Steve Denny Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 HD is new to me, so please bear that in mind as I ask, what are the best, most impressive HD lenses to the Varicam? I'm looking at three categories of wide angle, primes and telephotos. If you have some solid favorites, let me know. Then, if you can push me in the direction of what rental houses carry these lenses, I will aprreciate that communication as well. Thank you. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Elhanan Matos Posted February 22, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted February 22, 2005 If you are looking for the best HD lenses take a look at the Digiprimes. Right now we have a 5mm, 7mm, 10mm, 14mm, 20mm, 28mm, 40mm, and a 70mm. We have a zoom coming out very soon which is a 6-24mm. And sometime next year we will have a 3.9mm. You can get these lenses at Clairmont Camera, Plus 8 Digital, Sim Video, Abel Cinetech, Bexel, Broadcast Video Rentals, Fletcher Chicago, CPT, etc... If you give me a location I can give you a rental house to check out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Mark Sasahara Posted February 23, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted February 23, 2005 Just for fairness sake, Canon and Fuji also have cine style primes and zooms. Canon http://www.usa.canon.com/html/industrial_b...home_hd_ec.html Fuji http://www.fujinonbroadcast.com/cgi-bin/pr....cgi?parent=173 I don't know how they compare with each other, has anyone done any tests? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Brennan Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 Just for fairness sake, Canon and Fuji also have cine style primes and zooms. Canon http://www.usa.canon.com/html/industrial_b...home_hd_ec.html Fuji http://www.fujinonbroadcast.com/cgi-bin/pr....cgi?parent=173 I don't know how they compare with each other, has anyone done any tests? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No independent tests between New Fuji, Zeiss and New Canon Primes has been done. So those that say Zeiss are the best need to show us the beef. Mike Brennan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Max Jacoby Posted February 26, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted February 26, 2005 No independent tests between New Fuji, Zeiss and New Canon Primes has been done. What are people's opinions on Panavision's Digital Primo Zooms? They are they only HD lenses that I have worked with and I am not too impressed by them. Already during prep we found out that 2 of the lenses (6-27mm and 25-112mm) were consistently softer on the right side than on the left side in the middle of the zoom range. The people at Panavision were surprised by this, but we tried several lenses, different cameras and monitors, still the problem persisted. So this must be a design fault. On top of that these lenses also have barrelling and pincushioning issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Sanders Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 What are people's opinions on Panavision's Digital Primo Zooms? They are they only HD lenses that I have worked with and I am not too impressed by them. Already during prep we found out that 2 of the lenses (6-27mm and 25-112mm) were consistently softer on the right side than on the left side in the middle of the zoom range. The people at Panavision were surprised by this, but we tried several lenses, different cameras and monitors, still the problem persisted. So this must be a design fault. On top of that these lenses also have barrelling and pincushioning issues. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Very interesting information. Surprising, considering that the only real benefits from renting Panavision's 900's are for the Digital Primos. How would you rate Panavision's customer service in resolving this matter? I've heard that's the second best benefit to renting from Panavision is their customer service (at least on the 35mm side of the aisle). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Kevin Zanit Posted March 3, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted March 3, 2005 I rent from Panavision because I really like to deal with the people who work there. I wouldn?t say the only benefit of renting 900s from Panavision is their lenses, it is the company. I like not having to be nickel and dimmed every time I want a filter, or two heads, etc. If I have a problem with something, they just swap it out. They also always accommodate my budgets and testing needs. As for the lenses, people seem to have mixed feelings. The general consensus is that in tests, the Digiprimes performed better. That said, all the HD stuff I have shot has been on Digital Primos. I had zero gripes with the lens quality. I have worked with the Digiprimes only when shooting tests with different cameras (for example a new Ikegami camera). They are great lenses, no question. They are both real good lenses. I have a music video coming up that will be shot with the SDX900 and Digiprimes (I know a bit of an overkill, but oh well). So I may know a bit more about them then. Kevin Zanit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Brennan Posted March 8, 2005 Share Posted March 8, 2005 Panavision France has just increased its inventory of non Panavised HD cameras and lenses. They went for a total of 28 Canon zooms and the new primes citing that they were the best choice for TV work and budget movies. Note that Canon is more popular in HD world in Europe than USA and also Fuji has less market presence in Europe it does in the USA. Mike Brennan Canon press release has details http://www.canon-europe.com/TV-Products/Ne...rcePageID=33106 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Elhanan Matos Posted March 8, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted March 8, 2005 Is that because of their price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Rodriguez Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 (edited) I love the Digiprimes, and have found them much sharper, especially on the wider focal lengths, than the Fujiprimes. At the longer focal lengths, the performance delta between the two diminishes quite a bit though, or when they are stopped down. But wide open or wide angle, the Digiprimes definitely have the advantage. Edited March 9, 2005 by Jason Rodriguez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lens Wrangler Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 So this must be a design fault. