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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 :)

Optitek Nikon Prolok for EPIC - shipping yet?

Mark Deeble said:
I agree Jacek - unsupported, the 300mm is fine as long as there is no rough treatment and it is straight in and out the case. Anything more, such as use on a balcony mount on a 4X4, and I'll be going to 15mm LW rods and Zacuto 1/4" lens support.
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That's correct also please remember this is not only about the ProLock- it's made out of tough stainless steel and the hardware is very robust. The lens mount however is chrome plated brass so it is pretty soft.
The lens will bend/damage first before the ProLock......
 
Tom, how do you like the 28-300? It is not reviewed that well, but I tried a mundane Canon consumer zoom at Ted's Epic at Reducation UK and was impressed at the quality of supposedly "inferior" glass.
 
Soren, would have preferred Canon glass but my mount is still not here. Will be testing this lens shortly, and will post some pics for you next week or so.

Best,
Tom
 
Soren: There isn't much in the 10:1 zoom range in stills glass that is really going to be all that much better. We haven't had time to do any serious lens test, but I suspect that at least in terms of resolution it will work just fine - the epic sensor is still only 13 megapixels - much less than the current 18MP $700 DSLRs. Remember, a lot of the current cine glass won't cover full 5K. These full frame slr lenses will cover FF35/6K even.

I beiieve there is some distortion in the lens at various settings but again we are shooting the center so much of that will be outside the sensor area. I have the 24-70 2.8 and 70-200 but these are pretty big and heavy lenses (and no VR - if we get a nikon smart mount) The idea here was a lightweight 10x to keep the lightest possible travel kit, for a primarily underwater shoot (using a 14mm) and we also included a 50mm f1.4 for mid range/extreme low light capability.

I haven't had a chance to do much comparison shopping or review reading, but IIRC the Canon L series equivalent has the same fstop rating f3.5 to 5.6 and is $2700 (vs $970 for the Nikon) - is it supposed to be significantly better?

These lenses are probably horrible for narrative cine work, but I think they will have their place in nature and documentary work.
 
OptiTek said:
Jim,
All good here, you should be getting your tracking soon.:thumbsup:
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Hi Jacek, any update on shipping? Not in a drastic hurry but do need it in about 2 weeks. Let me know what you think.

Thanks!

Jim
 
Stacey Spears said:
Here is one source of lens reviews. http://photozone.de/reviews
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Looks like the nikon 28-300 shows as good or better resolution than the canon L until you get to the extreme edges which probably would be outside of the sensor area on an epic at 5K. Slightly more chromatic abberration, however CA can be fairly easily (although extremely time consuming) corrected in software.
 
I'm tossing up between the Nikon 18-200 and the 28-300. I think I would find the 18-200 more useful, but does anyone know if there is an obvious benefit of one over the other?

Jim
 
jimhare said:
Hi Jacek, any update on shipping? Not in a drastic hurry but do need it in about 2 weeks. Let me know what you think.

Thanks!

Jim
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We assembling and shipping daily.
Never underestimate the logistics- it takes time to assure everybody gets what they had ordered, I'm really dreading this...
 
jimhare said:
I'm tossing up between the Nikon 18-200 and the 28-300. I think I would find the 18-200 more useful, but does anyone know if there is an obvious benefit of one over the other?

Jim
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I think the 18-200 is only aps-c so probably wouldn't cover 5K epic.

FYI I made a trade deal with Steve Gibby for his 28-70 2.8ED AF-S, 80-200 2.8ED AF-S, and a 50-300 F4 ED after I bought my Nikon D7000 and the 28-300 so I am planning to sell one either the 28-300 or the others - whichever goes first :-). The 2.8 are the true "PRO" lenses and have manual iris so can work on anything including Canon with adapters. The 28-300 and the new versions of the f2.8 pro lenses are G so they don't have manual iris - have to have something like Jacek's mount all have seen very little use and since I have Jacek's mount I can go either way.

This thread describes the lenses I got from Gibby with some review links:

http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?55903-FS-Nikon-Lenses-amp-Mount&highlight=1
 
Yeah, knew that but was satisfied if it maxed out at 4k and preferred more on the wider end. Then again, I suppose 28mm at 5k would act a lot like 18mm at 4k, correct?

Michael Hastings said:
I think the 18-200 is only aps-c so probably wouldn't cover 5K epic.

FYI I made a trade deal with Steve Gibby for his 28-70 2.8ED AF-S, 80-200 2.8ED AF-S, and a 50-300 F4 ED after I bought my Nikon D7000 and the 28-300 so I am planning to sell one either the 28-300 or the others - whichever goes first :-). The 2.8 are the true "PRO" lenses and have manual iris so can work on anything including Canon with adapters. The 28-300 and the new versions of the f2.8 pro lenses are G so they don't have manual iris - have to have something like Jacek's mount all have seen very little use and since I have Jacek's mount I can go either way.

This thread describes the lenses I got from Gibby with some review links:

http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?55903-FS-Nikon-Lenses-amp-Mount&highlight=1
Click to expand...
 
jimhare said:
Yeah, knew that but was satisfied if it maxed out at 4k and preferred more on the wider end. Then again, I suppose 28mm at 5k would act a lot like 18mm at 4k, correct?
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Well it's basically a 4/5 ratio so 28mm on Epc is more like 22.4mm RedOne, but still pretty close and you are shooting the sweet spot of the lens so most/all of whatever distortions/loss of edge resolution there is would be out of frame on the 28-300 not to mention you have 50% more on long side.

Someone emailed me about a price on the 28-300, is basically a demo/new with open box so you should be able to get the Nikon warranty - figure $825.
 
Jorge Yair Leyva Robles said:
anybody now about the shipping of the mount !!!
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Asked last week and was told they are making progress, but basically - don't ask! :hand:

My Epic arrives Monday so hoping it comes soon! :yesnod:

OptiTek said:
We assembling and shipping daily.
Never underestimate the logistics- it takes time to assure everybody gets what they had ordered, I'm really dreading this...
Click to expand...
 
Ask around for locals that have PL glass but are in Stage 3 and won't get their Epic for another month. Maybe you can do a swap where you borrow their glass for a couple of weeks, and they can use the Epic a couple of times until your mount arrives.

That's what I'm doing. Best if it's a trusted friend.
 
Don't worry guys,
We are cranking them out .
All orders placed within last few weeks will be fulfilled soon.
Sometimes life gets in the way as well... nothing bad just time consuming...
Thanks everyone for the patience and trust- we are here working fiercely..
 
All good Jacek!

Red has taught us that patience pays off!

We know you're doing everything you can.

Looking forward to using it!
 
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