Cooke Speed Panchro Ser II and Nikkor-S.C Tests

cardmaverick said:
Did you white balance first then put the adapter/lenses on?

If so, this really shows why preproduction shooting tests are so important, because you really need to know if your lenses will render colors slightly different.
Click to expand...

WB was performed after each lens was on the camera. Lights - 5500 Kinos

Both photos are not cropped they are 50% of the original size then placed side by side to easily see the difference between the two.

I've always heard that Nikons and Canons run sharper and cooler than Cooke (Speed Panchro Ser II that is) Now that I have the ability to mount either I just wanted to see for myself and then show you guys.
 
Cooke looks just so much better to me. I will never afford one, but one can rent them. The Nikon looks good too, but lacks that "rich" look.
 
It's not so much the lens that's expensive... it's the hoops you have to jump through to use with a HVX

Arri Standard Mount to PL Mount Adapter $75-$395 per lens, depending on how "professional" the setup.
PL mount for Letus/Redrock/Brevis etc. $360 ish

I've seen Speed Panchro's for $75 on ebay... although the 18mm usually goes for $500+
 
This test is hard to really judge certain differences in that the Cookes seem to be a stop darker at the same stop. The lower exposure of the Cooke is what gives it a more saturated look. Maybe it's an F stop/Tstop discrepancy. I'm sure if you raised the Nikon to 5.6 you'd get similar saturation levels and people would comment on how "rich" the colors are too. The difference in exposure is apparent especially in the highlights.

What would be nice is to do a test in which the exposure is matched with a waveform monitor. Something tells me that the DOF would match too if one manufacturer's f marking really compensates for t stop but doesn't have a t stop marked on it.

Also, place something specular and bright in the background (christmas tree lights,etc) so we can also compare bokeh better.

Anyway, it's good to see someone testing the old Cookes as they can be found for a decent price (relative to other PL mount lenses).
 
you're right on all accounts.

This test was mostly, for me, to see how the Cooks (New edition to my kit) differ from my Nikkon lenses when using identical numerical stops.

That's why I didn't spend much time trying to visually match up the two lenses
 
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