Why are primes exciting?

[Tom Lowe]

So this 15-25mm f2.8 AF (auto focus) is FF35? That sounds excellent!!

 

[Steve Gibby]

So this 15-25mm f2.8 AF (auto focus) is FF35? That sounds excellent!!

Yup - unless specs change, all those new RED Electronic Lenses will be FF35, have AF, and all but the 15-25 also feature stabilization - I'm salivating to test them out :biggrin:

 

[Ketch Rossi]

Yup - unless specs change, all those new RED Electronic Lenses will be FF35, have AF, and all but the 15-25 also feature stabilization - I'm salivating to test them out :biggrin:

He He, make sure Pamala carries an extra large towel for you Steve

I can't say I fill the same about Zooms, at list for now, but then again anything can change, but for now I continue to be a super freak of shallow DOF and the attributes of Primes.

BTW, I hope Manilla went great for you and Pamala.

ciao

 

[Steve Gibby]

He He, make sure Pamala carries an extra large towel for you Steve

I can't say I fill the same about Zooms, at list for now, but then again anything can change, but for now I continue to be a super freak of shallow DOF and the attributes of Primes.

BTW, I hope Manilla went great for you and Pamala.

ciao

LOL - towels are a necessity!

The 10-RED camera Journey concert in Manila went superbly well Ketch. The 4k HD footage from all ten RED cameras was stunning. Journey's management was all smiles - and Pamala's FF35 stills (Canon 5D) of the event and crew were excellent too - the executive producer was way stoked with all camera work on the event. It was a fun gig and a great crew!

BTW, as a DP for the event, my recommendation, which was followed, was for zooms on every single RED camera - Optimo 12x and Angenieux 25-250 on all cameras needing long focal length, and Nikon short to mid-length zooms on the jib, Steadicam, and all shoulder held cameras. It was a good example of a production where zooms were far and away the best choice, thus we used absolutely no primes for the production. Zooms were definitely the right tool for the job. As a DP approaching equipment decisions for a production, I try to keep an open mind and select the best type of lenses for the project - with no pre-conceived biases. The right focal lengths, apertures, ergonomics, and quality of images acquired are my lens considerations as a DP - and the equipment must also fit within the allotted budget.

I love using primes wide open for shallow DOF when it is the best choice for a production, or portion thereof, but I always try to analyze what the best lens for a production is and go with that - and often, at least in the genres I shoot, the answer to that question is that a zoom is best.

Ciao!

 

[Ketch Rossi]

LOL - towels are a necessity!

The 10-RED camera Journey concert in Manila went superbly well Ketch. The 4k HD footage from all ten RED cameras was stunning. Journey's management was all smiles - and Pamala's FF35 stills (Canon 5D) of the event and crew were excellent too - the executive producer was way stoked with all camera work on the event. It was a fun gig and a great crew!

BTW, as DP for the event, my recommendation was for zooms on every single RED camera - Optimo 12x and Angenieux 25-250 on all cameras needing long focal length, and Nikon short to mid-length zooms on the jib, Steadicam, and all shoulder held cameras. It was a good example of a production where zooms were far and away the best choice, thus we used absolutely no primes for the production. Zooms were definitely the right tool for the job.

I love using primes wide open for shallow DOF when it is the best choice for a production, or portion thereof, but I always try to analyze what the best lens for a production is and go with that - and often, at least in the genres I shoot, the answer to that question is that a zoom is best.

Ciao!

Great to hear that Steve, I know that was a big accomplishment and I'm happy for you, and proud of Pamala's Photography progress, I just wish I could have accompany the two of you, I love Manilla, as I do love the rest of ASIA


ciao

 

[Tom Lowe]

Gibby, have you shot on Red One with some of the nice VR Nikon zooms or Canon IS lenses? I was curious to know whether their image stabe works while shooting video?

I had a chance to shoot some stills with a newer Canon EF lens with image stabe, and frankly, I was blown away by how well it worked. Not sure if it can work like that with video, though.

