How will you use a 300mm prime?

lpcvideo1

lpcvideo1

Veteran
O.K., so Red One is reserved, and it'll presumably come with the also-reserved 300mm Red prime. Having never really worked with primes on a motion camera (I have on occasion used one on a dSLR), I am trying how to get my head around what one does with a 300mm lens.

I so appreciate the various primes-threads floating around, and they are helping me build up a critical mass of information I’ll need when I need to use my red-glowing sensor (will you see the red glow through the lens? Sorry, dumb question.). It was these threads, however, that got me wondering how I'll actually be able to use my very first lens.

I figure that I got all my shots of the moon covered. I also can probably keep the nose of my actor in focus, whole both eyes are out of focus due to the crazy narrow DOF from this lens and the mysterium. That will be helpful in telling many of the stories I need to tell, and it will hide that tell-tale reflective red glow in their pupils.

. . . And that's all I got. So, you can see I am curious how others who have used primes are planning on using their 300. I am primarily thinking cinematically, but I do a broad range of work, so any use would be insightful.
 
Primes in general make a lot of sense as they are faster and sharper than zooms.

A 300mm on what is effectively a 35mm area is a pretty narrow field of view and wouldn't be a piece of glass that would get a lot of use in most narrative projects. I am certain that it might be the perfect choice for a lot of sporting events, but this is much longer than what would be typical on most other shoots.
 
As I suspected. Thanks khmuse.

For those who are getting one, and I know there are plenty, why are you getting one? Because Jim is making it (amazing quality, light weight, and price)? Or are there specific needs in mind?

I am interested in all y'alls plans.
 
A 300mm prime is somewhat of a specialty lens not common in basic lens packages. It's not really a lens that most people would own and use often but everyones needs are different. There are certainly people out there that would use it pretty often.

I wonder why they didn't start with more common focal lengths. The zoom does sound pretty sweet.
 
Somewhere I saw someone say that it was in order to fill a gap in available primes. Makes sense from that angle. The zoom coming out later will fill the more workaday needs, at about the same speed, if I recall.
 
That would be atypical. For a similar focal length, a prime should be a stop or two faster than a similar zoom.
 
I can see it being really good for sports and wildlife videography but not practical for most applications. I am sure they started making the prime at the same time they started makig the zoom but becasue zooms are so much more complex it is coming out later.
 
Where do you think Jannard and Red Co. are making their lenses? On site at Oakley? Or is it sub-contracted out to cine-lens specialists? I'm curious how they're delivering such high quality lens specs for such reasonable costs.
 
the 300mm as everyone has commented is a very specialized lens.. in fact youll have a hard time finding a (good) 300mm cine prime on the market right now. Defilnately a sports and wildlife lens, but im sure there are creative enough people out there to fit it into a dramatic enviroment.
 
"Dramatic environment" that's the key word. Any insert shot or an emphasized POV will require it. 'Diversity' or 'variation' will be other key concept. If you want a self estimulated and a satisfied audience, give it the proper reception tools. Yes, our eyes are tools too. [For further information, see the reception theory (aesthetics)]

I'd invite any future RED shooter to have a 300mm near by. And also especially for narrative work.
 
in an interview chris cunningham said he once seriously entertained the idea of shooting a science fiction film entirely with a 300mm lens. i cant find the interview right now but he was talking about taking all the focus away from how "cool" (and distracting) the future looked and the characters surroundings etc, and just focus on the story and the people..


and yeah of course there are other ways to focus on the people and not get too carried away with futuristic production design than using a 300mm lens.

also that italian cell phone commercial he made with leonardo dicaprio looks like it was shot with lots of super long lenses

chris cunningham also "autographed" my video camera by drawing a penis and balls on it with a silver sharpie, right next to the microphone.
 
chris cunningham also "autographed" my video camera by drawing a penis and balls on it with a silver sharpie, right next to the microphone.
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You lucky bastard. Chris is one of my favorite directors.
I hope you find the article and post the info here. Thanks.

Cheers
 
firewallet said:
You lucky bastard. Chris is one of my favorite directors.
I hope you find the article and post the info here. Thanks.

