Optimo 'rouge' zooms VS other Optimo Zoom

Mathew Rudenberg · October 6, 2009

So, I'm shooting a show, and the dictate is that it's all zooms all handheld.

For the pilot I used the Angenieux Optimo 15-40 and 28-76 T2.6 zooms. Which were ... fine for lightweight zooms.

One camera place has offered the Angenieux Optimo DP 16-42 and 30-80 T2.8 zooms, which weigh almost the same. I believe they're also known as 'rouge'

What type of quality difference is there between the two sets of lenses?

We are shooting on the Red, and I suppose the 'rouge' lenses are supposedly designed for that, however the other lenses I used seemed to work pretty well.

My fear is that anything 'made for the red' may be made cheaper to capitalize on the larger potential market.

Any other suggestions for lightweight 35mm zooms?

Thanks!

Michael Lindsay · October 10, 2009

What type of quality difference is there between the two sets of lenses?

On one Red shoot I had the Optimo 28-76 T2.6 and it's Rouge counterpart. They are both fantastic. I could see no reason to ever need to consider the 28-76 over the 30-80 for a 'Red' shoot.

There is slight cosmetic differences between them (the Red rings are ugly and cheap looking). The 28-76 does feel very slightly more expensive in hand... but the picture is often what counts.

They are cheaper so try and get a better deal?

Michael

PS I have a set of Ultra primes and the 30-80 compares very favourably to them. The other light weight lenses I have tried where all a compromise.

Edited October 10, 2009 by Michael Lindsay

Matthew Rogers · October 12, 2009

One of the differences is that you can not use the DP series on film cameras as the back element will hit the spinning mirror. The other big difference is that it's .2 of a stop slower than the normal Optimo. Of course, that's really not that big of a difference.

Matthew

Paul Nordin · May 1, 2010

PS I have a set of Ultra primes and the 30-80 compares very favourably to them. The other light weight lenses I have tried where all a compromise.

That's quite a statement Micheal! I know this post is from 6 months ago, but I was wondering if you can point to any negatives you observed with the Optimo DPs? besides the red-rings, which are fairly universally regarded as cheap looking. I have heard that the DPs are quite sharp throughout thier zoom range. I've not heard much about CA, distortion, or vignetting?

Cheers,

Paul

Mathew Rudenberg · May 1, 2010

That's quite a statement Micheal! I know this post is from 6 months ago, but I was wondering if you can point to any negatives you observed with the Optimo DPs? besides the red-rings, which are fairly universally regarded as cheap looking. I have heard that the DPs are quite sharp throughout thier zoom range. I've not heard much about CA, distortion, or vignetting?

Cheers,

Paul

We ended up using the regular (not the 'rouge') optimos and they held up fairly well. when we did cross coverage we used the Cooke S4s to match sizes since I didn't carry two of each and I'd say they were very similar sharpness wise, the most obvious difference was the bokeh - the Cooke bokeh is very recognizable while I find the Optimos a little more generic.

The Cookes were definately a little brighter at the same stop, so we frequently closed them down a third to match.

I didn't notice any CA in the zooms at all, even wide open. The 15-40 is somewhat distorted on the wide end compared to a high end wide prime, but not unacceptably so.

The 15-40, and I think the 28-76 although it wasn't on my camera much, has some definite vignetting. When you open the last half stop or so on the lens you can literally see the center of the image get brighter while the edges stay the same. It's not an unpleasant artifact though...

Paul Nordin · May 2, 2010

Mathew, Thanks for the quick feedback! I'll have to rent the Optimo DP Rouge for shoot sometime soon and check it out. I keep hearing great reports of them going toe-to-toe with all but the select best primes (MPs for example). I find that hard to believe, but I'd be quite glad to have my eyes opened.

Cheers,

Paul