The fact that these are even comparable speaks volumes as to just how spoiled we are nowadays as content creators! Such good times for anamorphic content creation!!!!
Blazar has the softer A set and the sharper B set. The 100mm is part of the softer A set (and is the most soft lens of all blazars). The 85mm is part of the sharper B set (and is hugely sharper than the 60mm and the 100mm). Maybe the test could be done with the Remus 85mm vs the Mercury 72mm, for many obvious reasons. Also flare shapes between the Mercuries and Remus are almost identical, but in the Mercuries the achromatism in the cylindrical elements (hence the price) and the coatings in the cylindrical elements inside are stronger resulting in a sharper focus depth point without sharpening the out of focus parts (bokeh). Also the external surfaces of the front and rear elements of the Mercury has a stronger coatings than the Remus, resolving in shorter and less diffused main cylindrical horizontal streaks, that can be seen when light sources are about to enter the frame. And that’s why the Remus have more diffused flares; the light reflect more times inside the optical block. The color differences are because the coatings colors. Also a secondary vertical flare in the Mercury can be seen because maybe of the caustic in a concave spherical element left a bit misaligned in relation to the focus cylindrical elements in that specific focus distance.
Thank you for this excellent additional information of these lenses. Unfortunately we only had the A set for our test so this ended up being a limited comparison.
Awesome comparisons, nice to see tests with talent. Would love to see the Blazar Remus B Set, 50MM specifically, maybe they are more sharper? Also would be interesting to see the new Apex autofocus anamorphics. Cool Channel!
Thanks for the comparison, but is it a fair comparison? All things considered, Atlas costs the same for one lens as 3 times a Blazar set. I have the Blazar Remus B set, and I don't want to use them wide open - they are a bit sharper than the A set, as I can understand, but I haven't tried their A set. They are nowhere near the size you find on the Atlas set. Blazar are easier to balance on a gimbal, and because they don't weigh as much, they are also more suitable for traveling with or using on a drone. We are lucky that more players are on the market for anamorphic lenses today. It would be great if someone came along that could compete with something that was more like the Panavision C Series anamorphic primes 🙂.
Fair comparison.. maybe not. But these were the only 1.5x anamorphics I had my hands on and I curious the see the difference. I also mention the difference in the pricing so the viewers are aware of this. You are so right about the weight of the Blazars. They have so much possibility in terms of gimbal work and tight space rigging. And I also agree the fact that we're so lucky to have these players around providing us such great tools to work with. :)
There is ONE company that makes the closest thing to "affordable" Panavison style lenses: Xelmus Apollo are 2x lenses that use the same focus method and are beautiful lenses
Very nice comparison and we must be fair. The Mercurys play in a different league, concerning their price and quality! For this Price the Remus are unbeatable but all in all the Mercurys are simply more professional.
As someone who owns the Blazar A kit you defo want to step it down a full stop if you want to have any sort of controlled look. Its almost as if they've went for the max so that people dont need to use it wide open all the time. I do personally like them wide open too as, in addition to the price vs quality, I actually wanted the set to have that more artsy look when compared to the other lenses in the same price range like Sirui and their pincushion distortion. Maybe I should rent the Mercurys from Kinos to try them out too.
I think the Blazar has all the vintage qualities, a reminder of early Spielberg, where Mercurys look like a modern spherical ana… as weird as that sounds.
I had one of the really early set from Blazar Remus. Even with shimming, I can see that they improved the lens since by looking at your footage. I sold those lenses, and rented the Mercury.. They are in a different leagues, and by really, really far in terms of sharpeess, IQ, Chromatic abération, flares, mecanics ... everything !
I can't comment on the mercury as out of my price range. But the assessment on the Blazar Remus A set is pretty accurate as I have these. People are very focused on the sharpness but this does not bother me too much. I look more at the overall look, my favourite is the 45mm. I have just purchased the 33mm and this looks quite different to the 45mm and has a softer feel from in focus to out of focus. Still getting the feel of it. But the widness is really lovely. ❤
Yeah the distortion was handled better on the atlas when panning the camera you can see the Blazar squeezing on the edge as it pans…. However It wasn’t enough to the point I felt like I couldn’t use the shot of the Blazar so I still prefer to save money with the Blazar.
These imperfections really add a lot of character what I like. And Blazars do have a lot of it. That's why I bought a set of my own. And when I'm shooting for instance something more VFX related I'd definitely rent Mercuries because they provide much more sharper and cleaner image. It's always about what you're doing. :) Great lenses! Both of them!
Thus far all the the mercury tests I've seen of the Mercurys, once you start to stop down the lenses seems to lose Anamorphic characteristics and begin performing more like spherical lenses.
@@Easyfilm84was about to type this. Blazar 50mm is glued to my s5iix. Everything comes out beautiful. Just get diopters, and honestly im pro lens support. With an adapter and the lens it’s still quite heavy.
The fact that these are even comparable speaks volumes as to just how spoiled we are nowadays as content creators!
Such good times for anamorphic content creation!!!!
