What's your take on Zeiss Compact Primes?

[Lewis-M Soucy]

They're light, small, pretty fast and quite cheap. I'm really considering going lightweight with my Epic.

I'm considering them a lot lately...

[Rob Castiglione]

I am interested as well. The main thing for me is the aesthetic look. They certainly make a lot of sense on the Epic because of their size and weight and the fact that they are full frame. However, the main thing is how they look i.e. the aesthetics of the look they produce. Will they be too sharp on the Epic?

[Alexander Ibrahim]

Will they be too sharp on the Epic?

These are DSLR glass rehoused.

They certainly won't be too sharp - although I don't know how a lens could be. If a lens is too sharp for what you are doing, then drop a filter on it.

Just remember though you can make a lens softer on set with filtration or in post, but you can't make it sharper. Hopefully this will obviate that question in the future.

They are not as sharp as the Arri/Zeiss Master Primes, that much is certain.

[Nils J. Nesse]

If they only were T2.1 across the set...

[Jeff Kilgroe]

The 18mm sucks. Zeiss is designing a new one, no ETA yet... Probably at least a year or more away.

[Alexander Ibrahim]

They're light, small, pretty fast and quite cheap. I'm really considering going lightweight with my Epic.

I'm considering them a lot lately...

The Zeiss lenses are GREAT glass for the price.

My issues are that they are a bit slow. and they have a non-uniform t stop.

For cinema use I like the Red Pro Primes better over all.

The main issue with the RPP vs the Compact Primes is that the RPP are heavier, and larger. Also the focus marks are off a bit on the RPP. You can have them remarked/adjusted and have new rings installed at Duclos lenses for a reasonable price.

You should also consider the Cook Panchro/i lenses. Those lenses are slower at a uniform t/2.8, but they are remarkable nevertheless.

(I'd be much happier with the Cooke S5/i as my working set, because I like opening nice and wide ... but like the Master Primes and the Leica Summilux-C that is a whole other league.)

You should also have a look at some somewhat older Zeiss superspeeds. You can get a decent t/1.3 set of Mk 3 lenses for not too much more than the cost of the full set of the CP.2

You should also try and check out some of the Illumina lenses. T/1.3 set of 5 lenses just under $30000. A bit more than the CP set, but t/1.3. I'd expect to have to shoot those around t/2 for most work, but having the option to open up makes me happy.

Now part of my still developing style is that I shoot a bit more open than a typical cinematographer. I like to work around 2.8 for most indoors work, but I definitely do open to t/2 a bit, and I like to work around in the typical indoor split (t4-5.6) outdoors.

For night shots, I like to take a stop off those numbers. Hence my interest in very fast lenses.

Most cinematographers shoot everything a stop or two slower than I like to work... so many are very happy with the Panchros at t/2.8 or quality zooms which often let you shoot t/2.8 as well.

Getting back to the Zeiss CP.2 set, I'd almost definitely skip the Zeiss 18mm at t/3.5. This is extra "bad" as the wide shots where you are likely to use it are the ones you'll have the most difficulty putting light into. So, even if you are happy working at 2.8, I'd grab the RPP 18mm instead.

[Lee Saxon]

The 18mm sucks.

I don't love the 18 (I don't love any of them except the 21 and maybe the macro 50), but if we're gonna single one out for suckitude it should be the 28.

[Tom.Wong]

things to like about them... they are SUPER light, like a feather light. great for handheld and etc. where u need to keep the weight down.

the lenses aren't bad, they are plenty sharp, decent contrast. they are a decent set for personal owners, but don't expect them to ever rent. i haven't met anybody ever really interested in renting them, they are just kind of kitted with the owner. they don't do you bad though.

but they are unmatched not just in speed, but color is way off too between the lenses, especially with the faster lenses wide open. that's why they made the cp2's actually (one of the reasons) they slowed down the set so they could match better.

they are also full frame, so when monstro FF comes around if nothing else is out yet, these are the go to PL lenses. but honestly as I've said, they are just get the job done lenses. they won't give you a bad image, they'll look good, but there isn't anything horribly special about them either.

a better bang for the buck in the same price range might be the RPP's. more options, matched in speed. but if you need light and compact, these are a good choice.

[Jeff Kilgroe]

I don't love the 18 (I don't love any of them except the 21 and maybe the macro 50), but if we're gonna single one out for suckitude it should be the 28.

Fair enough... I haven't used the 28. lol.

IMO, if you want this glass, buy the ZF set from Duclos. It's just under $9K and has de-clicked irises and gears attached, all tuned and in a nice case. Nikon F mount. If you're going for Epic or other system with a Canon mount, he could probably do you the ZE's instead and then the focus rotation would go the "cinema" way.

As others have pointed out, these lenses are built well with good mechanics. They cover FF35. They use the same primary optical elements used in the ZF and ZE SLR primes, but they have a different iris and different mechanical internals. To say they are simply re-housed is unfair, because they are not.

The biggest complaint is the mis-matched wide apertures across the set. The 50 and 85 apertures have been crippled from the first release. They advertise the set as being T2.1, but it's not. Some lenses are faster, some are slower. Not all of them have even field illumination or sharpness.

If you don't need to cover FF35 and you want nice, compact cinema lenses for about the same money, take a look at the Cooke i/Panchros. They are just plain awesome. T2.8 across the set. Tack sharp, that creamy Cooke bokeh, /i data support, good size and weight. They're just nice lenses.

[Timur Civan]

I have a set of CP's here... gimme a couple days to run em through the ringer i'lll write something comprehensive up.