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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

SLR Magic APO HyperPrime mini review

darren scott said:
https://youtu.be/Tbz7hAW0HJU

Rack focus tests with my 32mm on both my blackmagic cameras. Used my dji remote follow focus. Nothing like your lens Kyle. I would send it back. Side note... The CA is very controlled.
Click to expand...

Hi Darren,

you don't have it like Kyle while moving your focusring, but take a look when you change the direction after you reached infinity. The image shifts a bit.
As i said not as much as Kyle but close to my Lenses. Except the 85. But it's just when you change directions. try to change the focusdirection a bit while focusing.

But maybe it's the same on other lenses? I don't know but it's not on my 85mm and worst on my 25mm.

Edit: didn't watched the video to the end, i saw it even more on the focus changes. So is this normal?
 
Marcus Gelhard said:
Hi Darren,

you don't have it like Kyle while moving your focusring, but take a look when you change the direction after you reached infinity. The image shifts a bit.
As i said not as much as Kyle but close to my Lenses. Except the 85. But it's just when you change directions. try to change the focusdirection a bit while focusing.

But maybe it's the same on other lenses? I don't know but it's not on my 85mm and worst on my 25mm.

Edit: didn't watched the video to the end, i saw it even more on the focus changes. So is this normal?
Click to expand...

Yes I see what you are speaking of. My comment about Kyle's lens is it does this weird floating motion up and down. In regards to the slight image shift when changing focus direction in the video example ... I do not see it on my 50 and 85...and as u can see its slightly there in the 32mm but its definitely there in the 25mm

I guess it cannot be normal if the 50mm and 85mm don't have it. I will contact my dealer.
 
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Jake Wilganowski said:
Sigmas are great clinical lenses. Top notch. APOs have a lot more character. The interesting thing about the apo’s is they are like 2 lenses in one. Run them wide open and they go nuts on flares and low-con. Stop down to 2.8 and they clean up but still have nice flares, just not low-con veil. I really like them.
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Thanks for your thoughts Jake, really helpful and interesting.
 
Upon closer inspection and testing my 32 and 50mm lenses show about the same amount of image shift. It's a livable amount as in i can accept it if needs be. But the 25mm is not livable. That will have to be replaced. The 85mm is perfect. Shows no image shift. This image shift is noticed when using a remote FF and the camera is static.
 
Just caught up with this.

On the image shift issues how sure are you that it is the lens?

Are you using EF mount?

The reason is that i went through a whole issue with torque on the motor just flexing the lens and mount like crazy. If you just push the lens from the side do you see image shift - in other words the whole lens mount is not rock solid. At the moment i have two rods which are clamped to the baseplate but i have another clamp at the end of the two rods for added rigidity and i run the motor on a lower torque setting. Now in my actual use i have not noticed anything like this but i've also never tested for it, so i will try that today.

But i would ask you to see if your lens and mount combination is rock solid. EF isn't a pro mount.

Breathing is one thing but the lateral movement through the focus - i don't quite understand how a lens would do that internally.

I will try out my 32 and see.

cheers
Paul
 
PL mount on a PL camera. And yeh everything is rock solid. The 85mm doesn't exhibit this at all. I know the EF adapter issue. But pl should not be doing this at all. On my lenses it happens when you change focus direction...not during the action of focusing like Kyle's own. The 25mm is very noticeable, the 32 and 50 aren't as noticeable but its there and the 85 is solid.
 
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Okay, i had a look in more detail and ran off tests with 50, 32 and 25.

My 50 and 32 are normal (to my eyes), the 25, like Darren pointed out does have something odd going on.

https://vimeo.com/324965862/9982ccc49f

There's a link to a video of the 50, 32 and 25.

Now i am pretty sure that *some* of what is being discussed is motor torque flexing the lens. If i pull crazy from end to end then i can flex my rods a little (can see it in the 50) and that's with me clamped both ends. A slow move is fine, so that to me means that it's not internal in the lens. I've seen this with many other lenses too. In fact sometimes i can see flex with my eyes.

