Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • 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 :)

telephoto lens

T

Tim Marshall

New member
Joined
Apr 22, 2009
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Hey all new to the forum here, so forgive me if this topic has already been posted. I did a search and wasn't able to find anything. I'm considering buying a RED one to shoot Professional surfing and need recommendations for a good zoomable telephoto option.

Thanks any info will help
 
I'll second that. I also have a canon Century converted 600mm 4.5 I got for cheap, Less than 1k with a case.
 
Because the optical stab doesn't look under all conditions since it's designed for stills, not motion.

Shooting surf just needs a gnarly heavy head like a 2575 or Video 30 to do right.
 
Killer thanks guys! I saw that century makes that same lens as well. As far as the PL mount is that the one RED offers, the b4 to PL?
 
They meant that you should either have your canon lens converted to have a PL mount, to use directly on a Red One with full manual controls, or get a birger canon mount for your r1 and have alll the electronics working.
 
Thanks Juhan! I'm new to all this so all the info helps. Hey Nate, is there a trusted retailer that I can find that lens? Also any recommendations on mount conversions? Checked out your site your work looks really good
 
with 2/3" Scarlet you will need onlyzoom up to 200mm :)
 
Tim Marshall said:
Hey all new to the forum here, so forgive me if this topic has already been posted. I did a search and wasn't able to find anything. I'm considering buying a RED one to shoot Professional surfing and need recommendations for a good zoomable telephoto option.

Thanks any info will help
Click to expand...

Shooting motion footage of pro surfing has been one of my genres of production since the late '70's. For the past 19 months since receiving my RED cameras I've shot pro surfing and giant empty grinding barrels extensively when I've gotten the chance - in Hawaii, California, and beyond.

I produced, directed, and shot three RED camera (air, in-water, long lens land) coverage of the Pipeline Masters clear back in December 2007.

For lenses, I've shot surfing with a rented Angenieux 24-290 (Optimo 12x), and four lenses I own: RED 300, Nikon 400 AIS, Nikon 50-300 AIS, and Canon 150-600. IMO shooting surfing effectively with RED usually calls for long zooms. My stock Canon 150-600, with a Century PL mount only conversion has been the perfect lens for shooting action sports (including surfing) and wildlife. The optics are excellent, it only weighs 9 pounds, and I use the original sliding/twisting lever on the left side of the lower casing to easily push, pull, and rack focus.

The stock 150-600 is very hard to find. Mine is in excellent condition, and is regularly serviced for me by Duclos. Its a great lens for sports and wildlife, and expensive for a 20 year old lens, but IMO worth every penny you pay for it.

I use a Miller 55 head, with Miller Solo 1505 carbon fiber legs with all my mobile action sports and wildlife setups. The head action is excellent, and the head/legs combo only weighs 13.5 pounds.

The attached pic of me shooting at Santa Cruz is one of my original setups with the lens. Since then I use an ET shock Mount to mount the drive on the smart side, transverse mount the battery on the top/back of the camera, and use 18", 15mm rods on an ET Arri 15mm base plate. The entire camera rig setup like that only weighs around 27 pounds - which along with the 13.5 pound tripod setup is easy for one person to carry down a a beach and setup.

Hope this info helps you...
 
That Canon 150-600 that Steve has is a perfect lens for that application. The push-pull zoom and small diameter focus knob are really intuitive and great for the one man band application. Harder for an AC setting marks because the diameter is so small.
In my early days of ACing with that lens, we would often make a showcard focus scale in a circle and a showcard pointer to make marks...
Either way, a great piece of glass. Probably hard to find nowadays.
Cheers,
Harry
 
Steve, thanks Brotha! You're the man. Thats exactly what I needed. Love the pic of SC. It's where I'm from. So Century makes a PL mount then? Also on Century's site they have that 150-600 lens that apparently they re-worked, thoughts on that? Same?better?
 
Harry,

Yes, the glass is excellent in the 150-600. Most action sports and nature is shot at apertures between f8 and f11, which jives really well with the "sweet spot" of the lens. I bought mine from a longtime film DP/cinematographer who specialized in auto commercials. For when an AC was used he had a focus mark wheel pad. I don't use that because I eye focus action sports and wildlife. As you said about the multi-control lever, the push to zoom in, pull to zoom out, and twist to rack focus action of it is very intuitive for a single operator eye focusing. We even output some of my 4k RED footage shot with the lens to 65mm film for a demo - and it looked stunning. Good glass is always good glass. As I'm sure you remember, the 150-600 is crisp, with good contrast, and no weirdness or artifacts. It will cover FF35, so with RED One in S35, you're getting a great center crop out of the lens. Yes, the original stock version of this lens is very rare. If one can now be found in good condition, it will usually go for around $10k (or more).

Tim,

If you look hard you may still be able to find an original stock Canon 150-600 somewhere. There are still a few around. You're from Santa Cruz eh? Love it there. I'm based just down the coast from you, in Pismo Beach. When the waves are good in the winter, and I have the time, I quite often run up to Santa Cruz, Mavericks, and beyond to shoot stock wave and surfing footage. Century used to make PL mount conversions for Canon FD lenses. As I remember, they don't make them anymore. If you score a stock 150-600, you might want to check with Century to see if they still have a few of those PL conversions left in the storeroom. Century, Otto Nemenz, Optex, and others completely re-housed many of the 150-600s, so they would be more "cine friendly". The lens has been ( and still is) in high demand by cinematographers who need a long zoom for their work. The glass/optics are the same as the original lens, but the converted lenses are much larger, heavier, and essentially lock you into having to use a matte box and follow focus - accessories which are unnecessary for shooting action sports and wildlife. That's why I opted for the lighter, more eye-focus friendly original version of the lens. On both versions, at wide open apertures the image is good, but slightly soft. The sweet spot of the lens is between f/8 and f/11. More stopped down than that it's still quite good. My 150-600 holds focus throughout a zoom (in or out) and breathes very little. Filtering on the original version is via drop-in filters in a small tray forward of the mount. With the Century PL mount conversion, filtering is via screw-on filters on the very back of the PL mount - 43mm.

Hope this added info helps you. PM me your contact info, and sometime when I'm headed to SC I'll give you a shout so you can check out the 150-600 on RED.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top