 

[Steve Gibby]

Gibby, have you shot on Red One with some of the nice VR Nikon zooms or Canon IS lenses? I was curious to know whether their image stabe works while shooting video?

I had a chance to shoot some stills with a newer Canon EF lens with image stabe, and frankly, I was blown away by how well it worked. Not sure if it can work like that with video, though.

I have some good Nikon VR zooms, but I haven't tested them using the VR function. Hopefully the new RED Nikon smart mount for Epic and Scarlet will power and enable all functions of the Nikon lenses - and Canon for the Canon mount. I'm sure the electronic functions of the new RED Electronic Lenses will talk with the new RED mount.

It will be very interesting to see to what extent the new smart mounts enable features when shooting motion footage. I'd suspect RED has some surprises up their sleeves on that...

 

[Jacek Zakowicz]

40 Years- has it been that long?

40 Years- has it been that long?

Breathing has always been an issue. 40 years ago it wasn't a major issue, it was just a way of life... Many of the cine zooms and latter model primes have designs to minimize breathing. The way a lens breathes will lend a certain aesthetic to what you're shooting, it can be desirable or not. It can be downright annoying too.

.

Sorry Jeff,
40 years is taking it a little too far back.
The first non breathing zoom is the 12x Optimo-5-7 years back?
Before it all zooms breathe like M**F**
Primes-Cooke S4 and MP- UPs breathe quite a bit as well-depending on the FL.
I agree that the style changed- but a lot of it had to do with the "rental culture" where rental houses bought whatever was hot at the time regardless of the price so they get ROI quickly before the market is saturated and rental prices go down.
This model does not apply here as most redusers are owner-operators.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that for a professional creating beautiful images is not impaired by details like breathing or image shift...
Jacek Zakowicz-OptiTek.org

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Sorry Jeff,
40 years is taking it a little too far back.
The first non breathing zoom is the 12x Optimo-5-7 years back?

Er.. Angenieux and others had non-breathing designs before the 24-290 or at least designs that were engineered to reduce the amount of breathing. Cooke took great strides with their 20-100 design and even more so with the 18-100 update to greatly reduce the amount of perceptible breathing. The 18-100 design was created when... '72? And it breathes by far less than most any stills zoom I'm aware of. It's practically a non-breathing design compared to the RED 18-50.

All I was saying is that lens designs with at least some thought or effort to minimize the amount of breathing, mostly with zooms, have been around for many years. When I threw 40 years out there as an arbitrary number, I was just saying that back then breathing wasn't an issue simply because there was little or no effort made in the lens designs of the time to address breathing.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that for a professional creating beautiful images is not impaired by details like breathing or image shift...
Jacek Zakowicz-OptiTek.org

I completely agree.

However, breathing is an issue today simply because the technology and know-how exists to make lenses that virtually eliminate this effect. We can all argue or agree that 2K is plenty of resolution for any professional creating beautiful images or that S35 is a large enough format. It's just one more thing that people like to concern themselves over. ...Because they can.

 

[Scott Roberts]

What is lens breathing? And, how do the Red cameras address dust entering the camera and potentially getting on the sensor when lenses are changed? Do they have a dust reduction system like current DSLR still cameras?

 

[Valeriu Campan]

I tested 14-24 Nikkor and 24-70 and they simply Blow ANY prime away optical performance wise.
Most of the Cine primes hype these days comes from the traditional
inferiority of the zooms- but no longer. The amount of money and, consequently, engineering genius put in zooms resulted in incredible advance.
I tested these against ultra primes and no contest-the Nikons beat them any stop, any FL.
And let's not forget the elitist desires in a lot of the waannabe DPs- they look a lot cooler using cine primes.
Let's face it guys: breathing, image shift was non issue 10 years ago, now all of the sudden you can't shoot with it.
OK, rant over
Jacek Zakowicz, OptiTek.org

Couldn't agree more!