We put those up against the new $5k set of NISI primes and were blown away using the same projector in Burbank. The days of $30k primes are almost over. We sold our Summilux C's and now shooting major shows on Tokina and Sigmas.....crazy.
A couple of things to keep in mind with rentals on these and other cinema lenses. Rental houses are somewhat loathe to break a set of these lenses. Your regular rental house will usually rent you a lens or two but they would prefer to rent the ‘set’ of 7 or 11 lenses. Many houses do not own a full set of ARRI Signatures or Leitz Primes or, or, or. You might have to call around to multiple houses to get the primes you want and if the rental house doesn’t already know you and have an agreed upon price discount, you might end up paying full daily, weekly or monthly price. Also, there are a lot of extraordinarily good lower priced primes that do a creditable job for most cinematographers at a fraction of the cost of these primes. One of things you’re paying for with these Signature lenses (or Leitz or Cooke etc.) is the consistency of the set. Almost all have identical diameter front elements along with factory based color matching. And, one last thing: if you’re not pretty good at focus pulling ,don’t even bother with these lenses. If you’re gonna pay the rental freight, hire a first rate focus puller or you’re just wasting your time and money. Great review. Thanks, Gerald.
Fun fact about the chromatic aberration on the signature primes vs other lenses: when bending light for out of focus areas in the foreground and background, the usual wavelengths are magenta and green as we know. but, on the signature primes, they designed the optical formula to have the wavelengths of light be blue for background and amber for foreground, which are a lot more natural looking. You can tell this in the testing you did, actually
Thank for that technical tid-bit. So the coating on the glass makes the BG blue and the FG amber? A perfect lens for skin tones. Yeah? For just about everything you can capture with a camera. Yeah?
@@geraldundone I sincerely value your opinion. I have for years, now. So, the coating on the glass makes the BG blue and the FG amber. So says @kylehaggard7348. Does that make this a (nearly) perfect lens for skin tones. Actually, it would be the "best" (most visually pleasing to humans) for just about everything you can capture with a camera. Yeah?
Thank goodness for this in-depth review. I was on the fence between the signature primes and the G Master, and this just cinched it for me. Thank you, Gerald!
Of all the reviews, and all the years I have watched your channel, THIS is hands-down my favorite review. So rare is it for us mortals to really get to see what makes $30+K of ARRI glass so incredibly special. And that projector melted my brain...
I quite like this comparison between the ULTIMATE and something premium. It gives a lot of context and perspective to the reviews. I think we get so much into the pixel peeping, spec sheet battling, this vs that battle, that we lose perspective. This gives perspective that we are looking at the wrong things quite often.
I think your assessment is correct and it goes beyond that. Not only are we looking at the wrong things quite often, we're the only ones paying attention to this stuff in the first place. 99.9% percent of consumers of content will not notice weird bokeh or minor fringing. The vast majority of people will not care about any of this stuff as long as the story or content is good.
@@ChadSchrandt Indeed. Its very similar to how shy individuals will imagine everyone is looking at them, judging and picking them apart, when in reality, no one cares. Same applies to a filmmaker viewing their own film...most audiences don't see the issues they see - whether that be color correction, chromatic abberation, angles that are shown, symbolism, etc.. Or even models and their perspective on their bodies. Its a human nature thing to put ourselves in the center of the world, thinking everything important revolves around our details, but in reality, its a different story for everyone. MORE big picture thinking.
