13 replies to this topic

[martinboege]

Hello everybody! I am interested on buying a new set of RED PRO LENSES, since the price is affordable and they have put them in the same quality (they say) and resolution than the arri master primes, any thoughts about this?
Thanks

[David Mullen ASC]

Everyone who has seen tests of them say that they are great and similar to Master Primes at a much lower cost.

So if this is all true, the only unknown is robustness, how rugged are they. But at those low prices, it seems like a no-brainer to get them if you can't afford Master Primes anyway.

They'll also cover a 5K-ish area of the upcoming Mysterium-X and Monstro sensors, as do the Master Primes apparently, but not a lot of the Super-35 cine lenses will.

Of course, Master Primes are still a little bit faster if you honestly think you need a T/1.3 lens.

[martinboege]

Everyone who has seen tests of them say that they are great and similar to Master Primes at a much lower cost.

So if this is all true, the only unknown is robustness, how rugged are they. But at those low prices, it seems like a no-brainer to get them if you can't afford Master Primes anyway.

They'll also cover a 5K-ish area of the upcoming Mysterium-X and Monstro sensors, as do the Master Primes apparently, but not a lot of the Super-35 cine lenses will.

Of course, Master Primes are still a little bit faster if you honestly think you need a T/1.3 lens.

Thanks David, it seems good advice, any ways it will always be better to see through them!

[Tim Carroll]

Everyone who has seen tests of them say that they are great and similar to Master Primes at a much lower cost.

David,

Have you seen anything shot with them? If so, what would you compare their look to? Master Primes, Cooke S4's, Ultra Primes, Super Speeds?

Best,
-Tim

[David Mullen ASC]

Several people I know have seen them, but I have yet to. Even thru private email, they tell me that the RED lenses are quite impressive.

[Tim Carroll]

Several people I know have seen them, but I have yet to. Even thru private email, they tell me that the RED lenses are quite impressive.

Cool.

[Chris Keth]

They'll also cover a 5K-ish area of the upcoming Mysterium-X and Monstro sensors...if you honestly think you need a T/1.3 lens.

That makes me shudder a little bit.

[Ken Willinger]

I had a chance to see them at NAB. Physically they are large lenses and weigh between 4 and 6 pounds each, the wider lenses being heavier. Cosmetically the lenses are beautiful with a flat black finish that surprisingly didn't pick up lot's of fingerprints. I saw a 35 mounted to a Red camera and was able to play with it on the camera. The focus moves just right...not too stiff but not loose or sloppy. I saw no discernible breathing. The lens was rock solid. There are 7 blades and they create a very pleasing bokeh. The close focus was beautiful at about 4 inches from the glass. And the glass was very sharp. I also saw the projection tests. These lenses are incredibly sharp and uniform from center to the edges. I was very impressed.

[Peter Milanov]

I worked on a production the other day with the new RED prime lenses. They looked very sharp, very little breathing and seems to be well built. But, as a steadicamoperator I didn´t like that they differ so much in weight, a lot of rebalancing. Also, the focusscale was very strange. The highest marking on, I beleive, the 25 and 35 was 5 meter (about 15 ft.) and then infinity and the throw up there was really short, almost like a still lens. Is it based on a still lens design? I also found it to flare rather ugly. I would not recommend any production to use them, the ultra primes rent for about the same, just go with them.

[Saul Rodgar]

Interesting. I personally think that the RED is better coupled with "sub-prime" glass to give the HD ultra sharp and plastic-like image more character. Of course, one can add lots of filtration to a very sharp glass, but I like to start with "imperfect" glass for HD anyway. The very thought of super sharp native RED images makes me shudder.

[Mathew Rudenberg]

I've done a few projects on the RPP's and I've been very impressed with their quality. I'd definitely place them as the best cost to quality ratio, although I still prefer something about the cooke S4s and S5s... I can't compare them to the zeiss ultraprimes as I have developed an unfair distaste for zeiss after using the standard and super speeds way too much.

Things to know about them:

They're heavy, especially the 25mm and the 18, which are even heavier then the rest.

I noticed some chromatic aberration in the 100mm when under a 2.8, increasing up to 1.9. I did not notice such in the other lenses.

The flare is different. I personally quite like it for music videos - they can create a rainbow soap sheen type of effect.

If you'd like to take a look, here is a very simple music video I shot on the RPP's. It will give you a good idea of how they perform slightly stopped down in daylight and also wide open at night, as well as some of their flare characteristics...

why

[MikeyWilliams]

The lenses look really good, but that flare...not a fan.

[Doug Durant]

Really not a fan of these oversized unwieldy lenses from the POV of an AC,
I've found that most often the lenses don't line up so well with focus witness marks.
I'm really not much of a fan of the way they look as well, don't like the bokeh, horrible flares,
just have a very clinical and plastic-like look them. The best lenses I've seen paired with the
red are some old cooke s2's.