The 25 however is showing some oddness which i can't really explain. I guess an element inside is perhaps not 100% straight - but i don't know enough to guess so there could be a couple of issues - a real one and one that is exaggerating the effect.

EDIT: I'm not sure that the 25 just isn't breathing weirdly. It's like a focal length change going on IMHO, so i think it's alright. A bit of a vertigo effect...

I've never had an issue in the field and to be honest if i was doing a pull that showed it off i'd just stabilise the footage.

Kyle - your video really looks like the lens mount to me, i know you say it's not but the way the bounce changes direction with a focus change. You said some was hand focus and some FF. Is it a wireless FF, can you adjust torque and move the focus very slowly?

cheers
Paul
 
Here's my 25mm. In the first clip the shift is very noticeable with the pretty fast pull. The shift is exaggerated with fast pulls. When i took it outside for the other shots it doesn't look as noticeable (different speed pulls from slow to fast) . It looks a good deal better than the INT shot, even with the fast pulls. Slow pulls are fine. FYI my remote FF is located on the top of the lens. I had to disengage the FF and put it back on between EXT and INT shots...but it is still on the top.

I guess in 90% of shots the camera is moving and most pulls usually aren't so aggressive hence this shift prob will not be noticed...but those shots when it's static.

My 25mm does not seem to have that vertigo weirdness that Paul's 25mm has and Kyle's 32mm (they looks the same in that regard)

https://vimeo.com/325060482?activityReferer=1

password : slr25mm

But the 85...fast slow...whatever kind of pull its solid. They all should be like this. So is this a defect of the lens? I have emailed slr magic. No response as yet.

https://vimeo.com/325070172

password: slr85mm
 
darren scott said:
Here's my 25mm. In the first clip the shift is very noticeable with the pretty fast pull. The shift is exaggerated with fast pulls. When i took it outside for the other shots it doesn't look as noticeable (different speed pulls from slow to fast) . It looks a good deal better than the INT shot, even with the fast pulls. Slow pulls are fine. FYI my remote FF is located on the top of the lens. I had to disengage the FF and put it back on between EXT and INT shots...but it is still on the top.
Click to expand...

Well i can see the focal length changing on your 25mm, i guess the scene is different and you don't see it quite so much but the 25mm is breathing more than the others and i do think that *some* of what we're seeing in that. Funnily enough i quite like the effect!

I can't get over the fact that the movement in the 25mm is the same each time and to me it looks like flex. One thing to try is whether it only does it on the extremes, near and far or if you stick to a focus range in the middle does it still flex. In other words is the bump in the same focus point each time or does it just coincide with a change in focus direction.

How does the mount on the 25mm look compared to the 85mm, is there some play in the 25mm that the 85 does not have?

I guess it could be that the internal focus helicoid or cam (whatever they're using) has some debris in perhaps, or isn't quite as precise as it should be?

So it will be interesting to see what they say.

cheers
Paul
 
Hi All, thought I'd give an update

Lens mount and rail flex are absolutely not causing the issue. I am using PL mount, no adapters, cranked down very firmly: the mount is rock solid. Using Nucleus-M wireless focus, so there are no forces being introduced from me hand twisting or pushing. Rods are thick stainless steel mated to a baseplate/cage that has two 3/8” screws to prevent any twist. There is no observable flex in either the lens housing or the rail

Dain from Hot Rod has been hugely responsive and helpful. He has involved their founder Illya, and they are interfacing with SLR Magic. I stopped by Hot Rod Cameras in Burbank yesterday and they inspected the setup to ensure it wasn't an obvious mistake on my part. Sure is nice to have that customer service, glad I didn't purchase through B&H

Also a quick note that made me feel better about the whole situation. Dain has experience renting many lenses and told me no lens is immune to QC issues. Lenses costing 20x more than the Hyperprimes can suffer from worse problems and reliability. He's been at rental houses that had to overhaul lenses after every rental, with those sets costing upwards of tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Cine lens mechanics haven't changed all that much in the last decade, so I doubt it's a radical design that SLR Magic decided to implement that is failing

Let's hope that this issue can be fixed with a minor design or material change. I love the image from these lenses and would be thrilled to see them solve this
 
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