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Looking for PL Apochromatic prime sets


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I'm looking for full-frame PL prime sets that are very well tamed in the chromatic aberration department. I shoot products all the time and a variety of materials and want to move on from the Schneider Xenons (unfortunately they noticeably color-fringe). But the information seems sparse on this subject for PL cine lenses. I've heard the Sigma FF Art Primes are very good, so that's on the list.

Your experiences and recommendations please, my friends.

 

Secondarily, I've also gone so far as to look for apochromatic lenses (I'm really serious about these aberrations). But the options appear extremely limited. There is no way only three lens series exist. What am I missing? There must be more.

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Interesting discussion. I have found standard speeds and S2/S3 Cookes pretty good in this regard, though maybe that's just me. And the 24mm standard speed wasn't great. 

There might be a broader discussion about lens design. Newer lenses for whatever reason appear to have more CA, excepting the Otus and Sigma maybe. I'm curious why this is.

https://www.lenstip.com/117.5-article-50_years_of_Nikon_F-mount_–_Nikkor-S_5_cm_f_2_vs._Nikkor_AF_50_mm_f_1.8D_Chromatic_aberration.html

Looks like the SLR Magic APOs are nice btw.

https://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?163366-SLR-Magic-APO-HyperPrime-mini-review

They're not for PL mount, but I think Voigtlander makes apochromatic lenses for M mount and E mount.

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1 hour ago, Stuart Brereton said:

I had the misfortune to have to shoot a low budget show with Zeiss Otus lenses. They were all bad, but the 35mm, in particular, had the worst CA of any lens I have ever used.

Are you sure it was an Otus lens? I don't think there is a 35mm Otus. Perhaps a Milvus? Or was it the 28mm Otus?

I haven't ever tested them, but reviews regarding CA with Otus lenses is very good, and they are specifically badged as Apochromatic, so I'm surprised you found CA to be a problem. I wonder if they react badly to certain sensors/OLPFs, or if something else was a factor?

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1 hour ago, Dom Jaeger said:

Are you sure it was an Otus lens? I don't think there is a 35mm Otus. Perhaps a Milvus? Or was it the 28mm Otus?

I haven't ever tested them, but reviews regarding CA with Otus lenses is very good, and they are specifically badged as Apochromatic, so I'm surprised you found CA to be a problem. I wonder if they react badly to certain sensors/OLPFs, or if something else was a factor?

Hmm. I could have sworn it was an Otus, but we had a mixed set of lenses, so it could have been a Milvus. Whichever it was, I believe it's the same glass that is in the CP-2s, and I'm told they share the same problem.

If it was a Milvus, you can safely ignore my original post... ?

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8 hours ago, Stuart Brereton said:

Hmm. I could have sworn it was an Otus, but we had a mixed set of lenses, so it could have been a Milvus. Whichever it was, I believe it's the same glass that is in the CP-2s, and I'm told they share the same problem.

If it was a Milvus, you can safely ignore my original post... ?

Definitely a Milvus. The 35mm is notorious for CA!

The Otus lenses are very clean in that regard, but I find the bokeh distracting at times, at least on the 55mm. On busy backgrounds like backlit foliage, it can make some funky shapes. On even backgrounds, it’s very smooth.

On 9/24/2020 at 8:19 PM, Stephen Sanchez said:

I'm looking for full-frame PL prime sets that are very well tamed in the chromatic aberration department.

If you can handle LPL mount, what about the Signature Primes? Might be cost-prohibitive to buy, but possibly a good rental option. 

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3 hours ago, Satsuki Murashige said:

If you can handle LPL mount, what about the Signature Primes? Might be cost-prohibitive to buy, but possibly a good rental option. 

Yeah, the Signature Primes are out of budget. I understand their engineering to have a remarkable CA workaround. They're probably the pinnacle of lensing for my work lol! I wish.

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Hm, well let’s try this another way. Are you looking for a whole matching set? Or if you’re shooting a lot of product then can it be a few macro focal lengths? 

If it’s the latter, then you could look at the IBE Raptor Macros, which are very clean. You could also look at the Lindsey Optics Brilliant Macro Attachments, which work very well on lenses like the Zeiss Compact Zoom 70-200. 

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Wow.

What camera are you using? For some reason I've noticed certain cameras (Alexa in particular, but my old C100 was surprisingly good, too) are kinder about CA than others.

Also it's a good point that if you're using macro filters those could be the problem and not the lens...

I found the 18-35mm Sigma Art to be really clean, but of course that's a $500 still lens and an easier impulse buy than the PL equivalent, and also not imo a great focal length if you are shooting macros.

Likewise the Canon 70-200mm f2.8 II IS seemed super clean to me, I don't know if it's technically apochromatic but it feels like it has next to no CA. I think Canon sells diopters specifically for it, not sure if they're good or not.

 

 

Edited by M Joel W
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1 hour ago, Stephen Sanchez said:

Yeah, the Signature Primes are out of budget. I understand their engineering to have a remarkable CA workaround. They're probably the pinnacle of lensing for my work lol! I wish.

Panavision Primo 70s are also very well corrected for CA, if you want more dream options. ?

Have you heard of IB/E Raptor lenses? They were designed specifically with tabletop cinematography in mind - macro capable and apochromatic. But a little pricey compared to Xenons and SLR Magic’s etc:

https://www.ducloslenses.com/products/ibe-raptor-60mm-t2-9
 

For PL lenses in the Xenon price range probably try out Sigmas and SLR Magics. 

Almost all the lenses I test have some sort of CA if you look for it, especially high speed ones. Master Primes and Leica Summilux-Cs are some of the only fast S35 lenses that minimise it, but it’s still there wide open for certain wavelengths. From what I understand it takes a pretty specific design approach to really reduce CA across the spectrum, which is why those lenses are branded apochromatic. Lens design is always a choice of compromises, so being apo will incur some sort of cost, either in quality or price. SLR Magic Apo Hyperprimes seem like a pretty good bargain if CA is an issue you want to avoid,  but they do have a slightly low con soft look and distinctive flaring for instance.

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@Satsuki Murashige I rarely use macro, actually. I find that getting close to a product is very effective at making it pop for the viewer, especially with dolly moves. So I'll live between 18, 25, 35 for product shots and 75/85, 100 for elements of the product. That's a full range lens set. The Lindsay diopters are look neat.

And actually @M Joel W I frequently use my personal stills Sigma 18-35 for product shots, as it can get inches from the subject (useful for lipstick sizes). But that can't be done in FF mode on the FX9. I need a FF solution. Don't dismiss wider angles for macro/close photography. The Laowa 24mm probe in my opinion is a welcome addition to the macro world, not to mention it's a probe!

11 hours ago, Dom Jaeger said:

For PL lenses in the Xenon price range probably try out Sigmas and SLR Magics. 

Yes, this as pretty much been the two on my list for low CA Fullframe. I thought there were more options

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