Miniprimes - Electronic?

[Alex Mack]

Ok, this is really important.

Are the miniprimes electronic?
The Nov 30 announcement states they have a new 'Digital design' specifically for the 2/3 scarlet. Does this mean autofocus?

I feel that the interchangeable scarlet could be preferable to 35mm sensors for cinematic films. The miniprime will be equivalent to the all critical f/2.8 - 4 split. (the fixed is an unacceptably deep 5.6) But it will have the brightness of 1.5. This means incognito dslr cover, with no need for lighting set ups.

BUT - auto face tracking focus is amazing, a revolutionary concept for the way I film. (constant steadicam motion where touching the cam is not good, and fast docu style shooting of narrative epics)

So it makes all the difference to me - my dream camera (even two electronic cams for 3d), or a not 3d friendly cam that forces a slower, more still method of filmmaking.

 

[Justin O'Neill]

The miniRED primes will not be electronic. All DSMC brains do have auto focus, touch focus tracking and face tracking that work in tandem with the electronic mounts.

I suppose an external mechanism could allow non electronic lenses to take advantage of these features but RED has not announced anything like that at this time.

 

[Alex Mack]

Thank you very much.
Did they say something to that extent after Nov. 30th? I know non-electronic miniprimes was the original plan, but I was wondering if the 'digital design' refered to digital friendly or electronic. (granted how touch focus and new electronic mounts have become highly emphasized in their literature)

If this is the case, do you know of any f1.4 smooth autofocusing primes (around 16mm focal length) that might stand in? (and not be too cost prohibitive)
In particular, I was wondering if snap autofocus 35mm glass could be made to smoothly autofocus with the scarlet.

My priority is not perfect transmission cine quality glass, but lightweight small and fast (f1.4) primes that can smoothly autofocus.

 

[Pietro Impagliazzo]

It was definitely meaning digital friendly, best optimized for the OLPF and Mysterium X.

 

[Justin O'Neill]

Thank you very much.
Did they say something to that extent after Nov. 30th? I know non-electronic miniprimes was the original plan, but I was wondering if the 'digital design' refered to digital friendly or electronic. (granted how touch focus and new electronic mounts have become highly emphasized in their literature)

Here is Jarred's post on the matter:

Not electronically controlled.. the Mini Prime Lenses ( and mount ) are manually controlled. The Digital Design refers to the optical design being designed and optimized specifically for our digital sensor and it's pixel pitch and OLPF combination.

 

[Alex Mack]

Wow, that was helpful.
Well, now I'm definitely looking for alternatives.

f1.4
'Round 16mm
Smooth autofocus

Does such a thing exist outside of the rarified cost zone?
It is so simple, and so important.
Could a stills prime such as this be 'controlled' by the scarlet to smoothly autofocus?
http://www.amazon.com/Sigma-30mm-Minolta-Digital-Cameras/dp/B000FG6CM4

 

[Kenneth Elkington]

It'll have autofocus, but there are two significant factors to consider. A: that lens is a telephoto, 110 mm FF35 equivalent, on a 2/3 sensor. B: I'd expect there would be huge amounts of breathing on focus pulls by cinematic standards, and consider that all the breathing is multiplied by nearly a factor of 4 in the move from 35mm to 2/3.

B may not influence your decision, but you won't be able to find any really wide lenses with autofocus shooting on the 2/3 sensor. Autofocus is going to doom you to exclusively telephoto lenses if you're set on both it and the 2/3.

 

[Alex Mack]

Telephoto and breathing are Ok. Wide angle converters to the rescue!
The key question is, would the autofocus motor (designed for snap autofocusing) be able to smoothly and contunuously pull autofocus with the subject if fed such instructions from the scarlet?

Stills photographers want snap autofocus; I can't have it...

 

[Kenneth Elkington]

That remains to be seen as far as the camera's responsible for it. As for the lens, Sigma's are not known for the reliability of their autofocus capabilities, I'd stick with Canon or Nikon if I wanted bulletproof autofocus, particularly their pro-level lenses.

 

[Alex Mack]

Essentially what I really need to know is:

Is autofocus motor speed (or continuous focus pulling) a factor controlled by the camera instructions that are sent, or by the motor itself (locked off from alteration by the camera).

Could (and/or would) the Scarlet send out instructions to pull focus continuously? (perhaps it could send out the smallest increment focus changes to the lens continuously until in gets to the plain that is to be in focus) If this is possible, I would like to here and now petition that option to be included in the scarlet firmware.

If someone could elucidate this mystery for me, christmas would come very early for me, and I would be in your debt. (its very important to me)

 

[Kenneth Elkington]

AF speed is generally limited first by in-camera calculation, and then by the AF motor, but any pro lens will have an extremely fast AF motor, so that will be the fastest part.

It's hard to say how the camera will implement AF, just because we have very few details at this point. It will depend on the autofocus algorithms in-camera, and then how and how frequently the camera chooses to send out those signals.

 

[Stephen Strangways]

Is autofocus motor speed (or continuous focus pulling) a factor controlled by the camera instructions that are sent, or by the motor itself (locked off from alteration by the camera).

I think it's safe to say the lens motor design does play a factor, not just (but definitely including) the instructions from the camera.

If you look at Olympus and Panasonic 4/3 and µ4/3 camera bodies with video or just live view, some older lenses won't autofocus on them some bodies at all, while newer lenses will. Also, some bodies focus more older lenses, or focus them better than others.

Panasonic goes so far as to offer a specific "HD" lens with the GH1 that is specifically designed to focus and change iris smoothly and quietly during video recording.