a blog by Matthew Duclos
SLR Magic is a Hong Kong based lens manufacturer who has enjoyed the limelight with some unique lenses at substantially low prices when compared to the competition. Their lineup includes oddities with titles such as Toy Lens, Hyperprime, Noktor, etc.. Recently, the Chinese manufacturer has made their way into the cinema lens market with fully manual, “cine” lenses. Continue reading “SLR Magic’s 50mm “CINE” prime”
In this post, we’re going to take a quick look at the Canon 50-1000mm Cine-Servo – a lens that some may consider impractical or unnecessary. I disagree! A few weeks back I had a client that was considering adding Canon’s new super zoom to his kit. He does a lot of wildlife and nature documentary work but didn’t think that 1,000mm was a reasonable range. If you asked me that same question six months ago I probably would have agreed. However, after some hands-on time with the lens here in the shop, I’ve definitely found the silver lining. Continue reading “Quick Look: Canon 50-1000mm Close Focus Performance”
Rokinon posted a not-so-subtle hint at their upcoming Xeen product line to their Facebook page earlier today. The photo shows a Xeen branded pirate ship blasting a Zeiss CP.2 and Canon CN-E out of the water. Not much mincing of words there. Continue reading “Rokinon Takes Aim with New Xeen Cinema Prime Lenses”
Leica, CW Sonderoptic have approved Duclos Lenses for complete factory authorized service of the Summilux-C and Summicron-C cinema prime lenses. To celebrate the cooperative milestone, Duclos Lenses will be offering a free diagnostic check for any Leica cinema lens through the month of July. Bring your lenses in today for a free check up. For additional information, call or email – (818) 773-0600, service@ducloslenses.com Continue reading “Duclos Lenses Adds Leica, CW Sonderoptic To Authorized Service Schedule”
Whaaat? I’ve been working with Zeiss for many, many years and I’ve never seen them do such a great deal. They’re offering up to $300 off per lens! On top of that, Duclos is cutting $100 off each Cine-Mod – another unheard of offer. If you ever considered snagging a set of ZF.2 or ZE primes or have some but want to fill out a set, now is the time. Take a look at the price reductions here. Read more from Duclos Lenses: Continue reading “Happy Birthday, Zeiss!”
Until now, shooting cinema on a Micro 4/3 camera meant you were using still photo lenses or lenses that were adapted or modified for motion picture use. The new Veydra Mini Primes are the first lenses to be built from the ground up as motion picture cinema lenses specifically for the Micro 4/3 platform. Considering the super shallow flange depth and tiny sensor size of Micro 4/3, the options for adapting lenses is almost limitless. But what if you’re using a Blackmagic or Panasonic GH4 in a professional environment and don’t have time to fiddle with adapters or down-time for vintage lens repair? The Veydra Mini Primes seem to be filling a gap that no one else has with a purpose built Micro 4/3 cinema lens. Continue reading “Veydra, First To Offer M4/3 Cinema Primes”
Photokina is underway so naturally there are a ton of lens related announcements. There’s some camera news too, but who cares… Cameras are outdated dated within a few months these days anyway. One of the most interesting announcements which I’ve been waiting weeks to discuss is the new 10.5mm from Voigtlander. Not only is this a nice wide focal length, it comes in at an impressive f/0.95. That’s fast for such a wide angle lens.
Continue reading “New 10.5mm Nokton from Voigtlander Sure to Please Micro 4/3 Shooters”
Rokinon just released their new Cine-DS line of cinema prime lenses with color matched optics and uniform focus and iris gears – but what’s the difference between these new lenses and the older lenses in the lineup and which ones will work well for you? Wether you’re just getting into cinematography or you’re tired of wrestling with your L Series or or crummy kit lens, there’s a better solution available. In this post we’ll take a look at the new DS line of lenses from Rokinon and how they’ll work with a range of different cameras. Continue reading “Are Rokinon Primes Right For You?”
