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NOT ANOTHER LENS TEST ARRR: SONY CINEALTA V CANON CNE V ZEISS

NOSA OBAYIUWANA

NOSA OBAYIUWANA

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Some of my students did a quick lens test comparing the Sony Cine-altas with the canon CNEs and Zeiss CP2s all at T2.1 (50m v 85m).... I struggled to spot the differences... thought that I should share some of the stills.

All shot 6k...5:1 compression


HERE IS THE LINK TO THE TEST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxnAxXf99Us

4tpo52.jpg
 
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Well, differences is that Canon opens to T1.3 on those to lenses, both of which are usable at that aperture. This is a big point over the others.
On top of that, I have found that the CP.2 breathes more than the CN-Es and I personally think there's a little too much magenta in the Zeiss. Sony I don't have much bad to say about rather than that they are slow and don't cover well on Dragon 6K, but they are also in another price league.
 
Christoffer Glans said:
....Sony I don't have much bad to say about rather than that they are slow and don't cover well on Dragon 6K, but they are also in another price league.
Click to expand...


Slow? hahahaha. Ultra Prime and Cooke S4 speed. Good grief.
 
Just use Otus and see the difference.
Fully open it will s..... all over other Still Lenses. Perhaps not Leica M ;-)
 
Samir Patel said:
Hi Nosa. Images may be similar but tell us about the focus breathing, vignetting, flaring, mechanics etc.
Click to expand...

Hi Samir....apologies.... they were not really testing for vignetting (although I was surprised that the Sony 50m and 85m covered the Dragon at 6K full frame). Mechanics.... I would say I preferred the Sony's overall... they are better built than the Canon's and the Zeiss glass...... without a doubt..... they are heavier though.... although I personally like a bit of weight to my lenses.

Flaring.... did not check this at all.

If there is interest...I can get the students to run the test again (they only had three hours so next time we could spend a day).... and test for breathing and flaring.
 
that 6 lens Sony set is intriguing Nosa. At $12900! I'm trying real hard to not pull the trigger. Please run some flaring and breathing tests. I have Canon still lenses. (I love them) but the CNE lenses (while I am sure they are amazing do not compare to $12900 for a 6 lens set - better off with still Canon lenses I already own in my mind)
 
I know.... We paid about £6500 for the entire set.... unbelievable. And in my opinion they are better than the Ziess and CNEs. The downside is they are not interchangeable but neither are the Canons. My students thought the Sony's were the sharpest..... just slightly.

Another cinematographer I spoke to believes that Sony are about to discontinue the set and are selling off the remaining stock..... if this is so I would advice you get them while you still can. They are an AMAZING deal.
 
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Ryan Patrick O'Hara said:
Slow? hahahaha. Ultra Prime and Cooke S4 speed. Good grief.
Click to expand...

If you're gonna buy a set to own among mid-ranges, I would definitely not choose something at T2.0. If you work with budgets that feature a lot of light you might already getting enough for your camera to be able to buy a set of Ultras. The Ultras and Cooke S4 are usable at T2.0 and give a certain look, but going mid-range you want to be able to shoot at a usable T2.0, which I wouldn't call these. You need to stop them down in order to have a good image. Just like the CN-Es "might work" at T1.3, it's at T1.8 they start to shine. Going with the CineAltas, you need to stop them down to like T3.0 to get rid of the wide open problems. So yeah, they are slow, because they aren't Ultras

Samir Patel said:
that 6 lens Sony set is intriguing Nosa. At $12900! I'm trying real hard to not pull the trigger. Please run some flaring and breathing tests. I have Canon still lenses. (I love them) but the CNE lenses (while I am sure they are amazing do not compare to $12900 for a 6 lens set - better off with still Canon lenses I already own in my mind)
Click to expand...

I bought four lenses of the Canon CN-E set 24, 35, 50 and 85mm, for around $10239 here in Sweden. While I don't think you'll get that price anywhere else, if you look up buying CN-Es as a set you might get a discount. This was a discount Canon gave the retailer for this order. For such a price, there's non other that can compete. Not for what the CN-Es give you.

NOSA OBAYIUWANA said:
And in my opinion they are better than the Ziess and CNEs.
Click to expand...

In what ways?
 
