FS: RED 300 f/2.8 (like new)

[Steve Gibby]

“The original 300mm lens is exactly the same optically and mechanically as the new Pro 300mm. The new Pro 300mm has the new "Pro" ID to match the 18-85mm zoom and RPPs. And we finally get to make a little money on it. The original 300mm is certainly not "un-pro"

Jim Jannard
4-16-09
http://reduser.net/forum/showpost.php?p=402033&postcount=156


So optically and mechanically my original version RED 300 is exactly the same as the currently offered version. This original version had a built in lens collar, so supporting it with rods is easy. It uses 43mm filters in a drop-in tray just above the mount.

Zooms are the most practical lens type to use in most of my work. I own a lot of primes - but they rarely get used. So, I'm selling my original version RED 300mm f/2.8 prime (Imperial). It is in pristine condition - as new - on a scale of 1-10 for condition it is a 10. It will cover full frame 35mm, so it is ready for FF35 Epic and Scarlet.

My RED 300 has some seriously cool history. I took delivery of this lens on August 31, 2007, along with RED #8 the evening the first RED One cameras were delivered - at the very first RED Day event. I’ve shot some incredible footage over the past two years with my RED 300. It is extremely crisp, nice bokeh, solid MTF profile, etc. This is the exact lens that my L.A. Red Test team (Dave Mullen, Matt Uhry, etc.) bench tested in December 2007 – with excellent reviews. It is also the same lens I later shot with at LART for some of the action scenes we shot (Cadillac driving toward the lens) – again with great reviews of the footage quality. In terms of value, because of its rich history and pristine condition, this is IMO the most valuable original version Red 300 prime in existence.

The third pic is of me shooting with my RED 300 in December 2007 in Hawaii. I was there field producing and directing some coverage of the Pipeline Masters pro surfing event. We shot from a helicopter, in-water, and long lens land. In this pic, as I tested out the lens at the Turtle Bay, I'm using a bottom plate made by Fujinon for their long HD EFP/ENG lenses to support the lens. I rarely use matte boxes or follow focus units on my rigs - thus the absence of such. I've also supported the lens many times with 15mm aluminum rods and a custom bridge/screw combo to the lens collar. The lens only weighs 6 pounds so lightweight rods work great to support it. That is my RED#8 the lens is mounted on.

I really hesitate to part with this lens, but nearly all of my work entails zooms, and in my work I use 35mm stills lenses on my Red cameras almost exclusively. Looking forward to Epic and Scarlet, I plan to use the RED Electronic Lenses and 35mm stills lenses exclusively in my work – no PL mount cine lenses, matte boxes, or follow focus units at all. My rigs are stripped down for maximum mobility, using screw-on filters and racking lens barrels to focus by eye.

The Red 300 is a superb lens for wildlife, sports, nature, long lens commercial work, etc.

As Jim mentioned above, optically and mechanically the original version RED 300 is exactly the same as the currently offered version. The current version price is $6k USD. Keeping in mind the perfect condition of my lens, its unique history, and its optics and mechanics being equal with the current version, if you’d like to purchase my lens make me an offer for it.

I can do PayPal. Sale limited to USA buyers. Best case for me is to sell to a California buyer - and I'll deliver the lens in person.

Please PM me with inquiries...

 

[Steve Gibby]

Bump

 

[Steve Gibby]

Bump

 

[Stephen Williams]

Bump

Hi Steve,

2 bumps in 2 days you must be in a hurry, how much do you want for the oldest Red 300mm.

Stephen

 

[Steve Gibby]

Hi Steve,

2 bumps in 2 days you must be in a hurry, how much do you want for the oldest Red 300mm.

Stephen

Nope...not in a hurry at all...but thanks for the response, it saved me from having to bump it up again tomorrow morning

I just like keeping it at the top of the thread list, like everyone else who posts stuff for sale here...

Since you're an industry veteran who uses a lot of traditional equipment, surely you can appreciate that good glass stays good glass - it doesn't change in 2 years - or 20 years for that matter. If you've read the solid reviews of the original and current versions of the RED 300, both of which have been verified by RED as being optically and mechanically the same, you'll know this is an excellent opportunity for someone who has a need for a long prime to buy a good one at a reasonable price. My lens is in "as new" condition.

What price? PM me an offer if you're interested Stephen...otherwise please take your monotonous sarcasm somewhere else

 

[Stephen Williams]

.otherwise please take your monotonous sarcasm somewhere else

Hi Steve,

Sorry you don't have a sense of humor, personally I find people who keep bumping their own posts rather tiresome as there is nothing new to read.

