It seems to me that when most videographers choose what type of SLR glass they’re going to put in front of the camera/35mm adapter, they typically spend more time on trying to achieve that shallow depth of field (faster lens) and forget that there are other factors that come into play when placing a still camera lens on a video camera. (color, focus, contrast, breathing, manual control, chromatic aberration) So when it came time to purchase my Letus adapter, I spent a lot of time researching what brand of glass I was going to buy along with it.
I typically go by the motto you get what you pay for and I apply that in just about everything I do in business. So by that rule of thumb, I ended up disregarding a lot of manufacturers and just began looking at what I would call the top tier. At the same time I had to pick a lens that would attach to my Letus using one of the many mounting options that they have. In doing so, I narrowed my choices down to Canon, Nikon, and Zeiss glass. So now the real research begins.
I do a lot of traveling for my shoots so I wanted to have something that would be easy to use no matter where I am, so full manual control isn’t really a question but a necessity. And in looking at all the different options, it seemed that Canon glass wasn’t going to work for me at all. This is because Canon (on their newer lenses) doesn’t have manual aperture control. Sure, I could get around it. But who really wants to take their lens, stick it on a SLR body, set the mode to aperture priority and dial in the setting, hit the DOF preview button while removing the lens? It’s cumbersome to say the least.
So really it came down to Nikon & Ziess. This was good news for me as I relied heavily on a video that Dennis Wood (Cinevate) shot comparing the image of the two lenses on a Sony EX1. (Even though I shoot on a EX3, they use the same internal components so the image you get of each camera is identical.) I’ve included the video below:
http://www.cinevate.com/website/flash/zeiss.flv
So after talking to Dennis for a little bit at NAB last year, I decided to purchase a full set of Zeiss lenses (28, 35, 50, 85, 100mm macro) through Cinevate. (Also because they offered a 10% discount on any order if you visited their NAB booth) And I’ve never regretted that purchase. They’re such a rock solid, top performing piece of glass. The focus ring is nicely dampened as well as hard stops so you’re not endlessly pulling focus to infinity. There are etched markings on the barrel for distance and aperture that are easy to read. And when I attach my Zacuto Zip Gears to them, pulling focus is very smooth and accurate.
The only downside I would have to say about them is that there is quite a bit of breathing going on. This isn’t really that big of an issue unless you’re using a mattebox. And even in that case, you’ll just have to adjust your doughnut to allow for a lot of movement so it won’t pop off. So it’s not quite the end of the world.
If there’s any demand for it, I can post some sample images of my lenes at different focal lengths? Just let me know if this is of intrest to you.
Follow Us!
