Super Cooke Lens

Jacques Koudstaal · November 3, 2015

Hi there,

I am shooting a low budget psychological thriller. With our budget I have the option of the high speed f1.3 Zeiss or the Super Cooke. Shooting on the Alexa at 2k.

My problem is i wont be able to do tests till the gear check because the lens are booked up till we shoot. I know the Zeiss 1.3 but not familiar with the super cooke, only the Cooke S4's. All i know is the super cooke are quite old. The ideal would be a side by side comparison to see the differences between the lens. Unfortunately its season here and the gear rental are wanting me to select 1 of the sets.

Anyone have experience with the super cookes? Any comparisons test or frame grabs of work done with the super cookes?

Many thanks,

Jacques

18MM T2.8 SUPER COOKE

25MM T2.2 SUPER COOKE

32MM T2.3 SUPER COOKE

40MM T2.3 SUPER COOKE

50MM T2.3 SUPER COOKE

75MM T2.3 SUPER COOKE

100MM T2.8 SUPER COOKE

Dom Jaeger · November 3, 2015

Never heard of Super Cookes, are you perhaps talking about Cooke Speed Panchros? They were widely used in the 40s, 50s and 60s on many, many movies.

Since the digital age and the accompanying vogue for vintage lenses there are a number of rehoused sets around, and some recent movies have used them quite effectively, notably Mr Turner.

Jacques Koudstaal · November 3, 2015

Hi Dom,

Might explain why i could not find anything on the lens. I copied the details straight from the rate card.

Thanks for your input!!

Satsuki Murashige · November 3, 2015

You might want to see who has rehoused the Panchro set in question, there are various companies that do the work which can vary greatly in quality (TLS, Van Diemen, P+S Techniq, Duclos does a simpler Cine-mod). If you need to work fast and can't afford blown takes due to inconsistent flange depth, image shift, or other mechanical lens issues, then it might be safer to stick with the known quality of the Super Speeds.

TLS makes the best conversion, they are former Cooke employees and make the Panchros feel like S4s, mechanically at least. Some of the other Panchro conversions have different front element sizes, telescoping fronts when focusing, and the wider lenses can have vignetting and sensor coverage issues. The 18mm Mk1 is especially bad in this regard. On the other hand, the Panchros have a unique vintage look. Don't expect them to look clean like S4s, that's for sure!

Oron Cohen · November 4, 2015

Hi Dom,

Might explain why i could not find anything on the lens. I copied the details straight from the rate card.

Thanks for your input!!

According to the aperture info(around T2.3), it does look like Cooke Speed Panchros SII set. probably a rehoused of some sort. sometimes people give the rehouse a name...send us a photo of them and someone could probably tell you for sure.

Dom Jaeger · November 4, 2015

Most rehoused Speed Panchro sets use the 32, 40, 50 and 75 series II (f/2 T2.3), a 100mm Deep Field Panchro (T2.8) and the only series III lenses which are the 18 and 25 (f/2 T2.2).

The series II 18mm (f/1.7 T2) and 25mm (f1.7 T2.2) are not as good and may vignette as Satsuki mentioned.

I'm guessing the T2.8 18mm listed by the OP is a typo and should read T2.2. There can be some confusion with the T2.8 Cooke Panchro series which was released by Cooke only about 10 years ago as a sort of budget S4 range, and subsequently rebranded as Mini S4s. Those lenses have nothing to do with the original Speed Panchros.