Picasso's brush does not a Picasso make. In other words good cinematography will out weigh any disavantage in gear most of the time. I have seen some fantastic work and found that the cinematographer used inferiour or older equipment because that's all they had in the budget while other films had the latest and greatest tools of the trade available and displayed a less than inspiring look. As one who has come up through the ranks from short films and music vidoes using whatever I could lay my hands on to TV series and features where I had my pick, I can safely say that lens technology is significant, but is not the end all. Older lenses aside I've tried most of the present offerings and found that the differences in gear is often relatively subtle and very subjective. Different modern lenses do have different looks and flare characteristics etc., but unless you are seeing them side by side by the time you go through a telecine you would be hard pressed to see great deal of difference and most modern telecines can manipulate the look of your images the way you want. Where the difference is most significant is when the material is printed. Various cinematographers like lenses because they are more contrasty or less contrasty or for their apparent warmth or coolness or the way they render out of focus backgrounds and highlights. Brand loyalty ie. Panavision versus Arri often determines the use of lenses more often than the lenses themselves and vogue of course. Everyone wants the latest and the "best" and wants to use what everyone else is using. It is only natural. There is some great gear sitting on rental house shelves that people would have killed for ten years ago. It was OK then why not now? Best thing to do is test the options availble to you and pick which suites you best. Through time we develop favorites for various reasons. The Zeiss high speeds were mine for a long while and I still think they are fine lenses. The new generation of lenses have newer coatings that resist flare better. The Cookes are a little warmer and have a more graduated softer contrast than either the Zeiss Ultras or the Primos. They are all pretty good for flare, but the Cookes are probably the best. Assistants like the focus scales on Primos and Cookes the best and the Cookes with their roller bearings are the best in cold weather than greased helical lenses. There are pros and cons to all. We are very technologicaly driven, but often loose sight of what makes our work great in all the tech talk. I am as guilty as the next one for that. One can not help but think if I just had those latest lenses. Often we have to make do without them and the world still turns. Great cinematography, like great photography, or great painting or anything else creative, is not soley predicated on the use of the latest technology, but rather on the skill and creativity of the artist and the way they use the technology they have at their disposal. That's my two cents worth.
