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GL Optics Vs Avi Cohen - Sigma18-35mm f1.8 TEST

Avi Cohen

Avi Cohen

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Hello all... here I am... slaving away for YOU :)

I recently did a lens test with the one and only pre production GL Optocs/Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 cinevized zoom lens... I tried to demo the low light capability/shallow focus, the holding of focus through zoom and lack of breath in the lens... during a rack... I tried to do it in a fun way rather then say for example racking from an apple to a pair on my dining room table...

Below is the video, my office is in DTLA, feel free to come down and put your hands on the lens any time.. furthermore it seems that I may just end up doing the handling for the US end of the group buy... That means that I may just be hand mailing your lens's too you when they come in to the country... Lastly all you locals if you so choose... can come pick up your glass with your little pink hands directly from me...

Furthermore I am ready to answer any questions you might have, here below and look forward to hearing your thoughts on the test... It was quick and dirty but I think it is an accurate representation of the lens's flexibility... Both Sound design and edit could a been for sure stronger in the piece but I only had so much time to rough it together on the back end...

There were 3 lenses used in total, all three were GL Optics rehouses and all chronicled in the bottom left hand corner of the video, along with the fstops and mm of zoom @ the time of the shot :)

 
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How tight is the focus ring on the GL Optics 100mm Macro you used? I borrowed a friends to do a motion control demo of a push in to a small object to demonstrate its precision and every attempt was always off. Turned out that there was some play in the focus ring and even though the focus motor was hitting its mark, the play meant that the lens was never sharp.
 
What resolution were you shooting? I was curious if at 18mm it will cover 5K WS? Also for the Dragon if it will cover 6K?
 
Nice
 
Phil Holland said:
Heh. You did end up shooting the fire breather. Nice work Avi. Nice edit too.
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Kwan Khan said:
Nice
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SUNILPREM said:
Nice work Avi
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Chad Bonanno said:
Woah possibly the most creative lens test I have ever seen. Fire breather is SICK!

Well Done, Avi!
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Thank you kind Sir's... and phill I did indeed... kind words, I felt the edit still needed work but maybe thats how I always feel ;)

Paul J Steinberg said:
How tight is the focus ring on the GL Optics 100mm Macro you used? I borrowed a friends to do a motion control demo of a push in to a small object to demonstrate its precision and every attempt was always off. Turned out that there was some play in the focus ring and even though the focus motor was hitting its mark, the play meant that the lens was never sharp.
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As for the Macro, sounds like there was some kind a issue with the one you were using, and maybe it needed to be sent back for repair as the one over here is TACK sharp and could for sure cut in with master primes.... its CRAZY sharp... if you wanna come downtown LA and play with it feel free to let me know...

FURTHERMORE REGARDING THIS TEST ABOVE: Any of you please feel free to ask questions public or private... also if you wanna talk shop about the lens on the phone or on Skype, I'm completely open to it... Lastly, this PL'd sigma lens sits on my very desk as I type this and if you find yourself in LA and wanting to play with it, feel 100% free drop me a line, my office is in DTLA and parking is about $6 bucks, we can slap it on my epic or your whatever...

Anything I can do to help, I believe this glass will smoothly cut in with my set of superspeeds and think it will be a big asset to anyone without a PL solution in that range of focal length...
 
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Nice Avi !! Loved the fire breather shot!
 
What resolution were you shooting? I was curious if at 18mm it will cover 5K FULL Sensor and Also for the Dragon if it will cover 6K?
 
Looking forward to this lens. Gotta love the players in the lens game that are pushing boundaries... regardless of price point.
 
Jarred Land said:
Looking forward to this lens. Gotta love the players in the lens game that are pushing boundaries... regardless of price point.
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+1

Now we're waiting for some more easily modified Sigma lenses to match the 18-35!

By the way... I talked to Nan about rehousing the three Nikon zoom lenses: 14-24, 24-70 and 70-200, to have a matching set, even though I believe that nowadays it doesn't matter that much what "look" a lens has, as long as it isn't to extreme, since everything get's color graded anyway. He said that he will look into the Nikon after finishing the 18-35 group buy, but he can't promise that it will be possible to rehouse it as cost effective as the Sigma. He had a look into the Nikon 14-24 and there seems to be a good reason why the Focus Optics Ruby costs so much :)
 
I somehow missed the group buy thread... signed up.
 
The 100mm macro I tested was sharp, it was just the mechanical housing that felt cheap and had some play in it (it is a $3000 lens I guess). This one is only a few months old and lives in a case so it was disappointing. I see that Duclos are adapting the ZE 100mm Macro. I have three Zeiss ZE primes (35/50/85) and their built like little tanks. Have you tried out that mod'ed macro?
 
Paul, the ZE 100 Macro is GREAT, just some CA @ Macro distances up to F4 like everything around, well, except my Voigtlander 125 SL APO Macro.. ;)
I have both because the ZE 100 is better @ far distance and has a little more microcontrast and 3D pop.
 
Nick Morrison said:
What stills glass is being used as the base for the 100 2.8 macro?
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It is indeed a tokina base...

Furthermore... If any of you wanna come put your hands on any of the 15 or so GL Optics rehouses and you're here on the west coast drop me a line. It looks like as of today we are going to start brokering as the official west coast re seller of GL Optics.http://www.WestSideOptics.com (TEMP GHETTO WEBSITE) ;) I think Nan is pushing the envelope, I believe in his product, build and biz ethics and see a need to bridge the gap between the shooters out here with questions and the very lenses now sitting on my office desk that those shooters can come put there own hands on and make their own decisions about without having to roll the dice and order. we are excited.

Also... here is the West Side Optics Vimeo https://vimeo.com/westsideoptics with a bunch of videos from professional productions that have GL Optics glass seamlessly cut in with sets of Zeiss super speeds, cooke S4s etc... Take a peek and again, don't be to shy to reach out...
 
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David Kellermann said:
+1

Now we're waiting for some more easily modified Sigma lenses to match the 18-35!

By the way... I talked to Nan about rehousing the three Nikon zoom lenses: 14-24, 24-70 and 70-200, to have a matching set, even though I believe that nowadays it doesn't matter that much what "look" a lens has, as long as it isn't to extreme, since everything get's color graded anyway. He said that he will look into the Nikon after finishing the 18-35 group buy, but he can't promise that it will be possible to rehouse it as cost effective as the Sigma. He had a look into the Nikon 14-24 and there seems to be a good reason why the Focus Optics Ruby costs so much :)
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+1 for the Nikon 14-24 !!!!!!!
 
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