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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 :)

RED 18-85mm new experiences?

Tim, it's a REALLY good lens! It was Red's first Pro line lens and has very low flare characteristics along with beautiful bokeh and smooth-as-butter mechanics.

I owned one for a while but sold it mostly because our clients just weren't renting it unfortunately, as it was an unknown at the time and very few DP's wanted to use it over primes or Angenieux zooms.

But had I been using it only for personal stuff I would definitely have kept it!

HTH

Paul
 
I have this zoom and love it. Would I like it to throw longer to 100mm? Of course...but what you get for the price is money (pardon the pun).

We used my cam and lens package on a jib for our 5 camera shoot back in December and the co-directors independently loved the image from the jib more so that any other angle...we had two cameras with 17-102 lenses and another up in the balcony for masters which was a 25-250. I also had a 25-250 (wide open at 3.5) on a dolly for all the close ups on talent, but apparently there was something about the jib shots...can it be attributed to the lens? Maybe. We were all shooting in the same direction under the same lights, so perhaps.

Besides that, yes it's a beast, which is why I have the Mantis for any handheld work...otherwise it's on my Ronford's or a dolly. It's very heavy and I'm 6' 2" and 250 lbs so I can handle most weight...

Now that there's the 17-50mm lens it would have really made me think long and hard about which one to buy. However, I love working from the long end of the lens...just personal opinion.
 
I have it and love it! I'd just like to know if the lens will be able to cover the 5K Mysterium-X sensor on the new EPIC?
 
Tim Lüdin said:
Hi guys

There is not much info about the 18-85mm RED zoom.
How many of you have worked with it so far?
How good is it realy?

Thanks for your replys.

Tim
Click to expand...

Hey Tim,

I was asking about it a month or two back, and Florian Stadler pointed me towards these two threads, the second of which includes a music video he did with it.

http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=27608
http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=28095&page=5

Ketch Rossi has also sung this zoom's praises.
 
Tim Lüdin said:
Hi guys

There is not much info about the 18-85mm RED zoom.
How many of you have worked with it so far?
How good is it realy?

Thanks for your replys.

Tim
Click to expand...

Tim the RPZ 18-85 is to me one of the very best zooms, and together with the RPP's has passed several tests for their use in S3D, which this requires not only the lenses to have a great IQ, but also requires to have little to no defects, when having to match two EXACT lenses, while with other company's you might need to get several lenses together to choose the very best and matching two of each, with RED lenses, we have found the the match is easier to achieve with at times the very first two sets.

Also when matching zooms for S3D is imperative that the inner motion when zooming be also as close as possible to eliminate as much disparity in the images as possible, and as the zoom do not move in a strait line when zooming, each has their own movement and need calibration, which with lenses like the Angeniuox can also be calibrated with out control screws, but with other Zooms such as the 18-85 you need this lenses to be as perfect as possible, with as little barrel, pincushion distortion as possible, I can't also wait to get our hands on the 17-50's hoping the same high quality of the 18-85.
 
Thanks a lot for your infos guys.
I've worked a lot with the big zooms lately and I kinda start to like them.
I'm looking around for a zoom "workhorse". Sometimes it's just very confy to have one big lens that covers the wide mid and close shots within seconds.

It's the hardest time to buy lenses right now. To many new options and we still dont know about the FF epic.
I certainly would like to upgrade my Epic X to a FF Epic. So I'm kinda stuck with my lens purchase.

I love primes. The RED primes are very very good but too big and heavy for my taste. The new Digital Elites from Russia could be it, T 1.3 only half as heavy as the RPPs and only a bit more expensive.

The new RED 17-50 could also be a killer lens if it is as good as everybody is hoping for.

And at the end of the day we could be ending up shooting Canon or Nikon still lenses if the Pro REDmote is working properly.

Dont get me wrong, I love real cine lenses. I work with them on all big shoots. I need some glass for my personal and lower priced work. My budget is around 25 K. So there you go.
It's not so easy right now, when FF is around the corner and the whole industry is changing so fast right now.

The glass-war is on I guess.

So what glass do you own or would you buy at the moment?

Cheers
Tim
 
The 18-85 zoom is a great lens I've used on a few commercials. It does require a support bracket because of the weight, otherwise there is some flexing at the back of the lens by 10 microns. That puts the cost at approx. $10,500+.

Given the price of the newer (more flavor, less calories) 17-50 zoom and Jarad's statement that it fits on all Arri's (unlike other Red products) at $6500 I believe it's a better buy, particularly if you're going handheld.
Having said all that, I know someone who is selling their Red 18-85 in mint condition at a good price. Email me if you need the info.
 
Thanks David

The 18 - 85 you mentioned is 8500 bucks.
I'm realy tempted. As you said, the new 17-50mm could even be a better buy.

My head keeps spinning.

Tim
 
Jim stated in a thread a while back that the 18-85mm does cover the MX sensor at 5K so no problem there. I did not save the thread but i am 100% sure he said this. From memory it's in a thread about the RPP.
 
Brigham Edgar said:
Jim stated in a thread a while back that the 18-85mm does cover the MX sensor at 5K so no problem there. I did not save the thread but i am 100% sure he said this. From memory it's in a thread about the RPP.
Click to expand...

liar :)
 
@ Jarred

Does it not cover MX sensor?
 
I never thought of the implications over upgrading my sensor and whether the 18-85 will be safe or not...ug. I certainly hope I don't have to lose some of the short end of the zoom in order to safely cover the MX sensor. Jarred?
 
The Jannard Quote:
Jannard said:
The 18-85 T2.9 RPZ covers full 4K on a RED ONE, about 4.75K on the new S35 Mysterium-X and about 4.5K on the up-coming FF35 Mysterium Monstro sensors. This is as good (or better) than any available cine zoom of this type.
Click to expand...
 
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