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BUY OR SELL WITH THE BEST Award-winning retailer MPB has bases in the UK, US and Germany and is fuelled by an easy-to-use website, where you can browse and buy their range of kit. You can also sell them your old equipment to help fund your new gear – or just take the cash. MPB has one of the biggest inventories of used, fully tested equipment, taking the worry out of buying used. Specialists check kit based on 40 criteria to ensure it’s in reliable condition and has the latest firmware. Gear comes with a six-month guarantee, and is usually around 30% cheaper than new, sometimes more. There’s always a huge stock of cameras, lenses and accessories, from previous- generation to the latest cameras and kit. Plus, there are photos of the actual kit for sale, with a detailed and honest description of condition and what it includes. When it comes to part-exchanging your kit or selling to MPB for cash, an online form gives an approximate value. A courier picks up the kit and delivers it safely to MPB where it’s checked to make sure it’s as described. You are then emailed a confirmed offer, and once agreed, the money is in your account within days. It’s safe, convenient and – with over 300,000 customers and five stars on TrustPilot – you know it’s a trusted business.
Schneider, Irix, Venus and SLR Magic. With prices from £154 to £9200, it shows the vast difference between high-end and low- end cine lenses – so there’s something to suit all budgets and needs. By far the most popular brand when it comes to cinema lenses is Korean manufacturer Samyang, although some of its lenses are branded Rokinon. Samyang now has five different ranges of lenses, the most affordable of the cine lenses being the VDSLR Mk2 – available in 14mm T3.1 through to a 135mm T2.2. The new Mark II versions have improved weather sealing, focal lengths on both sides, a new design and nine aperture blades. And of course, MPB have several in stock. Above this is Samyang’s Xeen range of cine primes, suitable for 8K capture. The range goes from 14mm T3.1 to 135mm T2.2. They are all built with a consistent size and optical performance, and are similar in size to the original Zeiss CP.2 range. Samyang also has smaller, lighter Xeen primes called the CF range, made with a carbon-fibre composite in the lens barrel. These lenses have a more sensible 95mm front section, to fit a wider selection of matte boxes and other accessories, and new coatings to improve image quality. Zeiss pioneered ‘affordable’ cine lenses for small cameras with the CP.2 range, which has been superseded by the more compact CP.3 range, offering higher contrast and more saturated colours. The CP.3s have interchangeable lens mounts in PL, Canon EF, Nikon F, Micro Four Thirds and Sony E-mount – and MPB has limited stocks of CP.2 and CP.3 lenses. Also look out for Schneider-Kreuznach’s Xenon series, available in standard and Cine Tilt versions. By turning a dial on the Tilt lenses, the focal plane can be shifted by angling the lens to the camera body, which allows the plane of focus to be altered. Sigma’s high-end cinema lens range of full-frame primes shares an optical design with its range of ART prime lenses, but re- housed in a traditional, all-manual, metal body with a click-less aperture ring.
“Samyang has a smaller, lighter range of primes called the CF range, made with a carbon- fibre composite” The lenses from 20mm through to 135mm open as wide as T1.5 while the 14mm is T2, and all come in PL, Sony E or Canon EF mounts. The FF High-Speed Primes and zooms also feature click-less irises with linear markings, dampeners on each gear ring for silent operation, industry-standard 0.8 module gear pitches, and engraved markings in luminous paint for easy visibility in low light. The Swiss-designed Irix lens brand has offered a range of great-quality DSLR-style manual focus lenses for several years, but now has a set of six stunning-quality cine primes offering something a bit different. There’s an 11mm T4.3 ultra-wide, as well as a 15mm T2.6 wide-angle option. There are also three fast T1.5 lenses – 21mm, 30mm and 45mm versions. And at the long end is a 150mm T3 macro lens, which can give 1:1 reproduction for super close-ups. Canon’s full-frame CN-E cine prime range includes a 14mm T3.1, 20mm T1.5, 24mm T1.5, 35mm T.15, 50mm T1.3, 85mm T1.3 and 135mm T2.2 versions, all in EF- mount only – so you need to use an adapter for mirrorless. There are also Canon cine zooms in stock to suit everything from cinematography to broadcast. Perhaps the best used buys right now are a set of Fujinon cine zooms for Super 35 cameras, the MK 50-135mm T2.9 and 18-55mm T2.9. All the advantages of a cine lens, but in a zoom-style that’s smaller and lighter than any rival lenses. MPB has some in stock, and they’ll revolutionise how you shoot on your Sony E-mount camera. Once you’ve experienced cinema glass like this, there’s no going back!
ZEISS AND EASY The CP.3 range of cine primes are a dream buy for many, but buying used makes sense
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