Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

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 :)

Opinions on the COOKE 15-40?

C

Cal Brunker

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 28, 2007
Messages
265
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Has anyone worked with this? Does anyone have RED footage shot with this lens?

From a spec point of view, it's the fastest zoom on the planet. T2! That's prime only territory!

Cal
 
Used it. Footage looks great. The lens and all necessary accessories to support it more than doubles the weight of the camera body. Because of that, the resulting setup is extremely front heavy. This is fine for applications that can allow use of a large sliding baseplate. For applications that like to be mounted in or near the camera body (handheld & Steadicam for instance), this can pose a problem as you're fighting with the placement of the remaining accessories to bring the center of gravity back into the camera.
 
In your photo, you've got it on a Steadicam rig, how did you find balancing it? Would hand held be out of the question re: weight and balance?

How does it stack up to the S4 primes in terms of image ?

Thanks man!

Cal
 
Come on, I know there are more people here that have used it! Chime in!
 
What do you want to know? It's big, heavy, and totally awesome!

I also recommend looking at the wide Optimo zoom. It's slower at 2.6 but much smaller.
 
I've used both the 15-40's ( Cooke T2 ) and ( Optimo T2.6 ) The Cooke seems a little punchier and more contrasty than the Angenieux. Also the Cooke has slight CA from T2- T4, A bit of resolution fall off on the sides too.

I need to dig around with the Angenieux footage and see where it's flaws are... I have not had a proper look at the footy yet.

Then Cooke is a bit big and heavy for Handheld or Steadicam work, but quite nice on a Technocrane. The 15-40 Optimo is a great size for handheld.

Which one you choose ? Depends on your needs.
 
I own a Cooke 15-40 and I really like it. One lens covers 9 primes in the S4 set. It's always great on location when you're backed into a corner, in between focal lengths, to be able to just "sneak out" or "sneak in" a little.
I've had some trouble with portholing at 40mm from time to time, on the Mini-35 and Pro-35, but better luck with the Red One. Not sure why.
All in all I love it.
Cheers,
Harry
 
Thanks so much for weighing in on this stuff guys!

Anybody have any posted footage shot with it?

The COOKE 15-40 is about 47k$ for those asking.

How does the image compare to the S4 Primes? Is it really like a replacement for 9 S4's, or is it significant compromise?

Evin that chopper stuff is deadly, I'm pumped.

Cal
 
The lens looks great, but hardly a replacement for 9 lenses...3-4 maybe.

If you want to replace 9 lenses go with the Ang 24-290, for about ten grand more, it could be considered an option to replace a set of primes.
 
One case to be made for the 15-40, is that a lot of people will be buying sets of primes for their red, without ever knowing the difference between a 25, 28, or a 32, they'll get whatever prime comes in the kit they go for.

As many people here are new to 35mm lens work, it would great to have the ability to experiment with a more inclusive choice of focal lengths.

Does anybody have RED footage posted from this lens?
 
I also would like to see footage from the Cooke 15-40mm. If anybody could post it, would be fantastic!
Callan, I think if somebody target the renting market with his Red, he should go for a full lens set, but I agree, if somebody knows the lenses well, he might shoot a whole movie with only 2 lenses.
It would be very interesting to know which 2 lenses would be mainly taken.
I would go for a 18 or 21mm and 50mm.
Cheers
Marc
 
marcb said:
I also would like to see footage from the Cooke 15-40mm. If anybody could post it, would be fantastic!
Callan, I think if somebody target the renting market with his Red, he should go for a full lens set, but I agree, if somebody knows the lenses well, he might shoot a whole movie with only 2 lenses.
It would be very interesting to know which 2 lenses would be mainly taken.
I would go for a 18 or 21mm and 50mm.
Cheers
Marc
Click to expand...

AFAIK Robby Mueller shot "Down By Law" B&W entirely with a 35mm prime. I've done that a few times on commercials/music videos and found it an interesting approach. Surely the 35mm is the modest way to achieve this, 25mm might be a bit too short/experssive and with a 50mm long shots are quite a challenge.

I mainly use 25mm, 35mm, 50mm.

Hans
 
Oliver Twist from Polanski was shot mainly (or only?) with S4 21mm and 32mm. Your feedback, Hubert is great. It´s a good way to hear with which lenses a DOP mainly works. IMO it helps beginners a lot to think about, how to invest in a starting package.
Cheers
Marc
 
Both Lenses cost around 45k to 50k US $

There is a little bit of barrel distortion on the wide of both lenses, If you are interested in them you should go to a rental house and project them both... Both are pretty well corrected for barrel distortion at the wide end, I think the cooke has less, but you should look at them under proper conditions.

Matt Uhry
www.mattuhry.com
 
Yes, a bit of barrel distortion at 15mm. Not sure if a 14mm S4 would have more or less.
Greg, what I meant was that there are 9 primes in that range of lens, although I misspoke (there are actually 8): 16mm, T2 ($ 19,250); 18mm, T2 ($ 17,850); 21mm, T2 ($ 17,850); 25mm, T2 ($ 16,750); 27mm, T2 ($ 17,850); 32mm, T2 ($ 17,750); 35mm, T2 ($ 17,850); 40mm, T2 ($ 17,850)
Of course you could simply choose three lenses to cover that range and you'd be fine. But that would be the same money. And from what I've seen (at HD resolution) there is no difference between the primes and the zoom. I'm still waiting to see our IMAX film out (shot with both the 15-40 and the primes) so I presume that would be a better "real world" test for projection anyway.
But all in all, I'm very happy with the results.
Just my 2 cents!
Cheers,
Harry
 
Harry, any clips you can post?

Cal
 
I will try. I'm out of town on a job right now. But there is a PSA that I shot that's up on my space at RedRelay.
http://www.redrelay.net/owners/0344/films/
A mix of the 15-40, and my longer primes.
Not my proudest moment as a DP, but it was quick and dirty, just me and a gaffer. But the 15-40 and the primes seem indistinguishable.
Cheers,
Harry
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top