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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 :)

Sony CineAlta Primes V2 in 2023

Won't go into full detail, but the designer of these lenses has gone on to design other modern and popular glass. Very talented gentlemen. There's several forgotten babies out there and one prototype set of something never released I've been hunting for for years. Two sets made, non-existent and gone to the world sadly. They were the project after these were made.

These are good purchase and do have a great look. There's two sets from this era that went through "versions" that plagued their adoption throughout certain well known brands also competing hard in this realm. The Sony CineAlta II and the Schneider Cine-Xenar III primes. Both very, very good optically and render a very pleasing image.

With modern S35 cameras now on the market in earnest from RED and Arri I'm sure more of these will be gobbled up via the used market.
 
Not too long before covid I bought a B-stock PMW-F3 package with the original 35, 50,85mm "plastic" lenses as well as a set of the metal 20.25,135 metal lenses (not sure if that means they are V1 or V2). I had a small inheritance and decided to outfit more of a complete rental package beyond my REDs and underwater gear.

Besides Covid cutting out productions for quite a while it also convinced me it was time to move out of my 5000 sq/ft facility to my 4 car garage and into semi-retirement mode. Wasn't too comfortable doing rentals out of the house (since more likely to be to lower budget, less well known renters, than what I usually dealt with with the underwater gear). So that gear has pretty much been sitting doing nothing and it's time to start selling. These lenses probably have very few hours on them and appear near new.

Although I haven't used much cinema glass, they appear to make very nice images somewhere between the Zeiss/cooke looks. I will say that the "plastic" V1 lenses are much lighter than the metal versions and are pretty nice for handheld or gimbal work. Probably not suitable for someone that does a lot of rentals or hundreds of shooting days per year - they might be ideal for someone that would be doing limited rentals (as I had anticipated for myself) or an owner/operator that would likely treat them kinder.

I'm pretty realistic about pricing so if anyone is interested in these lenses let me know. Also, if Phil or any other well known dp more familiar with cinema lenses would like to do some comparison testing I would be happy to facilitate that.
 
I always thought they were tasteful choices, I was too caught up with SLR lenses at the time they came out but looking back they are some fine S35 lenses, definitely would have been my choice outside of RED Pro Primes back then. If I knew I were going to be using S35 again, I would most certainly consider them as an option!
 
Hi,
I am using my Sony Cinealtas v2 with Scarlet MX and really love them. Usually for lightweight option, when I am shooting with Flycam flowline in straight 4 hours on documentary, I grab IRIX Cine 30mm, because it’s only a one-kilo-lens and not a 2.2-kilo-lens, but the Sony are definitely better
20mm, 25mm and 135mm are the best ones.
 
the best way to describe them is: Oatmeal! Yes we all know Oatmeal is good for you, it will keep you nourished, but no one ever will write the poem about it now would it crave. Cineltas are far form bad lenses but they so blend and so neutral that they become a poster child for the mediocrity. Schneider Cine-Xenar III primes on the other hand offer really sophisticated look and are really quite nice lenses
 
Phil Holland said:
Won't go into full detail, but the designer of these lenses has gone on to design other modern and popular glass. Very talented gentlemen. There's several forgotten babies out there and one prototype set of something never released I've been hunting for for years. Two sets made, non-existent and gone to the world sadly. They were the project after these were made.
Click to expand...

Very talented indeed!
 
Matej Pok said:
Hi,
I am using my Sony Cinealtas v2 with Scarlet MX and really love them. Usually for lightweight option, when I am shooting with Flycam flowline in straight 4 hours on documentary, I grab IRIX Cine 30mm, because it’s only a one-kilo-lens and not a 2.2-kilo-lens, but the Sony are definitely better
20mm, 25mm and 135mm are the best ones.
Click to expand...

Matej, someone recommended the Irix 15mm as a wide option to go with the CineAlta's. I'm evaluating options at the moment but I read online there may be some compatibility issues with some PL camera including the Alexa. Do you know if that's true?
 
Luka Sanader said:
the best way to describe them is: Oatmeal! Yes we all know Oatmeal is good for you, it will keep you nourished, but no one ever will write the poem about it now would it crave. Cineltas are far form bad lenses but they so blend and so neutral that they become a poster child for the mediocrity. Schneider Cine-Xenar III primes on the other hand offer really sophisticated look and are really quite nice lenses
Click to expand...

I can't speak to the Schneider's but I get the Oatmeal analogy. What I do like about the CineAlta's is that they're very consistent, they're excellent mechanically and visually they don't "draw attention" to themselves. I like that they're neutral but not too clinical. Really puts the focus on the story. The pastel out of focus areas are growing on me too, though they certainly don't pop the way the Zeiss's do.
 
I wish those had a wider lens after the 20mm one. Those are really close to UP in terms of sharpness and contrast, while the flares on some could have been a bit better!

Shot numerous projects on them, when the UP set was out of budget
 
Dean Butler said:
Matej, someone recommended the Irix 15mm as a wide option to go with the CineAlta's. I'm evaluating options at the moment but I read online there may be some compatibility issues with some PL camera including the Alexa. Do you know if that's true?
Click to expand...

It was problem with 1st batch, because they were too “fat” and on some cameras PL mount’s locking wings could collide with lens barrel. But this is not the problem any more, you can use IRIX safely.
 
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