Question about RED Lenses

[Brandon H]

I'm preparing to purchase the RED, and I'm looking at lens options. I'm a little concerned about getting something like the Nikon mount and getting a few primes and a zoom and if there are artifacts when using DSLR lenses, such as soft edges, vignetting, etc. (since these are obviously not tested with the RED's exact sensor size, and optics).

To start my RED set up I'm wanting to get at least one solid zoom lens (like the 18-50mm RED). (This is a must, I don't want to start with primes only). I'm not willing to compromise on lens quality, or have to deal with artifacts.

Can anyone say for sure if there is a solid Nikon DSLR Zoom lens within the 18-50mm range that works great with the RED? Or should I just go with the RED 18-50?

Thanks!,

(First post)

 

[Evin Grant]

The Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 is geat on the Red. The biggest issue with using Nikkors is mechanics. Still lenses are just not designed to pul focus. However the optics are very sharp.

 

[Julio Quintana]

I almost bought the RED 18-50, and I'm REALLY glad that I went with the Nikon mount instead. The Nikon 17-35 is really nice and only costs $1000 new.
The Nikon 50mm f1.4 is also extremely valuable to me. It is much easier to shoot at night with a a f1.4 instead of a f3. And the lens only costs $300.
This combination essentially covers the same range as the RED zoom, with $5000 left over and faster f-stops. Put that money into an Arri follow focus 1 (which is reversible) and you have a very nice setup for half the price of the RED zoom.

 

[Sam Roberts]

I started with the Nikon mount thinking low price, a large choice of lenses and the images of the Nikon lenses being very good would all trump the bad mechanics. But in the end I sent the mount back and bought the RED 18-50. I just didn't like the "feel" of the still lenses, and I do my own focus.

But it is really just a personal preference. Try the Nikon mount. Buy a used prime and and used Nikon zoom and try them. If you don't like the Nikons most camera stores let you return a lens up to about 30 days after purchase and RED will give you a full refund on the Nikon mount or you can sell it here on REDuser.

 

[Yecid Jr.]

Well, most of the info on the Nikon lenses and the Zeiss ZF's is on Ryan E. Walters' thread with an awesome test, and you can find some extra info a little condensed on one I started yesterday. Here are the links:

Ryan's:

http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=13760

My follow up with questions and ideas:

http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=21377

Hope it helps

 

[Brandon H]

Thanks for all your responses it really helps.

In terms of the ability to put Matteboxes on, do any of you know if it's fairly easy to interchange DSLR lenses and make them work well with a mattebox that is used for something like the Nikon Zoom 17-55mm, because the filter size on that is 72mm, but on the Nikon 50mm 1.4 it's something like 52mm.

(My photographer friend let me see his Nikon 17-55mm and I noticed that when zooming in or out the front piece of the lens that has the threads moves back and forth pretty far, I'm wondering if that would push on the mattebox?)

Would it be possible to have a mattebox, that would work well with small lenses like the Nikon 50mm 1.4 AND the Nikon 17-55mm?

 

[Mitch Gross]

For the still lenses it is best to add screw on adapter rings to the front to bump up the size until they are all the same size. I would suggest getting them all to an outer diameter of 80mm as this is an industry standard size.

There are two basic styles of mattebox: clamp-on and Rod mount. For clamp-on you would need a unit with an 80mm hard back and it would mount directly to the lens. But i don't think this is a good idea because still lenses are not designed to have any real weight mounted to the front and you could easily cause damage. To use a rod mount system, I would suggest one that included a bellows back. The purpose of the bellows is to expand & contract with the lens as you adjust focus.