Great review as always! For narrative video work, this lens will work fine...we are used to film with vintage lenses, with many optical compromises, because we like a bit of imperfections in the footage. Cheers!
I think when reviewing a cine lens, it's worth noting that reviewing it in 3:2 mode doesn't add anything, unless it was done as an extra piece for people who for some reason buy cine lenses to use in photography. In video and in DCI 4K / 16:9, a lot of what you mentioned isn't exactly a fault. These are specialized lenses meant for specialized scenarios. Also maybe comparing it with another 85mm cine lens would give an idea instead of just pure speculation. Still, good review!
also, i just wanna add--corner sharpness really means jack shit, even in "establishing shots", because if you know how to compose your shots well you wouldn't make your audience look directly in the corners anyway.
Very balanced review along with a well thought out verdict at the end. And just as a sidenote you actually were the first person I have come across to explain what a cine lense really separates itself from other lenses. Thank you for that!
That's cause T stops is measure by a measurement equipment with a known light source but F stops are a calculation with the focal length and the size of the front element
Great review as usual, BUT! On this lens the extreme corners don't matter at all, because when recording video they will be cropped out anyways as it is 16:9 not the 3 by 2 aspect ratio photography uses, so seeing those 16:9 corners and edges would have been the real deal.
I believe this lens would perform better with apsc sensors even on 8k(like fuji x-h2) It has great center sharpness. It would be like 135mm f2.8 equivalent on apsc sensors. Apsc sensors wouldnt use very edge of the lens like fullframe. So that would give better sharpness edge to edge when 1.6 center cropped area of the lens used.
Another thing to note: He was measuring the corer sharpness on a full 3:2 image, when most people doing video work would crop down to 16:9 and even beyond, meaning the more serious corner issues would be cropped out in most cases. Same with vignetting
Quite interesting alternative to the old Samyang 85 T1.5. Although i think i prefer Samyang for less CA and those sharper corners. I can say that this lens may be a great option for some stylized shots!
Lovely to see a cine lens review. Sadly, considering the numerous areas where this lens falls short, makes me question how accurate the T Stops actually are. As it is, focus breathing on a cine lens is an easy no.
Cinema lenses aren’t suppose to be clinically sharp. We source vintage lenses to soften and add character. This has that which is awesome + the mechanical advantage of this lens makes it superb on set. I think the “spectrum” branding really makes sense here, touch of vintage while not being overly soft.
Hey great review, been looking at the Meike 12mm f2 for a while now and on paper it looks like a great value ultra wide for the specs. Would love for you to review it. If the image quality turns out to be good that could be a very competitive ultra wide angle to consider!
Everyone has their favorite and non favorite elements in a lens and for me, focus breathing is the worst and I always welcome any distortions, vignetting is forgivable and so is chromatic aberration because you can fix it with aperture or on post and sometimes it can look cool in a closeup for certain kind of shots/themes. I know you can "fix" breathing on post, but that means sacrificing resolution by cropping after resizing and that kills the composition, unless you compose with extra safe areas to crop, but for cine lens that doesn't zoom, the backing up changes field of view and the elements inside your frame, but I guess for this price, it can be acceptable, if you don't mind shooting a slightly bigger frame for racking shots As for soft edges for establishing shots, maybe a better fix is to use a wider lens or anamprphic and not a portrait lens
I love your reviews, so please don’t take this the wrong way. However, it seems your review is what you’d want out of a photo lens… not a cinema lens. Most cinema lenses that cost over $5,000 aren’t perfectly sharp corner to corner and some still have a mild amount of focus breathing. They also aren’t all super punchy with contrast. You’ve got to look at video focused lenses differently. That said, I still really appreciate this review!
All in all an interesting budget lens. This focus breathing is unacceptable. The question is: How often do I need to shift my focus point, while shooting? If there was a little less colour fringing....
As a primarily video shooter, I'm thrilled to see a cinema lens featured here!
Yes!
One of my dreams came true…..see you reviewing a cinema lens. Hope to see more in the future. Thank you
Great review as always! For narrative video work, this lens will work fine...we are used to film with vintage lenses, with many optical compromises, because we like a bit of imperfections in the footage. Cheers!