A lot of what reviewers look at has no bearing on actual, real world work and gets abused by manufacturers' marketing. Nikon just came out with a 135mm that eliminates cat's eye and vignette. Neither matters in the real world, but it shows up in reviews, so they give the lens a special name and charge a premium. In real world use, only a few things really matter: Do the focus motors keep up with what I'm shooting? Is the lens sharp enough for display on a 4k tv and for my maximum print size? Are there ugly abberations that take a long time to fix in post (ie on trees against a bright sky; false color on textured clothing, etc)? Beyond that, it's all just statistics with no real world impact. Run of the mill chromatic abberations and vignette? Irrelevant, they get fixed in camera or on import with zero work in post. Focus breathing? Doesn't matter whatsoever, unless you're trying to focus stack for macro. In video I've actually had clients comment *positively* on "that cool zoom effect". Cat's eye? Same thing, doesn't matter. No client is ever going to notice. Personally I positively like it. Build quality? Features like a good aperture ring can matter for some, but whether the lens is plastic or metal is not going to make a difference unless you're dropping it, in which case it needs to go into repair anyway. It's a style over substance thing in almost all cases. What's really stupid though is the fact that it's usually the hobbyists who obsess over this the most. Yes,it's fun to be nerdy about gear. Definitely. But please understand that it's just that - a nerdy bit of fun. You're not going to get better images out of a lens that has those (non) issues mentioned above "fixed". Professionals who take tens of thousands of images with all sorts of glass don't care. You don't need to buy a technically perfect lens to take pictures of your kids. Get a nifty 50 and a camera with good eye af. That's all you need. :D Addendum: Yes, I've mentioned elsewhere that I shoot with a collection of GM glass. Absolutely. This is because I want the reliability of fast, linear focus motors and I need the fast apertures because weddings include a lot of very low light work. The fact that they give the access to Sony Pro Services is a nice reassurance. However, in no way did any of the typical review-parameters deliniated above factor into my buying decisions.
@@youknowwho9247 I appreciate this. Gear heads can have fun, and that's all fine, and I like obsessing over the details as its a hobby as well as the next gearhead and that can be its own existence. Though, for those who like execution of product, in the big picture, small issues with a lens can be "character" or framing/story is more important. Tools are there to just enhance, support, or detract. Its very similar to the PC and consumer tech industry, minute gear details get talked about all the time in marketing language. "The faster ever" "50% faster processor over the previous", but in the end, they represent minute and incremental improvements, nothing that will change the artists work monumentally. Some of the best creative works come from limitation in budget and resources. Sometimes when you have everything perfect, sometimes bad stuff can come out too. The only situation where I say the details matter, is when you leap frog from a largely older system to new gen to speed up the work, bring down costs, democratize the technology, and help distribute the work.
Not really, photographic lenses and cinema lenses have almost always been of equivalent optical quality, but the cinema industry only used the highest-quality lenses. There is little to no fundamental difference between photographic and cinema lenses. For example, Leica lenses use the same optical formulas for both cinema and photography. The crucial aspect is the housing, to attach motors and control focus breathing.
@@FutureChaosTVThe lens is this large so that the light can pass through it in very straight manner in order to decrease CA and distortion. But it doesn’t gather more light than the Sony (well it kinda does as it has way less vignetting)
@@FutureChaosTV As a hybrid wedding shooter I can tell you that stills photography requires more light than video. This is because in video, I can drop the shutter speed much lower. Let's say I'm shooting the first dance of a wedding couple. The lighting at the venue is beautiful, so I don't want to overpower it with speedlights, I want to capture it. But it's also dim, which is the case pretty much always. For my stills, I'm going to need a shutter speed of 1/250ish. For 60 fps video I want 1/125, but I can get away with 1/60 in a pinch. This means that if I'm shooting photos at 3200 ISO, I can get my video down to 1600 or even 800 (which is base ISO for S-log 3). Same light, cleaner video.
Photo lenses have always been optically comparable to cinema lenses, imax films are often shot on still lenses, but as always they still fall way behind on breathing, matching, and manual focus mechanics
This is a fantastic comparison and analysis, and a great perspective on re-aligning what qualities we should be looking for in a lens. I'd love for you to continue doing a series of this!
Dear Gerald, my anxiety issue ramp up during this video. Seeing this 30k lense sitting on the rear lense cap on the edge of your desk, with you, moving randomly your hands... it was too much for me. I had to take my mediation...again, i thought I was done with this. 😂😂 By the way, as a professionnal photographer for 15 years now, I really never understood why the "roundness" of bokeh balls was a criteria of perfection for so many people reviewing lenses. Thank for this video and all your work
10:59 This is such a great reference photo I just had to screenshot. Each focal length gives off different vibes. This is great for when you aren’t sure what focal length to use but you know what emotion you want to convey
It's common for manufacturers pursuing APO quality to go for more purple/blueish than magenta because the blue is less offensive or visible. Arri is clearly following that tradition. And it does make the CA more subtle.
