Great video man! We live in a bloody exciting time where you can practically recreate a $100,000 Hollywood setup using camera/lenses/lighting for under $10,000. Would love to see more recreating movie scenes on a budget style videos!
Not in every situation. My childhood is filmed on 8mm by my father. Handheld, always with natural available light, documentary style, no staging just simple home video. And every frame has that 8mm film look, colors, saturation, frame rate. Because real 8mm film was used.
As you stated, if you're on a shoot that costs $25K+ a day then totally the Cookes. Some other reasons for renting expensive anamorphic glass like the Cookes for people to consider are the ability to have an entire set of focal lengths; currently there are 10 focal lengths available in the Cooke anamorphic set + a zoom lens available. You also have much longer focus throws which make the 1st AC happy and more durable housings, unique characteristics and distortions, the flaring is a lot different and of course that 2x squeeze factor makes a big difference in how you compose shots, how much you can see left to right of the frame while being able to gain the advantage of a longer focal length depth compression. All that said I think it's great that companies are coming out with affordable options and options that are more single user friendly. We really live in a world now where the technology is overall so good all around that it's really up to the individual artist to take advantage of it all and be good. Lighting is also so overlooked by people. You did a great job recreating the shot and no matter what lens you put on there, it's not gonna enhance a single shot enough to perhaps warrant the cost difference. Only when you're shooting dozens of shots a day for weeks or months on end will you truly notice the difference in more expensive glass and cameras. So for the no-budget filmmakers out there, use what you got and master those tools.
It's always a pleasure to see you talk about anamorphic without a bias towards the expensive stuff! I also really appreciate the honesty the smaller and cheaper lenses are what works for you and your style of filmmaking! Turning that into a generalization would be a problem! :))
The video perfectly confirms my recent thoughts about expensive and cheap lenses, that 99% on RUclips will not see the difference between them. And that 90% of success lies in lighting, color correction, sound and history. And only the remaining 10% are camera body, complex camera movements and lenses. And I'm trying to say that very expensive equipment will not automatically make the picture very professional.
The highlight rolloff on the Cooke look so much better in my opinion. That made the image look much better in my opinion, in addition to the out of focus qualities and texture.
Loved the work you’ve done here. Really helpful to me as an indie DoP. It really doesn’t make sense unless you’ve got a budget where the extra 1% quality becomes worth the price. I’d love to see you do a zoom vs primes video. Are primes really that much better?
Most of the footage I've seen from Sirui lenses has looked clinically sharp, but I'm starting to think that's somewhat dependent on the camera it's shot with. As someone who also loves the Cooke look, the little difference was really surprising! A most encouraging comparison indeed.
In-camera sharpening, denoising, pixel binning, and general processing can all have significant effect on the perceived "sharpness" of an image. Software maters just as much as hardware IMO.
Sharpness is lens then the type of output as most consumer mirrorless cams are doing a whole lot of de noise and sharpening unless they can output raw in which case the outcome is all user defined.
What I like about cleaner/sharper anamorphic lenses like this Sirui and the 1.8x anamorphics by GreatJoy is you still get the fundamental anamorphic characteristics but you have the choice to layer on the desired extra characteristics with filters and post fx as required for a project.
@@DSLRguide I will receive the new Blazar 1.5X adapter in a few days, but right now you can also find the 1.35X from great joy and the 1.33X from Moment, and of course, you can test some vintage 2X anamorphic adapters. I could give you some ideas of combos, maybe this could be a collaboration?
I couldn't click the subscribe button fast enough. Thanks for the massive effort you put into this. I'm actually very shocked at the results. I didn't think the Sirui footage would look as good as it did.
It reminds me of those tests when the Canon 5DMark II came out. In a studio setup and with the same lens the Canon 5D mark II was "as good as" an Arri Alexa. But of course those comparisons will fall appart with no studio lighting. Same with those lenses here. I think the people on twittel voted for the "cheap lens" because the actor in that frames has his head turned and it has more depht, mor tecture, more wrinkles in the face. I am also not sure if twitter is the best optiojn for comparison. and you have to see images in motion. Not just a single frame. But it is true. You pay a lot for the last 5% percent. I love blackmagic cameras. I like braw and 13 stops and all. But it will never be an Alexa. But you definitely can get close if you do a side by side video.
There are several qualities about the Cooke lens I definitely think are amazing, but yes, on a smaller scale it's far from worth it. And the rendering of the Sirui is definitely like a more modern "ultra sharp and flatter" look, which might be more appealing to some. Great comparison, though! And it's a good way for people to realize that they can make really great images without really great bank balances. :)
The main difference outside of the sharpness and the different squeeze ratio is the colour. The colour of the skintones on the Cooke are definitely more pleasing to me.
@@TechnoBabble I also noticed the skin tone difference. The Sirui has a less even spread of magenta that makes him look like he is slightly flushed on his nose and cheek. Where the Cooke has a more natural spread of magenta throughout the face, looking towards the forehead for this.