I think when reviewing a cine lens, it's worth noting that reviewing it in 3:2 mode doesn't add anything, unless it was done as an extra piece for people who for some reason buy cine lenses to use in photography. In video and in DCI 4K / 16:9, a lot of what you mentioned isn't exactly a fault. These are specialized lenses meant for specialized scenarios. Also maybe comparing it with another 85mm cine lens would give an idea instead of just pure speculation. Still, good review!
also, i just wanna add--corner sharpness really means jack shit, even in "establishing shots", because if you know how to compose your shots well you wouldn't make your audience look directly in the corners anyway.
Very balanced review along with a well thought out verdict at the end. And just as a sidenote you actually were the first person I have come across to explain what a cine lense really separates itself from other lenses. Thank you for that!
How exciting! Hope to see more cine lenses here 😊
That's cause T stops is measure by a measurement equipment with a known light source but F stops are a calculation with the focal length and the size of the front element
Great review as usual, BUT! On this lens the extreme corners don't matter at all, because when recording video they will be cropped out anyways as it is 16:9 not the 3 by 2 aspect ratio photography uses, so seeing those 16:9 corners and edges would have been the real deal.
I believe this lens would perform better with apsc sensors even on 8k(like fuji x-h2) It has great center sharpness. It would be like 135mm f2.8 equivalent on apsc sensors. Apsc sensors wouldnt use very edge of the lens like fullframe. So that would give better sharpness edge to edge when 1.6 center cropped area of the lens used.
Another thing to note: He was measuring the corer sharpness on a full 3:2 image, when most people doing video work would crop down to 16:9 and even beyond, meaning the more serious corner issues would be cropped out in most cases. Same with vignetting
Xh2 is more of a 1.52 crop
@@thomasemory4352 Thanks for correcting. Right Fuji apsc sensors has 1.5 crop.
Quite interesting alternative to the old Samyang 85 T1.5. Although i think i prefer Samyang for less CA and those sharper corners.
I can say that this lens may be a great option for some stylized shots!
Hope more cine lenses to come!
yes more cine lenses please. Can you get some Cookes. No harm in asking!
Thank you for this review!
Novice question: What are those screws next to the focus ring for? It has four of them 😕
Lovely to see a cine lens review. Sadly, considering the numerous areas where this lens falls short, makes
me question how accurate the T Stops actually are. As it is, focus breathing on a cine lens is an easy no.
Cinema lenses aren’t suppose to be clinically sharp. We source vintage lenses to soften and add character. This has that which is awesome + the mechanical advantage of this lens makes it superb on set. I think the “spectrum” branding really makes sense here, touch of vintage while not being overly soft.
Hey great review, been looking at the Meike 12mm f2 for a while now and on paper it looks like a great value ultra wide for the specs. Would love for you to review it. If the image quality turns out to be good that could be a very competitive ultra wide angle to consider!
What is the metal screw for?
Another budget still lens in a fancier cinematography clothing.
Everyone has their favorite and non favorite elements in a lens and for me, focus breathing is the worst and I always welcome any distortions, vignetting is forgivable and so is chromatic aberration because you can fix it with aperture or on post and sometimes it can look cool in a closeup for certain kind of shots/themes. I know you can "fix" breathing on post, but that means sacrificing resolution by cropping after resizing and that kills the composition, unless you compose with extra safe areas to crop, but for cine lens that doesn't zoom, the backing up changes field of view and the elements inside your frame, but I guess for this price, it can be acceptable, if you don't mind shooting a slightly bigger frame for racking shots
As for soft edges for establishing shots, maybe a better fix is to use a wider lens or anamprphic and not a portrait lens
Hello sir
I am expecting Samyang 85mm 1.4 ii for Sony, review from you
I love your reviews, so please don’t take this the wrong way. However, it seems your review is what you’d want out of a photo lens… not a cinema lens. Most cinema lenses that cost over $5,000 aren’t perfectly sharp corner to corner and some still have a mild amount of focus breathing. They also aren’t all super punchy with contrast. You’ve got to look at video focused lenses differently. That said, I still really appreciate this review!
All in all an interesting budget lens. This focus breathing is unacceptable. The question is: How often do I need to shift my focus point, while shooting? If there was a little less colour fringing....
Second
Fourth
Third😄
First
Jordan Peterson book........gross
Ya lo tengo claro!
7Artisans NO son capaces de hacer buenos objetivos!
Las esquinas son PESIMAS!!!
Jordan Peterson book… WTF 🤮
Haha, reactionary people like you gave him his fame...
haven't even notice, thanks for promoting Jordan Peterson ! Classic Streisand effect.