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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 :)

lens upgrade time

Tom Chase

Tom Chase

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Hello,

I have finally decided to take a big plunge for me. I been shooting for several years now and I love my Canon EF L Lense but I feel like it's time to move to dedicated cine-lenses. Big issues with the L's are pulling focus & lack of declicked apeture. So here is my question what three focal lengths do most people feel are a must have in your kit?

Right now I am looking at either the CP.2's or the Canon Cine-Primes (they are in my budget range) plus they both come with EF mounts.

Thanks

Tommy
 
Pretty impressed with the new version of the optitron! Anyone stocking this in Australia to get a hands on play?
 
I know for sure I am moving to cine-lenses not just because of the focus but also the declicked aperture is important to me. Thanks @steve I didn't know Schneider had that option. But what the focal lengths that you feel you couldn't do with out. Currently I have a 50mm Prime (Canon 1.8), a 24-70mm 2.4 and 70-200 2.4, what I want to have is a set of three primes.
 
Are you getting a Dragon? If so you may want to make sure whatever set you get actually will cover on the wide end and not vignette (if shooting 6k on wide lenses matters for your Dragon needs).

Also the Zeiss CP2 and Schneider full frames both can have their mounts changed (but you need to know what your doing to change it). So when you buy PL, EF, Nikon, etc mounts for those two particular sets, its not like your marrying that respective mounting format.

So those 2 sets because of that feature really stand out, also they cover Dragon, even on the wide end.

Canon cine covers but its EF only, also i hear its the same exact glass and coatings as if you buy their cheaper photo primes. I can't confirm if that is true, but the rehousing is obviously top notch compared to using still glass for cine usage (its a relative thing in all cases).

Ironically most of the most expensive traditional cine PL lenses have trouble on the wide end with Dragon... So spending big bucks on non smart glass that won't cover your sensor entirely seems kind of silly if your moving into PL if you ask me. Another thing you can do is just get your current glass cine mods by Duclos or someone who can do a good job. Ive had people tell me to mod a set of Leica still lenses rather then buy entry level PL. its all a personal preference kind of a thing...

I'm going to get glass myself one day soon once i get a new cart first... so I'm kind of still teetering on the choices myself. I know whatever I get should cover Dragon...also I'd like to own a Macro lens of sorts as well. As for what I am going to buy who knows...Nikon mount works on my Phantom so I probably would get CP2s with PL and Nikon, or maybe Schneiders...not sure yet... unless i got still glass its basically down to those 2
 
Yeah I've really been leaning more and more towards the CP.2's but now that I see the Schneiders are in the same price point and that with the EF mount they don't have the wiggle that the CP.2's have I'm really leaning towards them. Thanks for the info on the Dragon 6K issues I would of never thought about that. Since hearing about the Scheinders earlier I've watch a few different comparison videos and it seem that they are slightly sharper and handle skin tones a little better than the Ziess but I think watching some of these things on youtube or vimeo maybe a tad misleading because of the compression.

I have also though about rehousing - but I got back to I only have one prime which is the Canon 50mm 1.4 and to get that rehoused doesn't seem worth it - plus I still shoot a lot of photography, so I'd like to keep my canon lenses for still photography and get a set specifically for cine use. I have always loved working with primes.

So I was thinking 24mm, 50mm, and either a wider than 24mm like a 18 or 16mm or maybe an 85mm just not sure which setup would cover most of my shots (I find my photography style having a lot of shallow DOF but my film style leaning more towards deeper DOF)


Thanks again.

Tom
 
25, 35, 50, 75mm gets you a long way.

PL mount is important for some, not for all. It's important if you are working working, if you know what I mean. Today we shot with PL for like 90% of everything, Canon EF for a shot, and Leica-M for a couple things.

Can't go wrong at this price point as there's good options from Zeiss, Canon, and Schneider. If you do go with say the Canons, yet desire them in PL mount Duclos Lenses can do that now at a cost. Various vendors are doing deals on the Schneider Xenons and those can be had a smidge cheaper through the Reduser Discount via Convergence Products, Hot Rod Cameras, and Duclos Lenses.

