BUYERS’ GUIDE
1. COOKE OPTICS cookeoptics.com
No lens company on the planet can rival British firm Cooke in terms of its incredible 100-year history, cutting-edge technology and choice of handmade lenses wielded by the very best in the world. They invented zoom lenses, boast an Academy Award for contribution to cinematography, and have been used on a multitude of films and TV shows. These include black & white classics featuring the Keystone Cops and Laurel and Hardy, all the way up to modern masterpieces like Apocalypse Now , Terminator 2 , Fargo , Brokeback Mountain , Breaking Bad , Game of Thrones and many more. All because of the unique ‘Cooke Look’, these optics deliver. Whether you choose a set of Cooke’s full-frame anamorphics, spherical prime lenses or zooms – in a variety of styles – you’d better have deep pockets and a lot of patience. They are incredibly expensive and you will have to withstand waiting lists to get a foot in the door. Realistically, these are a rental option, even for big-budget Hollywood films. A hugely popular set is the Panchro/i Classic full- frames, with the complete range including 18, 21, 25, 27, 32, 40, 50, 65 Macro, 75, 100, 135 and 152mm focal lengths. These are a modern redesign of Cooke’s classic lenses that ruled from the twenties to the sixties, but with modern housings and glass technology. Cooke lenses are a joy, thanks to cam-style focus movement, and results are stunning. If you get to use Cookes, you must. You’ll be in good company. Set prices are by application only, but a 27mm T2.2 Panchro/i Classic costs £11,640/$11,900. That’s one lens. For a full set of 12? You do the math, as they say.
THE COOKE LOOK A set of Panchro/i Classic full-frame primes will give your film a very specific look and feel, so are probably a rental option for a major project, rather than an outright buy
2. SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH schneiderkreuznach.com The internationally recognised Schneider-Kreuznach offers the Xenon series, which has standard primes and Cine-Tilt versions. These include a tilt facility – by turning a dial, the focal plane can be shifted by angling the lens to the camera body up 4° either way from the standard zero setting. That allows the plane of focus itself to be altered by up to 80°. It’s great for shooting products close-up, keeping them sharp even at wide apertures, or for the ‘miniature world’ look. The Xenon FF-Prime family includes the 18mm T2.4, as well as the 25, 35, 50, 75 and 100mm T2.1 focal lengths. These German-made optics offer amazing image quality and are ruggedly built. The circular 14-blade aperture is engineered for smooth and consistent bokeh. Precision focusing design ensures breathing is minimised. And with a 300° barrel rotation, the manual focus markings offer accuracy and
and PL mounts. Lenses must be bought individually, and a 50mm version in PL mount costs £3069/$3360. The Cine-Tilt range has the same optical and build quality, but all the lenses are T2.1 and come in 25, 35, 50, 75 and 100mm focal lengths. But these are only available in Sony E-mount. There is also a 50mm version for £5000/$5598.
repeatability. Of course, all lenses are colour-matched for consistency. Xenon FF-Primes feature identical external dimensions and positioning of gear rings at every focal length. And the focus and distance scales are readable on both sides of the lens. Each model has 100mm front diameter and standard 95mm thread. They are available in Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony E
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