Best,

Stephen

 

[Steve Gibby]

Hi Steve,

Sorry you don't have a sense of humor, personally I find people who keep bumping their own posts rather tiresome as there is nothing new to read.

Best,

Stephen

LOL, anyone who knows me would also know I have a well-developed sense of humor

I don't care what you think is tiresome Stephen. Your post offered no constructive input or inquiry. If you're interested in my lens PM me for more info, if not simply find somewhere else to post.

 

[Stephen Williams]

LOL, anyone who knows me would also know I have a well-developed sense of humor

I don't care what you think is tiresome Stephen. Your post offered no constructive input or inquiry. If you're interested in my lens PM me for more info, if not simply find somewhere else to post.

Hi Steve,

You made a really long post & omitted the price, I was hoping you would add some constructive input to my further inquiry.

Best,

Stephen

 

[Steve Gibby]

Hi Steve,

You made a really long post & omitted the price, I was hoping you would add some constructive input to my further inquiry.

Best,

Stephen

In my thread-opening post I stated "if you'd like to purchase my lens make me an offer for it". I then asked interested parties to PM me with offers. Clearly the price is negotiable.

If you have an offer to make PM me with it, if not please exit this thread.

In the new Marketplace Policy sticky at the top of this forum it states:

“Please don't pollute threads in which you have no real interest by telling someone that they are charging too much, too little, hounding them for why they are selling their red one, or whatever.

Healthy skepticism is good, but trolls and donkey's are not needed in the marketplace, or anywhere else for that matter.”

 

[Stephen Williams]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for pointing out the new policy, a sticky posted 40 Minutes after my first post which you objected to.

As I do have a real interest ln the price of your lens, it would apear not to apply to me on this occasion.

Best,

Stephen

In my thread-opening post I stated "if you'd like to purchase my lens make me an offer for it". I then asked interested parties to PM me with offers. Clearly the price is negotiable.

If you have an offer to make PM me with it, if not please exit this thread.

In the new Marketplace Policy sticky at the top of this forum it states:

“Please don't pollute threads in which you have no real interest by telling someone that they are charging too much, too little, hounding them for why they are selling their red one, or whatever.

Healthy skepticism is good, but trolls and donkey's are not needed in the marketplace, or anywhere else for that matter.”

 

[Jason Ramsey]

Stephen... Please go away from this thread or keep it on point.

You have a bad habit of making posts on this forum that often come across as snide, sarcastic, back-handed, off-handed, etc. and do little to actually move a thread in a productive direction. Whether intentional or not, I won't make the judgement... But, I've read enough of them today.

If you have an interest in his item, then do as he requested in his original post. Otherwise, please go somewhere else.

Thanks.

later,
Jason

 

[Rudi Herbert]

Woa Gibby, chillax, stay the cool cat you've always been I'm dying to jump on this lens, but like you, I'd have very little practical use for it. We'll see, if a contract I'm waiting on comes through, then I'll contact you if you still have it. Good Luck!

 

[Steve Gibby]

As I do have a real interest ln the price of your lens, it would apear not to apply to me on this occasion.

OK, if you have a genuine interest in the lens, which I seriously doubt, simply PM me to negotiate a price, as I detailed in my thread-opening post, and in each of my posts posts to you since. If not..c-ya!

Two guys with Welsh last names should be able to communicate better than this...

 

[Steve Gibby]

Woa Gibby, chillax, stay the cool cat you've always been I'm dying to jump on this lens, but like you, I'd have very little practical use for it. We'll see, if a contract I'm waiting on comes through, then I'll contact you if you still have it. Good Luck!

No worries Rudi, its all good...

Jason has it sorted out correctly...

That's not the first "tennis match" me and Stephen have had...thus my quick trigger finger. I was one of the first moderators for RED User, until I got too busy. Thus I've developed a 6th sense about what people's real intentions are here...

If you get into a position to need a real good 300mm, PM me and we'll see what the possibilities are.

Cheers!

 

[JD Holloway]

Free bump.
Actually, I'd like to know what zooms you are using.
There's nothing as versatile as ENG zooms out there for s35/FF35 for obvious reasons.
Nobody makes them. Still, whats the ol'pro using? PM me if you find a moment.
Thanx in advance
J.

 

[Nick Gardner]

Hey Steve,

as somebody who I'm sure has used both, whats your opinion of the Red 300 compared to the canon 300 2.8 ? For comparisons sake lets say one with the Century Pl mount and 32 pith gears.

Nick

 

[Mark Pedersen]

Boys.. boys.. what happened community civility?

