Owning a cine lens set with full-frame lens coverage

[Paul Joseph]

Hello everyone,

I have a set of Sony GMs with AF on them but looking to get a proper Cine lens with manual focus which has a decent character to it. So I have boiled down the following lens sets and wanted to get some feedback from any experienced using them and also with cameras like Sony FX9 or A7SIII. I have never used any of these sets on my cameras or have access to them either to try them at all.

1. Xeen CF Prime Set (16, 24, 35, 50, 85)
2. DZO Film Vespid Prime set (16, 25, 35, 50, 75, 90, 100, 125)
3. Ironglass Soviet MKII Rehoused Lens Set (20, 28, 37, 58, 85, 135)

I don't want to rent everyday to learn so that's why I wanted to pick up 1set so that I have a combination on AF + Manual lens set for my passion, learning or potential paid work.

Appreciate your inputs to nail down to 1 set so that I can get it as a starting point for my cinematography learning and passion purposes.

Thanks

Paul

[JB Earl]

Avoid the iron glass, . The Xeens are adequate, not exactly matched but OK.  On vistavision they are missing the 100 mm which is fairly important.

The vespids have the 100 mm which is good, but I have no firsthand knowledge of them

Edited July 12, 2022 by JB Earl

[Mark Kenfield]

What do you mean by “decent character”? While all three of those sets have “character” (in terms of optical imperfections), that character mostly amounts to the usual things you see with cheap glass. 
 

Their actual rendering can vary a lot between focal lengths, and may or may not suit your tastes. 
 

The Xeen 85mm for example, has a really beautiful look, but the Xeen 24mm is just awful. 
 

And the wider DZO primes have pretty horrendous distortion (but their longer focal lengths aren’t too objectionable).

[Robert Hart]

Being of an improverished nature, I think I may hang onto my old Nikon f1.4 lenses and the third-party wide-angle lenses. 

Anything better can always be rented.