Red Komodo RF vs PL

Khalil Zanika · March 29, 2023

Thank you for letting me join this forum. I look forward to participate in many of the discussions and learn from the experts.

I own a Red Komodo, I already shot 3 short films. I am a producer/writer and I normally hire a DP to do the filming.

I have have rented both PL and RF cine lenses and to be honest I see little to no difference, yet every DP/AC I talk to wants me to invest in a PL adapter and only uses PL lenses, yet no one can tell me what the advantage is of using a PL lens on a Komodo.

The RF lenses (Angenieux EZ) I used on the last short film worked amazingly well.

My question is, would I have seen better result if I used the same lenses in a PL model with an adapter?

Kyryll Sobolev · March 29, 2023

PL mount is far more robust and allows very little movement on the lens when focus/iris/zoom motors engage.

with RF/EF mounts you will notice the lens physically moving more when motors hit the end points, or even on a big enough focus rack. this results in an image that shifts up/down.

PL is more "industrial" in this way, and reliably works for many hours a day, every day, in every weather. it can also support heavier lenses with matteboxes/filters/diopters attached to them.

Khalil Zanika · March 30, 2023

4 hours ago, Kyryll Sobolev said:

PL mount is far more robust and allows very little movement on the lens when focus/iris/zoom motors engage.

with RF/EF mounts you will notice the lens physically moving more when motors hit the end points, or even on a big enough focus rack. this results in an image that shifts up/down.

PL is more "industrial" in this way, and reliably works for many hours a day, every day, in every weather. it can also support heavier lenses with matteboxes/filters/diopters attached to them.

Thank you, that was a great response. My next question is what is the best adapter? I rented a Metabones last time we used PL and it worked good, just wondering if there is better? I saw that red introduced an adapter but it's $1500, is that the best option for an adapter?

Kyryll Sobolev · March 31, 2023

if the adapter is RF-to-PL, it won't help much. because you need the most solid connection at the camera body.
if you simply attach a PL adapter into the camera's RF mount, the RF will still bear all the weight and torque of the lens.

i think it comes down to what you shoot, and how you shoot.
RF is perfectly fine for a lot of things.
PL is more solid/precise solution to get results where the margin of error has to be significantly smaller.

Edited March 31, 2023 by Kyryll Sobolev

Matthew Figueroa · April 1, 2023

Hi Khalil,

As Kyryll mentioned above, the RF mount will end up bearing the weight of the lens anyways. The best way to use PL lenses with the Komodo is to supply the mount adapter with a support that attaches to the body or the camera body cage. The rental house that I work at usually goes with the Wooden Camera version of the RF to PL adapter since the price point is lower than the RED $1,500 version and it is shimmable if needed.

If you do have a cage for the camera already, I would recommend a mount adapter that will be compatible with the cage. It's not necessary but easier to mount and not have to worry then considering the weight of the lens each time you swap.

Since you're using the Angenieux EZ which basically has the adapter built in, it's kind of up to you at that point. That lens can also be PL or even EF mount if you wanted.

Personally I prefer the PL version of lenses since I am able to use a wide variety of well established cinema grade glass with AC friendly characteristics and the glass isn't so darn close to the sensor.