Sigma Cine vs SLR Magic HyperPrime vs Red Pro Primes

[Tyler Kerpsack]

Im in the market of buying some lenses and these are the ones I have narrowed it down to. Ive rented the 18-35 and 50-100mm Sigma Cine zooms and their build quality is great and I've been impressed with them. I just recently saw a thread on here about the SLR Magic HyperPrimes and was blown away at how amazing they look. Then there is the Red Pro Primes that are also in the price range and look to be a solid build.

I know this is completely opinionated but what is everyone's favorite looking lens. Literally anything is better than what I have now. I have a set of Rokinons on a Scarlet-D and its kind of embarrassing on set...

 

[Dan Kanes]

Couple questions to help you sort it out

1.What’s your all up budget ?

2. When you’re embarrassed by the Rokinons is it because of the image they create or because you think people think they’re lame ?

3. Do you usually have a focus puller or do you pull your own focus?

4. Are you primarily handheld or on a gimbal or do you use sticks / steadicam / dolly more ?

Lenses not to overlook:

Tokina Vista Primes

Sigma Cine are awesome - the 18-35 and Primes are my my favorites, but the 50-100 breathes too much for my personal use.

Sony Cinealta Mark2

Angenieux EZ zooms

 

[Oron Cohen]

Great subject.

From the ones you mentioned it seems like your budget is around 10K? If it is, from the lenses mentioned by Mr Kanes, the Angie EZ zooms are out as they are around 20K for both and the 15-40 is nowhere to be seen. Tokina Vista are also too expensive for your budget.
However the Sony Cinealta mark2 are by far the best bang for the buck. Those lenses are top notch and a full and complete set. I think they are better then the RED and have a beautiful look, they are not Cook's or Master primes but they should have been 30K per a set not 12K.

The SLR magic have a beautiful look but they are not a full set.

As for the Rokinon, they are a fantastic owner-operator set, I myself a bit embraced by them sometimes lol, but then I realise the directors and producers I work with don't really care much and most have no idea if those lenses are good or not, it's mostly in my head, the images they produce are great and they are easy to use on set plus they look professional which is also a good thing.

 

[paulcurtis]

I'm biased clearly as i love the HyperPrimes

I assume the Scarlet is 35mm APS sized? The HyperPrimes do cover the Epic-W but i'm not sure if the Red Pro do, i'm pretty sure the Red Pro Zooms don't. So long term if you're planning on full frame or similar perhaps that's a consideration.

I also have a Xeen 16mm with the HyperPrimes as i found that the sort of nicest match. The OOF is quite smooth for a wide and the CA is pretty well controlled. On the tele end i have a Zeiss 135mm APO for similar reasons. Of course ideally i would love a full set of HyperPrimes.

The Sony CineAltas are a great bargain but they are huge and heavy if that's an issue?

One of the benefits of 'proper' lenses are the focusing characteristics but to be honest you probably don't want to be pulling focus off the barrel in these cases. Either a mechanical follow focus or better still a wireless one. Then i think the whole game changes with focus. A motor can pull faster than you can and a decent controller allows for finer accuracy. Pulling off a barrel is much easier with stills lenses, or Sigmas which are half way between full rotation and stills land.

The Tokinas seem heavy to me so i've not explored them

The Sigmas are great though. I do find them a little soulless but they produce an great image.

My ideal lenses are Summicrons. Size and look, hands down the best. But until i can afford them those HyperPrimes are a wonderful second best for me.

cheers
Paul

 

[Dan Kanes]

The hyperprimes also cover 24x36 full frame - so future resistant.

Not sure about red VV format for them.

Xeens can be found for $1500/lens if you’re patient or shop around. Also most cover 24x36 (possibly VV?)

Presuming your scarlet D has an EF mount ? You would want/need to snag a PL mount for many of these.

The Canon CN-E Primes are a pretty excellent EF option but probably tough to find a set for around $10k.

Not a huge fan of their 14mm either personally.

 

[Zack Birlew]

What could possibly be embarrassing about the Rokinon lenses on set? Whoever is making you feel embarrassed doesn’t need to be on set as they’re being a troll. The Rokinon Cine lenses are a major step up from DSLR still lenses and produce a wonderful sharp image. The non-DS versions do have some CA issues which I’ve witnesses firsthand while building a set for my upcoming feature. Thankfully I could return the non-DS lens I got to get a DS one but if you have the non-DS lenses then I would heartily recommend the upgrade. There’s not much need to bother with the Xeen lenses as they’ll pretty much be the same as the DS lenses but with better mechanics. For overall sharpness on your budget, you can either go back to still lenses and build up a Zeiss ZF.2 set or go with a limited set of Sigma Cine lenses or the stills ART variants. Otherwise, slap a matte box on the front of your setup and nobody can tell what lenses you’re using!