The problem with the two facial pictures. Is the top image. The mans face is turned more to the left. Allowing more light to hit the shadowed areas. Reducing the red tone on his cheeks and nose. Verses the bottom picture. Where the mans face is turned more to his right. Causing less light to hit the shadowed areas. Resulting in a more darker look. With more deeper redness on his face and nose.
well done! a great practical and aesthetically comparison... now you could try out the Sirui 75 2.9 with the additional anamorphic adapter (about 740 € list price), resulting in a squeeze factor of 2x... I could imagine that the difference between both would become much less visible
Great recreation of the iconic scene. Thanks for the video. Imho the Cooke definitely has better highlights, clarity in the eyes, and crispy bokeh. That look, which is both crispy and fuzzy at the same time, is indescribably beautiful.
Awesome video! Just rented the Sirui lenses again. As you mentioned one characteristics of expensive lenses are the soft roll off in the shadows/highlights/subject vs the sharper cheaper lenses. It all depends what you like.
nicely done my friend! great comparison. it's insane the cost difference between traditional anamorphics and what all the Chinese manufactures are pumping out now. I'm Very happy to see anamorphics becoming more affordable and accesible to every filmmaker.
The cooke really looks slightly better in every aspect but considering the price unless you have a big budget project owning a Sirui kit for the price of a few days of renting is a no brainer. I got the 35mm from their small form factor saturn line on their launch price for my R6 and what a beast of a lens for such a small size and weight, best 1200$ I spent on any camera gear so far.
I would say that you miss focus. In First 3:23 "sponsor segment" Cooke focus is on your eyes, Sirui focus start of your hairline. ON Test itself it's almost the opposite Sirui is sharp focus is on chin beard and mouth even the tip of the nose not out of focus. For Cooke focus plane must be so shallow it seems to be focused is ON behind corner of the mouth and eye iris. Cooke overall focus is softer. I don't know if it's the optics Cooke better in dark shades you can see eye iris color is visible.
As someone who just considered renting a budget anamorphic there is something you missed that is a dealbreaker for the Sirui (at least for most DPs). The Anamorphic look is characterized by a barrel distortion that bows in at the edges. This gives the illusion of the center of frame being bigger. Sirui lenses have pincushion distortion which bows outward at the edges. It just looks bad by comparison. You probably didn't notice this because you had a 75mm which isn't wide enough to notice the difference, but it is a major complaint from the 35mm.
All in all you've convinced me to purchase the Saturns. Great work. You were the only one to emphasize the 2 most important feature of the lenses. Price & sharpness. Breathing doesn't really intimidate me. Using the new Blackmagic Cinema Camera with OLPF satisfies my moire problem for the most part. Cromatic aberration is minimal. Cheers Bro.
I definitely didn’t expect that!! Having used a couple of Cookes briefly for some test shoots and demos, they look incredible. Hats off to Sirui for the quality job with these lenses 😮
man, I really see a inconsistent look across the different images you took. I don't know if it's a difference between cooke and sirui lenses or if you graded differently. I also saw that in the doc scenes, the hair on cooke first was slightly towards cyan and later, on another scene, it seemed slightly magenta with punchy orange on the girl's sweater. but what was consistent is that cooke's image had more contrast and saturation with a balance between colors as well. meanwhile the sirui had more red, meaning less cyan and so less color contrast. but it's so subtle that I do think it's a color grading mistake on matching the scenes. did you recorded in different cameras or color graded differently?
All of the music in this video came from Track Club. Get a free month here: trackclub.com/referral-landing?via=dslrguide (please take a look, I wouldn't have been able to make a video like this without their support) Here are the songs I used: 1. Heel - Joey Cantor 2. Spread Out - Aaron Abernathy 3. Night Blooming Jasmine - Joey Cantor 4. Hiding With Ivy-June - Prairie Ensemble
we don't rent out cooke unless we're filming super35 film. it doesn't resolve nearly as well on super sharp digital. we also actually diffuse the lens with lo-con filters and diffuse lighting alot. going 8k is the wrong direction with cookes.
Great work! Would be a great test with the Laowa proteus 2x and the Cookes. No one has done it yet - at least I haven’t found it. Maybe I’ll do one. Love the Cooke’s.
If i were to buy a cooke anamorphic, id probably buy the zoom, its most of the focal lengths of the prime set for the price of 2 primes ($60k), surprised more rental houses dont carry them
Simon this was a great video. Really eye opening. The look you achieved with the cheaper lens was amazing. For me though the star of the show was the set dressing your production designer made from foam and ply. Real Hollywood magic!
Wholeheartedly agree! Found myself that you get a big step in improvement from cheap 100-400$ lenses to moderately priced lenses in the 2k$ regime, but beyond that you will be the only one noticing the improvements.
a great demonstration on how good lighting is everything... id say along with the composition/angle.., its the most important thing.. ill admit, I obsess over glass.., but its important for ppl to know, its not everything..
I once wrapped on a commercial and the airline postponed my flight while the Cooke set continued on to LAX. The case of lenses sat unattended at the luggage pickup for over six hours. It was a very nervous day.
Have you tried the Great Joy anamorphic lenses? 2X squeeze, about the same cost as Sirui’s, and a softer, neutral flair available. Lens breathing is also well reviewed elsewhere. Wondering what your thoughts on those lenses are…? I think the Cooke lens you tried has better contrast and color rendition than the Sirui; of course the bokeh is nicer. Of course, also, out of the question for budget shooters!
All of these tests of Expensive vs Cheap all come to the same conclusion, User, Subject and LIGHTING. If you start your company don't buy an Alexa or RED with a nice lens kit and then struggle on the lights. Buy a few good lights buy a decent Camera (that fits your use) and go, you can always still rent out a nice camera or lens if needed for a project.
