Best Zoom Lens to rent or buy for Arri Alexa/Amira

[Dan Katz]

Hello Fellow DP's,

I'm shooting my second feature (a mockumentary) in September and it's time to rent a zoom lens. I've used zooms before for Super 16 many times over the past 22 years, but have stuck to primes for everything else. My budget for the lens itself is around $1000 for a month of shooting. I would love a Master Zoom or Signature Zoom but those are both out of budget and possibly too big. I've seen some for sale around the $6000-$8000 range, so if renting these would be 1/4-1/2 of buying it, I might buy and resell later.

Arri Alura 18-80

Cooke 20-100mm Variotal

Zeiss Lightweight 15.5-45mm

Arri Zeiss Variable Primes

Angenieux Optimo 17-80mm and 16-42mm

Zeiss Compact Zoom

Most of the film will be shot handheld (on my shoulder), hence the Amira over an Alexa. I would prefer a sharper image that's somewhat resistant to flare, little to no breathing, no ramping, no aberrations. Essentially almost as clean as a good set of Ultra Primes, Master Primes, etc... The only time I want to be able to tell it's a zoom is when my AC is intentionally zooming into or out of the subject.

Let me know what your thoughts are and if you have any other recommendations. I'm located in LA and the shoot is here so there should be no issue locating almost any lens.

[Dom Jaeger]

I would probably think about things like weight if you are predominantly hand-held and what sort of focal length range you need. Big difference between an old Cooke 20-100 and an Optimo 16-42 for instance. 

The advantage of renting is that if there are any issues or you find you don’t like the look or the range, you can easily swap the zoom out for something else. If you buy one, especially on the cheap, you might find yourself with a lens that needs an overhaul, or maybe fails during the shoot, or isn’t quite what you hoped for but now you’re locked in until you go through the finding and buying process again. 

Aluras and Angenieuxs tend to be pretty reliable workhorse zooms, but the 18-80 and 17-80 are both around 5kgs, compared to the DP 16-42 which is under 2kg. So if you can live with a shorter range it will be much better for your back.

I’m not a big fan of Zeiss zooms, I think they are much better at making primes, but some people like them. The Cooke is lovely but quite old now, and really not a great choice for handheld at over 6kg.

If you could rent the Angenieux DP pair of 16-42 and 30-80 you would a have a pretty good range, a great image and very light weight. 

[Dan Katz]

Thank you! The DP 16-42 is on the list. Something that can go longer when needed but not be much heavier or bigger would be ideal. Are there any others that you or someone else can recommend? If I make a list of three solid choices, it gives me something to fall back on.