ZeissT 1.3 lenses VS Cookes S4 T2

[Panayiotis Salapatas]

Hi,

 

Has anybody done any comparison tests of the zeiss T1.3 vs the S4 Cookes? I shot a test today and I am waiting for the results. The test was a small one with only the 25mm of both makes. Has anybody done any excessive tests?

 

Thank you

[Andrew Koch]

could you please clarify whether the Zeiss T1.3 was a superspeed or a masterprime since there is such a massive difference?

[Panayiotis Salapatas]

The Zeiss lenses I am referring to are the superspeeds.

[Mitch Gross]

Superspeeds flare a lot wide open, loose sharpness and color depth when wide open. The glass dramatically improves when stopped down a couple of stops. The Cookes are a much newer and better design. They perform very well all the way open. They also cost about four times as much to purchase new as the Superspeeds did when they were sold new.

[Jarin Blaschke]

Some associates and myself tested these lenses together a while back, as well as other popular modern PL lenses. At most stops , the two are probably similar sharpness-wise at the center of the image, but the performance of the superspeeds falls off dramatically once you move outward toward the edge, especially wide open. Among contemporary glass, the S4s had the most consistent sharpness throughout the image area, even against the Master primes and UltraPrimes which were again sharper in the center at the expense of even performance, but of course were still much better than the superspeeds in the corner regions. Interestingly, Master Primes and Superspeeds performed nearly identically at the very center of the image at T2.

 

Personally, one large deterrent for me, however, is the shape of Cooke's aperture blades, which turns out of focus lights into distracting multi-pointed stars, even wide open slightly since the blades never completely open to the full width of the barrel. This can often be seen even with a tree in the background, as evidenced by points of the sky peeking through the leaves. Superspeeds have less blades, 6 or 7 if I recall, but at least make a less jarring, non-pointed hexagon. At T1.3 lights become circles near the center, and increasingly narrow "footballs" near the edge, due to vignetting at wide stops. That, with the astigmatism, the SSs can produce an interesting, round, often pretty swirly soft focus look wide open if that's ever what you're going for. The newer lenses are more corrected and 'neutral,' but lose some of the personality and magic of what wide-open photography can be.

 

-Jarin

[Tomasz Nowak]

I'm wondering why Zeiss and Cooke don't publicate MTF tests for their cine lenses! Is this any mystery? :ph34r: There are a lot materials about Zeiss photagraphic lenses - like MTF tests, construction etc... But it's very difficult to get information about cine lenses. Has anybody seen this kind of tests?

[Max Jacoby]

Superspeeds have less blades, 6 or 7 if I recall,

They haver 7 blades.

 

I agree that the Cooke S4 bokeh is very distracting.

[georg lamshöft]

"I'm wondering why Zeiss and Cooke don't publicate MTF tests for their cine lenses! Is this any mystery?"

 

I'm not sure, but an optical engineer once told me that comparing MTFs by different manufacturers is risky, e.g. Japanese manufacturers usually only calculate their MTFs while Zeiss/Leica/Schneider measure real production samples. There are many ways to "manipulate" the MTFs, I would only use them to compare lenses of the same manufacturer.

[Joel Deutsch SOC]

Lenses for Rent:

 

I have two sets of:

Zeiss T1.3 Super Speed Lens SETS

MKII PL Mount

*18mm, 25mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm*

 

Also for rent:

Zeiss 135mm Prime: MKII T2.1

 

Also for rent:

Letus Ultimate/Elite: 35mm Lens Adapter

 

 

JOEL DEUTSCH, SOC

Director of Photography / Cam Op

Local 600, IATSE

310.628.5400

EvidenceProductions.com

[Tom Jensen]

On video, you will be hard pressed to tell the difference. The differences are most noticeable when you print and project.