Perfect presentation on the subject, as always. I guess the $30,000 anamorphic lenses suit more the more expensive production cameras, but the recreation part with cheaper setup was just mindblowing👍
I mean you explained it pretty accurately at the end there "Smaller Lenses for Smaller projects". Yes, Cooke lenses are incredible for when you have a large scale production, but Sirui thrives with run and gun work. Awesome comparison!
Also, I'm surprised that the rental house allowed you to take the lenses if they knew you were taking public transport home! Here in Melbourne I don't think I know of a rental house that doesn't allow pick up of that stuff without chucking it in a car!
I've been contemplating for a few months now if I should get Sirui for my A7IV, but this video sealed the deal. Thank you for this. Also, famous movie shot recreations are brilliant, I would love to see more of that. And who knows, maybe we'll even work together on some project in the future. :)
so hard to tell, but at 6:40 it looks the cook is sharper and brighter and a higher f-stop ? but could all be settings and post production, so even than it comes to the same conclusion .... budget friendly better if no one notices the difference at all xD
You didn’t mention it but I saw a difference in the desqueeze which has been an isssue for the Sirius, I have to eyeball the desqueeze depending on my focus depth and aperture and in your doc footage your subject was much skinnier in the sirui than the Cooke when normalized. Just a quirk you have to account for.
You also need to take into account the squeeze factor and how much of your sensor is getting cut out compared to the Sirui to match the same aspect ratio. Your image may not even be getting softer due to the lens, but due to the crop imposed on the cameras sensor. However I do agree! I feel there are things way more important things when it comes to increasing the production value to a video than lenses, and renting such an expensive set of lenses, I feel, only makes sense when you are able to allocate more money to things like lighting, production design, locations, camera, etc. Great video!
I own a few Ultra primes because you can get used ones for $5k and they're basically light weight versions of the $30k masterprimes... I see a HUGE difference between those lenses in terms of color reproduction and sharpness to most lenses.... but the new sigma art lenses are at around 90% of the ultras...
The Cooke lens had something different about it that's hard to pinpoint but feels 'right' when the image was moving. But in all honesty I would probably not be able to tell the difference if they were intercut in a scene. At the end of the day, the camera, the lighting, color grading, art direction, location, styling and talent is even more important than the specific brand of lens.
Honestly. The winning poll image looks better because the talents poss is better allowing more contrast with the lighting not necessarily the image/lens quality
It's an interesting test in that that movie wasn't shot on cookes I don't think. I think they shot C series anamorphics. Cookes render color a bit warmer naturally so it would be surprising if I was mistaken. Also these cooke anamorphics came out not too long ago in the grand scheme of things. If they use cookes it would have been their original set of anamorphics their S2s which are super rare now. I've shot on them twice in my career and they are gorgeous but even in LA there's only around 4 sets. But I'm almost sure it was C series anamorphics from panavision. There's a lot of details between glass. 90 percent which is subtle but that's part of the job to think about the little details of a lens that help tell a story or build an image.
I think the Cook has this magical, almost indistinguishable creamy, poetic texture that puts it way above the Sirui. You might not think it's noticeable in your conscious mind but I think you unconscious mind notices for sure. This kind of look triggers the dreamy part of your mind and puts it into magical storytelling realm. This might sound crazy to some but that's how creative people think.
Very entertaining video. As others have said Bladerunner was shot on Panavision lenses ( Super Panavision 70 Lenses(special effects)Panavision Panaflex Gold, Panavision C-Series and Super High Speed Lenses). These lenses can’t be bought but only rented. Panavision lenses are IMHO the best anamorphics on the planet, end of story. Their look is unmistakable and magical, particularly the T series but also the C series. The other set that comes close are the Atlas Orion lenses. Those guys know how to make lenses. That being said I do own the Great Joy 50 &35 mm. The new 1.33x Viltroxes also look great too as do the forthcoming Mercury series from Atlas. So what I’m saying is if you compared the Panavision to the Siriu I doubt anyone would prefer the Siriu. But a great video nonetheless. Look forward to more.
i d love to shoot on panavision C-series one day! btw have you ever tried hawk vantages anamorphics or Xelmus? xelmus reminds me to panavision c series concerning the streaks, breathing and edge distortion
It's important to note that the listed 1.6x anamorphic is listed in 3:2 open gate, so a 1.6x anamorphic lens on a 16:9 sensors is equivalent to a 2.0x anamorphic lens with a small crop, which also helps soften the image up. This is another reason to buy this lens over the 1.33x anamorphic. Sony has these really annoy gaps in their software in their cameras that appears like they are trying to protect their cinema cameras.
This video is proof positive that we are absolutely spoiled nowadays as creators, especially those of us who shoot anamorphic content!!!!! That these lenses are even remotely comparable is incredible.
The Cooke definitely looks noticeably better on average judging by the footage here, but the size, weight and cost is off-putting. Sirui definitely makes awesome lenses for the price. Maybe I´ll get one in the future if I want to get into anamorphic, especially if they make the bokeh nicer on their future models. I´ll stick with my Sony G Zooms for now, though.
Not that I'd ever buy a lens that expensive as I have absolutely no use for something like it, but I did buy the Sirui a while back and I think it's a fantastic lens.
