Lens selection criteria

[Vidhi Bhardwaj]

Hello people,

Wanted to know when you take a new project what are the main criteria's or points that you check in a lens before finalising to shoot with it?

 

Thank you.

 

VB

[Max Field]

"Serving the story" is a phrase used here a lot. Beyond looking at the logistical stats of a lens (how fast, how heavy), just the overall look of how the glass renders images will be considered for the kind of mood it sets. Warm, soft, cold, sharp, or spacious are just a few of the attributes someone may look at when deciding on a prime set.

[Bruce Greene]

Of all the choices we make as cinematographers, I think the choice of lens manufacturer has the least effect on the final result.  Most modern lens sets (made in the last 30 years) look pretty darn similar overall with subtle differences, though anamorphic lenses can add their own special distortions.

We've been color correcting a recent film this week, shot on old Ziess primes from the 1990's, and they look very very good.  But we did choose them due to price on this project.  I'm not saying these were the easiest for the focus puller though as the lens barrels are smaller than is optimum for focus pulling...  But they do look nice ?

[Phil Connolly]

What Bruce said 

At the high end its nice to compare the subtleties between Panavision, Cookes and Ziess.  But the reality is the differences between modern lenses is quite subtle and not something the audience would spot. 

So for me the main criteria amounts too:

- Cost - can I afford it

- Focal Lengths - are the sizes I need available

- Speed: Do I need a fast T1.3 or is T2.8 fine for this project

- Size and Weight - if the shoot is with a smaller crew, hand held, steadicam - the weight of the lens is worth checking.  

- Availability in your market: Some lenses are just harder to get

In terms of quality I want lenses that produce good images (most do) and don't breath too much on focusing.

Colour rendering e.g warm, cold etc. is less of an issue now you can digitally grade your footage to any colour balance. Grading choices are far more important then lens choices. 

I'm grading a short that was shot on Xeen lenses which are a budget option and yes if you look really carefully the images aren't in Master Prime territory. But they were the best I could afford, they were light weight, fast and the finished film looks great. No festival audience is going to notice and go blugh: "Those lenses looked so cheap"