nofilmschool » ducloslenses

SALT III: a Comprehensive and Thorough High-Speed Professional Lens Shootout

Joe Marine — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 21:11:58 +0000

There are now more options than ever for good professionally built lenses, and many of them are exceptionally fast. None of them are perfect at their widest aperture (well, a few come as close as possible), but there are times when you just need that extra stop or two of light, even if you might normally be shooting more closed down. SALT, the Southland Alternative Lens Test, is conducted by a group of professionals who test a wide range of lenses against each other in difficult situations, trying to determine the strengths and weaknesses of each set of lenses. The most recent test, WFO, is specifically designed to push lenses like Master Primes, Zeiss Super Speeds, and Canon Cine lenses at their widest aperture to see how well they perform. Check out the test below. (more…)

What's So Special About Uncoated Lenses and Why You Might Want to Use Some

Joe Marine — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 04:19:00 +0000

We often talk about lenses, but very rarely about the coating on a lens. In fact, this is one of the major factors affecting the performance of a lens, as coatings reduce internal reflections and flare, which increases contrast, and therefore improves apparent sharpness. You’re not likely going to be able to buy a brand new lens uncoated (as this is an effect not everyone wants), but there are places that will remove the coatings on a brand new set of lenses. We now have some sample videos of some Samyang lenses that have had their coatings removed, as well as some more professional cinema lenses. Click through to check them out. (more…)

Investing in DSLR Lenses for Cinema Use? Here Are Some Tips for Picking the Right Ones

Joe Marine — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 13:00:54 +0000

Cameras, cameras, cameras. It seems like every day a new camera body is announced (and sometimes lenses, too). While there are always new features to entice us, we know that in this world of planned obsolescence every piece of technology has a finite shelf life. Even RED builds cameras with the knowledge that technology can improve rapidly (which is why they are offering sensor upgrades a few months from now). So what’s a filmmaker to do? What’s the safe investment? Lenses. Specifically, lenses that can be adapted to a wide range of cameras right now, and also in the future. We’ve already got some great info from lens genius Matthew Duclos, but here’s another great piece on which SLR lenses are the best for long-term cinema usability. (more…)

Zeiss Announces $3000 15mm F/2.8 for Nikon and Canon Mounts

Joe Marine — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 20:48:07 +0000

Zeiss has never been a company to disappoint. They consistently make fantastic manual focus lenses, and they now make lenses with just about every popular lens mount. Today they announced a new, ultra-expensive lens, the 15mm F/2.8 in ZF and ZE mounts. The internal design seems to be an improvement over the original Zeiss 15mm f/2.8, which was made for Zeiss Ikon and Leica M cameras. That lens, at $4600, makes this lens look like a bargain. (more…)

A Roundup of Lens Options for the New Breed of Super35 Camcorders

Guest Author — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 20:13:35 +0000

This is a guest post by Matthew Duclos of Duclos Lenses.

There’s no doubt that all of the new cameras announced in the past couple years are very capable in their own field and will prove to produce many, many beautiful images. Regardless of your camera choice, everyone is going to need to find a lens that fits their style and fulfills their needs for a range of productions. Whether you’re shooting a film school project or shooting a feature film, there is a balance to lensing your imagers. (more…)