Blazar has the softer A set and the sharper B set. The 100mm is part of the softer A set (and is the most soft lens of all blazars). The 85mm is part of the sharper B set (and is hugely sharper than the 60mm and the 100mm). Maybe the test could be done with the Remus 85mm vs the Mercury 72mm, for many obvious reasons. Also flare shapes between the Mercuries and Remus are almost identical, but in the Mercuries the achromatism in the cylindrical elements (hence the price) and the coatings in the cylindrical elements inside are stronger resulting in a sharper focus depth point without sharpening the out of focus parts (bokeh). Also the external surfaces of the front and rear elements of the Mercury has a stronger coatings than the Remus, resolving in shorter and less diffused main cylindrical horizontal streaks, that can be seen when light sources are about to enter the frame. And that’s why the Remus have more diffused flares; the light reflect more times inside the optical block. The color differences are because the coatings colors. Also a secondary vertical flare in the Mercury can be seen because maybe of the caustic in a concave spherical element left a bit misaligned in relation to the focus cylindrical elements in that specific focus distance.
Thank you for this excellent additional information of these lenses. Unfortunately we only had the A set for our test so this ended up being a limited comparison.
@ You welcome. Anything to help the cause. Greetings
I was almost to write a comment like this👍
@ nice! It’s good to find more people in the same mindset.
Awesome comparisons, nice to see tests with talent. Would love to see the Blazar Remus B Set, 50MM specifically, maybe they are more sharper? Also would be interesting to see the new Apex autofocus anamorphics. Cool Channel!
Thanks for the comparison, but is it a fair comparison? All things considered, Atlas costs the same for one lens as 3 times a Blazar set. I have the Blazar Remus B set, and I don't want to use them wide open - they are a bit sharper than the A set, as I can understand, but I haven't tried their A set. They are nowhere near the size you find on the Atlas set. Blazar are easier to balance on a gimbal, and because they don't weigh as much, they are also more suitable for traveling with or using on a drone. We are lucky that more players are on the market for anamorphic lenses today. It would be great if someone came along that could compete with something that was more like the Panavision C Series anamorphic primes 🙂.
Fair comparison.. maybe not. But these were the only 1.5x anamorphics I had my hands on and I curious the see the difference. I also mention the difference in the pricing so the viewers are aware of this.
You are so right about the weight of the Blazars. They have so much possibility in terms of gimbal work and tight space rigging. And I also agree the fact that we're so lucky to have these players around providing us such great tools to work with. :)
There is ONE company that makes the closest thing to "affordable" Panavison style lenses: Xelmus Apollo are 2x lenses that use the same focus method and are beautiful lenses
Thanks! I'm going to check these out!
Very nice comparison and we must be fair. The Mercurys play in a different league, concerning their price and quality! For this Price the Remus are unbeatable but all in all the Mercurys are simply more professional.
As someone who owns the Blazar A kit you defo want to step it down a full stop if you want to have any sort of controlled look. Its almost as if they've went for the max so that people dont need to use it wide open all the time. I do personally like them wide open too as, in addition to the price vs quality, I actually wanted the set to have that more artsy look when compared to the other lenses in the same price range like Sirui and their pincushion distortion. Maybe I should rent the Mercurys from Kinos to try them out too.
I think the Blazar has all the vintage qualities, a reminder of early Spielberg, where Mercurys look like a modern spherical ana… as weird as that sounds.
Hyvä testi, kiitos! 🤓
I had one of the really early set from Blazar Remus. Even with shimming, I can see that they improved the lens since by looking at your footage.
I sold those lenses, and rented the Mercury.. They are in a different leagues, and by really, really far in terms of sharpeess, IQ, Chromatic abération, flares, mecanics ... everything !
I can't comment on the mercury as out of my price range. But the assessment on the Blazar Remus A set is pretty accurate as I have these. People are very focused on the sharpness but this does not bother me too much. I look more at the overall look, my favourite is the 45mm. I have just purchased the 33mm and this looks quite different to the 45mm and has a softer feel from in focus to out of focus. Still getting the feel of it. But the widness is really lovely. ❤
The Atlas is so much more beautiful
Yeah the distortion was handled better on the atlas when panning the camera you can see the Blazar squeezing on the edge as it pans…. However It wasn’t enough to the point I felt like I couldn’t use the shot of the Blazar so I still prefer to save money with the Blazar.
These imperfections really add a lot of character what I like. And Blazars do have a lot of it. That's why I bought a set of my own. And when I'm shooting for instance something more VFX related I'd definitely rent Mercuries because they provide much more sharper and cleaner image. It's always about what you're doing. :) Great lenses! Both of them!
@ yes I love the imperfections I’m buying the 50mm Remus end of the month
Excellent decision sir! :)
Do they breath when a firefighter is coming towards the lens and a focus puller needs todo a tractor pull?
They do!
Thus far all the the mercury tests I've seen of the Mercurys, once you start to stop down the lenses seems to lose Anamorphic characteristics and begin performing more like spherical lenses.
Hyvä homma tällanen!
Atlas Mercury is much better!
And much more expensive!
@@Easyfilm84was about to type this. Blazar 50mm is glued to my s5iix. Everything comes out beautiful. Just get diopters, and honestly im pro lens support. With an adapter and the lens it’s still quite heavy.