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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 :)

If you could afford only one new Zeiss Compact Prime...

Michael Hastings said:
Well for about $1400 total you can get a pristine set of used Contax Yashica Zeiss T* 50mm 1.4; 85mm 1.4; and 28mm 2.8 which are essentially the same optically as the ZFs and Compact primes and fit fine on a canon mount Birger/R1 or RED/Epic with a $20 adapter. Focus throws are long and smooth and with a set of gears work great with a follow focus.

And then you don't have to choose...
Click to expand...

I need it for the 5D. So then why not just to get three ZE lenes? And I can later use them on a Scarlet.. what will happen to these on a Scarlet S35?
 
I expect the price for each lens arround 2.000.- or less (okay I hope at least for it) :-)
It makes no sense designing VDRSL lenses which are used by indies and low budget
and putting up a profesionall price for it. joust a thought of mine :-)
 
Deniz Dikmen said:
I expect the price for each lens arround 2.000.- or less (okay I hope at least for it) :-)
It makes no sense designing VDRSL lenses which are used by indies and low budget
and putting up a profesionall price for it. joust a thought of mine :-)
Click to expand...

professional cine lenses are $10k and up... not ~$3700
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Michael Hastings
"Well for about $1400 total you can get a pristine set of used Contax Yashica Zeiss T* 50mm 1.4; 85mm 1.4; and 28mm 2.8 which are essentially the same optically as the ZFs and Compact primes and fit fine on a canon mount Birger/R1 or RED/Epic with a $20 adapter. Focus throws are long and smooth and with a set of gears work great with a follow focus."

And then you don't have to choose...


Mike Brent said:
I need it for the 5D. So then why not just to get three ZE lenes? And I can later use them on a Scarlet.. what will happen to these on a Scarlet S35?
Click to expand...

The C/Y are full frame lenses - and they work fine on the the 5D. ZEs would be fine, they (like the ZFs and now the compact primes) are basically the same as the C/Y. You just get the C/Ys for half to a third of what you pay for new and used ZFs ZEs.

BTW the ZFs may be a more versatile way to go since you can easily use Nikon mount lenses on EF mount with the same type of adapter. The ZEs have the shorter flange focal distance so can't work properly on a Nikon without an optical converter.
 
Mike Brent said:
professional cine lenses are $10k and up... not ~$3700
Click to expand...

Thats right !

Canon sold millions of 5d/7d7550d cameras....
Maybe Zeiss is smart enough to get quality lenses for the masses
for a price that is affordable for indies and independet.
Of couse 4000 is still a great deal.....

btw Red cine lenses are under 10k ;-)
 
OK, I think the main question is this - HOW HARD is it to follow focus with still lenses !!????? if someone would just answer me for this single one question, I will make a decision.

I have the budget for CP .2 , I just hate to spend money on luxury that I don't need. I rather give it to the poor. or spend it on my girlfriend. :-)
 
Mike Brent said:
OK, I think the main question is this - HOW HARD is it to follow focus with still lenses !!????? if someone would just answer me for this single one question, I will make a decision.

I have the budget for CP .2 , I just hate to spend money on luxury that I don't need. I rather give it to the poor. or spend it on my girlfriend. :-)
Click to expand...

Mike, your question has been answered many times in this forum. But to summarize: yes you can follow focus with still lenses ir you install a ff gear on their focus barrel. Downside: breathing, lack of focus throw. Inconsistent dimensions which cost setup time on set, tend to be more fragile. Upside: cost.
 
aha.. but from what I understand the ze/zf have no breathing... am I wrong?
 
Mike:

While all of the above issues are legitimate as you move up the ladder to expensive budgets, and it is good to hear them so you know what to look for in your evaluation, I suspect if you are asking this question you are not working with $20,000 per day actors or $250,000/day production budgets.

The best thing for you to do is try them. By a ZF/ZE 50mm 1.4 or as I suggested a C/y 50mm 1.4

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/800678146-USE/Contax_612330_Normal_50mm_f_1_4_Carl.html

B&H for $379 and a Canon t2i (about $800) if you don't have a red with an SLR mount - I believe B&H has a two week trial no questions asked return policy. Then use the spare budget to either rent or purchase a better quality follow focus and this will give you a very good idea of what is possible and the issues. I suspect you will be pleasantly surprised, but you will know from experience rather than various opinions which may or may not help with your particular situations.

There is almost no downside as if you purchase one of these you would lose at most $100 to $200 if you sell it on ebay a few months from now.
 
I shot an entire 50 minute documentary on a arri-zeiss 50mm f2.1 handheld with my R1.
Its a great lens, still hard to focus, but a lovely dof wide open!

But if i had to buy just 1 lens i would go for the arri-zeiss 32mm f 2.1. Also small and light! A lot of france films where made only with a 32mm.

Go for the 32!!

Red 1265 untill Epic comes, a-z lensset 16,24,32,50,85,135mm f2.1, Mamiya 120mm macro f4. Redzoom 18-85mm f2.8 and Redzoom 50-150mm f2,8
 
Michael Hastings said:
Mike:

The best thing for you to do is try them.
Click to expand...

You are 100% right... but I already have a D5.

I'm building myself a kit I can use to shoot some personal projects, without $20,000 a day actors but I want it to look the best I can, and I have about 6-8 month to do it (I took an extended "vacation" from my business - [meaning I will "only" work 4 hours a day instead of 18]) so I don't have much time to jerk around. I can afford whatever I like... but I don't like to just throw money. The CP .2 look nice because they are future proof but why the hell they made them SLOWER!! Which is the reason I'm looking again at the ZE/ZF. (I will eventually get a Scarlet S35 or ff35 if it was not canceled, when they come out [looks like at least 8 months from now])

From what I understand there is almost no breathing with these lenses which means that the only downside is how focus pulling...

I think I will rent one or two of them for a day, play with them, and then make a decision. I will start a new thread about ZE/ZF breathing.

Thanks Michael !
 
They breathe, just not as bad as Nikons or Canon's. In order to avoid the breathing, I have just avoided focus shifts in scene. There are plenty of films that do not rack focus. I tend to shoot wide angle when handheld which often makes focusing way way easier. You can easily work around the limitations of still lenses, not ideal but doable.

I say go for a set of Duclos Zeiss z's

these have been shot on these lenses.

http://vimeo.com/9353198

http://vimeo.com/8435058
 
Mine don't breathe much at all, in fact I don't notice any. Mine are from Duclos and beautiful.
 
Breathing test between Zeiss Cine glass and Zeiss ZF:

http://www.ryanewalters.com/downloads/ZeissTest/REW-Zeiss-Breathing-H264.mov

There is so much change in the frame anyway, I don't think anybody is going to care for the kind of work that I'm going to do.

"I was surprised to find that the SLR lenses were holding their own against the cinema lenses. I would even say that they were out performing the cinema lenses, as the SLR’s felt a little more sharp then the cinema lenses. "

http://www.ryanewalters.com/page2/files/cab173dd2420de896dd27c0dace7dc61-15.html
 
And who said there is no breathing in the CP .2 ? The first version does from what I read.
 
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