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POLL: Your favorite lenses / Value, Sharpness and also if money was no object

Samir Patel

Samir Patel

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Hi guys. So I am still a novice when it comes to glass. I am slowly acquiring all my Canon still lenses so I can shoot stills not only on RED but also on my DSLR. I hope to one day graduate to high quality PL glass but I was wondering what you all have shot on and consider the best. So I wanted to ask if you more experienced users can weigh in on which lenses would be your goto's for value, sharpness, anything else or if money was no object. Would be nice if you can incorporate all the categories and even reasoning if possible.

Example:

Value:
Ultrawide
Prime
Portrait
Zoom
Telephoto

Sharpest:
Ultrawide
Prime
Portrait
Zoom
Telephoto

and also which lens set you would be happiest with if money was no object.

Thanks
 
I have used most of the lenses out there.

For look, size and speed, I really like the k35s. Probably my first pic.

Next after that would be S4s then super speeds.

My AC probably has a different opinion as to pulling focus on them, but that's what I like.

I am a huge fan of the duclos 11-16. Can't live without it.

The canon 2.8 300 with a doubler should be on every project as well.

In giant zoom world it is hard to beat the Optimo, but in a more budget conscious world, an 18-100, or 20-100 cooke is a great lens to be on a dolly all day on.

Nick
 
best

best

Money and size no object, id go for Zeiss Master Primes, or S5i's (or the new leica's) depending on the project look.
Best all around value/look/size.... Zeiss Super Speeds hands down.
 
I've shot with S4s, Master Primes, Zeiss Superspeeds Mark III....

Just like Nick, I still like the Canon K35s the most. Followed by the Cooke S4s.

The K35s are (in my view) the most organic and most cinematic-looking lenses on Alexa and Epic.

The S4s are amazing as well. Take a look at RUST AND BONE.
 
Here is my take on the whole thing.
For several years I spent my time building my Lens arsenal. I love having lenses immediately available for shooting spur of the mement, when a shoot is not schedule. Just recently however I decided to flip things around. Even after buying several PL mount lenses, I always found myself renting a set of Super speeds, Master primes or whatever for my actual shoots. I actually prefer it this way. These lenses are out of my budget, but produce excellent results when in a commercial situation. They also need maintenance and god forbid anything gets scratched or whatnot by a lazy AC or PA. I would rather have production insurance that covers everything than to constantly be paying for insurance on lenses that are my own.
So I sold my expensive PL mount lenses, bought a Nikon mount for my Epic and bought a set of the Rokinon cine primes, 14mm, 24mm, 35mm, 85mm, and a set of Nikon zooms 20-35 2.8, 28-70 2.8, and 80-200 2.8.
All of these lenses cost about what I sold one lens for.
On commercial and large productions I'll still rent lenses, but for my own projects I have a lens that covers every need. I also sold all of my Canon Gear and lenses and switched to a Nikon D800, so all my lenses work on both my Epic and my D800, and ultimately came out a little ahead on the money side, so things worked out nicely.
So for me, price vs quality works out pretty well. The Rokinon although plastically, are great optically, and fairly good mechanically. Great for personal use and small productions, but I would rent on larger ones.
The Nikons are awesome and great range of lenses for only about $2000 for all three.
Of course the same thing could be done on the Canon side, I just prefere the mechanics of Nikon lenses vs Canon and the forever spinning focus rings.
 
Good thread topic, Samir. A lot of good advice found in the answers you're getting.
 
Stefan Scherperel said:
Here is my take on the whole thing.
For several years I spent my time building my Lens arsenal. I love having lenses immediately available for shooting spur of the mement, when a shoot is not schedule. Just recently however I decided to flip things around. Even after buying several PL mount lenses, I always found myself renting a set of Super speeds, Master primes or whatever for my actual shoots. I actually prefer it this way. These lenses are out of my budget, but produce excellent results when in a commercial situation. They also need maintenance and god forbid anything gets scratched or whatnot by a lazy AC or PA. I would rather have production insurance that covers everything than to constantly be paying for insurance on lenses that are my own.
So I sold my expensive PL mount lenses, bought a Nikon mount for my Epic and bought a set of the Rokinon cine primes, 14mm, 24mm, 35mm, 85mm, and a set of Nikon zooms 20-35 2.8, 28-70 2.8, and 80-200 2.8.
All of these lenses cost about what I sold one lens for.
On commercial and large productions I'll still rent lenses, but for my own projects I have a lens that covers every need. I also sold all of my Canon Gear and lenses and switched to a Nikon D800, so all my lenses work on both my Epic and my D800, and ultimately came out a little ahead on the money side, so things worked out nicely.
So for me, price vs quality works out pretty well. The Rokinon although plastically, are great optically, and fairly good mechanically. Great for personal use and small productions, but I would rent on larger ones.
The Nikons are awesome and great range of lenses for only about $2000 for all three.
Of course the same thing could be done on the Canon side, I just prefere the mechanics of Nikon lenses vs Canon and the forever spinning focus rings.
Click to expand...

Smart moves Stefan.
 
Cinema PL mount:

Vintage lenses: Cooke Speed Panchro's with rehousing. I can't speak enough to how beautiful these vintage lenses are. Bargain and beauty.

Modern: Cooke S4's. Modern and beautiful. Sharp but smooth. Mechanics that are top notch. Focal length selection as great as any set ever made (12, 14, 16, 18, 21, 25, 27, 32, 35, 40, 50, 65, 75, 100, 135, 150, 180 and 300mm) Or Leica Summilux C's, but I have only played with them in shops. Not in field.

Vintage Zoom: Cooke 18-100 T/3

Modern Zoom: Hmmm.... Angie Optimo 17-80


Bargain Photography lenses: I used to use Nikon ZF's before I got cinema lenses. They were great optics with some decent manual photography bodies. CP.2's are basically them, which makes CP.2's some great bargain cine-lenses. I have yet try the new Sony's, but they look like a good deal if they perform decently.
 
For my RED Camera's ...

For Motion -
Most Flexible: Zeiss CP2
Price/Quality: RPP ( i love my 18mm & 35 mm rpp, hard to get a high quality/low T stop/wide cinema lens that's cheap)
Price No Object(rent): Cooke S4 or S5
For Still -
Most Flexible: Zeiss CP2 (i do 90% of my still shooting on cp2)
Price/Quality: Canon L series
favorite: Nikon (i just like the look, but i don't have a complete set)
 
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