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Highly unlikely. What is more likely is a manufacturing problem. >On top of that these lenses also have barrelling and pincushioning issues. As do many zooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted March 9, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted March 9, 2005 I think the 8-72 Digital Primo zoom is a great lens overall for size, focal length range, and lack of breathing. I've shot a couple of features almost entirely with that lens. I was shooting an HD feature where we had to bring in a B-camera with an older Fujinon HD zoom and the director found it unusable because of the breathing. Now I'm curious to try the new Fujinon zooms but I think they got it wrong in the choices of focal lengths. You really need a 7-70mm or 8-80mm, not a 10-100mm, because otherwise you are always switching lenses when you go wide-angle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Brennan Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 Now I'm curious to try the new Fujinon zooms but I think they got it wrong in the choices of focal lengths. You really need a 7-70mm or 8-80mm, not a 10-100mm, because otherwise you are always switching lenses when you go wide-angle. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I agree 10 to 100 is not the one stop shop of zooms. Maybe it was a Star Wars preference? They dropped primes and used the two Fuji zooms exclusively in the last SW so it says in the adverts. Panavision made B4 mount versions of their zooms, planning to make them available (in the UK at least) for drama market using HDW750s, and also for f900 users. Don't recall it ever happening though... Are they still available? Mike Brennan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Brennan Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 Is that because of their price? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Press release says it was the versitility of having matched zooms and primes was good and price performance was in tune with TV drama, commercials and low budget movies. http://www.canon-europe.com/TV-Products/Ne...rcePageID=33106 Until someone does a proper test the difference in HD lenses will have to born out through what the audience sees on screen after a decade or so of shooting! Mike Brennan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Max Jacoby Posted March 10, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted March 10, 2005 Highly unlikely. What is more likely is a manufacturing problem. Considering that the 3 zooms we tested had the exact same problem (ie loss of sharpness on the right hand side) to me that says design problem. Unless I see a lens where that isn't the case. Another thing I found is that the focus markings on the 25-112mm Primo zoom are really inadequate for focus pulling on the long end of the zoom. They are much too close together for precise focus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Mark Sasahara Posted March 15, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted March 15, 2005 Considering that the 3 zooms we tested had the exact same problem (ie loss of sharpness on the right hand side) to me that says design problem. Unless I see a lens where that isn't the case. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Could that have been a problem with that particular body? Did you try the lenses on a different camera? Obviousy it's a bit late, but just curious. Also, were you able to resolve that problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Max Jacoby Posted March 15, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted March 15, 2005 We tried several bodies and several monitors, still the problem persisted, so it must be the lenses. In the end we picked the one with the least apparent softness on the right hand side... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Cousin Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 hello, i am not too much of an HD lenses expert myself. however, i shot a few month ago a short film with fujinon HD primes. we used only three focal length : the 8mm, 20mm and 54mm. i have to say i was very very pleased with the results and totally excited too to use these optics. the digiprimes by zeiss was unavailable and i think totally way out of our budget. i used the fuji primes at their maximum aperture (around t1.5, t1.6) and i found they have a beautiful quality. they have a great definition and sharpness (maybe not as sharps as the zeiss but very good too), and however they keep a very beautiful soft, warm, round quality by themselves. the 20mm on medium shot, and the 54mm on close-up of a face and extreme close-ups were very "generous" and "cinematic" in terms of depth of field and softness. it was not cold, harsh and clinical as you can expect from some video lenses. they have the optical and physical advantages of a prime lens, and a kind of quality that reminds cine lenses. is seems to be an hybrid world between cine and video , with it's own aesthetics and advantages. i find this very interesting. i , of course, heard that digi primes are great lenses, and i look forward to use them. but as i only used the fuji ones, i wanted to share this pleasing experience. thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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