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Zoom lenses in 16mm


Jarin Blaschke

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I'm shooting a music video next week, and am seeking the cleanest, sharpest image possible. I just learned that some real zooms are in order for the shoot. Presently, the camera order at CSC has variable primes for optics, but I'm concerned that there's not enough range on the lenses for some of the shots we want to do. Having never been one to really use zooms before, I'm not really up on the various options. I'd like to know some people's opinions of the zooms out there. Again, I'm looking for the sharpest/hardest possible image available. Lens size and weight is not really a problem, since the camera will be on a dolly and a jib all day.

 

Also - do the VPs have any issues when used to zoom? Image shifting? Focus shifting?

 

thanks all...

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Probably the sharpest, contrastiest zoom available in S-16 right now is the Angenieux 7-81. The Canon 7-63 or 11.5-165 are also excellent. With the lenses (as frankly with ANY lenses), you should really put all that the rental house have to offer up on a lens projector and compare them yourself. It's amazing the variation from lens to lens, even within the same model in the newest designs.

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I've never been a big fan of the Zeiss zoom. Yes it is sharp, but it does breathe like it just ran a marathon. If you zoom to 11mm and focus close it will vinghette itself. I find it distorts a bit on the wide end and drops off in sharpness at the telephoto, losing its snap. And it has a lousy MOD of something like 4.5 feet.

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I'm supervising the transfer tomorrow - I'll report on whether the Canon zoom even remotely matches the VPs. At this point, I can say that I certainly didn't enjoy putting that worn piece of plastic on the camera after using the VP1 for awhile.

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Well, for most purposes, the Canon and the VPs matched fine. I basically used the Canon 8-64 only at the very wide end, 8 to 10mm. I should have just gotten the 2 VPs and a 9mm prime. I think the heavy handed, very high-con telecine hid the differences. However, the left side of the image seemed soft in some shots - a brightly-lit, white suit against a dark background created a color fringe in that area.

 

I was very impressed with the lack of flaring with the VPs - I was often shooting right into 5ks and 9-lights and saw only minimal green ghosting.

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