Optica Elite 120-520mm

[Pawel Achtel]

Somewhere I have a photo of the Elite mounted on a Phantom HD. Really I should say it's a Phantom HD mounted to the back of the Elite! That thing is a monster. Beautiful lens.

How much are they? What would be the difference between that and a Leica Apo-Telyt R 280/400/560/800mm modular? The Elite is faster, but one would shoot with f/8-f/11 on such lengths anyway. It is also heavier, but zoom can be more practical at such long focal lenghts.

 

[Guidofilippi]

so you need a zoom, 2.8f and only really up to 300mm?

Nils... have you considered... er... money? Those Elite zooms are veeeery expensive lenses, they are quite new, just a few of them, not a frequent used market...
Among reasonable quality/price cine zooms you may consider a good ol´Cooke 25-250 T3.7... I own one, it works, they are offered from time to time at a few "Grands"... beyond that... mmmm... probably photo lenses...
Guido

 

[Steve Gibby]

My long zoom lenses that I've regularly used on RED One for sports and wildlife production are:

Canon FD 150-600 f5.6 zoom
Mine has a Century PL mount conversion (mount only - the rest of the lens is stock). Images using this lens on RED are stellar. This stock lens weighs just 9 pounds. Its rare, in its stock form, and usually costs around $10K USD when you find one. It is much lighter than the re-housed versions - Optex, Century, Nemenz, etc. Mine was made 20 years ago. It holds focus throughout a zoom. You zoom (push/pull), and focus (twist) via a knob on the left side of the lower housing on the lens. I eye focus this lens, screw on filters on the camera end, and never use a follow focus or matte box with it. Mine has had the iris ring de-clicked by Duclos, and is serviced by them for me. The lens is good at f5.6, but its true "sweet spot" is between f8 and f11 - precisely where I usually want to be for most sports and wildlife shooting. I bought mine three years ago from a veteran commercial cinematographer in L.A. who used it to shoot his long shots for automotive commercials in 35mm film for 17 years.

Nikon 50-300mm f4.5 AIS zoom
Mine is stock, no modifications. Surprisingly small for a 35mm 6x zoom - it weighs around 4 pounds. The images from it on RED One are excellent. From the late '80's to the mid-90's this lens was the preferred lens of many top-level nature photographers - its relatively lightweight, has excellent optics, and is well made. Mine has the stock Nikon mount. The AIS version is the one to get - it has better lens coatings than the previous versions. They're fairly rare and photographers tend to keep them, but if you look hard, you can occasionally find one used. Price should run somewhere around $1,200 USD.


My long primes I regularly use on RED One for sports and wildlife work are:


RED 300mm f2.8
This lens is sharp, with good contrast. Its well built. Footage using it on R1 is great. Occasionally I use it with my Optex 2x extender, which makes it essentially an f5.6 600mm tele. The results in that setup have also been surprisingly good. It weighs around 6 pounds. Filters are via a drop in tray forward from the mount. I use the lens without a FF and MB for increased mobility. Mine is the original version. which cost $3,000 USD


Nikon 400mm f3.5 AIS
This lens is very sharp, with good contrast. Its relatively compact for its focal length - weighing around 5 pounds. Its well built, with great glass - no weirdness or artifacts. The images using it on R1 are excellent. The AIS version is the one to get - improved lens coatings over previous versions. My lens has the stock Nikon mount. I use it without a FF and MB for increased mobility. Filters are via a drop in tray forward from the mount. I bought mine used, in excellent condition, last year for $1,400 USD.


I really like each of the above described lenses for long-lens RED One work in sports and wildlife. Each of them is affordable, well built, covers full frame 35mm, has excellent optics, is relatively lightweight (think mobility), and produces excellent images on RED One. If I need shorter focal lengths and faster zooms, I usually use one of my Nikon 80-200 f2.8 lenses - I have two different versions of that lens. A close associate of mine who also shoots a lot of long lens wildlife and sports (Kennan Ward), also uses the Nikon 50-300 and Nikon 200-400. He loves them both.

I've used the Optimo 12x for some long zoom work, but mobility is a usual requirement for my work, and at 25 pounds, the Optimo 12x isn't very mobile. Also, at $75k USD, its expensive. I haven't used that Elite zoom, but again its size and weight rule it out for mobile long lens work (sports, wildlife, etc.) - along with its high cost. All this said, if you do straight cine style production using a focus puller, don't need too much mobility, and have deep pockets on your project budget, then the Optimo 12x. Elite, and Hawk long zooms may be your solution.

Hope this input is food for thought for those looking to use long zooms and long primes on RED One. There's more than one way to approach it - and if your budgets are modest (or you're just frugal) and you need mobility, you don't have to throw a lot of money at long lenses to get excellent images on RED One. The bonus - I expect all of the above lenses to also work well on FF35 Epic.

 

[Pawel Achtel]

Thanks Steve,

From still pictures taken with the Canon and Leica I much prefer the Leica. It appears to have more contrast and sharper across the frame than the Canon. Hard to tell without putting on a projector (and HUGE projector room). It also goes to 800mm, albeit it is not zoom. I will keep my eyes open on the Canon too.

I found out that the Elite is 36k Euros. That's alost double of the Leica full set and, considering its weight, I am leaning towards the Leica.

Sanjin,

Edit: it is a broadcast HD lens, not a cine 35mm lens.