The contrast was stunning. The deep blacks in the shadows really shows how well that lens puts the light rays exactly where they belong, and nowhere else! Impressive to say the least.
Impression filters are the most exciting things about these lenses to me. It essentially gives you new lenses with each filter. I'm wildly hopeful that another lens manufacturer will implement this kind of filtering, as it's still tough to handle the Signature Prime price tag. Even when considering rentals.
Videos about Arri are always fun. They seem to do everything right. I wish we had more really good manufacturers like that. Of course, then we'd have to rent or lease everything. Might be ok.
Thank you for the video, Gerald. I am a cinematography student. I had NO IDEA that Arri made lenses with "impression filters" that change the character of the otherwise pristinely neutral image. That is brilliant innovation from Arri. Now... I just thirty grand.
One of the most interesting reviews I have got to see since a long time. I am so bored by the limited product scope of most reviewers. Please produce more videos which are not the version 27 of the same old story (with some minor technical improvements). TH-cam videos - like yours - have educated the audience to be ready nowadays for more excursions into the professional domain and more looks "behind the scenes" of innovative manufacturers like Arri.
Thank you so much, Gerald! For someone who just recently started renting cinema lenses for the narrative client projects i shoot, this is really something i´d love to see you doing way more. There are already some really good, affordable (and of course less affordable) cinema lenses on the market. To see them compared to the KING made by Arri would be so cool. For a lot of the newer cine lenses you don't even need a PL mount anymore.. how convenient. 🙂
Lens projectors are so cool to use. Back when I used to work at a Nikon, Tamron and Sony repair centre, I used them all the time for calibrating and inspecting lenses and it's really something else.
I tried this lens from ARRI yesterday and was quite surprised at how smoothly the focus ring moves plus the size - I thought it was bigger - I got that impression from this wonderful YT ❤😊. It was at the same time a bit funny because at the same time I looked at Nisi Athena - which is much smaller, but I have no doubt where they have been inspired in their visual expression and surface treatment. At the same time, they are more within range of something I can afford - plus they don't take up as much space and weight if you're on the go. It's a wild time we live in with all the possibilities. THX for the upload Gerald 👍🏽
As a first assistant camera the signature primes are a dream to work with. They make everything faster and communicates with the camera and wcu-4 system without having to manually set up everything.
Thank you Gerald this was a fantastic review and I hope you can continue doing this with other equipment to show what the top tier of equipment is vs your regular pro-sumer and just get people back to shooting and creating instead of endless gear acquisition syndrome.
That projector is nuts! Which non-Arri lenses did they put on the projector for comparison?
7 หลายเดือนก่อน +1
4:40 The cool thing is Arri tuned the Chromatic abberations to be more warm and cold OR Blue And yellow Which is sooo much better looking than green and magenta
This is a great idea, I think. Sure, comparisons between a bunch of lenses that are "good" is interesting to make a purchasing decision. But having the context of what is actually possible can be really helpful. I would even suggest to have a comparison of non compromise lenses against each other. One of these cinema primes, a Zeiss Otus, a Noct, a Leica SL APO Summicron ... That would be crazy. :D
Nikon released 135mm f2 'DC' lens long time ago, and its internal lens element position can be adjusted to get the effects similar to impression filters you expained. It's bit disappointing that almost no major camera companies try bold experiment on their lenses nowdays.
BTW speaking of Nikon, I wonder how their new 135mm Plena lens would stack up against an ARRI Signature prime. Their marketing for it mentioned some of the tweaks that are also present on the Signature Primes, like a larger projection circle. Would be interesting to see how it performs against a lens that has turned those tweaks to eleven
Gerald, you are too much buddy! I was not expecting this. You always have a surprise up your sleeve. Great comparison. Love your videos. No wonder the movie guys love ARRI lenses.
