Vintage Cinema Zoom

[Janis Huber]

Hi there,

I'm looking for some Vintage (Cinema) Zooms/Vintage Primes. I already found some stuff, but I'd like
to know which are your favorits.

My price tag is around 3'000 $ max. 4'000$ for zooms, 1'000 for primes.

Looking forward to your recommendations.

Cheers

 

[ng smith]

Worth looking at a Cooke 20-100 T3.1

 

[Janis Huber]

Thanks!

Thats a very nice lens indeed, but seems hard to find...

How is the sharpness?

 

[Nick Gardner]

Cooke 20-100 is a great lens. Good luck finding one for $4k. Sharpness is often overrated. Any modern cine lens (and by modern I mean since modern coatings so like the early 80's) is plenty sharp enough for anything you are going to do. Hundreds of feature films you have seen have used the 20-100. Are you looking for vintage lenses for the look? If so the 20-100 may be too modern for you. It certainly doesn't stand out when cut with shiny new lenses. Older ang. lenses might be a better choice if you are looking for a vintage look. The lomo Foton zoom is a real looker as far as vintage character. Failing that, get an old still zoom and attack the front element with a razor blade and emery paper.

nick

 

[Erik_Flynn_Patton]

I bought a few lenses from Visual Products, one more is on the way - Cookes and an Angenieux. I don't know how many of each they have in stock, but their prices are very good, although you say you have equipment already in mind: http://www.visualproducts.com/store04.asp?ID=29&Cat=8&Cat2=20

Mine were refurbished, and perform really well. We used a Cooke 20-100 on 'Legend of Ben Hall' (from someone else).

There's probably places in LA with older zooms, as well.

 

[Phil Arntz]

Hey mate,

The Cooke 20-100mm is great and cheap, however, if you can find a good cheap one kicking around, I'd suggest the Cooke 18-100mm T3 instead. It's better than the 20-100mm.

It's not a sharp lens, but it delivers an extremely pleasing image. I got my 18-100mm for about 7000USD I think (mightve been 6500). It was an insanely good price. I LOVE that lens.

This was just something I quickly shot without lighting etc, but the fall off is a thing of beauty.

 

[Mike P.]

I don't think you'll be able to find a 20-100 Cooke for $4000... Definitely not an 18-100... Better off looking for an Angenieux 20-120 (which will be around $4k-5k) or one of the older 25-250 T4s... Or a Lomo 20-120 t3, but getting them is iffy and finding a Lomo Lens Tech locally is also questionable.

With respect to vintage zooms, all of the lenses are massive... Both long and heavy. So if you don't have the support for it (rods, decent tripod, lens support), you should carve out a chunk of change for that stuff too (and it isn't cheap either).

 

[Phil Arntz]

I completely agree with what Mike has to say. I bought my 18-100mm with complete knowledge of all the money that goes into making them work. Thankfully I already had a strong tripod + head, but I had to upgrade to a 19mm rod setup, buy a 6x6 Mattebox (PV Size just wont cover the massive clear aperture of these lenses) and invest in lens support as well. All in all, that would run you another 10-15K at least.

So if you can't afford everything that goes with it, not much point in buying a 20-100mm, cause just hanging it off your PL mount will break your camera

I don't think you'll be able to find a 20-100 Cooke for $4000... Definitely not an 18-100... Better off looking for an Angenieux 20-120 (which will be around $4k-5k) or one of the older 25-250 T4s... Or a Lomo 20-120 t3, but getting them is iffy and finding a Lomo Lens Tech locally is also questionable.

With respect to vintage zooms, all of the lenses are massive... Both long and heavy. So if you don't have the support for it (rods, decent tripod, lens support), you should carve out a chunk of change for that stuff too (and it isn't cheap either).

 

[Shane Kelly]

For your price you might take a look at the lomo 20-120. If you can find one in good condition, in pl mount, its a great bang for the buck lens. However, as others have said, you do need the support for a lens of this size, not just rods and matte box, but also a heavier tripod. I do love the cooke 5:1 and still rent one for certain projects.
Older stills zooms may also give you the look that you are looking for, maybe the angenieux 28-70 for example.

 

[Mike Quill]

Ekran 25-80 F3.5 light weight zoom. doesn't need rails.

 

[Janis Huber]

Thanks for the suggestions, they all seem to be very nice! I have to say though
that I became quite attracted to Contax lenses through the thread hear. To go
that way would save a lot of money and additional support.

But in general: what is important when buying vintage lens? What would be easy
ti repair, what very difficult and expensive? How was your experience in buying
over ebay? Cause there you can not be sure if the lens is really in great shape...

Thanks for sharng your knowledge and experience.

Cheers

 

[Rolf Kestermann]

I bought two zoom lenses on e-bay, both needed to be serviced, but one of them was in almost perfect shape, just dried out since it may have never been used. The other is mechanically and optically fine but needs
interior groups to be cleaned and new lubrication, but in general I was quite happy. One of the best early zooms is the 35-140 by Angenieux, needs regular movie markings and regular zoom carriage (not ball bearing)
That lens is truly remarkable (I own two), covers 5K, no distortion at 50mm, CA of blue/yellow from 120 to 140mm. A great match for the Epic. The best Studio type lens for 4k(picture and bucks) would be the 20-120 Angenieux. Probably the closest to a modern short zoom, doesn't breathe, good stop, even illumination but sensitive to bright areas in the frame. May be hard to find at that price, but worth it. Also a 10 pound lens. After that, the Cooks and the other suggestions brought up in this thread.

 

[Janis Huber]

Thanks for sharing! How much did you pay for service if I may ask?

 

[Rolf Kestermann]

About 1400 for collimating, oiling etc plus 1000 for the PL mount and universal mount (pricey for what it is)