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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 :)

rehoused made in China

Bloody hell! They've rehoused the Sigma 18-35 for $1400!
I'm slightly skeptical of this...Until I see someone who's actually purchased one
 
If you watch the video and look closely you will see this is just a really fancy gear ring that has been mounted
on top of the original lens. There is nothing RE-HOUSED about this. It's literally just a bigger barrel mounted around
your lens like a gear ring. I was excited at first too though!
 
And it shows an iris gear around the ef mount lens with no markings.
 
Sorry fellas... I tested (in past) = Garbage (however don't know if any improvement since then)

I have GL optics 18-35mm (300º) = can't wait for GL (sigma) 50-100mm whenever its ready
 
I spoke with Nan from GL Optics at NAB. He has ordered his Sigma 50-100 and I believe he expects to receive it very soon. He does plan on trying to do a rehousing but made no promises insofar as he has to give it a try first. Honestly, I think he was just being humble and I fully expect he will do if if it is humanly possible. But, depending on just how time consuming it is, he also didn't commit to a price. I have his 18-35 and I love it and was there to urge him to do the 50-100!

As for Cinematics, I actually have three "re-housed" Canon lenses like this and they are neither good nor bad. The optics are obviously identical to the original since they ARE the original. They really just build a new housing around the original lens. What is good about that is that they are more standardized; 114mm front, same positioning of the focus ring (in most cases) and the larger outside diameter which gives a slightly longer focus throw. And, they look cool. One sort of nice feature in all this is that you don't lose the auto focus function which is great if you ever use Foolcontrol for handling focus internally. In the end, you are paying a few hundred dollars for a bit more than a cosmetic upgrade.

Matt Duclos griotte about this guys in hs blog a couple years back: https://thecinelens.com/2011/12/02/cinematics-high-cost-customized-film-lens/

And search RU and you'll find a lot of discussion.
 
I spoke with Nan from GL Optics at NAB. He has ordered his Sigma 50-100 and I believe he expects to receive it very soon. He does plan on trying to do a rehousing but made no promises insofar as he has to give it a try first. Honestly, I think he was just being humble and I fully expect he will do if if it is humanly possible. But, depending on just how time consuming it is, he also didn't commit to a price. I have his 18-35 and I love it and was there to urge him to do the 50-100!

As for Cinematics, I actually have three "re-housed" Canon lenses like this and they are neither good nor bad. The optics are obviously identical to the original since they ARE the original. They really just build a new housing around the original lens. What is good about that is that they are more standardized; 114mm front, same positioning of the focus ring (in most cases) and the larger outside diameter which gives a slightly longer focus throw. And, they look cool. One sort of nice feature in all this is that you don't lose the auto focus function which is great if you ever use Foolcontrol for handling focus internally. In the end, you are paying a few hundred dollars for a bit more than a cosmetic upgrade.

Matt Duclos griotte about this guys in hs blog a couple years back: https://thecinelens.com/2011/12/02/cinematics-high-cost-customized-film-lens/

And search RU and you'll find a lot of discussion.

i taked to gl optics about making their next sigmas with active ef mounts and keeping the auto focus and zoom function for fool control, i hope it happens!
 
i taked to gl optics about making their next sigmas with active ef mounts and keeping the auto focus and zoom function for fool control, i hope it happens!

That would be great but AFAIK, Nan pretty much reconstructs these by hand. The price could be pretty daunting. We'll see.
 
To be honest, I have a a couple of those canon lenses by cinematics and I concur with what Terry Verhaar has said about them.

But if you are looking at GL optics, which are rehoused sigma, tokina, and other lenses.... You might want to give Cinematics a second chance. Go look at their entire line up at pchood.com, look under "customized cine lens" on the left hand table. They have a lot more than just rehoused canon lenses. They also have Sigma, Tokina, Samyang... They even have Nikon, Zeiss and Leica.... Most of them are declicked and have a separate aperture ring (Most except the rehoused Canon and Nikon lenses?). I think you can choose and request for the type of mount... They also have PL mount (obviously they also have EF and Nikon mount). A less important feature but they still allow you to customize it, the color of the ring (Red, Blue or Silver). And these lenses are cheaper than the GL optics, of course I don't know what kind of optimization in terms of optics that GL optics actually does to the original lenses that they rehouse.

In my opinion, if you want a unique and artsy look... Check out Cinematic's Contax Carl Zeiss lenses.
If you want the exact same look as Zeiss CP.2 lenses... Check Zeiss's regular Carl Zeiss ZE/ZF lenses because that's what CP.2's are rehoused Zeiss ZE/ZF lenses... If you want the housing go through cinematics, it's just smarter and cheaper.

Lastly, if you want a truly unique look, Google "Dog schidt optiks"
I know the name does not say much... But these lenses will definitely set you apart compared to everyone else.
The only problem is there is long wait time, they are like RED, they custom build and there is long queue of eager people that want these lenses. Not even that expensive compared to other cinema lenses.
 
It's simple, cinematic a are just a fancy cover on your lens. But inside the focus throw is same.

it means nothing really different than it looks.

in fact it's heavier for "good" looking.
 
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