Something to consider...

[BENTrandom]

Thanks Rfo! Glad I asked. I have a general distrust of most Wiki entries. Good to get information from those who really know.

 

[Nova Invicta]

So were all wasting our time making better lenses?

So were all wasting our time making better lenses?

Evin Grant seems to suggest that lenses like S4 Cookes (which are not softer than Primos or Ultra Primes / Master Primes) are not nessisary on the Red One camera and that lenses like Nikons are perfectly acceptable which in many instances they will be but not in all. Firstly anamorphic lenses are actually two lenses put together with one locked off and the other able to focus and the characteristics of a Nikon for instance are completely changed by the second anamorphic lens. Some high performance lenses that look great spherically look bad when anamorphic glass is added to the point there unuseable yet in there normal state out perform everything else.
As you increase the resolving power of your film or CMOS sensor it stands to reason you need to do the same with your lenses. Secondly stills lenses are optimized at 5.6 generally where as cinematography lenses will be optimized at 2.8 because most cameramen want to shoot wide open. The designers of cinematography lenses have been doing them for a very long time and have many different characteristics to consider that for stills are less important. Still lenses are also not generally designed to work to the same harsh conditions as cinematography lenses (try ripping your Nikon regularly with a preston and see what happens to the mechanics!)
In lenses you definately get what you pay for yes Nikons will give you acceptable images and if that what you can afford go for it but they wont extract the full potential of your sensor and if the arguement were true then why do stills manufacturers also sell lower priced versions of the same types of lenses?

 

[Michael Brennan]

Hi Guys,
I have a set of 35MK2 Zeiss Primes,12,16,20,24,28,32,50,85,135.
I've had most of em for about fifteen years, and they have paid for
themselves about 10 times over. My accountant can't believe
they still exist let alone still make money.
The 50mm needed a new front element, the 28mm got bent
and needed to be fixed,one time the 135mm needed to be cleaned
after a sandy shoot. Apart from that nothing.
My point is, getting high q the long term. This should also apply for Digital.........
Cheers Mezmo.

I agree lenses are a long term investment.
I've found with HD zoom lenses (like SD zooms) that they will need to be serviced to remove the very very fine dust and pollution that is deposited on inner elements.
A reasonable analogy is the fine layer that gets deposited to the inside of your car windscreen.

You'll notice improved contrast after the service.
Primes seem to suffer less as there is less glass and less sucking of air into the lens by moving elements.

Living and working in London and working on a wide range of shoots including docs, side mount aerials I decided to service my zoom lenses after 30 months of heavy shooting after comparing contrast to a new lens.
I guess that is the test, put a new lens on and compare, this a process that is easy to do and evaluate with HD and RED than with film camera.




Mike Brennan

 

[Lachlan Ward]

Problem is you need to take something like that and get it too all prospective clients that don't know or couldn't care less, and just see "SLR lenses?... Hmmph, I want professional gear!".

It's not so much a question of whether the Nikon's or other SLR lenses will work as much as it is a question of how other professionals in the field perceive your setup I suppose. An AC that knows cine lenses might be a bit apprehensive about SLR's... of course they can learn, and why not. But at the end of the day there are a great many individuals who would rather just have the name product there because it's not an unknown.

I think the results that get posted up here over the next year of Red footage using Nikon glass will certainly open peoples eyes to the benefits of price. Especially when they see what a $100 lens can do compared to it's >$4000 counterpart.

Yeah its a shame that the guys with the dosh don't know about the Nikon Panavision thing. Its the one of the main Resons I am kiting up with a nice new selection of Cooke's. + Itech is just kick ass. I would use all the Red Lenses but people get freaked out enough with the idea of all this new "untested" gear, so the more brand name stuff you can surround your Red with the better your prospects of getting moneyed up loons to pay you.

But i have nothing but respect for the guys that are putting together setups with Red Lenses and Nikkons Lenses for there own films and there own prod companies. More power to you, & I am hoping to see a lot of hot little films being shot on red and released. A return to auteurship, lets see more 'Into The Wilds'.

Good luck to everyone:biggrin: