Bayonet or not? Lens choices

[Biopreparat]

I am preparing to buy an Arri-16S or SB. I've configured a couple different packaged with various dealers but I keep coming to a few different dilemmas.

 

I'm am amateur, pretty much just beginning. I know I want a zoom lens and have narrowed it down between the Angenieux 12-120mm and 10-150mm. (My decision will probably turn on the package price the dealer gives me.) I know the Bayonet mount is important to support longer zooms. How dangerous is it to use the standard Arri-16S mount with zooms of those proportions?

 

What does it mean for both the condition of the hardware and the image quality?

 

I was also planning on purchasing a couple low-end primes in addition. I was initially thinking of three: one around 10mm, another 25mm and the last 50mm. How practical is it to purchase these primes in addition to a zoom (one of my concerns is the zoom breathing)? Would there be much tangible difference between the image taken from the 10mm on the Angenieux zoom and a 9mm Cooke prime or 10mm Schneider?

 

Thank you in advance for your time, it really means a lot.

[Dan Salzmann]

The Angenieux 10-120mm is not a very sharp lens at all and should be avoided in my opinion.

The quality of a Cooke or Schneider prime lens is far superior in terms of contrast, sharpness and speed. I suggest not getting a low end zoom and go for better quality prime lenses.

You can always rent a zoom when required.

[Dan Salzmann]

The Angenieux 10-120mm is not a very sharp lens at all and should be avoided in my opinion.

The quality of a Cooke or Schneider prime lens is far superior in terms of contrast, sharpness and speed. I suggest not getting a low end zoom and go for better quality prime lenses.

You can always rent a zoom when required.

[Mitch Gross]

Those old primes will still yield a significantly superior image to those zooms. Those zooms are fairly small and lightweight so I wouldn't worry too much about using them in Arri Standard mount, but They're so common in Bayo that I don't see that as a real problem. Certainly you simply must get a camera that has at least one Bayo mount for future upgrade of lenses.

 

The lens is really the most important part of the camera. A camera is just a box that pulls film through itself, but the image quality is all in the glass. That's where you want to spend as much as you can afford. If you can handle it, try declining the primes and the Angenieux zooms and instead upgrading to a Zeiss 10-100 T3 (value alone around $1000). These are pretty sharp but they are fairly slow at T3. Even better is a Cooke 9-50 or a Canon 7-56. These are going to cost more than double that Zeiss. Quickly you can see that the value of the lenses can equal or surpass that of the camera body. That's certainly the case with my gear, and I own cases and cases of equipment.

[Sam Wells]

I'd feel safer with the B mount for the 10-150, more back focus stability at the wide end.

 

I have a "Std" mount on my venerable S and the 9.5-57HEC is no problem, but it's a rather lighweight zoom.

 

I pretty much agree with Mitch otherwise.

 

Quality of old 10-150's vary wildly. I've used one that match the Zeiss T2 zoom & others that were "unsafe for carbonated beveridge storage" :D

 

-Sam