Zeiss showed a very basic prototype of their upcoming Servo Unit back in April at NAB (read more on that here). They’ve just released some additional details and specs to accompany their updated prototypes to be shown at IBC in a few weeks. Check out the details and decide for yourself if a servo unit mounted to a compact, lightweight, full-frame, 4k zoom lens is going to benefit you and your workflow. Continue reading “Zeiss Releases More Details About Their CZ.2 Servo Unit”
Rokinon (Samyang, whatever brand you prefer) has been quick to jump into the world of motion picture lenses, using the optics and core mechanical design of their popular all-manual still photography lenses. The Rokinon lenses aren’t what most would consider professional, mostly because of their plastic housings, but the price, availability, and quality more than make up for their cheap feel. I’ve seen some very, very nice cinematic work shot with the Rokinon cine primes regardless of their “status” compared to the likes of higher-end cinema lenses. Currently, Rokinon offers an 8mm, 14mm, 16mm, 24mm, 35mm, and an 85mm. This would be a pretty decent set of cinema primes if it only had the 50mm.
Rumors have been floating around for over a year that a 50mm would be available and it loos like the wait is finally over. Rokinon recently posted a photo to their Facebook page indicating the imminent announcement of a new focal length in their cine prime line-up. Additionally, a lot of the rumors floating around are claiming that the lens will feature a fast aperture of f/1.2. While I don’t know if this is true or not, a 50mm focal length in the Rokinon cine primes series will be a welcome addition at f/1.4 or faster.
Keep an eye on the blog for an update once officially announced. You can bet Duclos Lenses will offer a Pro Set with all the great focal lengths including a new 50mm, at a substantial discount!
UPDATE:
Well there you have it. Rokinon officially announced the new 50mm with specs and a September ship date. The lens will offer a respectable aperture of T1.5 just like the rest of the fast primes. I know a lot of folks were hoping for a faster aperture but I think that matching the rest of the set is plenty fair. Naturally it will cover 35mm Full Frame and feature all the other accouterments as the rest of the Cine Prime line. The other great bit of news is the price: at $549, this is by far the most affordable 50mm Cine Prime currently available. Head on over to Duclos Lenses to pre-order the new 50mm Rokinon today!
Canon has announced their new 17-120mm T2.95 Cinema Zoom Lens. Usually we have to wait until at least the first or second day of NAB for major new gear announcements. Canon was kind of enough to provide their big news a week ahead of the big show. Canon announced their original Cinema EOS lenses back at NAB 2011 and were ready to ship in 2012. So far the feedback on the Canon cinema lenses, both zoom and primes, has been a bit slow to gaining traction, but they’re running at full steam now and there’s a lot of ground to cover. Continue reading “Canon Announces 17-120mm Cine Zoom Ahead of NAB”
Samyang originally displayed a prototype 10mm prime lens at Photokina 2012 with a few details. They recently announced the official development of their new 10mm f/2.8 prime lens. If you’re not familiar with the Samyang line of lenses, they’re a very confusing bunch which shares it’s designs with different branding such as Rokinon, Bower, Vivitar, etc. Rokinon offers their photo lenses in a cinema variety that feature 32-pitch focus and iris gears as well as a smooth, click-less aperture and T-stop markings instead of f-stop. Needless to say, this new 10mm will make it’s way into a Rokinon Cine Prime flavor soon enough. There are quite a few interesting details about this lens. Continue reading “Samyang Officially Announces 10mm f/2.8 Lens”
The Xenon FF-Primes are only a few weeks away and are positioned to be an excellent mid-range set of prime lenses. But what if you want something with just a tad more performance? You reach for the Schneider Cine-Xenar III primes. I did a quick write up on these a few months back explaining how Schneider drastically improved the operational usability of the Xenar IIIs over the previous two versions. Unfortunately the first two iterations may have left a sour taste in some operators mouths. So what’s the best way to encourage cinematographers to give the Xenars another chance? Discount the heck out of them. Continue reading “Schneider Cine-Xenar III Rebate + Warranty Offer”
Shane Hurlbut recently took a set of the Canon Cinema Compact Zoom lenses, 15.5-47mm and 30-105mm, complete with Multi-Mount and Zoom Motor Bracket as well as the two flagship lenses, the 14.5-60mm and 30-300mm with our Carry Handle and Motor Bracket kits out for a spin on his newest project that you may have heard of – Need for Speed.
I love what Duclos has made. They are ergonomically made to flow with the lens and they also incorporate a Haden M26T motor bracket to engage the zoom focal lengths. They are built like a brick house,
Check out his full article on his blog here – Adapting Your Canon Arsenal with Duclos: A Way for Filmakers to Increase Speed and Convenience on Set.
Round Two
