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Super Speeds: Mk2 v Mk3


ML Scott

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Hi all,

 

I'm shooting a short with p+s adapter and hvx202 early next month. Very little cash and very little time to test lenses... Trying to get a feel of the difference between the Mk2s and the Mk3s... price is the same. Any experiences or advice on these sets of lenses greatly appreciated.

 

Also, as an aside, given that the image is being put through an adapter, and a degree of sharpness & contrast is lost, would there be any point using lenses like the UltraPrimes or S4s? My inkling is that it would be a bit of a waste of the extra money. Again, advice would be great.

 

Thanks, Michael.

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Hi all,

 

I'm shooting a short with p+s adapter and hvx202 early next month. Very little cash and very little time to test lenses... Trying to get a feel of the difference between the Mk2s and the Mk3s... price is the same. Any experiences or advice on these sets of lenses greatly appreciated.

 

Also, as an aside, given that the image is being put through an adapter, and a degree of sharpness & contrast is lost, would there be any point using lenses like the UltraPrimes or S4s? My inkling is that it would be a bit of a waste of the extra money. Again, advice would be great.

 

Thanks, Michael.

 

Personally, I would try for lenses that are sharper wide open. The superspeeds are fast but they get a little mushy wide open.

 

The biggest difference I know of with between MKIIs and MKIIIs is that the MKIIs have the triangular irises and the MKIIIs are more round.

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Personally, I would try for lenses that are sharper wide open. The superspeeds are fast but they get a little mushy wide open.

 

The biggest difference I know of with between MKIIs and MKIIIs is that the MKIIs have the triangular irises and the MKIIIs are more round.

 

Actually it's the MkI series that have 3 blade irises. The MkII's I believe have 7 blade irises (?) but they definitely do not give you the repulsive triangular bokeh of the MkI's.

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As far as what to put on the front of P+S adapter, I personally wouldn't put extra money into Ultra Primes or S4's. I've found that the Pro 35 softens the image considerably, so I'm not sure that your going to get a lot more out of using more expensive lenses. Any of those lenses will out resolve the camera/pro35 combination you're capturing with. My guess is that the main difference would be in how the lenses flare, with Ultra Primes and S4's being more controlled and the Superspeeds showing more veiling.

 

As a side note, you will be better off using Superspeeds than still lenses (Nikons, etc.), so don't go too cheap. In my experience using still lenses with adapters, they often have lots of chromatic aberration that just looks bad, ugly green and magenta edges popping up on things.

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Actually it's the MkI series that have 3 blade irises. The MkII's I believe have 7 blade irises (?) but they definitely do not give you the repulsive triangular bokeh of the MkI's.

 

Are you sure? I could've sworn it was the MKIIs... :huh:

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As far as what to put on the front of P+S adapter, I personally wouldn't put extra money into Ultra Primes or S4's. I've found that the Pro 35 softens the image considerably, so I'm not sure that your going to get a lot more out of using more expensive lenses. Any of those lenses will out resolve the camera/pro35 combination you're capturing with. My guess is that the main difference would be in how the lenses flare, with Ultra Primes and S4's being more controlled and the Superspeeds showing more veiling.

 

As a side note, you will be better off using Superspeeds than still lenses (Nikons, etc.), so don't go too cheap. In my experience using still lenses with adapters, they often have lots of chromatic aberration that just looks bad, ugly green and magenta edges popping up on things.

 

From experience, I agree with everything Mike says. Put your money somewhere else, stick with superspeeds. And the Mk IIs do not have a triangular bokeh. Good luck.

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Here is an article by Jorge Diaz-Amador on the different generations of Superspeeds:

 

http://www.cinematechnic.com/resources/zei...1,2_lenses.html

 

It would seem that they have triangular irises right through the range. Its funny because its not what Ive experienced with Mk IIs. Perhaps Ive been mistaken about which generation of Superspeeds Ive been using. Am I reading this article incorrectly?

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I think you might be confusing the 16mm lenses wth the 35mm ones.

 

Max,

 

You're right: I have a set of 16mm Mk IIIs and they have the triangular iris. I also have a 50mm Mk III (35mm format lens) that has the round iris.

 

Michael,

 

Paul Duclos of Duclos lenses in Los Angeles checked the 16mm lenses for me. When I asked him how the Mk III series differs from earlier Super Speeds he told me there is no difference optically. IMO they are very good lenses.

 

-Fran

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I think you might be confusing the 16mm lenses wth the 35mm ones. 16mm Superpseeds have triangular bokeh through all generations, while in 35mm it's only the 1st generation.

 

I think that is exactly it. My only experience with superspeeds is on S16. Thanks for the article!

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I think you might be confusing the 16mm lenses wth the 35mm ones. 16mm Superpseeds have triangular bokeh through all generations, while in 35mm it's only the 1st generation.

 

 

 

Actually, I have a set of MK1 16mm Superspeeds, the 9.5mm, 12mm, 16mm and 25mm, that DO NOT have the triangular bokeh (three blades). Though, oddly enough, I also have two MKII 16mm Superspeeds, a 16mm and 25mm, and they do have the three blade iris. So I've been confused as to why Zeiss went 'back' to the three blade iris on the second generation?

 

Todd

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Actually, I have a set of MK1 16mm Superspeeds, the 9.5mm, 12mm, 16mm and 25mm, that DO NOT have the triangular bokeh (three blades). Though, oddly enough, I also have two MKII 16mm Superspeeds, a 16mm and 25mm, and they do have the three blade iris. So I've been confused as to why Zeiss went 'back' to the three blade iris on the second generation?

 

Todd

 

Are any rehoused? One could probably buy 3-blade iris models for cheaper than round iris models, and it wouldn't matter much if the intention was to rehouse them anyway. New iris blades could be made for relatively little money extra in the grand scheme of something like rehousing.

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Guest Kyle Waszkelewicz

I recently rented a set of 16mm Mark II's. I checked all the (16mm) sets at the rental house out of curiosity, and the Mark II's and III's had triangular irises while the Mark I's didn't. Weird.

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  • 3 weeks later...

My Mk1 superspeeds have 6 bladed irises.

 

A tech at ICE film in London told me that mk 1, 2 and 3 16mm superspeeds all had the same glass but different bodies...the later ones with better markings

cheers

rob spence

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  • 12 years later...

Thank you for the interest in my work.

For the 35mm form High Speed (as Zeiss calls them) or Super Speed (as ARRI called them):

Get 1.0: Bayonet mount, 9-blade Reuleax triangle iris, T1.4 max aperture, lightweight and delicate mechanics.

Get 2.0: Greatly improved mechanics, PL mount, 7 blade conventional iris, 180º focus, T1.3 aperture

Gen 2.1: Same as above, 350º focus, improved mechanics

Gen 2.2: Same as above, geared iris

Gen 3.0: Larger focus scale with feet or meters exclusively and larger focus marks. Mostly identical to gen 2.2 otherwise.

There are minor changes in coatings and more adjustments in the later versions.

P.S. I consider the "B-Speed" designation apocryphal. It was never used by ARRI or Zeiss. 

 

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