Hi! I actually had thoughts to buy a Cooke S7 so that might be a video for me 🙂 Well it is really overpriced, I think you do pay a lot for like the premium, it's a bit like buying expensive jewelry. I tried to pause the video to understand which camera did you use - Was that a Canon mirrorless? Thanks for a great video
For me the best pricing anamorphics lenses are Vazen x1.8 and laowa proteus 2X. Sirui and greatjoy have some conpromises (not constant squeeze for all lenses and the bokeh is not very stretch). For minimum price i prefer laowa nanomorph
Have you tried the 1.3x adapter to make the Sirui 2x yet? Curious if that improves it or isn’t worth the hassle. Good test! I’m impressed by the lighting match :-)
Excited to see this video! I myself have been shooting more on the 8-bit internal codec, using the Neutral PP with I-Dynamic set to high for a DR boost. So far I’m liking the results, what I’m finding helps is in the grade to use the “high-soft” slider in Davinci Resolve to add a smooth highlight rolloff to the image, because internally the footage has a much worse rolloff than does NLOG.
New sub. Nice comparison video. It is interesting to me that most of the commentators prefer the Cooke while your poll results preferred the Sirui. Why do you think that is so?
Good question - I wondered the same thing. My theory is that people who disagree with the poll are more likely to comment. Either that, or people on RUclips were influenced by knowing the price/brand of the lens, whereas on Twitter it was a blind test…..
Great video! It would be nice to see more how the set decoration was made. Also, what gel did you use to get that color? Been trying find a gel with that color, but it's hard to find before you try it
The lenses really shine when you're workin with a great camera, great production design/makeup/ etc... AND projecting it on a big screen where you will see a TON of difference. That's cinematography though... every component may make a 1-5% difference in image quality, but combined they build a synergy... Use a Cooke ana with an Arri sensor (assuming you get everything in focus) with good design in front of the camera and expose right and light well and you'll get a good image... on small budgets these lenses make absolutely zero sense when you could afford 2-3 more crew members per day lol.
If you're not noticing significant differences, consider switching the display you're watching on. However, I personally can see distinct variations between the two lenses. In the Sirui lens footage, there's a noticeable elongation of the subject's nose with some minor optical distortion, whereas the Cooke lens footage appears more natural with a striking 3-dimensional effect that's hard to describe. Additionally, the Sirui lens seems to stretch the subject's chin and ears, which can be attributed to optical characteristics. If you have an understanding of optics, these differences will become more apparent to you. Overall, great video as always.
Great video man! We live in a bloody exciting time where you can practically recreate a $100,000 Hollywood setup using camera/lenses/lighting for under $10,000.
Would love to see more recreating movie scenes on a budget style videos!
thank you! It’s exciting for sure, I reckon I can go a lot cheaper with lenses haha
I keep finding you in this kind of video Chris, I think it's time to start planning your own cyberpunk short film.
i am so exited for this
$100,000 is low balling it, the camera alone costs more 😅
I think this video is a really good example that lighting makes way more of a difference than the lens or other equipment imo
my plan worked!
Not in every situation. My childhood is filmed on 8mm by my father. Handheld, always with natural available light, documentary style, no staging just simple home video. And every frame has that 8mm film look, colors, saturation, frame rate. Because real 8mm film was used.
Agreed
Exactly, so it always comes down to light>lens>camera
@@ZvilgantisKailis You're talking about a whole different thing.
Love your videos so much. Gotta love Sirui too
thanks dude!
As you stated, if you're on a shoot that costs $25K+ a day then totally the Cookes. Some other reasons for renting expensive anamorphic glass like the Cookes for people to consider are the ability to have an entire set of focal lengths; currently there are 10 focal lengths available in the Cooke anamorphic set + a zoom lens available. You also have much longer focus throws which make the 1st AC happy and more durable housings, unique characteristics and distortions, the flaring is a lot different and of course that 2x squeeze factor makes a big difference in how you compose shots, how much you can see left to right of the frame while being able to gain the advantage of a longer focal length depth compression. All that said I think it's great that companies are coming out with affordable options and options that are more single user friendly. We really live in a world now where the technology is overall so good all around that it's really up to the individual artist to take advantage of it all and be good. Lighting is also so overlooked by people. You did a great job recreating the shot and no matter what lens you put on there, it's not gonna enhance a single shot enough to perhaps warrant the cost difference. Only when you're shooting dozens of shots a day for weeks or months on end will you truly notice the difference in more expensive glass and cameras. So for the no-budget filmmakers out there, use what you got and master those tools.
It's always a pleasure to see you talk about anamorphic without a bias towards the expensive stuff! I also really appreciate the honesty the smaller and cheaper lenses are what works for you and your style of filmmaking! Turning that into a generalization would be a problem! :))
Haha im so tempted to make a video explaining why I don’t think anyone should ever use the expensive ones ;)
@@DSLRguide as long as you're clear about who's "anyone"! hahaha. The film industry has very particular and strong reasons for those costs. :P
The video perfectly confirms my recent thoughts about expensive and cheap lenses, that 99% on RUclips will not see the difference between them. And that 90% of success lies in lighting, color correction, sound and history. And only the remaining 10% are camera body, complex camera movements and lenses. And I'm trying to say that very expensive equipment will not automatically make the picture very professional.
Forget the glass, that scene recreation was amazing!
You’re like 40 now we really watched you grow up
40? He's younger than 30 surely?
