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Ryan S
09-20-2009, 01:12 PM
I need some help to settle a debate!

I'm pretty new as a DoP- I started using the Red One almost exactly a year ago, and before that, it was HDV on an FX1. I started shooting my first 4K project last October, and I'll be the first to say I knew Jack about lenses. I rented a set from our local film co-op, because it was a nice set of 5 for 100/day. I knew that they were Zeiss primes, and that they had a pl-mount, that was about it.

Over the year since then, I've assimilated a lot of information about glass- its my new obsession. Looking at the footage we shot, I came to believe we used Mark I Super Speeds. 18, 25, 35, 50, 85- all T1.4, triangular bokeh.

I've spent most of the past year using Nikons, but I recently went back to the co-op to rent that specific set of lenses. When I told the main rental guy that I wanted "The Super Speeds," his response was that they didn't have Super Speeds, and that it was a set of Distagons. I mentioned that I thought Distagon/Planar etc referred to the arrangement of elements inside the barrel, he insisted it was the set.

So, I need someone in the know to settle this. Based on the fact that they're T1.4, 18-85mm, Triangular iris, and 180 degree rotation for focus- are these Mark 1 Super Speeds?

The reduser image uploader keeps stalling on me, so this'll have to do:
http://s592.photobucket.com/albums/tt8/redonehalifax/


Thanks!

Stephen Williams
09-20-2009, 01:45 PM
Sounds like MK 1 Superspeeds, sometimes known as B speeds.
Distagons are the design of the wider lense, others will be Plainers

Matt Uhry
09-20-2009, 04:38 PM
Over the year since then, I've assimilated a lot of information about glass- its my new obsession.

Welcome to Glassaholics Anonymous, Reduser chapter.

Stephen Williams is correct - B-Speeds, sometimes known as Mk-1 Super Speeds, sometimes labeled "Opton" if they were made in W. Germany for sale to the Eastern Block.

Check out the movies "Taxi Driver" and "Midnight Express" for some nice 70's triangular bokeh.

Matt Uhry
www.mattuhry.com