Francois is the best!! Btw, the key difference with Signature Prime chromatic aberration is that it's shifted more towards blue and orange than green and magenta. It is impossible to remove chromatic aberration after a point, and Arri found that shifting it to blue-orange felt much more natural to the eye. I would agree.
Hey Gerald!! A big fan of your work 😊 Can I please suggest a video topic that is related to the missing video formats on Sony Alpha cameras? Basically, modern sony a7 series of cameras don't support H.265 PAL 4k25 shooting mode at all. Almost all of Europe and Asia use that mode and it's completely missing here.. There's no 4k30 mode as well in the XAVC HS mode which is honestly a weird omission as all canon, nikon or panasonic bodies support it HS is so much more space efficient for budget and beginner users and it's actually easier to edit on Apple M and Intel based modern computers.
I wish there were more reviews like this. You did a very good job showing and explaining what characteristics are going on from lens to lens. Also surprised to see the CA on the signature, although subtle - just inherently is what comes with glass. The only test I wish I saw was color consistency from lens to lens in a set, but I also understand why you only had the 35mm. It'd be nice to know what a realistic expectation of that would be since I feel like "color consistent" is used for marketing, but I've seen shifts on the more expensive cinema lenses. All in all - great video Gerald!
Absolutely loved this video. I've personal been very curious to see Gerald review the extreme high-end level of video gear; RED, ARRI, etc. Really cool to see the actually difference between a ARRI 35mm and a Sony G Master 35mm.
amazing video, Gerald! I love it when people nerd out over super high-end gear, it just speaks to my soul. and yeah, I've been saying this for ages, but cat-eye bokeh is actually good, idk why people don't like it. if anything, it draws attention towards the centre of the frame, making the subject stand out more. and that projector is incredible!! if only you could've mounted a G-Master on it 🤔😂
This is a great and informative video. It is hard to get this kind of access andd perspective as a "regular person". That being said, I have a thought. Lenses are the new film stock. Back when everything was shot on film, you had the option to change film stocks; speed, ASA, and various physical properties within the composition of the emulsion gave each stock a slightly different look. Kodak alone had A bunch of different formulas for their popular VISION stock. (still do). The point is, when they could use the film stock as a factor, the lens was just a part of the look. NOW... digital has nullified that difference. Your digital sensor is not going to change... so the lens and filters are the only way to affect the image optically on set. Companies like Panavision spend a lot of money and time perfecting what they call "prescriptions" that will add coatings and treatments to a lens set that will essentially 'destruct' the clean look of a so-called, perfect lens. DPs love to talk about 're-housed' vintage lenses that they have. Imperfect is a choice to them. The point is... Each lens has a look. saying one is more "pure" than another may be a fair statement... but calling it the BEST is subjective. The look of a lens isn't about how little distortion or color shift... it is about what you like. Gerald makes one point that is KEY in my opinion, but glosses over it pretty quickly. Consistency. What makes these crazy expensive lenses worth using isn't the perfection of the image. To me, it is the consistency of the "imperfections" that make them great. Knowing that you will get the same results from your 24mm - your 85mm is a great thing. I think this is where companies like SONY fall short. They treat each lens as if it is the ONLY lens. Use this G-Master 35 and then put the 85 equivalent on... not only will there will be a visual difference, but also the lens itself will feel like it was made in another factory and designed by another engineer. (often they are). Arri, Panavision, etc... create lens SETS that are meant to match in look and build, and quality. IF you are looking for a perfect lens and can afford the Signature Prime... go for it. But you should also ask yourself, if it is perfect... Why isn't it used in EVERY movie out there? Because Lenses are the new film stock.
Interesting comparison, but a few questions / thoughts: I'd be curious if a native lpl mount on an Arri camera would have had any different results, as i'm not sure if wooden camera is a mathematically "flawless" lpl mount on a Sony camera (this lens wasn't designed for that sensor). Its also worth noting that the signature primes aren't advertised as being a "perfect" lens, they paint them as having a classic softness, warmth, and naturalism: I don't think this is the lens to be the benchmark for physical perfection, more of an aesthetic benchmark based on what arri feels the human eye likes the most. I wonder if Panavision primes or the recently updated Leica lenses would check the boxes on bokeh and aberration better for "flawless".