Hahaha so true
@@rufusgreenleaf2466 he looks 40 not sure how old he is but I feel like I’ve been watching him for twenty years
Hes in his 20s😂
@@unknowncaller4739 😅, I think he's like 25 or something.
The highlight rolloff on the Cooke look so much better in my opinion. That made the image look much better in my opinion, in addition to the out of focus qualities and texture.
Wish you had clarified that this is just your opinion
@@CadenButera 😂
Lmao I didn't realize I put it twice@@CadenButera
@@onouraford 😂😂 All good, dude
Loved the work you’ve done here. Really helpful to me as an indie DoP. It really doesn’t make sense unless you’ve got a budget where the extra 1% quality becomes worth the price. I’d love to see you do a zoom vs primes video. Are primes really that much better?
Stay tuned for my next video, it’s (kinda) that topic
Most of the footage I've seen from Sirui lenses has looked clinically sharp, but I'm starting to think that's somewhat dependent on the camera it's shot with. As someone who also loves the Cooke look, the little difference was really surprising! A most encouraging comparison indeed.
Sharpness really won't be dependent on the camera beyond its resolution. The lens will be the only thing dictating sharpness
In-camera sharpening, denoising, pixel binning, and general processing can all have significant effect on the perceived "sharpness" of an image. Software maters just as much as hardware IMO.
Sharpness is lens then the type of output as most consumer mirrorless cams are doing a whole lot of de noise and sharpening unless they can output raw in which case the outcome is all user defined.
What I like about cleaner/sharper anamorphic lenses like this Sirui and the 1.8x anamorphics by GreatJoy is you still get the fundamental anamorphic characteristics but you have the choice to layer on the desired extra characteristics with filters and post fx as required for a project.
I appreciate your approach to rationally compare these lens options based on what’s for your setup.
I would love to see how you would work with anamorphic adapters and weird taking lenses
thanks for the idea! Any specific lens/ adapters you had in mind?
@@DSLRguide I will receive the new Blazar 1.5X adapter in a few days, but right now you can also find the 1.35X from great joy and the 1.33X from Moment, and of course, you can test some vintage 2X anamorphic adapters.
I could give you some ideas of combos, maybe this could be a collaboration?
sure, i've just DM'd you on Twitter!
I couldn't click the subscribe button fast enough. Thanks for the massive effort you put into this. I'm actually very shocked at the results. I didn't think the Sirui footage would look as good as it did.
thank you, and welcome aboard!
It reminds me of those tests when the Canon 5DMark II came out. In a studio setup and with the same lens the Canon 5D mark II was "as good as" an Arri Alexa. But of course those comparisons will fall appart with no studio lighting. Same with those lenses here. I think the people on twittel voted for the "cheap lens" because the actor in that frames has his head turned and it has more depht, mor tecture, more wrinkles in the face. I am also not sure if twitter is the best optiojn for comparison. and you have to see images in motion. Not just a single frame. But it is true. You pay a lot for the last 5% percent. I love blackmagic cameras. I like braw and 13 stops and all. But it will never be an Alexa. But you definitely can get close if you do a side by side video.
There are several qualities about the Cooke lens I definitely think are amazing, but yes, on a smaller scale it's far from worth it. And the rendering of the Sirui is definitely like a more modern "ultra sharp and flatter" look, which might be more appealing to some. Great comparison, though! And it's a good way for people to realize that they can make really great images without really great bank balances. :)
It wasn't a Cooke lens that was used to shoot Blade Runner. It were Super Panavision 70 and C-Series lenses.
The main difference outside of the sharpness and the different squeeze ratio is the colour. The colour of the skintones on the Cooke are definitely more pleasing to me.
the skin tones look practically the same.
@@daniel.h2488 Very clear difference to me, but I do some colour work and I have calibrated displays.
@@TechnoBabble the sirui let in more light - if he would have stopped down by 1/3 of a stop you would have seen the same
@@TechnoBabble I also noticed the skin tone difference. The Sirui has a less even spread of magenta that makes him look like he is slightly flushed on his nose and cheek. Where the Cooke has a more natural spread of magenta throughout the face, looking towards the forehead for this.
The problem with the two facial pictures. Is the top image. The mans face is turned more to the left. Allowing more light to hit the shadowed areas. Reducing the red tone on his cheeks and nose. Verses the bottom picture. Where the mans face is turned more to his right. Causing less light to hit the shadowed areas. Resulting in a more darker look. With more deeper redness on his face and nose.
well done! a great practical and aesthetically comparison... now you could try out the Sirui 75 2.9 with the additional anamorphic adapter (about 740 € list price), resulting in a squeeze factor of 2x... I could imagine that the difference between both would become much less visible
Great recreation of the iconic scene. Thanks for the video. Imho the Cooke definitely has better highlights, clarity in the eyes, and crispy bokeh. That look, which is both crispy and fuzzy at the same time, is indescribably beautiful.
Awesome video! Just rented the Sirui lenses again. As you mentioned one characteristics of expensive lenses are the soft roll off in the shadows/highlights/subject vs the sharper cheaper lenses. It all depends what you like.
nicely done my friend! great comparison. it's insane the cost difference between traditional anamorphics and what all the Chinese manufactures are pumping out now. I'm Very happy to see anamorphics becoming more affordable and accesible to every filmmaker.
