View Full Version : Red extenders
I wonder if Red has any plans to make PL mount extenders optimised for their lenses? A 1.4x and 2x would be really nice on the 300mm.
Steve Gibby
03-27-2007, 07:33 AM
Extenders are very useful for many of the production genres that use long focal length lenses - nature, sports, etc. I've reserved the RED 300mm lens, and I plan on an extender being part of my kit for it. No word from RED on any extender plans, but hopefully it is being considered...
Hans von Sonntag
03-27-2007, 07:59 AM
There is a new 2x extender made by P&S Technik. Supposed to be really good glas (Leitz). I used 2x extenders (forgot the brand) on an Angenieux 25-250 and was disappointed with the results. Avoided since then using extenders and got proper telephotos instead. Anybody who uses build-in extenders in B4 zooms knows that they optically degrade the picture, make it softer. Its more a make-shift than a proper solution. I will test the P&S extender on of the next projects I'll shoot. If it's holds the sharpness I will get one sooner or later.
Slightly off topic:
You can also "extend" the picture by shooting windowed (in my eyes one of the streghs of the RED ONE besides shooting 1/25th@25fps, no 35mm can do this). If your final output is 1080p anyway this might optically be the best way to go. This is new ground and there is nothing to derive from, at least for me. But this is anonther story.
Hans
All very good points, Hans.
As far as image degradation is concerned, it is probably inevitable that some will occur, especially with a x2 extender. If the lens is not really sharp to begin with, and you use a third party extender that is not specifically designed for the lens in question, the results are likely to be disappointing.
However, my experience with 35mm still photography is that starting with a sharp lens (Sigma 120-300mm f2.8) and using a x1.4 extender from the same manufacturer, results have been really good. I see the same comments about extenders with Canon "white" lenses.
I totally agree with your comments about windowing, and I do plan to use this extensively. However, I want it all! I currently use 35mm SLR lenses on a 1/3" sensor camera, and sure will miss the 7.2x crop factor!
Ignoring DOF, and all other things being equal, I suppose it's better to use longer lenses than to window from an inage quality point of view.