major factor looking at specs (Ultra primes are really the next step.)
 
Patrick Grossien said:
Can anybody tell me how to best correct CA with motion? I'm usually working with FCP X, After Effects and Resolve.
Click to expand...

In the past I've used a "chroma blur" function (Safire plugin on Flame) which blurs just the chroma, but not the value. Many blur tools offer a "chroma only" option, but it's hidden deep in a sub-menu. You can achieve the same thing by switching from RGB mode to YUV and blurring just U & V (not Y).

This is very effective for removing CA but you'll probably want to garbage matte only the problem areas so the rest of the picture is not effected (it will blur skin-tone colour into eye colour, etc).
 
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