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 :)

Vintage Schneider vs Zeiss 2.1 Standard Speeds

D

danny darko

Active member
Joined
Dec 26, 2015
Messages
34
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Hi all,

This is my first time posting so I hope I'm in the right spot. I'm looking for opinions on the subject of purchasing a set of vintage Schneider lenses or a set of Zeiss 2.1 Standard Speeds. I know more people have probably shot on Zeiss so I'm looking for honest opinions from those who have used both.

I appreciate your thoughts!
 
I love my set of Zeiss 2.1 Standard Speeds. They are my favorite lenses because I love the old style flares etc.

I have not used the Schneiders.
 
Thank you Martin. I appreciate your honesty. I know Zeiss has a VERY popular name and some will defer to them because it's the "safe" way to go. Hoping to run into someone here who has shot with some vintage Schneiders.
 
danny darko said:
Hi all,

This is my first time posting so I hope I'm in the right spot. I'm looking for opinions on the subject of purchasing a set of vintage Schneider lenses or a set of Zeiss 2.1 Standard Speeds. I know more people have probably shot on Zeiss so I'm looking for honest opinions from those who have used both.

I appreciate your thoughts!
Click to expand...

I would get the Standard Primes, no doubt. The PL standards are MUCH better ergonomically, and the Standards have a richer, more textured look.

The Schneider's have a very vintage, retro look - which is cool, but more specific.

There is a massive price gap btw the two also.

The Schneider's can be found for 7-10K.

Standard Primes are 20K and up, so not sure they're in the same "category"/league.
 
Hi Nick. Thank you so much for your help. All the Vintage Schneider Kreuznach Lenses that I've found are in the price range of (poor glass) 5k, (beautiful glass) 20k-30k. The specific Zeiss and Schneider sets I'm looking at are in the same 20k ballpark.

I did forget to mention that I am after a lens set does have some character. If I had the money I would buy a set of Canon K35s. Those are real beauties!

Thank you again!
 
Hi Danny,

I posted some frames of an art project I shot this year on the Shot on Red forum part:

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showth...hneider-Kreuznach-Lenses&highlight=Exhalacion

I also posted some other things I shot on the following thread:
http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?111446-Schnieder-Xenon-Older-lenses

I like the Schneider Vintage lenses, they cut really well with anamorphic lenses because of the bokeh of the lenses (which is obviously a flaw, but one that I love) and I use them a lot when I have to shoot on anamorphic and spherical.

If I had to choose between Zeiss 2.1 & Schneider.. I don't really know which one I would choose as they are totally different.

To me, the Schneiders are fantastic lenses for night exteriors and day exteriors and if you want more texture in the image, however, they have a very characteristic look.

Maybe the Zeiss are more suitable for all kind of productions and they have more lenses than the Schneiders.

Have a good day!
 
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experiences with me. As you know, purchasing lenses is a big deal.

Thank you again!
Best,
D.
 
Danny, you are more than welcome.
I'd say that unless you are going to use any kind of equipment 2 or 3 times per month, don't buy it, especially things like professional lenses or professional camaras.
It is better to save the money and rent what you need for each specific project, but I'm pretty sure that you know that.

Andrew, If I remember correctly, the 28mm vignettes on 5K, the rest (35mm, 40mm, 50mm, 75mm and 100mm) are perfect in both, 5K and 6K.
On the Alexa, the 28mm vignettes but it can be used when shooting on 2.40:1, and they look absolutely differen on the Alexa, as in really different.

I haven't used them in a while because I sold them and I've shot all my latest projects with Panavision lenses (Ultra Speed and anamorphics)

Have a good day.
 
Zeiss T2.1 are excellent multipurpose lenses. You can shoot them wide-open and get a vintage look, and you can stop down the lenses and get sharp & contrasty pictures. You can't get wrong with Zeiss Standards.
Schneider Xenon vintage lenses are very low-con and flarey. You must be very carefully if you're using them because they catch any light and create reflections or flares that make the images very milky. Of course that's their personality and what makes this set really valuable for certain situations, but not for every project. And you have to find a good matching set that's already rehoused in order to use them.
Here's a test that I did of the Schneiders: https://vimeo.com/164132901
 
As Ignacio's tests show, the Schneiders paired with the Alexa create a really soft and beautiful image which I think is remarkable.

With the Dragon, the look is a bit harder, with more contrast, because that's the way the camera behaves.

I'll try to upload this coming week the trailer of a project I shot with them together with anamorphic lenses on a Dragon.

Have a good day!
 
Thank you so much. So hey, I've been in contact with several resellers, brokers and individual dealers. Can anyone speak about there experiences with ProVideoFilm.com, Visual Products, FJS or CameraMarket.eu?

Or two individual resellers, Biagio Guerra and Alex Safdie?

Thanks so much. With so many options and so many horror stories of being ripped off I want to be as cautious as possible.
 
I can vouch for a good experience in buying from Visual Products regarding vintage glass.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top