Schneider Xenar III Prime Lens Set

[Martin Whittier]

After years of waiting and wanting to get a real deal set of cinema primes the time has come. Today Our Schneider Xenars arrived and they are awesome. I put together a quick unboxing to show off the set. Take a look and enjoy.

 

[Bob Gundu]

Congrats Martin!

 

[Steve Das]

After years of waiting and wanting to get a real deal set of cinema primes the time has come. Today Our Schneider Xenars arrived and they are awesome....

Martin what made you pull the trigger after all this time...? Do you plan to mostly rent these out for commercial shoots..?
Your lens test of the canon zoom and Cooke and Zeiss prime lenses I think is one the very best ones out on the internet.

http://blog.brumarfilms.com/2013/07/real-world-lens-test-cooke-zeiss-canon.html

 

[Martin Whittier]

Bob, Thanks!

Steve, first thanks so much for those kind words. Simple answer to your question is both. I do a mix of features, commercials, and rentals. I still stand by my blog post in saying that 95% of people won't know the difference in the final image. But from an operator stand point I hate L lenses for pulling focus and the ZF.2s don't have a good enough distance scale. I do a lot of remote wireless focus work on cranes and steadicam and drifting marks and recalibrating after a power down is the worst. I had thought about going the CP.2 route as a decent middle ground but I decided to go for something that will rent well and stay desirable. The Xenon FFs aren't a full set yet and won't be for awhile or else I may have gone that route. I guess for me its all or nothing at this point, I'm tired of half steps with my gear and I want to work with gear that makes my job a pleasure, and hopefully make a little money too.

 

[Phil Holland]

Congrats Martin. I made the same decision a bit ago on the full set as well for a lot of the reasons you described.

 

[Martin Whittier]

Thanks Phil! I'm loving them so far.

 

[Wes Howell]

I had my first shoot with my Cine-Xenar III set last week. I love them. They are amazing and truly rewarding to work with (especially when pulling focus remotely)

Congrats!

 

[Rob Macey]

I absolutely love my Xenar III's. Great choice.

 

[Marcos Montenegro]

Bump for a good guy and a great set of lenses. Congrats again Martin.

 

[Wes Howell]

I wanted a smaller case than the Schneider one - Had this made custom for $250. I like it.

FWIW -

Wes

 

[Kyle Wullschleger]

Love that case, Wes - who made it for you?

 

[Wes Howell]

eric@mycasebuilder.com It was only like $40 to send him a well designed diagram (which he converted to 3D) a touch over $250.
They also have a wheeled version of this same case.

Really nice case (not just for the money) I will definitely have him make more for me.

Tell him I sent ya his way.

 

[Phil Holland]

I wanted a smaller case than the Schneider one - Had this made custom for $250. I like it.

That looks good Wes. I'll hit those guys up. I need three 3 lens cases made.

I went with the Red Pro Prime case for my set of 6 and it fits perfectly.

 

[Wes Howell]

Hey Phil,

Nice! Glad I brought it up.
FYI - This one is HRPC which is built like a tank. He called me and told me they had color options which was a nice perk.

Also, if you go off my template, you may want to make the largest square section just a tad less deep. IIRC, I went with 4" which was just barely a bit deep. I'm a bit anal, I admit - but they are just a touch over 1/8" out of being level. (I put a thin square piece of foam in there and it's perfect)

Just double check the numbers if you go off what I did.

Best,
Wes

 

[Martin Whittier]

Thanks, Marcos.

Wes, that case looks nice. I'm still waiting to receive my case from Innerspace, it was free from Duclos with the purchase so no complaints there. I plan on renting these lens out and possibly shipping them regularly and in that regards a large ATA case may be more ideal. The recommended padding is 3" between lenses for best protection.