Christoffer Glans said:
If you're gonna buy a set to own among mid-ranges, I would definitely not choose something at T2.0. If you work with budgets that feature a lot of light you might already getting enough for your camera to be able to buy a set of Ultras. The Ultras and Cooke S4 are usable at T2.0 and give a certain look, but going mid-range you want to be able to shoot at a usable T2.0, which I wouldn't call these. You need to stop them down in order to have a good image. Just like the CN-Es "might work" at T1.3, it's at T1.8 they start to shine. Going with the CineAltas, you need to stop them down to like T3.0 to get rid of the wide open problems. So yeah, they are slow, because they aren't Ultras



I bought four lenses of the Canon CN-E set 24, 35, 50 and 85mm, for around $10239 here in Sweden. While I don't think you'll get that price anywhere else, if you look up buying CN-Es as a set you might get a discount. This was a discount Canon gave the retailer for this order. For such a price, there's non other that can compete. Not for what the CN-Es give you.



In what ways?
Click to expand...


1. The Sony Cine Altas are better built... they just have a more solid all metal enclosure (although quite a few people have said they are too heavy) as I said before I like my lenses with a bit of weight.
2. The distance between the T stops are slightly more reasonable unlike the Zeiss and the Canons (in the Canon and the Zeiss they are closer together)
3. The Sony lenses seem to be sharper ..... just a wee bit.
4. The lens markings on the sides are well placed in true PL fashion.... a small thing I know but important.
5. It has smoother turns and better lens covers. The lens covers don't keep falling off.

We have all three sets... I actually bought the Zeiss first, then the CNEs and now have just purchased the Sony CineAltas. The Sony's maybe slower but at T2 they are acceptably fast... Canon does win if all you look at is speed (... and also full frame... the 20mm, 25mm and the 35mm do not cover full frame.... all the rest are Dragon perfect).

It really depends on what you need them for. For £6.5K you would barely get three CP2s.... for that price you get all 6 Sonys.... and if you need something different you can come down to 5k and loose some compression.... they look beautiful.

I am manufacturer agnostic.... and come at this without bias.... I have bought all three. Optically.... I think they are slightly sharper than the Canons..... and definitely sharper than the Zeiss lenses.
 
Christoffer Glans said:
If you're gonna buy a set to own among mid-ranges, I would definitely not choose something at T2.0. If you work with budgets that feature a lot of light you might already getting enough for your camera to be able to buy a set of Ultras. The Ultras and Cooke S4 are usable at T2.0 and give a certain look, but going mid-range you want to be able to shoot at a usable T2.0, which I wouldn't call these. You need to stop them down in order to have a good image. Just like the CN-Es "might work" at T1.3, it's at T1.8 they start to shine. Going with the CineAltas, you need to stop them down to like T3.0 to get rid of the wide open problems. So yeah, they are slow, because they aren't Ultras



I bought four lenses of the Canon CN-E set 24, 35, 50 and 85mm, for around $10239 here in Sweden. While I don't think you'll get that price anywhere else, if you look up buying CN-Es as a set you might get a discount. This was a discount Canon gave the retailer for this order. For such a price, there's non other that can compete. Not for what the CN-Es give you.



In what ways?
Click to expand...

Agreed $10239 for a new set of those would be hard to pass up.
 
If the Sonys had EF mountings they would be the perfect set for Raven, but the thing is, from my own testing, the Canons win because it's not only that they are possible to shoot at the same speeds as say, Master Primes, they are super sharp when stopped down to the same starting stop as the CineAltas and they then won't feature any CA or other problems. That's why I feel they win. They also have low breathing, being full frame and most of the points you gave are quite managable. Most important thing is being able to work as a focus puller and that is working great with the CN-Es, the rest is meh... the positive sides of the CN-E far outweight the CineAltas. On the other hand, as mentioned, if the CineAltas were to get EFs, they would rock on the Red Raven.
 
I read somewhere that if you remove the PL mount, there's an FZ mount underneath, and then from there you can adapt to EF... Though that might have been the previous plastic-generation Sonys and/or completely false.
 
Perfectly agree lenses may not be for everyone.... just saying that they should not be overlooked as they are a good option. At T2 they are optically as sharp .... or (in my opinion) sharper than the Canons and the Zeiss. I was just surprised at how good they are.
 
I demo'd the Sony's very briefly recently and they did look quite good, for the price I can't imagine a better set out right now.
 
I was very surprised at the performance of the lenses... build wise they are better than the Canon CNE, Zeiss CP2 and Xenons. The 50mm, 85mm and 135mm cover Dragon full frame... in my opinion just those three lenses are worth the price.
 
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