Thanks Chadwin, totally agree that it’s great to see mass produced anamorphics. A lot has changed even in the last 3yrs :)
The cooke really looks slightly better in every aspect but considering the price unless you have a big budget project owning a Sirui kit for the price of a few days of renting is a no brainer.
I got the 35mm from their small form factor saturn line on their launch price for my R6 and what a beast of a lens for such a small size and weight, best 1200$ I spent on any camera gear so far.
I would say that you miss focus. In First 3:23 "sponsor segment" Cooke focus is on your eyes, Sirui focus start of your hairline. ON Test itself it's almost the opposite Sirui is sharp focus is on chin beard and mouth even the tip of the nose not out of focus. For Cooke focus plane must be so shallow it seems to be focused is ON behind corner of the mouth and eye iris. Cooke overall focus is softer. I don't know if it's the optics Cooke better in dark shades you can see eye iris color is visible.
As someone who just considered renting a budget anamorphic there is something you missed that is a dealbreaker for the Sirui (at least for most DPs). The Anamorphic look is characterized by a barrel distortion that bows in at the edges. This gives the illusion of the center of frame being bigger. Sirui lenses have pincushion distortion which bows outward at the edges. It just looks bad by comparison. You probably didn't notice this because you had a 75mm which isn't wide enough to notice the difference, but it is a major complaint from the 35mm.
All in all you've convinced me to purchase the Saturns. Great work. You were the only one to emphasize the 2 most important feature of the lenses. Price & sharpness. Breathing doesn't really intimidate me. Using the new Blackmagic Cinema Camera with OLPF satisfies my moire problem for the most part. Cromatic aberration is minimal. Cheers Bro.
Thanks for the video! I love how humble you are about not being surprised. 😅
I definitely didn’t expect that!! Having used a couple of Cookes briefly for some test shoots and demos, they look incredible. Hats off to Sirui for the quality job with these lenses 😮
man, I really see a inconsistent look across the different images you took.
I don't know if it's a difference between cooke and sirui lenses or if you graded differently. I also saw that in the doc scenes, the hair on cooke first was slightly towards cyan and later, on another scene, it seemed slightly magenta with punchy orange on the girl's sweater.
but what was consistent is that cooke's image had more contrast and saturation with a balance between colors as well. meanwhile the sirui had more red, meaning less cyan and so less color contrast. but it's so subtle that I do think it's a color grading mistake on matching the scenes.
did you recorded in different cameras or color graded differently?
All of the music in this video came from Track Club. Get a free month here: trackclub.com/referral-landing?via=dslrguide
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Here are the songs I used:
1. Heel - Joey Cantor
2. Spread Out - Aaron Abernathy
3. Night Blooming Jasmine - Joey Cantor
4. Hiding With Ivy-June - Prairie Ensemble
Thx for this comp. Always been curious, shooting sirui myself so it’s good to know the output is quite close …for the price tag that is.
Cook is awesome! You could use runwayml to separate the background and stretch it a bit.
we don't rent out cooke unless we're filming super35 film. it doesn't resolve nearly as well on super sharp digital. we also actually diffuse the lens with lo-con filters and diffuse lighting alot. going 8k is the wrong direction with cookes.
Can you compare HDMI output latency between nikon Z6 and panasonic s1h? Perhaps you just know which manufacturer has the lowest HDMI latency?
Great work! Would be a great test with the Laowa proteus 2x and the Cookes. No one has done it yet - at least I haven’t found it. Maybe I’ll do one. Love the Cooke’s.
If i were to buy a cooke anamorphic, id probably buy the zoom, its most of the focal lengths of the prime set for the price of 2 primes ($60k), surprised more rental houses dont carry them
That was majorly informative and useful. Thanks legend.
Watching you from your very early video , always liked your sincere and simple approach . Yes you are quite grown up now….
Great comparison, simple, effective, honest thoughts…Thanks mate !
whoa! same dude still doing great videos. happy to see it!
Simon this was a great video. Really eye opening. The look you achieved with the cheaper lens was amazing.
For me though the star of the show was the set dressing your production designer made from foam and ply. Real Hollywood magic!
Wholeheartedly agree!
Found myself that you get a big step in improvement from cheap 100-400$ lenses to moderately priced lenses in the 2k$ regime, but beyond that you will be the only one noticing the improvements.
a great demonstration on how good lighting is everything... id say along with the composition/angle.., its the most
important thing.. ill admit, I obsess over glass.., but its important for ppl to know, its not everything..
There just is something that makes Cooke pop out at 4:03. cant say what but its there.
I once wrapped on a commercial and the airline postponed my flight while the Cooke set continued on to LAX. The case of lenses sat unattended at the luggage pickup for over six hours. It was a very nervous day.
The Cooke look is worth it but not for small budget videography. That’s the video
Have you tried the Great Joy anamorphic lenses? 2X squeeze, about the same cost as Sirui’s, and a softer, neutral flair available. Lens breathing is also well reviewed elsewhere. Wondering what your thoughts on those lenses are…?
I think the Cooke lens you tried has better contrast and color rendition than the Sirui; of course the bokeh is nicer. Of course, also, out of the question for budget shooters!
I do like how shadows more on the Cooke, but of course it could be easily graded on the Sirus
All of these tests of Expensive vs Cheap all come to the same conclusion, User, Subject and LIGHTING. If you start your company don't buy an Alexa or RED with a nice lens kit and then struggle on the lights. Buy a few good lights buy a decent Camera (that fits your use) and go, you can always still rent out a nice camera or lens if needed for a project.
