Cooke Speed Panchro and Cooke 25-250 Zoom

[Omar Saad]

Hi Guys, it's been a while since I last posted as I have been busy with life outside of salivating over Red (as fun as it may be)...anyhow I've pretty much lived in the mini dv world prior to this, although in the last year I think I've learned a lot just from reading this board on dvxuser. Anyhow I was wondering what people knew about the Cooke Speed Panchro primes. I googled them and it looks like they are lenses from the 40's and 50's. I've seen them posted on ebay and some other sites selling pretty cheap comparatively. One example below.

http://www.visualproducts.com/storeProductDetail03.asp?productID=71&Cat=8&Cat2=15&Cat3=24

Would these be good lenses for Red? Just trying to get some feedback.

Also on visual products the cooke 25-250zoom caught my eye. Fairly inexpensive for a cooke zoom at $2600.

http://www.visualproducts.com/storeProductDetail03.asp?productID=1000&Cat=8&Cat2=20&Cat3=29

Does anyone have any experience working with this lens? It looks like a freakin bazooka...i'm sure it huge as it goes from 25-250mm. Any feedback would be appreciated. Would this be considered a good price for such a lens.

thanks in advance,
Omar

[Stephen Williams]

Hi Guys, it's been a while since I last posted as I have been busy with life outside of salivating over Red (as fun as it may be)...anyhow I've pretty much lived in the mini dv world prior to this, although in the last year I think I've learned a lot just from reading this board on dvxuser. Anyhow I was wondering what people knew about the Cooke Speed Panchro primes. I googled them and it looks like they are lenses from the 40's and 50's. I've seen them posted on ebay and some other sites selling pretty cheap comparatively. One example below.

http://www.visualproducts.com/storeProductDetail03.asp?productID=71&Cat=8&Cat2=15&Cat3=24

Would these be good lenses for Red? Just trying to get some feedback.

Also on visual products the cooke 25-250zoom caught my eye. Fairly inexpensive for a cooke zoom at $2600.

http://www.visualproducts.com/storeProductDetail03.asp?productID=1000&Cat=8&Cat2=20&Cat3=29

Does anyone have any experience working with this lens? It looks like a freakin bazooka...i'm sure it huge as it goes from 25-250mm. Any feedback would be appreciated. Would this be considered a good price for such a lens.

thanks in advance,
Omar


Hi,

Fairly sure the 18mm Cooke Speed pancro wont wor'k very well with Red, doesn't work with a P+S adapter and looks like shit on a video assist for the same reason (the light does not land on the film plane in a straight line). Looks great on film however.

Not a fan of the Cooke Mk1 25-250, it breathes badly, has a soft spot arround 170mm, the minimium focus is way to far away.

Go for a Cooke 20-100 T3.1 for similar money.

Stephen

[Omar Saad]

Yeah I've heard many good things about the cooke 20-100....used on many contemporary hollywood productions. I believe Gibby mentioned that they used one on Band of Brothers. I kind of figured there had to be some breathing or softness problems on the 25-250 as it was pretty inexpensive yet I had not seen it mentioned on these boards yet. Once again thank you for sharing the knowledge Stephen, it is appreciated.

[Stephen Williams]

Yeah I've heard many good things about the cooke 20-100....used on many contemporary hollywood productions. I believe Gibby mentioned that they used one on Band of Brothers. I kind of figured there had to be some breathing or softness problems on the 25-250 as it was pretty inexpensive yet I had not seen it mentioned on these boards yet. Once again thank you for sharing the knowledge Stephen, it is appreciated.

Hi Omar,

If your patient you will find a 20-100 for that money, they do come up on Ebay and sell for $3000 or less. When priced much above that they don't sell! You can shoot anything with one including macro shots.

Stanley K owned one, he used it on many film including his last, Eyes Wide Shut. It was good enough to cut with the latest Zeiss Variable Primes.

Stephen

Stephen

[Mardi_Gras]

So basically, Stephen, are you saying the Speed Panchros are shit lenses?

[Stephen Williams]

So basically, Stephen, are you saying the Speed Panchros are shit lenses?

Hi,

Not at all, they are fantastic lenses that will work beautifully with film. They were designed in the 1940's before digital sensors, so they may not be compatable with technology designed some 65 years later. Rebuilt ones were used in the close up shots of Mr & Mrs Smith. Cooke S4's for the rest.

The longer focal lenses will probably work very well. 75mm one's are always very yellow as the coatings were radioactive and have changed over time.

Stephen

[PaulClements]

They used the 25-250 on band of brothers as well as the 20-100. Whether they used the Mark I, II or III is not disclosed. I doubt it was the Mark III since this and the 18-100 were made at the same time and suitable to be used with one another, why you wouldn't use the 18-100 if you were going to use the Mark III would be beyond me. So therefore it's either the Mark I or II I would guess.

Maybe you can chime in on the differences between each mark Stephen.

Paul

[Stephen Williams]

They used the 25-250 on band of brothers as well as the 20-100. Whether they used the Mark I, II or III is not disclosed. I doubt it was the Mark III since this and the 18-100 were made at the same time and suitable to be used with one another, why you wouldn't use the 18-100 if you were going to use the Mark III would be beyond me. So therefore it's either the Mark I or II I would guess.

The Cooke 25-250 MK1 was fantastic when launched, just dated a bit today!

Maybe you can chime in on the differences between each mark Stephen.

Paul

Hi,

Only used Mk 1 + II. I think they are well suited to shooting nature or maybe stock footage. Only a slight change it T stop due to a slightly larger front element. The breathing reminds me of a 2/3" video lens!
I think the latest 25-250 from Angeniux probably wins the game, however I have never tested back to back. Expect to pay a lot of money for a new Motion picture lens.

I think the 18-100 is only marginly sharper than a 20-100. Both fantastic lenses that can be used wide open if you must but very sharp at T4.

Stephen