what low contrast lenses

[Curtis boggs]

Hey Gang,

What are the lower contrast lens sets??

Leica-r are low contrast, what others??

Curtis

 

[Ignacio Aguilar]

Old Schneider Xenons for instance, much lower in contrast than Leica-R's.

 

[John Brennick]

Zeiss Contax are pretty low contrast in my experience. If you dont mind the ninja star bokeh, the AE's flare more than the MM's and generally produce a slightly lower con look than the MM's.

 

[Phil Holland]

K35s and Super Speeds come to mind. Still stuff, Canon FD for sure. Leica-R are a bit more contrasty, but not as contrasty as modern glass. Sort of a smooth draw. Oddly similar to my Cine-Xenar III Primes in some ways.

You can always add Low Con and Diffusion filters in front of a more modern lens to knock it back a bit.

 

[scott devitte]

Get a leica M mount and there is a ton of great low contrast lens's out there. Many of the M lenses will cover full Monstro 8k and a whole lot will cover Epic W 8k. The LTM Canons are incredibly well built, render beautifully, many have fast apertures, and can be bought really cheap.

 

[Chris McKechnie]

Vintage Russian lenses along with a vintage 2x anamorphic scope...can't get any more low con than that. hehe

 

[Curtis boggs]

Phil,
i’m working w some filtration now to see what I can get.

Seems like all modern glass is much more contrasty.
After watching the salt lens test they are all rather contrasty.

Curtis

 

[soren k jensen]

Contax are fantastic. Somewhat low 'general' contrast, but nice micro contrast, resolving power, bokeh, fast primes.

 

[Jake Wilganowski]

Old lomo spherical

 

[Curtis boggs]

so amongst the current crop of modern
cinema glass, what is the lowest contrast?

 

[Matt Beardsley]

I'm probably at the budget-conscious end of the Reduser spectrum, but I've enjoyed renting Schneider Xenon FF for a lower contrast look (versus the Canon, Sigma, or Zeiss CP.2 glass I know at least). I love those lenses.

 

[Bob Gundu]

I would say the Celere look a bit less contrasty.

 

[Nick Morrison]

I mean most modern glass just isn't low con.

You'd really have to go vintage.

Yes, Contax are great - especially the AE's for low con flares.

 

[Jake Wilganowski]

New Cooke pancro

 

[John David Pope]

Zeiss Contax are pretty low contrast in my experience. If you dont mind the ninja star bokeh, the AE's flare more than the MM's and generally produce a slightly lower con look than the MM's.

Just to clarify- the AE's have the ninja-star bokeh but the MM's do not.

 

[Ilya O.]

Try New Super Baltars, a recent remake of an old classics by Caldwell Photographic.

LOMOs, as being said, are the sweetest.

 

[Roy Kurtluyan]

Having shot with all these lenses, here is the list of LOW-CON Vintage lenses I have experienced.

Spherical
#1 Canon K35 @ T1.4
#2 Schneider Vintage Xenon @ T2.0
#3 Cooke Speed Panchros @ T2.2/2.3

Anamorphic
Lomo's & Kowa's

 

[Curtis boggs]

thanks for the input everyone.