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16mm with 35mm RED Primes.


ryan knight

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You can do it if you want but you wont have any wide angle lenses. 9.5 and 12mm are common wide lenses for 16mm and if the widest you can get is 18 or 25mm then you're going to find yourself at a shortage of options.

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You can do it if you want but you wont have any wide angle lenses. 9.5 and 12mm are common wide lenses for 16mm and if the widest you can get is 18 or 25mm then you're going to find yourself at a shortage of options.

 

I'm not worried about that actually. I more interested in how they might perform; if they'll be as sharp or sharper then the 80's 16mm Zeiss lenses I'd likely be able to afford.

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  • 1 month later...

Anybody shot with that combo?

 

I have access to a RED with all PL and Arri accessories, with the RED Pro Primes, and I may be setting up a 16mm body with them.

 

Anybody done something similar?

 

The lenses will obviously will make the 16mm look better, but what's wrong with Zeiss? Do the lenses even fit? PL is half your problem. You still have to check the distance from the lens to the film plane. When all is said and done, why not just use Zeiss MKs?

 

You digi guys are crazy over toys to play with, I swear.

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The lenses will obviously will make the 16mm look better, but what's wrong with Zeiss? Do the lenses even fit? PL is half your problem. You still have to check the distance from the lens to the film plane. When all is said and done, why not just use Zeiss MKs?

 

You digi guys are crazy over toys to play with, I swear.

 

What´s the issue with the distance to the film plane? I thought PL is 54mm diameter and ffd is 52mm except for the highspeed ARRIs.

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Any PL mount lens will have its back focus set to 52.00 mm.

 

The ffd (flange focal depth or distance) refers to the distance from lens mount to film plane on a camera. This is usually set fractionally under 52.00 mm on most film cameras that I'm familiar with, except high speed SRs, which have a different pressure plate, and are set at exactly 52.00 mm. PL mounted digital cameras like REDs or Alexa also have their sensors set at 52.00 mm behind the mount.

 

So any PL mount lens designed for digital use should work fine on a PL mount film camera. The one thing to watch out for is how far the rear element protrudes. As far as I know, RED primes are OK (I haven't tested them), but Angenieux's digital Optimo zooms for example protrude far enough back to foul on the mirror/shutter of a film camera.

 

Apart from the lack of wide angle options as Rob mentioned, the other issue with using 35mm lenses on 16mm cameras is the possibility of stray light from the oversized image circle bouncing around the mirror cavity and hitting the film.

 

As far as image quality goes, I know a very successful wildlife documentary cinematographer who only ever rents the old 16mm Standard Speed Zeiss lenses for his work. According to him nothing beats them. Matter of taste, I guess. If your only criterion is perceived sharpness, more modern lenses will probably suit you better.

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  • 1 month later...

Here was a test shoot I did with Red Primes on a Arriflex SR3

 

http://vimeo.com/18382377 password is DNA

 

It was purely a rough cut i did and I finally found a editor to put a trailer together for it after 4 months. Also this is a HD transfer I spent a total of $1400 on everything, never produce and DP at the same time!

 

The Jib shot was with a 16mm zoom but everything else was a prime. And a 25mm is a 50mm and a 50mm is a 100mm. And with the Red Primes the widest they have is a 18mm which gives you 26mm as your widest. It was a pain in the ass with the eye piece because the RED prime is a bit large for the camera.

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