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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 :)

New "inexpensive" PL primes from Sony !?

Andy Roberts said:
I'd be curious to know id these cover Dragon... any one have access to Dragon and these Sony lenses?
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I quick tested them today and the 20mm covers 6K Full with a very slight vignette on the corners, that turns into portholing by T/8-T/11. Unless you intend to shoot stopped down, the 20mm lens is very usable at 6K. 6K HD and 6K WS -or 6K composed for 2.00:1, 2.40:1, etc- will be fine as well. The rest of the lenses cover 6K full with no problem.

As other people say, the performance of these lenses is very, very good, matching much more expensive prime lenses. The CA is very well corrected even wide-open, and all the primes are very sharp with a very nice contrast and very little breathing. I've yet to review the clips that I've recorded, and maybe perform some more tests, but I'm already impressed with the Sonys.
 
I have the Sony lens and the Xenon and have to say Sony impressed me with its low price tag. People talking about the fullframe kind of thing however with the introduction of Scarlet - W, I think the lens still be usable many years after. However its size and weight is smth you should take into consideration. Other than that, this is a good investment ;)
 
Ignacio Aguilar said:
I quick tested them today and the 20mm covers 6K Full with a very slight vignette on the corners, that turns into portholing by T/8-T/11. Unless you intend to shoot stopped down, the 20mm lens is very usable at 6K. 6K HD and 6K WS -or 6K composed for 2.00:1, 2.40:1, etc- will be fine as well. The rest of the lenses cover 6K full with no problem.

As other people say, the performance of these lenses is very, very good, matching much more expensive prime lenses. The CA is very well corrected even wide-open, and all the primes are very sharp with a very nice contrast and very little breathing. I've yet to review the clips that I've recorded, and maybe perform some more tests, but I'm already impressed with the Sonys.
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**I agree with all of this but the 25 doesn't cover 6k, even wide open. All the lenses except the 25mm cover well at 6kHD and 6kWS while the 25 still vignettes but doesn't porthole, usability is to your taste but I think they're all usable at 6kHD.** Actually I gotta double check that.

I forget which focal lengths are which, but about half the lenses do not really flair much, and the others do minimally with one or two soft green orbs appearing.

In infrared they gain hotspots when you stop down but work OK wide open, though they vignette much more. The lenses focus past infinity so there's no issue there for infrared.

All the lenses but the 20mm have 95mm filter threads so you can get some diopters to make up for their kinda poor close focus, I found a vivitar set on ebay for $40, the packaging says the biggest size they offer is 82mm but they were indeed 95mm inside.

I really really like the 135mm on this set, mine has absolutely 0 CA even wide open and really smooth focus roll-off. I don't know why these aren't selling better.
 
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Anton Shavlik said:
**I agree with all of this but the 25 doesn't cover 6k, even wide open. All the lenses except the 25mm cover well at 6kHD and 6kWS while the 25 still vignettes but doesn't porthole, usability is to your taste but I think they're all usable at 6kHD.** Actually I gotta double check that.
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There may be differences among individual units. The 25mm of the demo set that I've tested, covers 6K full for sure.
 
I´m with Anton here, my copy of the 25 is also vignetting on 6K full frame. This is not to complain - these lenses are probably the best you can get for the money and being a S35 set they are still usable with Dragon at 6K HD or 6KWS.
 
I picked up a set of these about 3 months ago (still waiting on my actual set from Sony, they gave me a demo kit from Japan in the meantime) but they have been producing a gorgeous image!
 
Tristan Pemberton said:
Wow, they really stand up well against the Cookes. The S4 have more character, but the CineAltas are rendering a beautiful image. And how well controlled is the breathing!
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Based solely on that test (and the write up here: http://tomkeller.ch/sony-cinealta-primes-test/) I much prefer the Sonys to the Cookes. They are sharper wide open, have a better aperture shape for the bokeh (I personally don't like the stop sign or the buzz saw look), and have better control of longitudinal chromatic aberration (green/magenta fringes in the out of focus areas).

I thought that the Sonys did a good job with breathing. One really interesting thing that I saw though, was that the breathing characteristics reversed on the wide angle lenses.

On the 35, 50, 85, and 135 on the Sonys, focusing closer reduced the angle of view (the image zoomed in just a bit.)

However, on the 20 and 25 on the Sonys, focusing closer increased the angle of view (the image zoomed out just a bit.)

I'm not sure how common this is with other sets of primes, though.
 
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My primary concern with buying the Sony lenses as I see it, is that they stop at 20mm on the wide end. A 16mm would've been great.
 
Jon MIchael Puntervold said:
My primary concern with buying the Sony lenses as I see it, is that they stop at 20mm on the wide end. A 16mm would've been great.
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True. But suppose you can fill out the set with something else - Rehoused Tokina 11-16?
 
Are there any owners in the L.A area that would let me try to mount them on my Aaton 35mm III.

They are non-returnable on B&H and the PL mount on the AATON 35mm is very shallow so I would like to try them before.

I can pay for the trouble if needed.
 
Robino_J said:
Are there any owners in the L.A area that would let me try to mount them on my Aaton 35mm III.
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I would try calling Hot Rod Cameras in Hollywood. Pretty sure they stock the Sony lenses and they are film friendly. Ilya Friedman is a good guy. Since you own a 35mm camera, you may be interested to know that camera and lens technician Jorge Diaz-Amador works upstairs - he recently serviced my Moviecam SL and is rebuilding my Arri 3C right now. Don't know if he does Aatons, but his work is top-notch.
 
Satsuki Murashige said:
I would try calling Hot Rod Cameras in Hollywood. Pretty sure they stock the Sony lenses and they are film friendly. Ilya Friedman is a good guy. Since you own a 35mm camera, you may be interested to know that camera and lens technician Jorge Diaz-Amador works upstairs - he recently serviced my Moviecam SL and is rebuilding my Arri 3C right now. Don't know if he does Aatons, but his work is top-notch.
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Great! thanks for the information I will give them a call.
 
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