Questions about ziess cp.2 glass

T

taaltrek

Member
I'm an amateur film maker (I've made a few shorts, and recently entered my colleges film festival). Anyway, recently I was asked to be the director of photography for a low budget feature length film. It looks like we will be shooting with GH2's due to the extremely low budget for the film (around $30,000 total). I have been asked to recommend lens options for a budget of $3000-$4000. The film is going to be a film noire piece shot largely indoors with a proper lighting setup. The director told me that he would like a lot of high contrast shots, and in general he prefers deep focus. I've looking into renting Ziess CP.2 glass and it looks like we can get a set of 6 lenses for 3 weeks for around $2300. That seems like a fairly good option. I've also the Olympus 4/3s high quality zooms (15-35 f2 and 35-100f2) but they are quite expensive. My question is, are there any quirks or things I need to know about CP lenses? I know that I will need an adaptor and a mattebox. Will the GH2 be able to handle the weight? I assume that a follow focus is not required if I don't need to change focus in the middle of a shot? Has anyone used CP lens with the GH2? Any advice or possibly suggestions about good lens setups would be welcome.

Thanks!
 
I have used them with a Red but not a GH2, but I can tell u that u will need a lens support for sure if u dont want to risk damaging ur GH2. They are nice lenses, but they dont open all to the same stop. Also, u should definately plan on renting a FF. If u try on renting a whole package the FF probably wont add anything to the total price (or only a negligible amount) ... Will u also rent support gear like sticks, hi-hat, external lcd etc?
 
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So I need a lens support? Sounds like I'll need a basic rig then. I plan to also have a monitor etc. But right now my priority is figuing out the lenses.
 
Yes definitely a lens support for the CP.2s. They're fairly stiff and may cause the camera to rock while focusing due to the torque required to turn them. You'll need rails with that as well. You can mount the monitor to them. And unless your actors are never moving throughout a scene, you'd better get a follow focus. You may not ever rack from one subject to another, but you'll definitely have a few pulls just to keep someone in focus as they move across frame. High hat as well. Lots of low angles in a noire. Maybe even a dutch head, but definitely get the basic rig components.
 
What is your overall camera budget, including everything from batteries, to camera, support gear, and lenses etc.? Just trying to figure out what other options you might have...
 
$4000 for camera and lens etc . . . , but I have my own personal GH2 that I may use (in exchange for some compensation). I did mention renting a sony FS-100 or an AF-100 but we just don't have the budget (and we're planning to record sound separately. Anyway, based on what I'm seeing I would need the following

Rig with rails ( Would something like the Indisystem Square Deal or Bulldog work?)
Lens support (If anyone could post a link to something that would work I would really appreciate it)
Follow Focus
Mattebox and filters
Monitor

Is there anything else that I'm missing?
 
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