Scarlet / Epic with a new Zeiss CP2 Prime

[Franck De Togni]

Hi everyone !

I saw the new collection of Zeiss cp2 and I was wondering how it could be great to have one for my future (hope) Scarlet S35.

I'm going to Photokina (Koln- Germany) Next month and I'm excited to see the complete set of CP2 there.

I just wanted to know If anyone has already tested/worked with these lenses..?

Zeiss Powa:emote_happyhappy:

 

[AnthonyFlores]

Good question. I am considering investing in those and would like to hear from the experts about how well they think they will work on the Scarlett, and perhaps even the Epic.

I think Jarred said they are working on the algorithms now for being able to use the Redmote and touch focus with non-Red lenses -- and I think there's a decent size group of dslr people who will have invested in these Zeiss lenses, and then be switching over to the Scarlet.

Also I'd be curious to see opinions of these versus the red series (mini primes?) that will be available for Scarlet.

Thanks,

Anthony

 

[Franck De Togni]

They are apparently super high quality lenses made for digital cinema with dslr/vdslr/dsmc.
So You can choose canon EF, nikon F or PL mount, that's great.

Please Jarred, anything to say about these lenses and red?

 

[Juhan Malmstein]

They still don't have constant apertures across the whole range, and the 18mm is still painstakingly(or should I say dslr kit-lens) slow + as I read from the zeiss homepage it doesn't cover 36*24mm frame anymore.

On a further note on the older compact primes the 50mm and the 85mm were t1.5 lenses, while on the new ones they're t2.1 lenses. I'm sorry but I'm really straining too see where's the improvement over the older ones here.

I've worked with the older ones and they're mechanically really good lenses, and the glass produces superb images, but the only real downside(inconsistent aperture across the lens set) hasn't been fixed at all. I can't really understand how they can advertise them as a constant t2.1 aperture lens set when the 18mm is t3.6 and the 21 and 25mm lenses are t2.9

 

[Franck De Togni]

For the constant aperture acroos whole range, you're right it's too bad, but all CP2 lenses cover the full-frame image format(24 x 36 mm), ANSI Super 35 and Normal 35 image format, except the CP.2 18mm/T3.6.
For the 50 and 80mm I'm wondering if they didn't make it 1.5 because of the high sensitivity you can get on nwe dslr. If I'm not wrong, the higher you can go on sensitivity on your camera, the lower you need low f lens... Am I wrong? It's not really the same with most actual interchangeable lens camcorder.
Anyway, thanks a lot for your impressions !

 

[Michael Hastings]

Good question. I am considering investing in those and would like to hear from the experts about how well they think they will work on the Scarlett, and perhaps even the Epic.

I think Jarred said they are working on the algorithms now for being able to use the Redmote and touch focus with non-Red lenses -- and I think there's a decent size group of dslr people who will have invested in these Zeiss lenses, and then be switching over to the Scarlet.

Also I'd be curious to see opinions of these versus the red series (mini primes?) that will be available for Scarlet.
Thanks,
Anthony

Aren't the cp2 manual lenses so autofocus doesn't mean anything?

To my knowledge, after speaking with the Arri rep at nab 2009 they are essentially the old con tax zeiss designs that were updated to zf and then "cinevised" with large mechanics, focus scales and gears.

And then the cp2 version were just designed to be switchable from Pl to canon slr mount but still all manual iris and focus.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Compact primes, original and CP2, are all manual. The CP2 set has the ability to be changed to Canon EF mount in addition to PL, however the apertures on the 50 and 85 have been reduced so those two lenses are not as fast as the original Compact Prime offerings or the Zeiss ZF and ZE SLR lenses. All the compact primes, except the 18mm, cover 35mm full frame. Overall very nice lenses, but the oddball 18mm is one factor that has kept me from buying them. Personally, I think the new Cooke Panchros are a nicer overall set of glass and they are all consistent T2.8 across the range. The only advantage the Zeiss CP2s have over them is the CP2s cover FF35, 18mm excluded... I guess the CP2's are also about 35% cheaper too.

If Zeiss made the CP2 18mm a T2.9 lens with FF35 coverage, to better match the rest of the set, and if they offered a 100mm or 120mm on the long end, I would probably buy them. But I'm very happy with the RED primes I have now. Big and heavy, but perform great.

 

[Franck De Togni]

Thanks for the informations, Jeff ! And for your feelings about these lenses.
I was interrested in these because of their normally really good quality. But I wanted first to see how it really looks like, that's one of the reasons why I go to Photokina next month. But I was'n planning to buy the wole set, it would be too exprensive for me. Maybe one or two, sothat I could also use the when I got a scarlet. For the other ranges, I'll deal with other lenses.
So in your opinion their quality and price make them a good deal?

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Their build quality and optical quality make these very good lenses for the price. Do check them out for yourself. Like I said above, it was the oddball 18mm as well as the lack of a 100mm or longer prime, that keep me from buying a set for myself and my rental clients.

 

[I Bloom]

For Red One sized sensor the CP2s don't make as much sense and the RPP's seem like a better bang for the buck in terms of speed, though they are quite large...

Seems like the CP2s are really good lenses if you are shooting cine stuff on a full frame chip like a PL-modded 5D. Then the oddball 18mm doesn't matter so much, besides you might just sub in more expensive lenses for wide and telephoto... So ahem, in the 6K Epic Monstro future scenario....... sigh.