AS far as testing lenses goes,
First we tested at Hand Held Films inc. in NYC. They have a testing bay with a big back lit chart. its made of acetate thats frosted so there is a nice balanced even illumination emanating form the chart. It has pin wheel diagrams and resolution grids on it.
we knew we were shooting verite style and with almost no real lighting gear, a 2k and a couple of redheads. so we were expecting to be shooting most of the time Wide open, so we tested the wide open lens performance. We dimmed the chart illumination to an F2.8, spotchecked with a sekonic spot meter, The film stock was Kodak Vision2 5218 500T. its about as fast as the DVX100 is in 24p mode. Its really fast film.
Hand Held did not have a functioning Collimeter, so we had to check back focus manually. The lenses we were using were Xenon Arri standard mount lenses for the origional Arri IIc MOS camera, and a PL mount adapter for the BL4.
We had the Arri standard mount lenses, and we shot the film on an Arri IIc for variable speed stuff, and an ARRI BL4 for the Sound synch stuff. ( once you use a BL4, you will never complain that your HVX is heavy again.... EVER...... its a 50 pound camera when loaded with stock)
IIc:
BL4:
First we used a measuring tape and pulled three different distances with each lens, 10', 5' and min distance, using a slate we recorded the distance, lens and Fstop of each shot. then we did "eyesharps" where you pull focus with the viewfinder and find you sharpest focus by eye. we used a small flashlight with a single bulb in "candle" mode (MAGLITE) to create a single point of light where its easier to comeup with a point of focus.
The reason we do two tests of focus is to see which method is sharper. Then we sent off the film to be processed and we looked for softspots, CA, and inconsistent focus planes. When we got the rushes, we saw that the Eyesharps were consistently crisper, meaning that the ARRI standard mount => PL adapter was throwing the back focus off.
So we shot with "eye sharps". Should a lens have a quirk, like soft corners, you know that you can only use that lens when the sunject is more toward the center of the frame. We wouldnt use that lens for wide shots and such. CA is more difficult to deal with, though the ARRI Xenon lenses displayed NONE. they were pin sharp, and totally CA free. impressive for 60 year old lenses.
First we tested at Hand Held Films inc. in NYC. They have a testing bay with a big back lit chart. its made of acetate thats frosted so there is a nice balanced even illumination emanating form the chart. It has pin wheel diagrams and resolution grids on it.
we knew we were shooting verite style and with almost no real lighting gear, a 2k and a couple of redheads. so we were expecting to be shooting most of the time Wide open, so we tested the wide open lens performance. We dimmed the chart illumination to an F2.8, spotchecked with a sekonic spot meter, The film stock was Kodak Vision2 5218 500T. its about as fast as the DVX100 is in 24p mode. Its really fast film.
Hand Held did not have a functioning Collimeter, so we had to check back focus manually. The lenses we were using were Xenon Arri standard mount lenses for the origional Arri IIc MOS camera, and a PL mount adapter for the BL4.
We had the Arri standard mount lenses, and we shot the film on an Arri IIc for variable speed stuff, and an ARRI BL4 for the Sound synch stuff. ( once you use a BL4, you will never complain that your HVX is heavy again.... EVER...... its a 50 pound camera when loaded with stock)
IIc:
BL4:
First we used a measuring tape and pulled three different distances with each lens, 10', 5' and min distance, using a slate we recorded the distance, lens and Fstop of each shot. then we did "eyesharps" where you pull focus with the viewfinder and find you sharpest focus by eye. we used a small flashlight with a single bulb in "candle" mode (MAGLITE) to create a single point of light where its easier to comeup with a point of focus.
The reason we do two tests of focus is to see which method is sharper. Then we sent off the film to be processed and we looked for softspots, CA, and inconsistent focus planes. When we got the rushes, we saw that the Eyesharps were consistently crisper, meaning that the ARRI standard mount => PL adapter was throwing the back focus off.
So we shot with "eye sharps". Should a lens have a quirk, like soft corners, you know that you can only use that lens when the sunject is more toward the center of the frame. We wouldnt use that lens for wide shots and such. CA is more difficult to deal with, though the ARRI Xenon lenses displayed NONE. they were pin sharp, and totally CA free. impressive for 60 year old lenses.
