Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Register Log in
  • 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 :)

Master prime set, which ones to purchase?

J

Jamie Forbush

Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2015
Messages
20
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Ok, I'm ordering a brand new MP set which will take 9 months to ship since there is a back order for master primes at the moment. I have decided to stick with S35 and not move to the FF VV format. There isn't any good cinema glass yet in my opinion since it's all so new.

I'm getting the 25, 35, 50, 75, 100, 135 but aren't sure if I should go with 16 or 18 on the wide end. I would like the opinion of those who are experienced with MP's and Dragon. Which would work with Dragon better and which would be a better fit with the set in general, on any ecosystem for that matter, and why?
 
I would def get the 18 as it's a more common focal length than 16.

Also, you'll need something wider than a 25.

It's no accident that most classic prime sets are: 18, 24/25, 35, 50, 75/80/85.
 
Been using Master Primes a lot this year and a fair amount in the past.

You'll want the 18mm over the 16mm. The 14mm however is a beast of a lens if you want an ultrawide I'd add that one. I don't see many shooting with the 135mm, but when you need it you need it. I'm very fond of the 65mm and tend to use it over the 50mm "sometimes".

Congratulations Jamie. It's a big decision to go with premium glass. But you do get what you pay for in this case and there's a reason MPs are used often.
 
Phil Holland said:
...and tend to use it over the 50mm "sometimes".
Click to expand...

Phil, you are my favorite Reduser on the planet and I read every post you make, but I finally have to ask: what is your intention when you use quotation marks? You use them a ton as if to indicate irony, but I can't for the life of me figure out what is ironic about "sometimes". Here is a description of proper use: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony_punctuation

Sorry for hijacking your thread, Jamie.
 
I agree with Nick and Phil.

If renting these out is part of your decision, I would go the safe and proven 18, 25, 32/35, 50, 75, and 100 route. I agree with Phil in the sense that it makes sense to me to add to the range first before filling in the gaps. I also think a 14mm and 135mm are the next logical steps because they extend the range.

That said, if we are not talking about satisfying typical rental clients, I'm a sucker for 21, 27/28, and 40's. If building a personal set of lenses and not a rental set, I'd probably substitute the 50mm for a 40mm and 65mm.... I guess my final 'personal' 7-set if i had to order a set tonight would be 16mm, 21mm, 27mm, 32mm, 40mm, 65mm and 135mm. I own a set of lenses (not MP's mind you) and I find while owning a 75mm, 100mm and 135mm, I almost NEVER use the 100mm. If I didn't have the 135mm though I would use it more. FWIW

It's tough decision personally, but not if planning to rent. If renting, you really should stick to a classic set in my opinion. It's safe, covers a good range and has probably the least amount of 'gaps'.

As Phil said, congrats... rad purchase whatever lengths you end up with.
 
Julio Quintana said:
Phil, you are my favorite Reduser on the planet and I read every post you make, but I finally have to ask: what is your intention when you use quotation marks? You use them a ton as if to indicate irony, but I can't for the life of me figure out what is ironic about "sometimes". Here is a description of proper use: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony_punctuation

Sorry for hijacking your thread, Jamie.
Click to expand...

In this case I'm using the quotation marks to emphasize my own cynical attitude towards choosing between two lovely lenses, both are good choices. Though in this case I've found some optical merit in utilizing the 65mm MP over the 50mm.

In the future though I'll make an effort "to do more gooder" on the grammatical front. :)
 
Definitely the 18mm. It's the widest you can get before it gets too stylized to work for most. There are few directors who use wider than that, especially since Dragon is wider than the common s35. If you rent out to Terry Gilliam or Jonas Åkerlund you might want a wider though :biggrin:
 
Thank you Phil, Nick, Ryan, Christoffer, and Julio!

And no worries Julio on the hijack haha :)

I knew you guys would have the insight I needed. You all are amazing and I'm overwhelmed at all the vast knowledge. I trust your experence. I'm still more on the green end but learning quickly and enjoying it. Thank you again.

I think for the wide end, I'll do the 18 as well as the 14 and that's going to have to be it haha. The MP lineup isn't cheep but I'll have 8 in the set which should give a good broad lineup of 14, 18, 25, 35, 50, 75, 100, 135. I wish I had the money for the 32, 40, and 65 but wow on the price. Not all lenses are created equal. I plan to use them on Weapon and URSA 4.6.

Later
 
Ryan makes a great point.

Very personal stuff this but if you where buying for somebody like me (and there is a few of us) with the money you seem to have.. And to use very specifically on a red 6k camera...

21, 27, 40, 65 then add the 14 and 135 (or perhaps the 100 instead)!

So basically the basic 4 inbetweeners plus a wide and long...