Alright, I’ve just clicked play. I’ve been waiting for a video like this for a while from you! Is this a turning point on this channel where you dive into the stuff I’ve been wanting for you to dive into for the past 4 years? I hope so! Let’s get into the Arri cameras, the red cameras, etc. you do the best tests on TH-cam and we want to see the exotic cameras and lenses!
You get to a certain point where you're paying an insane premium for very small improvements generally only perceptible to other filmmakers but that's the beauty of having options. You can rent Arri primes if that difference means something to you or the story you're telling or you can buy a G Master lens which is also amazing and is usually sufficient for the job at hand.
Excellent video. Good for viewers (like a hobbyist as me) to relax and go to improve and get better results starting with composition and technique. I went from Sony rx10 to a6700 and did buy lenses after reviewing several influencers and only cared for sharpness because of cropping afterwards and using TC on my long lens. (11mm1.8; 16-55mm2.8; 56mm1.4; 70-200mm2.8.)
Thank you for this video. Even though I will never have the opportunity to play with that lens, it was amazing to see the pinnacle. I would bet that you could build a projector like they had. If out of the question, maybe this is an opportunity for a partnership with ARRI as it would continuously be a proof of their quality in comparison to any/all other lenses.
i loved this review a lot of reviews out there are just unnecessary nit picking and don't even translate to actual usage, that's why I prefer gerald he just gives you the review as is and you learn more after watching each video
Wow, that was amazing. So nice to learn more about Arri’s lenses. And am so curious how this experience might change the approach to your reviews! Btw. Potato Jet’s review of the Arri SP 40mm was great too.
Hey Gerald, you ever got the occasion to try the 12mm of the Signature Prime series? One of the most jaw dropping lenses I've ever seen, and incredibly clean too (with barely any distorsion, for a 12mm!!)
Once I tried to take photos of night sky and milky way. I found out there are astigmatism and coma artifacts and no one mentions them in a reviews, because they normally do not matter, they are causing just some sharpness issues in the corner and/or barely noticeable loss of contrast. It surprised me they are described on some webs dedicated to astrophotography, but not elsewhere.
Thank you Gerald for the video, very informative. Also, Wouldn't it be awesome if there were a future video comparing the Arri Signature Prime and Zeiss Otus lenses?
i watch video just because i like your content. no chance in the world i would even get to touch these. as much as i trust in myself and hoping for the best, this lens is like 10x of my current rig :P
What's the name of the PL adapter? I looked at your gear page but couldn't spot it, but maybe I'm blind (I'm not going to buy and Arri lens but maybe som other PL lens)
Great review! Love the Signature Primes! Shot with them last year. It'd be interesting to hear your take on the Tokina Cinema Vista lenses-since they claim to have no breathing and CA. They aren't as sharp as a Signature but for the price really hard to beat
I massively enjoy your content, it’s helped along years to make real purchasing decisions, but I also love to just watch how thoroughly you and semi-scientifically analyze whatever gets on your hands. And I’ve got to say, this is the video I’ve enjoyed the most, it’s so interesting in so many ways. All right, I’m done…
the impression filter basically does the same thing as the canon rf 100mm f2.8 macro lens which has an additional "SA Control" Ring that goes from negative to positive. it affects the foreground and background bokeh in the same way as how the positive and negative impression filters does to this arri prime lens.
Hey Gerald! Regarding the projector: you should really check out the Dulens MF60 cinema lens projector. It's quite new and will support LPL for about 5 to 6k (if my memory is correct). I can get you in touch with Jackson, who is handling most of the customer orders and support :-)
Regarding the lens color: I have heard (but don't remember where or how reliable this is) that on Nikon Z lenses this 'Color' was one of the things that made a lens 'S' line - supposedly the 'S' line lenses all use the same coatings and that gives them a matched color balance. Likely not to the same level as Sig Primes but still something.