If you are going for a 16mm, grab the 15mm Zeiss instead. It's a great lens. Schneider's 18mm T2.4 is on the way too. Canon is avoiding anything that interferes with their 14mm and 24mm, so likely no 18mm from them anytime this decade :)

Rehoused Leica-Rs are an option, though pricey still.
 
i like the 21/50/85 CP2's at t2.1 (i.e. don't get the 2.9 - i think it's best to get all at 2.1). I btw don't find a huge difference between the canon/nikon/cp2's for focus pulling (aside from having a bit better ring/teeth). The real cinema glass is just so much better for focusing, it's not even close. The prices on full cinema glass (used) and cinavised still glass is so close, i'm not sure of the point of getting cinavised still glass.
 
I would get a PL mount and get all the lenses with PL. This is the standard. (except Panavision which has it's own mount).
You can rent any additional lens in any rental house. For full frame it would be CP2 or Schneider, for zooms look at http://www.truelens.co.uk
they have a rehoused (with PL mount) Nikon 80-200 and are working on more Nikon zooms.
 
I heard some newer zooms cover Dragon, like Cabrio...you gotta double check that though and they certainly aren't super affordable either...


PS

I wanted to say you can always add focus rings to your still glass and not declick. I don't see any reason why having follow focus rings would interfere with your still usage, plus most still cameras do motion today anyway, if anything getting the rings is just a helpful mod and won't interfere with still work at all. Declicking doesn't even matter if your never going to pull aperture anyway... And I wouldn't rehouse them cuz that is cost prohibitive and at that point you may as well get entry level cine glass instead unless the rehousing is on top notch glass like say still Leica glass... So I would at least consider adding the rings to your still stuff, its not expensive and shouldn't interfere at all anyway...


Rokinon comes with the rings on them already and is dirt cheap, not as nice as entry level PL cine obviously but it can make for a low budget set if you don't want to add follow focus rings to your existing glass... Regardless of what you get just make sure you look into if the wides will cover 6k (if it matters to you)
 
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I hear you all on the PL, but I am an independent so most of the gear I'd be using would be for my own productions. I like having the EF, and if what I'm reading here the only difference between the CP.2's are mounting options then I own the Epic with a EF mount then I feel like why should I invest another $3800's into a PL mount for something I can already buy as a EF mount?

If it comes to a future point in time that I see myself looking at a $25000-50000 zoom (which I don't see that happening) then I may look at PL and just buying PL mounts for the CP.2's or the Schneiders - from what I understand they both have interchangeable mounts. Or I could always rent PL lenses and PL mounts.

For me I use a tilta Follow Focus on my EF still lenses - and I still don't think you have nearly the fine focus control you do with a 300 degree throw on a cinema lens. And there has been many a time where I could used a declicked aperture so I it something I know I would use.

My max budget is around $5500 per lens.

But again no one has answered my real question - 3 Prime Focal lengths you can't live without, I'm looking for advice there.

Thanks

Tom
 
In a standard set of PL glass you get at least 5 lenses.

You want a wide. 18mm for Super Speeds for example.

Then you take the 25mm, 35mm, and 50mm and choose your favorite. Backup, move forward, besides more distortion with the wides, you can get similar results. I'd go with the 35mm.

Then you get a long, the 85mm.

- Wide
- Medium
- Long

Or grab a zoom lenses or a pair with even more range.

Sometimes it's nice to have a lens over 100mm, up to 200mm and if you are me you want something light, with image stabilization that can go 300-600mm balanced on a monopod. Still working on figuring that one out.

Best of luck, happy shooting.
 
Fwiw, Zeiss has 0% 12 month financing for lens sets purchased by the end of 2014 at abelcine
 
Brian Merlen said:
...Canon cine covers but its EF only, also i hear its the same exact glass and coatings as if you buy their cheaper photo primes. I can't confirm if that is true, but the rehousing is obviously top notch compared to using still glass for cine usage (its a relative thing in all cases)...
Click to expand...

The coatings are different (just do a flare test on the respective pairs) and they match on the whole set (unlike the individual EF's).
The 35mm is a completely new optical design BTW...
But above all - the mechanics are designed from scratch resulting in the CN-E's breathing much less then the EF's and a butter-smooth 300 degrees (!!!) focus throw (amongst other things)...
The 11-blade iris on all CN-E primes also results in creamy bokeh...
And they do have hard stops (important to the OP) and gear rings in same position along with matching front diameters - making lens changes a breeze on systems with FF/FIZ control and MB...
Having said all that - and as much as I love the CN-E's - they are IMHO indeed overpriced. If the whole set (14 / 24 / 35 / 50 / 85 / 100* / 135) was under $20K USD (around $3K per lens) - they would sell ton of them...

:sifone: Peter

* - 100mm T1.9 soon to come... ;o)
 
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