Perfect presentation on the subject, as always. I guess the $30,000 anamorphic lenses suit more the more expensive production cameras, but the recreation part with cheaper setup was just mindblowing👍
They usually say that you always get what you pay for, but I don't think so now. thanks for the information..
Seems like there are even more impections with the cooke. Beauitufl
What about lens breathing when focusing, any difference? I have heard anamorphics are known for breathing a lot in general
I mean you explained it pretty accurately at the end there "Smaller Lenses for Smaller projects".
Yes, Cooke lenses are incredible for when you have a large scale production, but Sirui thrives with run and gun work. Awesome comparison!
Also, I'm surprised that the rental house allowed you to take the lenses if they knew you were taking public transport home! Here in Melbourne I don't think I know of a rental house that doesn't allow pick up of that stuff without chucking it in a car!
I've been contemplating for a few months now if I should get Sirui for my A7IV, but this video sealed the deal.
Thank you for this. Also, famous movie shot recreations are brilliant, I would love to see more of that. And who knows, maybe we'll even work together on some project in the future. :)
The Cooke looks so much more dramatic to me. It has contrast in the right places. And seems sharper the right way.
so hard to tell, but at 6:40 it looks the cook is sharper and brighter and a higher f-stop ?
but could all be settings and post production, so even than it comes to the same conclusion .... budget friendly better if no one notices the difference at all xD
You didn’t mention it but I saw a difference in the desqueeze which has been an isssue for the Sirius, I have to eyeball the desqueeze depending on my focus depth and aperture and in your doc footage your subject was much skinnier in the sirui than the Cooke when normalized. Just a quirk you have to account for.
Man, you're one of the few people on youtube that makes sense!
5:34 in this shot I can clearly see a difference in color accuracy, its just the lens?
6:19 let’s rent a 15.000$ lens and tape the filter in front of it. Who needs a matte box? 😂
You also need to take into account the squeeze factor and how much of your sensor is getting cut out compared to the Sirui to match the same aspect ratio. Your image may not even be getting softer due to the lens, but due to the crop imposed on the cameras sensor. However I do agree! I feel there are things way more important things when it comes to increasing the production value to a video than lenses, and renting such an expensive set of lenses, I feel, only makes sense when you are able to allocate more money to things like lighting, production design, locations, camera, etc. Great video!
True true, there is less horizontal resolution thanks to the crop
I own a few Ultra primes because you can get used ones for $5k and they're basically light weight versions of the $30k masterprimes... I see a HUGE difference between those lenses in terms of color reproduction and sharpness to most lenses.... but the new sigma art lenses are at around 90% of the ultras...
That skin tone is so good on Cooke and also movie/filmic look. I can tell the differences, its worth the money if you have the money lol
The Cooke lens had something different about it that's hard to pinpoint but feels 'right' when the image was moving. But in all honesty I would probably not be able to tell the difference if they were intercut in a scene. At the end of the day, the camera, the lighting, color grading, art direction, location, styling and talent is even more important than the specific brand of lens.
This is the outcome I was hoping for, nice to know that I could never rent the Cooke’s again haha
@@DSLRguide I guess it's better than lusting for something you can't afford anyway 😅
You are taking a lot of efforts, i respect you and thank you for sharing this.
Love ur content mate and the passion u have for filmmaking have been watching ur videos since I was in college keep up the amazing work 🤟🏻
Really cool video.
Impressed on set re-creation.
Really great video. Very interesting breakdown of everything
Excellent review! Congratulations and thanks! 😊
Honestly. The winning poll image looks better because the talents poss is better allowing more contrast with the lighting not necessarily the image/lens quality
It's an interesting test in that that movie wasn't shot on cookes I don't think. I think they shot C series anamorphics. Cookes render color a bit warmer naturally so it would be surprising if I was mistaken. Also these cooke anamorphics came out not too long ago in the grand scheme of things. If they use cookes it would have been their original set of anamorphics their S2s which are super rare now. I've shot on them twice in my career and they are gorgeous but even in LA there's only around 4 sets. But I'm almost sure it was C series anamorphics from panavision.
There's a lot of details between glass. 90 percent which is subtle but that's part of the job to think about the little details of a lens that help tell a story or build an image.
I think the Cook has this magical, almost indistinguishable creamy, poetic texture that puts it way above the Sirui. You might not think it's noticeable in your conscious mind but I think you unconscious mind notices for sure. This kind of look triggers the dreamy part of your mind and puts it into magical storytelling realm. This might sound crazy to some but that's how creative people think.
Very entertaining video. As others have said Bladerunner was shot on Panavision lenses ( Super Panavision 70 Lenses(special effects)Panavision Panaflex Gold, Panavision C-Series and Super High Speed Lenses). These lenses can’t be bought but only rented. Panavision lenses are IMHO the best anamorphics on the planet, end of story. Their look is unmistakable and magical, particularly the T series but also the C series. The other set that comes close are the Atlas Orion lenses. Those guys know how to make lenses. That being said I do own the Great Joy 50 &35 mm. The new 1.33x Viltroxes also look great too as do the forthcoming Mercury series from Atlas. So what I’m saying is if you compared the Panavision to the Siriu I doubt anyone would prefer the Siriu. But a great video nonetheless. Look forward to more.
i d love to shoot on panavision C-series one day!
btw have you ever tried hawk vantages anamorphics or Xelmus? xelmus reminds me to panavision c series concerning the streaks, breathing and edge distortion
@@morucek nope not tried the Hawks except for the MiniHawks on a demo. They are so freaking lush even though anamofake 🤍
@@ODHunte i only saw a proof of performance of the mini hawk. so far what i saw there, i like the c-series more 🔥🔥
Thanks for the comparison
Have you also tried 2 lens breathing?