This would not hire out that well to the standard guys crowd... But it is a peice of cake to pick up a cheap hire on the 18,25,35,50,75 add them together and you nearly have it all...

ps I own a small 5 lens set of MPs to complement a bigger set of UPs so I am pretty aware of the glass in question


Ryan Patrick O'Hara said:
I agree with Nick and Phil.

If renting these out is part of your decision, I would go the safe and proven 18, 25, 32/35, 50, 75, and 100 route. I agree with Phil in the sense that it makes sense to me to add to the range first before filling in the gaps. I also think a 14mm and 135mm are the next logical steps because they extend the range.

That said, if we are not talking about satisfying typical rental clients, I'm a sucker for 21, 27/28, and 40's. If building a personal set of lenses and not a rental set, I'd probably substitute the 50mm for a 40mm and 65mm.... I guess my final 'personal' 7-set if i had to order a set tonight would be 16mm, 21mm, 27mm, 32mm, 40mm, 65mm and 135mm. I own a set of lenses (not MP's mind you) and I find while owning a 75mm, 100mm and 135mm, I almost NEVER use the 100mm. If I didn't have the 135mm though I would use it more. FWIW

It's tough decision personally, but not if planning to rent. If renting, you really should stick to a classic set in my opinion. It's safe, covers a good range and has probably the least amount of 'gaps'.

As Phil said, congrats... rad purchase whatever lengths you end up with.
Click to expand...
 
I love the 135mm a very special focal on MP's when it comes for tight Portrait shots... Truly a creamy and beautiful look they produce when WO at proper distance form Subject with Subject to Background properly spaced to hence the effect of the Bokeh...

Not a very big fan of supervised, but do love wides, just up to the point were there is absolutely NO distortion, I truly hated the warping of the building on the shots I took of the Skydive Dubai 2012 short with the 8mm UP a rectilinear lens but with heavy distortion just the same...

On MP's I really never liked to go wider then 18mm, even so I did go to the 14mm few times, the 18mm was as far as I liked to go, and yes agree with others here that an 18mm is a must on your set, better then a 16mm no doubt... Even so I would personally skip the below 21mm all together... :)

MP's, best lenses still, no matter how many years old they are... Just TOO bad they don't cover Weapon VV 8k... But still thinking all the time about buying an other set just the same... :)
 
I personally love 16mm glass, after having one in my Standard speed set, but when buying my Masters I went for an 18mm because I intended to rent and it seemed the more popular option.
 
We have quite a few focal lengths of new Master Primes in stock from our European office, including the 16mm and 18mm.
We sell many new Master Primes on a regular basis but stock changes daily. Our prices are in Euros and you can
expect a sizeable reduction in price over USA prices due to the strength of the US Dollar vs the Euro. All new lenses are
covered by one year warranty.
 
Hmmm... I would take the 16mm over the 18 any day, but that's me. A lot of this is personal preference. And if you intend to rent the set out regularly, you may find the 18 to be the more popular choice. It seems that a lot of people are very stuck in the rut of 18, 25, 35, 50, 85, 100...

For me, my favorite Master Primes are the 16, 21, 32, 40, 65 and 135, if I were building a 6-lens set. If I could go with 8 lenses, I would add the 100 in there and either the 12 or 75, depending on what I needed for the shoot. If I were actually buying a set of 6, I would probably do 16, 27, 40, 65, 100 and then the 135 or 75 would come down to a coin toss and I would probably opt for the 135 if I really thought about it logically.

I know I'm picking focal lengths that err on the side of wider than normal, but I guess I prefer that. Like I said, a lot of personal preference here.
 
Just stumbled on this thread and I am in a similar situation.... unfortunately there is only enough money for a 4 lens Masterprime set. My cinematographer colleague has suggested 18, 25, 35 and 50. I personally am thinking 25, 35, 50 and 75 as I love long lenses.

All advice will be appreciated.
 
NOSA OBAYIUWANA said:
Just stumbled on this thread and I am in a similar situation.... unfortunately there is only enough money for a 4 lens Masterprime set. My cinematographer colleague has suggested 18, 25, 35 and 50. I personally am thinking 25, 35, 50 and 75 as I love long lenses.

All advice will be appreciated.[/QUOTE

(4) lenses is fine. Id go 21, 32, 50. 100.
Click to expand...
 
I'd probably favor 21/32/50/75 on a 4 lens set or 18/25/35/50/75 on a 5 lens set. Trouble with that 4 lens set is it wouldn't get me to that 5 lens set. #firstworldproblems
 
18 25 35 50 75 100 is nice because each length is an equal 1.4x multiple; similar to stops, ever other lens is double the magnification and it's a nice even progression. Maybe that's an somewhat OCD reason, but unless a specific lens in the set has better or unique characteristics you want I'd go with that as well. I don't often go longer than 100, and a 75 fills the roll of a 100 OK, but when you need an 18 there's no substitute. For smaller sets you gotta consider the utility of each lens as well as how often it's on the camera.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top