Cooke Mini-S4 40mm

Ryan Patrick O'Hara

Ryan Patrick O'Hara

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Holiday-Stocking-miniS4i-lenses.jpg


Just got a very cool email from ZGC saying 2013 will deliver not only the new Mini-S4 65mm but the 40mm as well!

Now makes a pretty good set at 18, 25, 32, 40, 50, 65, 75, 100, and 135mm
 
But they are soooooo worth it! :)

They don't depreciate like a camera does. Not at all.

Best investment ever. I have friends who have bought an Epic, or an Alexa, and as well as they have done for themselves and as amazing as those cameras are, my investment will last probably a decade longer and yield high returns, and the cameras will need constant upgrading, etc.

Just saying. Unless ALL cameras (Sony, Panasonic, Arri, Red, Canon) go FF tomorrow (none of them have), these are great lenses with great cost and great return.


The 40mm is a favorite among seasoned cinematographers. Had the privilege of 1st ACing on B-camera for a recent feature film where the DP used a 40mm and 75mm almost all the time. There was a 21mm, 35mm, and some zooms involved, but for my main exposure to the film, the 40mm and 75mm were always used. This was on a Panavised Epic package from Panavision Hollywood. Just saying 40mm lenses are the favorite lenses of some of the biggest DP's and are usually only found in big prime sets. Very happy Cooke has shown the commitment and aptitude to include this in it's mini-s4 set along with expanding to 135mm and 65mm. I think they have just about tied it up from 18-135mm. And at 5k Epic ready on all lens lengths, the mm range is perfect, IMO.

At 5k, the 18mm is so very wide, it makes me not miss the lack of sub-18mm lenses.
 
That is right you have a set of Cooke Speed Panchros don't you? I bet that was a great investment. I have read in interviews in AC and elsewhere that a lot of the top dog DPs like the 40mm focal length. I can see that. I shoot with a low cost Super 35mm sensor sized camera and my favorite lens is a 35mm. I love that focal length, but sometimes do wish that I had one was that was just a skoosh longer, at a about 40mm. Never had much use for 50mm for some reason, I just rarely use that focal length. 18mm would be plenty wide. I have a 20mm lens and that is plenty wide for my taste most times.

However, none of my lenses are Cooke, Zeiss, or Panavision of course! Of those, which do you like the best?
 
David G. Smith said:
That is right you have a set of Cooke Speed Panchros don't you? I bet that was a great investment. I have read in interviews in AC and elsewhere that a lot of the top dog DPs like the 40mm focal length. I can see that. I shoot with a low cost Super 35mm sensor sized camera and my favorite lens is a 35mm. I love that focal length, but sometimes do wish that I had one was that was just a skoosh longer, at a about 40mm. Never had much use for 50mm for some reason, I just rarely use that focal length. 18mm would be plenty wide. I have a 20mm lens and that is plenty wide for my taste most times.

However, none of my lenses are Cooke, Zeiss, or Panavision of course! Of those, which do you like the best?
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I have a set of Mini-S4's formerly called Panchro/i's, not to be confused with Speed Panchros, which are S2's and S3's, from way back.

I like Cooke lenses the best. They have amazing mechanics, and they give a great, 'different' look. They call it the Cooke look, funny enough.

Zeiss makes amazing lenses, arguably the best. Their UP's are wonderfully uniform in size, weight, length and front. They are T/2 and come in so many lengths. My only complaint is the focus ring is more stiff than I'd like.

MP's are giants, but they are T/1.4 and likely the best money can buy. The Cooke 5/i's are about the same. They are giant lenses, but fast and great quality.

When people ask me if I like or dislike MP's vs. 5/i's or S4's vs UP's.... I simply say if you have either of those, you're doing just fine. :)

It's truly a first world problem when production could not get you Master Primes, and you're stuck with Ultra Primes. :/

Anyhow, regarding Panavision lenses, you can't get better anamorphics, except the Hawks. They simply rock. Panavision is great because they have everything and anything you'd want. However, most of my experience with them on set, I'm usually with older lenses and not the top shelf glass, so my main experience is with Super and Standard's... both sets from the 1970's with vintage feel. The Primo's I've had little experience with and they were fantastic.


I went Cooke. I like their lenses, dedication and small outfit. I not only like the slightly warmer hue, smoother contrast, and longer falloff, but I like having lenses that have subtle character different from the rest. I think the world of cinema would be a worse place if everyone had MP's. I like the subtle characteristics lenses have.
 
minis4_i-pic00041.jpg

Not sure where this image came from, but the Cooke Mini-S4/i's (formerly known as Cooke Panchro/i's) pictured here show a 10 lens set.

Cooke has only 'officially' announced the 8th lens of the set, a 65mm, but did give the skinny (seen in this thread) on a 9th lens, this last Christmas. That turned out to be a 40mm due out in 2013. Now what is this 10th lens?

If you look carefully, it seems the unknown 10th lens is between the 18mm and 25mm... it must be the ever popular a 21mm!

I'm looking forward to Cooke's announcements at NAB. It has been also hinted that Cooke Anamorphics will be announced. I doubt they will be in the more "affordable" Mini-S4 range and will instead be competing with Zeiss's Master Ana's and Hawk. We'll see.
 
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