Made the mistake of using Zeiss Compact Primes - Now What?

cjwolff

cjwolff

Well-known member
I recently borred a set of Zeiss Compact Primes from a kind friend to shoot product videos and stills with a 6D. Up to this point I've been using the kit lens...

Suffice it to say the results were phenomenal. Mind boggling...everything I could have dreamed of.

Next week I'll be at NAB 2015 and I'll likely make the final decision to buy a Sony PXW-FS7. Clearly my budget doesn't allow the purchase of both the FS7 and a set of cinema primes.

Honestly I don't have a lot of experience with glass; however, I'm certain there has to be a middle-of-the-road alternative that is less than the Zeiss CP set. I know everyone will have opinions on this topic and the question is quite broad but I would like opinions on a direction I could go with that would be "satisfying" for less than $5000 a lens.

Thanks in advance :)
 
I've been shooting on Nikkor AIS super speed primes for 3 years.
20, 28, 35, 50, 85, 105 (very sharp glass)
Duclos cine mod
Added a Cine Gears wireless FF
all for the price of 1 CP2
Also have another standard speed set by RP lens .
- a 24-70L & 70-200L
and a 11-16 Tokina
Optitek MKII FZ to EF
 
Zeiss CP.2's are bottom end of the top cinema lens world... so you're best bet is the still photography versions of the CP.2's which are either the Zeiss Nikon Mount ZF's or the Zeiss Canon mount ZE's.

They are slightly different than the CP.2's but are of the same design.
 
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How bad was your kit lens that you are raving so much? I mean yeah, quality glass is better then the kit lens but the kit lenses i worked with in the past were at least adequate.
 
Liam Hall said:
Get a set of Samyang cine lenses. You'll be stoked.
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I second what Liam said. Can't beat the price of them. Sure they are soft wide open but it's rare I'm shooting much at 1.4. They sharpen up nice at 2.8. I use them with the FS7 and love the longer throw, gear ring a iris over conventional stills lenses. If budgets are tight you can't beat them.
 
The old Hasselblad lenses were made by Zeiss. Also the Leica R lenses are well liked. Nikons are a great budget option, but they focus in the opposite direction as Canon.
 
Actually, coming from the kit lens, you're likely to find any manual primes a big step forward.

My set is vintage Leitz glass for the Leica-R mount. Not too expensive at around $500 per lens on average, and the image is incredibly awesome (not just sharp, but nice in general, and with great bokeh in particular). And they work on almost any camera (basically everything except PL).
 
Just know that the Rokinon/Samyang lenses do not have a wide diameter lens housing, so the distance markers on the lens barrel is quite limited. If you want to do traditional focus pulling using a distance measuring device, you should stick to true cinema prime with more accurate distance markers.
 
Also, Samyang lenses are not built to last, they break down a lot more than Canon or Nikon lenses (LensRentals repair data, so, that's the case when subject to some abuse, no idea how much better they'll be when properly taken care of).
But if you don't want to play the vintage lottery and if they are all you can afford, the optics are great (particularly the 35mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.4).
 
I've got a buddy that won an ADDY award for a spot he shot using a cheapo plasticy 18-55 kit lens.

I'm as big a lens whore as there is, but you know what... A shooter with a good eye can make art with a plastic bottle for a lens.

Work on your craft, and invest in glass when you really need and can afford it.

All the best!

Dave
 
The Compact Primes are good lenses. $4,000 apiece seems a bit much, yes, but they don't have to cost that much. I've got a complete set of 'em, all 7 from 18 to 85mm, in PL mount. I don't use them anymore, so they're just sitting; I'd sell them for $15k for the whole set.
 
David W. Jones said:
I've got a buddy that won an ADDY award for a spot he shot using a cheapo plasticy 18-55 kit lens.

I'm as big a lens whore as there is, but you know what... A shooter with a good eye can make art with a plastic bottle for a lens.

Work on your craft, and invest in glass when you really need and can afford it.

All the best!

Dave
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You have just singlehandedly driven up the price of plastic bottles. I am extremely angry at you.
 
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