Old Russian Lenses

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Ruairi Robinson

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Hey,

I've been looking up a couple of sites that sell old Russian Lomo anamorphic lenses, which can apparently be converted to PL mount, to work on the red camera,

They appear to be insanely cheap, But I guess you get what you pay for... Was wondering if these lenses are any use, and anyone know examples of movies shot with them?

I'm sure stuff shot on them ain't gonna look like a Michael Bay movie, but I kind of like the look of grubby old cinemascope films, so unless they are just godawful looking, blurry as hell, and unuseably heavy... well, any more info is appreciated...

Or am I better off getting some Nikon SLR lenses, and renting scope lenses when/if I need them...



Cheers,
Ruairí Robinson
Red #862
www.ruairirobinson.com
 
Stephen Williams said:
Hi,

Due to the aspect ratio of the Red camera, I am not sure you should be looking at anamorphic lenses.

Stephen
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I'm aware of the issues using scope lenses, but if my target resolution is 1080p, I think I have resolution to burn. I like the look.

The question is: do these old Lomo lenses look any good...?

R.
 
I noticed quite a few of those lomos and elites already pl mount ready on good ol ebay. It would be interesting to hear feedback from owners.

I think used super16mm zoom lenses are the way to go for a "budget" 2k shooting package.
 
Ruairi Robinson said:
I'm aware of the issues using scope lenses, but if my target resolution is 1080p, I think I have resolution to burn. I like the look.

The question is: do these old Lomo lenses look any good...?

R.
Click to expand...

Hi Ruairi,

1080p is still 16 x 9! The focal lengths will be way to long the widest is AFAIK 35mm.

The round front are rather better than the square front, but cost more.

Stephen
 
Stephen Williams said:
Hi Ruairi,

1080p is still 16 x 9! The focal lengths will be way to long the widest is AFAIK 35mm.

The round front are rather better than the square front, but cost more.

Stephen
Click to expand...

I'm aware 1080p is 16x9 - of course. But if I'm shooting 4k at say 3.3:1 (at a guess) useable ratio, and extracting a 2.35:1 frame, well thats still gonna be 2916x1241 resolution - that's still higher than the viper filmstream using the full 1080p frame for a 2.35:1 extraction!

Of course, if the lenses aren't very high resolution, well that's another matter, and that's what I'm trying to find out...

I've heard generally that the round fronted lenses are better, but in what way? It may be that I don't mind the imperfections of the square ones, I'd just like to know what they are!

R.
 
Ruairi Robinson said:
I'm aware 1080p is 16x9 - of course. But if I'm shooting 4k at say 3.3:1 (at a guess) useable ratio, and extracting a 2.35:1 frame, well thats still gonna be 2916x1241 resolution - that's still higher than the viper filmstream using the full 1080p frame for a 2.35:1 extraction!

Of course, if the lenses aren't very high resolution, well that's another matter, and that's what I'm trying to find out...

I've heard generally that the round fronted lenses are better, but in what way? It may be that I don't mind the imperfections of the square ones, I'd just like to know what they are!

R.
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Hi,

The Viper uses 3 x 9,200,000 pixel chips so will resolve rather more than a Bayer chip of the same dimensions. FWIW I am shooting with a Viper again 3 days next week. I look forward to opportunity to test a Red back to back, I will be the 788th tester!

The Zeiss Digiprimes will resolve somewhat more IMHO than the LOMO's on film, I have not done a back to back test out to film so can't prove it. (I could be wrong)

The Round fronts are sharper, breathe less, flair less. Better glass and sell for more on Ebay.

Stephen
 
Stephen Williams said:
Hi,

The Viper uses 3 x 9,200,000 pixel chips so will resolve rather more than a Bayer chip of the same dimensions. FWIW I am shooting with a Viper again 3 days next week. I look forward to opportunity to test a Red back to back, I will be the 788th tester!
Click to expand...

Guess I'll be the 862nd...

I was under the impression that the viper only did 1920x1080...?


Stephen Williams said:
The Zeiss Digiprimes will resolve somewhat more IMHO than the LOMO's on film, I have not done a back to back test out to film so can't prove it. (I could be wrong)
Click to expand...

have you got footage I could take a look at from these lenses? or failing that, you know offhand any movies that were shot on 'em? Seems to be really really hard to find good quality reference images from various lenses...

Stephen Williams said:
The Round fronts are sharper, breathe less, flair less. Better glass and sell for more on Ebay.
Click to expand...

Cool, cheers. Sharper - obviously extremely important (but if it's sharper than my final resolution, guess it's not gonna make much difference beyond that!) breathing never bothered me in the slightest, flaring - well it depends how the flares look. If they look like Punch drunk Love, well, no complaints there. If you get that grubby washed out veiling flare thing, if thats what it's called, well that ain't so good. But I could live with it. Stuff like lens distortion - I actually like that look - I personally dislike the look of wide angle lenses that don't distort... but then I'm not gonna be able to get very wide with these lenses anyway!

Btw, have you seen the new HD trailer for Grindhouse? would you have guessed this was shot on HD? Nice murky look... (maybe they went a bit far with the dust and scratches!)

The point is, I kind of like the look of shitty lenses - you spend a lot of time adding that look back in, in post...

R.
 
Ruairi Robinson said:
have you got footage I could take a look at from these lenses? or failing that, you know offhand any movies that were shot on 'em? Seems to be really really hard to find good quality reference images from various lenses...
R.
Click to expand...

Hi Ruairi,

They are the 2/3" chip lenses of choice if you have the budget! Claudio Miranda is currently using them, Geoff Boyle used them on Mutant Chronicles.

Stephen
 
Stephen Williams said:
Hi Ruairi,

They are the 2/3" chip lenses of choice if you have the budget!
Stephen
Click to expand...

They are lovely lenses, but keep in mind that the B4 mount won't be out for sometime until after RED starts shipping. No definitive dates, so depending on your plans; it's something to be aware of (just in case you weren't).

:beer:


RED#'s so you say you want a revolution ?
 
D_and_G said:
They are lovely lenses, but keep in mind that the B4 mount won't be out for sometime until after RED starts shipping. No definitive dates, so depending on your plans; it's something to be aware of (just in case you weren't).

:beer:


RED#'s so you say you want a revolution ?
Click to expand...

Hi,

At $30,000 per prime lens, and optimized for a 3 chip HD camera, I don't see any point in using them with a Red One. There are more suitable lenses available!

Stephen
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Stephen Williams said:
Hi,

At $30,000 per prime lens, and optimized for a 3 chip HD camera, I don't see any point in using them with a Red One. There are more suitable lenses available!

Stephen
</IMG>
Click to expand...
Lol. :) I didn't say "buy them". If he wanted to use them, he'd have to wait. That's all.

BTW, have you seen the results of using the Digiprimes on a single sensor camera ? I'd be curious to see the result.

:beer:
 
D_and_G said:
Lol.
BTW, have you seen the results of using the Digiprimes on a single sensor camera ? I'd be curious to see the result.

:beer:
Click to expand...

Hi,

No I haven't, I guess Red will be the perfect test bed!
I don't expect they will perform very well, but I could be wrong!

Stephen
 
jamestmather said:
i've used master primes on the d20 and found it clean as a bell.
Click to expand...

Hi,

They are probably the best lenses in the world, for 35mm sized motion picture imaging, and a bargain compared to DigiPrimes! LOL

Stephen
 
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