Primos vs. C-series

[Adam Frisch FSF]

Very interesting flares comparison between the Primo and C-series

anamorphic lenses on gaffer-cum-DP Claudio Miranda's site (that guy

is goooood). The first one is the 75mm.

 

75mm

 

 

Here's the 50mm comparison.

 

 

 

50mm

 

What however is almost frightening to see is just HOW much the 75mm

bends vertical lines on the sides. That's some serious barreling, and frankly,

not very impressive for such a reasonably "normal" focal lenght lens. Is it

just my eyes, or doesn't the Primo bend a lot more than the older C-series?

 

You decide.

[Michael Nash]

An interesting comparison. But it also looks like the tests were recorded from the video tap output, not the film. Taps always exaggerate highlights and flares differently than the way the film sees it. But the comparison between the lens types is still valid.

[David Mullen ASC]

The bending seems the same to me.

 

There is a little more halation right around the light source with the C-Series, unless that's the video tap. The flaring seems softer, more spread like a glow around the light. The center of the flare in the Primo seems more defined as rays as opposed to a glow.

 

The Primo's horizontal flare line is slightly less strong than the C-Series in the 75mm comparison but clearly less strong in the 50mm comparison.

 

With the C-Series, the horizontal line is stronger and spreads farther. It may be warmer in color too.

 

I'm surprised to see how much less flare there is in the 50mm compared to the 75mm in the Primo's.

[Wendell_Greene]

I agree with Adam, Claudio is an amazing DP. I've found quite a bit of inspiration from his work as a gaffer on several feature films as well. If I'm not mistaken, those tests helped formed the basis for the Alpine "Mute" commercial he shot for the [Directors] Brother Strausse earlier this year, which you can view in it's entirety on his website.

 

BTW If anyone is interested you can read an article I wrote about Miranda's Clio award winning work with David Fincher:

 

http://mvwire.com/dynamic/article_view.asp?AID=10727

[Alvin Pingol]

When I hear C-Series lenses, I always think of blue anamorphic horizontal flares? These tests clearly show the flares being the same color as the source. Am I missing something here?

[David Mullen ASC]

Perhaps if the image was off of a video tap recording, the blue color of the flare did not get picked up.