Thanks again!!!
I think a fairer comparison would be comparing the Cookes to other 2x anamorphics like the Laowa budget anamorphics.
Great comparison, and great song choice! ❤
Can't you just add an oval shape insert to the Sirui lens to make the oval shapes taller? They will be slightly smaller tho.
Hey Simon! you're my go to guy for the last 10+ years. keep going!
It's important to note that the listed 1.6x anamorphic is listed in 3:2 open gate, so a 1.6x anamorphic lens on a 16:9 sensors is equivalent to a 2.0x anamorphic lens with a small crop, which also helps soften the image up. This is another reason to buy this lens over the 1.33x anamorphic. Sony has these really annoy gaps in their software in their cameras that appears like they are trying to protect their cinema cameras.
Great vid, dude. Mucho gracious
This video is proof positive that we are absolutely spoiled nowadays as creators, especially those of us who shoot anamorphic content!!!!!
That these lenses are even remotely comparable is incredible.
Probably the first time I've paused and re watched the sponsored bit haha good on ya
Thank you for breaking this down for us.
Investing in a killer lighting gear is probably the takeaway from this test.
The Cooke definitely looks noticeably better on average judging by the footage here, but the size, weight and cost is off-putting. Sirui definitely makes awesome lenses for the price.
Maybe I´ll get one in the future if I want to get into anamorphic, especially if they make the bokeh nicer on their future models. I´ll stick with my Sony G Zooms for now, though.
The Cooke images look lovely though
The siriu is a beast of a lens for the price. Can’t wait to get one for myself one day.
Not that I'd ever buy a lens that expensive as I have absolutely no use for something like it, but I did buy the Sirui a while back and I think it's a fantastic lens.
Hi! I actually had thoughts to buy a Cooke S7 so that might be a video for me 🙂 Well it is really overpriced, I think you do pay a lot for like the premium, it's a bit like buying expensive jewelry.
I tried to pause the video to understand which camera did you use - Was that a Canon mirrorless?
Thanks for a great video
For me the best pricing anamorphics lenses are Vazen x1.8 and laowa proteus 2X. Sirui and greatjoy have some conpromises (not constant squeeze for all lenses and the bokeh is not very stretch). For minimum price i prefer laowa nanomorph
I’m definitely curious about the proteus 2x, shame they’re more pricey than Sirius
love your channel dude!!!
Have you tried the 1.3x adapter to make the Sirui 2x yet? Curious if that improves it or isn’t worth the hassle. Good test! I’m impressed by the lighting match :-)
Yes, planning to feature it in an upcoming video
Are you back to using the Ninja V on your Nikon Z6? Or did you shoot this on the internal neutral profile?
This was all ninja V footage :) I rented the ninja v for this shoot since I’m also making a whole video about 8bit vs 10bit
Excited to see this video! I myself have been shooting more on the 8-bit internal codec, using the Neutral PP with I-Dynamic set to high for a DR boost. So far I’m liking the results, what I’m finding helps is in the grade to use the “high-soft” slider in Davinci Resolve to add a smooth highlight rolloff to the image, because internally the footage has a much worse rolloff than does NLOG.
New sub. Nice comparison video. It is interesting to me that most of the commentators prefer the Cooke while your poll results preferred the Sirui. Why do you think that is so?
Good question - I wondered the same thing. My theory is that people who disagree with the poll are more likely to comment. Either that, or people on RUclips were influenced by knowing the price/brand of the lens, whereas on Twitter it was a blind test…..
@@DSLRguide EXAAAACTLY
Great video! It would be nice to see more how the set decoration was made. Also, what gel did you use to get that color? Been trying find a gel with that color, but it's hard to find before you try it
The lenses really shine when you're workin with a great camera, great production design/makeup/ etc... AND projecting it on a big screen where you will see a TON of difference. That's cinematography though... every component may make a 1-5% difference in image quality, but combined they build a synergy... Use a Cooke ana with an Arri sensor (assuming you get everything in focus) with good design in front of the camera and expose right and light well and you'll get a good image... on small budgets these lenses make absolutely zero sense when you could afford 2-3 more crew members per day lol.
Really enjoyed the comparison, will also check track club looks useful.
Thank you! And thanks for checking out the video’s sponsor, that helps me make more videos like this :)
If you're not noticing significant differences, consider switching the display you're watching on. However, I personally can see distinct variations between the two lenses. In the Sirui lens footage, there's a noticeable elongation of the subject's nose with some minor optical distortion, whereas the Cooke lens footage appears more natural with a striking 3-dimensional effect that's hard to describe. Additionally, the Sirui lens seems to stretch the subject's chin and ears, which can be attributed to optical characteristics. If you have an understanding of optics, these differences will become more apparent to you. Overall, great video as always.