RPP 100mm vs. Cooke S4i 100mm

[Peter Matthes]

Last week, we shot a national brand pet food commercial with two Sony PMW-F3 cameras. An occasion arose where we had a chance to match up a 100mm Cooke S4i and a 100mm Red Pro Prime in a shot reverse shot of our two actresses.

(Please excuse the poor quality of this iPhone picture)

I was amazed to see that the RPP looked on par with the Cooke S4i. In fact, the RPP was noticeably sharper, forcing us to soften the image of that F3 slightly to level out the look.

Now, this is obviously one set-up ... and one lighting situation ... but the side by side comparison of these two lenses was pretty eye opening.

:thumbsup:

 

[David (dudi) Namir]

Yes Mamiya makes good glass. Housing are not so user friendly and bulky is the word for the 25mm and 35mm. Other than that it is all fine.

 

[Gunleik Groven]

Hm... On F3

I didn't really like neither Masters or RPPs on the R1, because they looked a bit hash on that camera with that resolution. They kinda outresolved the camera so it got all hard and edgy.

I can only imagine that on an F3...

On the Epic otoh, the gradients are so smooth, that I have found myself falling totally in love with them

Cam and glass need to work well together...

 

[Ryan De Franco]

When I try to convince producers to shell out for Cookes, it's because the story involves uncertainties, intimacies, lots of female close-ups... all situations where resolution is the last thing you're trying to increase. It's about the watercolor bokeh, soft roll-off and indescribable luminance. I fully believe the Red prime was sharper, it's a great lens for anything that needs to be clean and tack sharp--but that's not always what we're after.