 

[Steve Gibby]

Free bump.
Actually, I'd like to know what zooms you are using.
There's nothing as versatile as ENG zooms out there for s35/FF35 for obvious reasons.
Nobody makes them. Still, whats the ol'pro using? PM me if you find a moment.
Thanx in advance
J.

Because my work is generally very mobile production in the genres of travel, sports, wildlife, music, documentaries of various kinds, nature, etc., my camera setups are also as lightweight as possible. Me and my crews use 35mm stills lenses on RED almost exclusively, and rarely use a matte box or follow focus. We use screw-on filters and eye focus RED.

We shoot a lot of subjects that are fleeting, dangerous, rapidly moving, shy, distant, etc, so re-framing quickly is critical. We use our zooms as variable primes, very rarely zooming during shots.

Of my three RED cameras, I keep Underdahl Nikon mounts on two of them, and a PL mount on the third. But with Epic and Scarlet, I'm planning to do the 1-minute mount change-out RED Team described, and have mounts in RED mount, Nikon, and Canon.

Yes, EFP/ENG zooms are extremely versatile. But you're then limited to shooting 2k. My projects and stock footage library really need me to shoot in 4k, QuadHD, and 3k. I've lobbied heavily since before the birth of RED for someone to make an affordable, lightweight, 10:1, f2.8 hybrid zoom that would cover FF35 and S35, to fill the needs of the hybrid shooting industry. Such a lens will use a lot of 35mm stills technology along with advanced technology to enable operating the lens with a choice of a rocker zoom, or fully manual - just like an EFP/ENG zoom. Hopefully RED will be the one to make such a lens - perhaps their new Electronic Lenses will fit that profile - we'll see.

Sorry for the long answer, but the above info actually explains why a great long prime like the RED 300 has its limitations in my particular field workflows - its a prime and that gives it built-in limitations for me and my crews.

Other sports, nature, and commercials shooters who don't have such a need to constantly re-frame shots as we do, can undoubtedly do great work with long primes like the RED 300.

The zooms we use a lot? Tokina 11-16 (Nikon mount), Nikon 14-24, Nikon 17-35, Nikon 28-70, Nikon 80-200 AF, Nikon 80-200 AF-S, Nikon 50-300 AIS, Canon 150-600. All my lenses are stock, except the 150-600, which has a Century PL only mount conversion. For Epic and Scarlet use, since the mounts change-out quickly, I may just also get a PL mount to throw on when I use the 150-600. Again, I have high hopes for the new RED electronic zooms in my field work flows on Epic and Scarlet.

All the above said, the RED 300 is a great long prime - covers FF35, is crisp, weighs only around 6 pounds, and produces outstanding images on RED One. If primes fit better into my field needs, I'd never be selling my RED 300.

 

[Steve Gibby]

Hey Steve,

as somebody who I'm sure has used both, whats your opinion of the Red 300 compared to the canon 300 2.8 ? For comparisons sake lets say one with the Century Pl mount and 32 pith gears.

Nick

For my 35mm stills work I own a couple of Canon 5D bodies and a range of Canon L series lenses. But again, even when shooting stills, the genres I shoot cry out for a lot of zooms. The Canon zooms I use a lot on my 5D cameras are the 16-35 2.8L Mk II, 24-70 2.8L, and 70-200 2.8L IS. For real long zoom work on the 5D I use a Sigma 150-500 IS.

I have used the Canon 300 2.8 several times on a Canon DSLR. It is crisp and weirdness-free - an excellent long prime. I haven't used a Canon 300 2.8 on RED One though. I would expect it to do well on RED. I'd guess only a true side-by test of a RED 300 and a Canon 300 on RED One would define the similarities and/or differences of results. I haven't done that, but undoubtedly both would give you excellent results on R1.

 

[Steve Gibby]

Boys.. boys.. what happened community civility?

Respect is a 2-way street - everyone should give it and receive it. I practice that 100% - here and everywhere.

Re-read Jason Ramsey's post. He accurately defined how and why this thread went a bit sideways for a while. I'm a nice guy, I've been around RED since long before there was even a RED company, and I've contributed heavily to RED User since its very establishment, as a moderator, then since as a heavy contributor. By now I've long ago figured out who is up to what and why they post what they do. Sarcasm, baiting, and attempts to derail a thread, especially one I've started, get the appropriate reaction - and it did.

In life and in business, I give respect to everyone - but I don't take crap from anyone. That's just my nature. When I used to moderate RED User, and before that the RED forum on DVX User before RU was established, I approached it the same way - post with respect and no problems, but post without respect for others and you got my quick attention. "A stitch in time saves nine".