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Zeiss or Canon?

Jesper Sichlau

Jesper Sichlau

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I'm currently looking for a 50mm 'prime' for my Scarlet. For a long time I was determined to buy the 50mm f1.4 lens, because of it's price and performance. But when I was down at my local camerashop, I tried the Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/50 ZE.2 on. Was was nice apart from the built quality - was that the focusing seemed much easier then with the Canon lens. It seems like the focus-wheel can turn more in order to optain focus (don't know the word for this). Which is really great when pulling focus on the Scarlet. The different images seems much alike, even though I sense another kind of filmlike texture with the Zeiss. The Zeiss will cost me around $400 more, which is not an issue, but I'm not planning on buying anymore Zeiss lenses right away due to the rest of the lenses higher prices. So my question is: Is it stupid to mix and match different brands of lenses?
 
Jesper,

I use both and the Zeiss construction and mechanics are superior. Apart from the shorter throw they focus like cine glass. The 50mm Zeiss f1.4 performs relatively poorly wide open and it may be outgunned by the Canon at this stop? I find that at f2 the lens has improved sufficiently for Television work. I understand the Zeiss 50 f2 lens is an all round better lens.
 
I like the Zeiss lenses much better myself.

I agree that at f/1.4 the Canon outperforms ... but that is subjective. Ive never measured performance side by side. In any case, I don't find this critical because, while I like to buy lenses that open up to 1.4 or faster, I tend to shoot at f/2.8 whenever practical for interiors and f/4 for day exteriors.

I appreciate the mechanics of the Zeiss lens quite a lot more, and I like the color better. I am shooting RAW so I consider that the color of the lens barely matters.

Now, that said, you must consider the future.

Red has said that they will release a "RedMote Pro" which will have a handwheel and allow for wireless follow focus control of AF lenses. You'd be able to map the focus range of the lens to the handwheel rotation as you see fit, obviating a lot of concerns about lens mechanics.

If that hapens, do you wnat to be stuck with non-autofocus lenses?
 
I own the ZF.2 50mm Macro f.2 and it is amazing. Better than the 1.4 because you gain the macro functions which come in handy. Great construction and smooth focus especially if you get the Duclos moded version.
 
Alexander Ibrahim said:
Red has said that they will release a "RedMote Pro" which will have a handwheel and allow for wireless follow focus control of AF lenses. You'd be able to map the focus range of the lens to the handwheel rotation as you see fit, obviating a lot of concerns about lens mechanics.
Click to expand...

That is a very good point. I guess it makes most sense to choose the Canon 50/f1.4 after all.
 
Jesper, the Zeiss lens you are opting for is the same lens I used on this clip. Keep in mind I do not yet own a scarlet so your footage would look a crap load more filmic. If you want some raw footage let me know and I can email you some, as there are 3 looks in this clip 1) Milky Memory 2) Studio Quality and 3) Darker Falling apart look, all pretty diff to what came out of the camera. Sorry i cant offer the theory side or science (not experienced enough to comment) but hopefully the clip helps somewhat.

 
the zeiss 50mm 1.4 is sharper than the 50 1.2 at peak aperture sharpness. I film on my scarlet with the zeiss 50 at f4 to make sure I'm sharp at 4k at least at the center
 
Zeiss 50mm f2 Macro. Period.
 
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