Sony PL lenses!

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Edrafennas

Active member
Hello! lenses Sony PL (kit Sony F3) and Sony PL 4K 6 lens kit. Lenses are different? characteristics? 35mm 50mm 85mm?
 
Edrafennas said:
Hello! lenses Sony PL (kit Sony F3) and Sony PL 4K 6 lens kit. Lenses are different? characteristics? 35mm 50mm 85mm?
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Yes they are very different when it comes to mechanics. The 3-lens PL kit with Sony F3 was a first generation. Plenty of online documentation of why they are inferior to regular cinema lens standards. I must note these issues were almost exclusively mechanical in build quality and housing design.

To my knowledge both are good optically, if not identical.

If you have the choice, buy all of the newer V2's of the Sony PL primes.
 
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For what it's worth, two people I know have bought the 6-piece Mk2 set recently. Both have had very minor damage and in each case Sony's only response was to sell them a whole new lens individually, even though both issues were actually easily resolved
 
I own the 6-set of the MK2 lenses - they are incredible - nice creamy look and neutral color. Really nice mechanics. The only downside is the weight. F2, consistent, nice glass.
 
JMtheDP said:
For what it's worth, two people I know have bought the 6-piece Mk2 set recently. Both have had very minor damage and in each case Sony's only response was to sell them a whole new lens individually, even though both issues were actually easily resolved
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Typical retail mindset.
 
I'd be careful of 3rd person anecdotes. You don't even know that they were purchased at retail. There is a warranty if they were. It's also a fact, that no one has proven these lenses were manufactured by anyone but Sony itself, that after all purchased and owns the former Minolta, nor that they can't be repaired, or to call them a cheap rehoused, you might as well say the same thing about your other Sony equipment that wears the same brand. They are a better investment than FS5/7/F5/F55 in the long run because PL glass are not going to be obsolete nor have a problem of quality issues not getting resolved any more often than the cameras and probably a lot less.
 
I have used both sets, old and new. The new is very nice, the deal of the decade on PL lenses, much better than CP.2's.

In terms of the older F3 set, i've used a few of these sets on a number of occasions. No problems mechanically for me. Also considering the F3 lenses can be found for $600 a piece, they are leagues above Rokinon, Nikon or Canon for cinema use. For users who are looking for the lowest cost PL solution possible, I think this is the set to get, much better than Lomo or old Angenieux Coke Bottle Zoom.

From what I have read, the first gen and 2nd gen are identical in terms of optics. They only improved housing design.
 
I have been considering moving from the CP.2s over to the Sony V.2 lenses as of late. While I do like the Zeiss character of the CP.2s, I wish they were more consistent across the set. But at 2lbs they are definitely light.

I heard the Sony design is specifically made for digital cameras in the regard that they send light through the lens in a more straight/parallel path, so as to better charge photosite buckets...as opposed to lenses that were designed with film in mind. Because film is flat, it doesn't matter so much that Rays of light travel in a scattered way as long as it doesn't alter th image. Because digital sensor photosites have a depth to them, light hitting it from an angle will not charge the photosites as well as light hitting it from straight on. I imagine most modern lenses are designed with this characteristic in mind?

Anyways, on an F65 I have been trying to stay as light as possible for shoulder and Steadicam stuff. I will be looking to rent some sonys soon to test them. If they are really a significant improvement on the image and usability, I suppose 2/3 more pounds wouldn't hurt.

Although, I was confused about a post above stating that some lenses came faulty. Forgive my misunderstanding but did Sony replace the lenses or did the person have to pay for brand new lenses in addition to what they had already purchased?
 
Rafael

It's not that film is flat that it has an "advantage", it was more earlier digital sensors which had the disadvantage. CMOS sensors in particular had a lot of circuitry and processing on the chip itself, so sometimes there were small gaps between the photosites. So light coming in at an angle didn't always get captured as well.

Modern micro-lenslet technology has largely solved this issue, very few lenses present problems now.

FWIW I think the Sony lens set is STILL a brilliant set of lenses and ridiculously good value... I'm just very disappointed at how Sony have handled them in general.
 
I service my 35mm at abel and it was cheap and super quick. They mentioned tgey dont service them very often which means they are solid lenses,
 
Thanks, James. Good to know!

Also, thanks for the quality affirmation, Miguel. If my research and disposition keeps in this favorable direction I might be hoping to transition into the Sony lenses by May or so.

It would be great to have this thread become a resource for the lenses...although I'm sure there are plenty of those already.

i will try to post the tests I do between sonys and cp2s when i hav a chance to test them.
-Thanks again, Rafael
 
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