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  • 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 :)

Zeiss compact primes

I just converted my cp2 from EF to PL ... was perty easy (i was kind of scared ... first time i did something like that ... but is something a novice can do).

nofilm school has a good video using a cp2 ... http://nofilmschool.com/2012/01/red-scarletepic-owner-renter/

Within a couple of weeks I should have some r3d with zeiss, I'm doing a lot of testing on 4k for vfx tracking ... i'm finding qhd with cp2 is a dream for vfx processing (especially 2.5D - zdepth calculations). I have never shot with a higher end lense then a cp2, so can't comment on it compared to high end glass.
 
Theres another thread with a lot of opinions on the cp.2's ( http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?69063-Zeiss-CP-2 ).

I find the lenses to be soft with focus for several of the focal lengths. Color rendition between lenses is off, and the mix of f/t stops is frustrating.

As for positives, they are lightweight. If you don't need light lenses I would suggest you look at the Red Pro Primes. Yes they are heavy but they are extremely sharp and match color from lens to lens. The RPP's are also 1.9 to the fastest CP.2's at 2.1.
 
I own a set, use them on practically every job and love them. They are built extremely well, very sharp and light with loads of focus marks.
here's a couple of screen grabs from my first epic job shot at 120fps so the compression is 13:1.
http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?66507-5k-120-frames
The main complaints about them are that the wider lenses are slower. I didn't buy the 18mm, just got a red pro 17-50.
Overall a good set for the money.
 
Gene Crucean said:
Matt, you wouldn't happen to have samples of the issues you are talking about would you? I'd like to see just how soft and off.
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yeah I have a couple examples from a shoot tuesday. Ill upload some pics in a few minutes. They were mainly at infinity when soft. One shot was wide open at night and the other was at an f8/11 at infinity on an overcast day. Give me a sec.
 
Here is an album I put together. These are JPEG's from the original 4k TIFF's exported straight from Redcine X Pro. If you want the 4k TIFFS I can send them to you via wetransfer. Although some of the images appear to be sharp if you zoom into the photo it looks like nothing is really ever in focus. Compressing these down to 1080p would help sharpness wise. Take a look. https://plus.google.com/photos/117327354769073416020/albums/5702031959649381297?authkey=CNma_d6V0_nu1AE
I added a caption for each photo with the specs.
 
Matt Ryan said:
As for positives, they are lightweight. If you don't need light lenses I would suggest you look at the Red Pro Primes. Yes they are heavy but they are extremely sharp and match color from lens to lens. The RPP's are also 1.9 to the fastest CP.2's at 2.1.
Click to expand...

I have been looking at the Compact Primes myself and was also considering the Red Pro Primes. I've decided against the RPP's for 2 main reasons.

1. They are big and heavy, and with cameras getting smaller I would prefer a smaller lens.
2. The focus and aperture marks on the RPP's are horribly inaccurate, in 2 ways. One, usually neither side of the focus marks is accurate to where the actual focus is. Two, the focus and aperture marks are the sides are mismatched. Aperture is usually about 1/3 difference between the 2 sides of the lenses so you can't be sure what t-stop you're actually at. I understand they might be the best bang for the buck, but inaccuracies like that seems like a lack of attention to detail in manufacturing and concerns me about what else might be wrong with them or go wrong with them in the future. And this has all been known for a long time and Red has not fixed it. Just not good. If Red fixed these issues I might consider them, even with the bulkiness and weight.

I personally have always liked Zeiss and currently own a set of ZF's. I'm looking at upgrading to the CP's to gain cinema mechanics, uniform size across the set, even better bokeh (14 blades vs. 9), and the overall Zeiss manufacturing quality. They are a little more than the RPP's, and do breath a bit, but they are Zeiss. I'd skip the 18 though and probably go with the Duclos 11-16 (or just Tokina 11-16).
 
Hi Timur. I really enjoyed your review of the CP1s. Entertaining as well as very informative. The lenses seem to have a lot of character and personality to them which I like. The killer for me has always been the very slow wide.
 
Matt Ryan said:
yeah I have a couple examples from a shoot tuesday. Ill upload some pics in a few minutes. They were mainly at infinity when soft. One shot was wide open at night and the other was at an f8/11 at infinity on an overcast day. Give me a sec.
Click to expand...


Take your CP2 lens set to a lens technician, sounds like your lenses are incorrectly shimmed.

My CP2's are so sharp that I need to add in diff! This is the first story have had heard of CP2 lenses being soft, everyone I know says the same as me which is they are too sharp.
 
Adam Eden said:
Take your CP2 lens set to a lens technician, sounds like your lenses are incorrectly shimmed.

My CP2's are so sharp that I need to add in diff! This is the first story have had heard of CP2 lenses being soft, everyone I know says the same as me which is they are too sharp.
Click to expand...

They are straight from a Rental house.
 
Mike Halper said:
I personally have always liked Zeiss and currently own a set of ZF's. I'm looking at upgrading to the CP's to gain cinema mechanics, uniform size across the set, even better bokeh (14 blades vs. 9), and the overall Zeiss manufacturing quality. They are a little more than the RPP's, and do breath a bit, but they are Zeiss. I'd skip the 18 though and probably go with the Duclos 11-16 (or just Tokina 11-16).
Click to expand...

I am curious what the difference between the CP.2s and Duclosed ZFs is apart from what Mike has mentioned and the fact that the ZFs are faster. Is it the same glass?
 
Tehben Dean said:
I am curious what the difference between the CP.2s and Duclosed ZFs is apart from what Mike has mentioned and the fact that the ZFs are faster. Is it the same glass?
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Same glass except that Zeiss handpicks the best of the lot. The CP's also have longer focus throws, gears for the focus and iris, focus direction is properly cinema instead of reversed, uniform 114mm diameter (except for 50mm Macro), uniform length (except for 100), 14 iris blades, internal housing coating to reduce flare. Also there's more variety of mount options and the mounts are interchangeable. I think that's it.

The image quality would most likely be indiscernible. You'd get the CP's over the ZF's for the cinema mechanics, but that can be a bigger deal to some people than others.
 
Rob Castiglione said:
Hi Timur. I really enjoyed your review of the CP1s. Entertaining as well as very informative. The lenses seem to have a lot of character and personality to them which I like. The killer for me has always been the very slow wide.
Click to expand...

Thanks Rob.... Writing up a Scarlet over view tonight.....

Quick note on the CP's, they really are VERY light... Makes hand held worlds easier.
 
Mike Halper said:
I just heard from a Zeiss dealer that there's a faster 18mm and 25mm CP.2 coming soon. Does anyone know anything about this? I can't find any info on the net anywhere. The only thing that comes up is the upcoming zoom and anamorphics.
Click to expand...

That would make the set hella more attractive imho
 
Mike Halper said:
I just heard from a Zeiss dealer that there's a faster 18mm and 25mm CP.2 coming soon. Does anyone know anything about this? I can't find any info on the net anywhere. The only thing that comes up is the upcoming zoom and anamorphics.
Click to expand...

Since they made a 25/2.0 for the zf/ze lenses, they are taking that to the cp2 side and making the equivalent 25/2.1 cp2. i heard about this last summer, and now they are finally getting closer. I don't remember what the 18 is going to be at now, i think 2.9. but at some point we might even see a 15mm/2.9
 
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