Cheers
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you can find it yourself!!! i think its probably on directorfile

http://www.director-file.com/cunningham/


spike jonze wrote "listening" under my LCD in a black sharpie (the best one). and michel gondry drew a cute stick figure guy with a camera saying "hey zak make good use of me!" with a speech bubble.

all three drawings have all worn off and now my camera is back to normal. they were written in sharpie though. crazy.
 
zakforrest said:
spike jonze wrote "listening" under my LCD in a black sharpie (the best one). and michel gondry drew a cute stick figure guy with a camera saying "hey zak make good use of me!" with a speech bubble.

all three drawings have all worn off and now my camera is back to normal. they were written in sharpie though. crazy.
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awesome, man! michel gondry is the best!
 
lpcvideo1 said:
The zoom coming out later will fill the more workaday needs, at about the same speed, if I recall.
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Apparently I don't recall. I'm not sure where I got that the zoom was also targetted at f2.8, but I sure can't find it now.

EDIT: Argh. Figures I'd find it minutes after I posted my mia culpa. It turns out that I do, in fact, recall.

f2.8--http://red.com/reservations.htm
 
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O.K., so I take it y'all are getting a 300mm to draw on. :)
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Now thats funny:)

Ipcvideo1 you state that you have reserved a red camera and a 300mm lens and you are trying to get your head round as to what you would use a 300mm prime lens for, but that aint so funny.:huh:

Man i can't believe you would order a $5,000 lens and not know what you would use it for! I know, i know you dont' want to miss out on a bargain but just remember a bargain is not a bargain if you have no real use for whatever you purchase. Maybe i am just as bad since i dont even know if i will be able to use the camera or lens:( at least the theory side of things is coming along nicely:)

I asked a similar question with regard the 300mm prime lens in another thread but no one answered. Why? well some probably dont know and the ones that do are probably too busy, which is fine, i fully understand that.

Perhaps red could have detailed the uses for both zoom and the 300mm prime and gave other relevent details etc. On the other hand red probably assume that anyone willing to spend either $9,500 or $5,000 on a lens must surely know what they will use them for!

The type of situations when you would use a 300mm prime has been stated mostly. sports and wildlife/nature in particular. Football, Tennis, Baseball, surfing etc have all been mentioned when you do a google search.

If like me you want to know just how narrow the FOV is or how shallow the DOF will be you can look at some of the DOF charts etc and type in 300mm prime lens. This will give you some idea of the DOF and the distances etc. I am considering reserving one myself today or tomorrow actually. I hope to be using it with a converter probably a 1.5 or ideally 2x if the lens will still produce great footage at the extreme end. It looks pretty certain that a tripod will be essential for this lens and again possibly a remote to operate the camera at the extreme range. Here's some thoughts for you that might help. The red 300mm prime is pretty fast when you look at the real world examples from the still photography side of things. Canon have a still 300mm prime (not a cine lens) at the same speed as the red. Heres my thoughts on it. I want vividly clear shots of boats, wildlife, nature etc at 50m and at 100m distances to subjects possibly more if i can get it. The converter will double my distance and therfore extend the usefullness of the lens at s35mm format. However you can also use the windowed mode for s16mm 2k which the lens at s16mm format is equal to a 600mm prime lens (more telephoto), or used with a 2x converter in windowed s16mm format the lens is more like a 1200mm. Naturally you have to take into account the changes to FOV and distances from subject. So we have a 300mm prime that can hopefully (if red make the camera so) at the flip of a switch change to windowed mode to give a 600mm prime. Also at windowed mode we have the option of 120 fps provided the light is good, given that the lens is pretty fast that option could be quite useful.

Now being a beginner at all of this i could be talking one load of rubbish so please check to confirm or hopefully some kind person can tell me i have got it all wrong let me know or PM me if you wish. I have to make huge sacrifices to purchase all this equipment,i am really a poor guy with a determined mind to succeed and sacrifice to do so.

I do have one real worry however, at the back of my mind is the thought that to achieve good footage in reasonable focus (i know it will take a lot of practice) is really only possible by experienced pros used to dealing with such a specialised lens at those type of distances. In still photography people talk about the difficulty of getting say a good wildlife shot when using the 300mm still prime lens and they have IS and auto features. Maybe someone could be as blunt as they like and say so if it really is
that difficult.

Sorry for the long post guys but time is ruiing out for reservations and i need to tie things down and others obviously need even more info than me on the subject of the 300mm prime lens.

Michael
 
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