Scarlet and Zeiss ZF lenses

[Dan Rosario]

I have a nice collection of Zeiss ZF (not the .2) lenses I have been using for a couple years now with my other m4/3 camera. I recently purchased a Scarlet (it has yet to arrive) and I was wondering if anyone is using this combination. After searching and not finding much on Zeiss ZF and using old manual still Nikon lenses I'm curious about this possibility.

Anyone?

 

[Shane Kelly]

I have the original zf's and use them all the time with my epic and an optitek nikon mount. They work great, especially for travel jobs.
I shot the hulu series "up to speed" with this combination.

 

[Dan Rosario]

Shane,

That's great news. The RED Nikon mount I purchased reads the AF Series Nikon lenses. Do you know if using manual lenes would affect that mount? I imagine not. Does the Optitek accept AF lenses?

 

[Stephen Mick]

Using the manual Zeiss ZF lenses on the RED Epic/Scarlet Nikon mount is perfectly fine. They'll work just like they would on any other camera…fully manual.

The Optitek mount does accept AF lenses, but there is no electronic support, so the AF will not function. But the Optitek mount does have a ring that controls the aperture on Nikon AF lenses, so you can change the f-stop.

Basically, if you've got a Nikon Mount from RED, it'll work fine with the manual Zeiss lenses, and will provide focus and aperture control electronically to newer Nikon lenses (see RED's list of specific lenses supported).

 

[Dan Rosario]

Thank you Stephen. Much appreciated.

 

[jimhare]

I've used the original ZFs (fully cinevised by Duclos) since the Red One! Now on the Epic and Scarlet they are still absolutely amazing! As long as you don't have an A/C bitching about the focus direction and mount, they will serve you well for years.