All-purpose zoom?

C

Christian Berg

Active member
Jim did mention that they where working on a all-purpose zoom. Do you think it will be released at the same time the camera comes out? Is this zoom going to be in the same pricerange as the 300mm zoom or could it be cheaper? Since i really want to get my self a Red camera it would be nice to have a decent lens with it when it arrives. For those small jobs we all get to do some times...
 
More likely that it will cost more. Zooms are more expensive than Primes 'cause they're more complicated (moving parts etc.) I would imagine it would be available when the camera is, 'cause it's gonna be the one verybody wants!
 
We wish we could solve all problems at one time. Please remember that this is a monumentous task we are undertaking. We really are doing our best to provide a short term and long term solutions to as many issues as we can.

Jim
 
0Angenieux 25-250 probably a couple thousand if you got it used and took it to a professional for servicing.

Maybe a Cooke 25-250 (I think that's the zoom range) same price range, but most likely higher than the Angenieux. But I personally like the warmer look of the Cooke from what I've seen.

Personally if I were in the market for a lens I would want to buy it in person, and be able to have a professional look at it before I put down the money. Nothing is worse than laying down some serious cash for a lens whith a bad history just ready to break.
 
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Jim, what kind of lenses are you expecting to deliver when the camera comes out or some time after? Exept the 300mm yor showed at nab. Very impressed by your work so far on the camera! Good luck!
 
So I hope there will be a good zoom for under 5K - that would be fine. Basically I want a zoom for easy setup and better sensor protection. But if I choose a set of primes: What kind of sensor protection against dust and dirt does the RED offer?
 
I don't know what anyone else wants in a zoom, but in addition to being able to design a specific shot and hit it, I want to be able - and this is critical for what I'm planning on ordering my first camera for, in about two months as soon as the check I'm expecting arrives - a studio setup, where I can put the camera body on a tripod, mount a viewfinder up top, and control the zoom with controls mounted on bars attached to the tripods, zooming in and out on my talking head in realtime, for example, as if I were broadcasting the news, a live sporting event, or a convention.

This is vital for me. Just being able to set up one specific zoom for cinematic purposes only, isn't enough. I need to be able to do my zooms live, over and over and over again, during live events, as I'm going to be shooting documentaries where I'll be shooting live for hours at a time.

Thanks.
 
bzengo, I´am thinkin the same way. Sometimes you just want to take the camera out on some easyjob. Without the hassle of bringin all the expencive lenses out in the field. I would like a zoom thats easy to use with a normal pricetag. It would be nice with a kit consisting of the Red Camera, storage och and a Zoom lens. What cold the pricetag be on that?
 
What bzengo and Christian Berg said.

I want to shoot documetaries (and sometimes seminars), with a multi-camera setup, switching live from one camera to the next.

This calls for having each camera operator on a headset, being told by the director, live, what to shoot next, and the talent looking into the camera lens directly. The camera operator needs to be looking up above the camera body into the viewfinder, while zooming in and out using hand controls attached to - not sure what you call them - arms, which in turn are attached to the tripod.

Think of NEWS AT FIVE, the JAY LENO SHOW, or any multi-camera sitcom, shooting with say, 4-5 cameras. I'm not going to order 4-5 cameras to start with, unless my finances have a big breakthrough, but I need a zoom that can be controlled externally along with a viewfinder, such that I can use it in a studio situation.

This is a dealbreaker for me, as the documentaries I'm shooting, I can't stop and pull focus - I have to keep changing frame while holding focus, for several hours, nonstop. That requires a studio setup, on a tripod, with hand controls.

Plus I'm going to have the talent - the subject - talking to an image of me, as Errol Morris does in his documentaries, by using a live video feed of me projected via a teleprompter attached to the front of the Red Camera I'm shooting from. Thus the need for a studio configuration, not a cinematic version.
 
Hey Jesse,

The hand controllers that you are referring to are called zoom and focus controllers and they hook up to, and control the lens, not the camera. If there is a mounting option for television style lenses, it will be very easy to accomplish what you are wanting. Especially if there is some kind of CCU offered for controlling iris, etc...
 
joe 1008 said:
So I hope there will be a good zoom for under 5K - that would be fine...
Click to expand...

If the 300mm prime is 4,750.00 I wouldn't expect a zoom to be the same cost, as cinema quality zooms are way more complex to design and build. Generally expect a zoom to be 2 to 3 times more expensive than a prime. So likely a Red zoom would be priced between $10K to $15K. Considering that a Cooke 18-100mm is $39K and the 14-40mm S4 is $59K. A Red zoom at $15K of comparable quality would therefore be a great value.

For myself, even if Red wasn't planning on making lenses, (which of course they are), between renting and sourcing used, there are lots of options.

If Red or someone makes 35mm SLR mount options that can be changed out like we change batteries, then the lens options explode and Red fulfills the goal of working at every budget level.

(And I haven't even mentioned all of the options available in the 16mm PL mount lens area which will already work with Red)
 
For run and gun you can mount a 16mm PL lens or have your RED camera come with the optional ENG lens mount, for use with ENG zooms (with all the jazz you are used to). But I have to say I've seen some briliantly shot documentaries on 16mm and super16, all of those, probably on cinema zooms. I prefer the usual snap-zoom than the television/birthday party slow zoom that toesn't contribute at all to the final film.

I'm expecting to put a 16mm or super 16mm old zoom lens on mine (for regular windowed 2K stuff and 1080p more run and gun capable - since 16mm dof is much easier to control) and rent 35mm lenses as needed for bigger projects that demand 2K scaled or, god help me, 4K.

But I still have to accept the fact that by the time I get eough money to buy my own RED, they will be announcing their newest F0.4 lenses...
 
Nobody is born knowing anything. The only dumb question is one that isn't asked. All the experts here started out with no knowledge in the production business. You're doing the right thing by searching the online tech boards and asking questions. Next thing you know, people will be come to you for their answers - thus completing the circle.

Gibby
www.cut4.tv
 
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