Don’t think that would be too interesting. Sensor technology today is reasonably even between price points and most sensors are made by Sony anyways. Arri lenses are expensive because they are perfect lenses. Arri cameras are expensive because DPs are willing to pay for them. Obviously they have pleasing color and high Dynamic range. mostly they are just reliable and provide a good platform for a cinema rig. I wager the difference in what you would see out of the final image between a sony mirror less and a arri is a lot less than differences in lenses. And sony gives that in a smaller form factor, with af, and for a lot less. One of my favourite directors grei Fraser is as you probably have heard using a Sony mirror less for the movie The Ceator Currently. Perfect optical quality is more expensive than perfect sensor quality. So that’s why I think the leap for cameras when moving into professional cinema gear is not as great.
1 layer of effect is great for most commercial projects, but attenuated characteristics passing through multiple optical elements are more nuanced, more complex and depending on the project that nuance and/complexity is contributed in service of the story.
In regards to the flaring performance, particularly the hazy blacks, and the chromatic aberrations the arri looks incredibly similar to fuji's gfx lenses (at least the ones i've tested: the 55 and 110). Apart from breathing and the general cinema build they might be pretty much on level with the arri lenses
Finally, a photographer who knows how to pronounce "boke". For the longest time, I was trying to figure out what "boka" is because so many photographers say it that way. I'm going to pull rank. I'm fluent in Japanese, and Gerald is pronouncing it correctly. I wanted to give you 5 likes just for that.
Would love to see a shootout between say something like the DZO vespids, NISI etc against these lenses. Most impressive lens I’ve seen on set was Ari’s anamorphic primes in the widest they had, it took a short hallway and turned it into a super tunnel with no distortion. Incredible
I’m gonna geek out hard if you just start blasting through Signature, Ultra Primes, Cookes, Angenieux, Cabrios. 🤤 Usually the only way to get this level of detail is being a prep tech at a rental house. ❤️
I had a lot of problems with the sony 35mm gm 1.4 doing some focus hunting for seemly no reason (this was done in video mode on the a7iv and a7rv) Phot mode does great, but I seem to have trouble with video mode where it wants to always find soothing else to focus on. (This was my experience shooting 2 weddings with it) Would the sony 35 1.4 lens still be the best 35mm for video?
![Overrated: Camera features that don't matter [ft Gerald Undone]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/SlLbkeNH9to/mqdefault.jpg)
apologies to patrick tomasso we ran out of time
Shout-out to Patrick for shooting the scenes at ARRI rental. 💜🙏
Patrick is Matt Damon confirmed
@@geraldundone Love the distortions and chromatic aberration at the end... Never tough an ARRI could do that. :D
We put those up against the new $5k set of NISI primes and were blown away using the same projector in Burbank. The days of $30k primes are almost over. We sold our Summilux C's and now shooting major shows on Tokina and Sigmas.....crazy.
A couple of things to keep in mind with rentals on these and other cinema lenses. Rental houses are somewhat loathe to break a set of these lenses. Your regular rental house will usually rent you a lens or two but they would prefer to rent the ‘set’ of 7 or 11 lenses. Many houses do not own a full set of ARRI Signatures or Leitz Primes or, or, or. You might have to call around to multiple houses to get the primes you want and if the rental house doesn’t already know you and have an agreed upon price discount, you might end up paying full daily, weekly or monthly price. Also, there are a lot of extraordinarily good lower priced primes that do a creditable job for most cinematographers at a fraction of the cost of these primes. One of things you’re paying for with these Signature lenses (or Leitz or Cooke etc.) is the consistency of the set. Almost all have identical diameter front elements along with factory based color matching. And, one last thing: if you’re not pretty good at focus pulling ,don’t even bother with these lenses. If you’re gonna pay the rental freight, hire a first rate focus puller or you’re just wasting your time and money. Great review. Thanks, Gerald.
Fun fact about the chromatic aberration on the signature primes vs other lenses: when bending light for out of focus areas in the foreground and background, the usual wavelengths are magenta and green as we know. but, on the signature primes, they designed the optical formula to have the wavelengths of light be blue for background and amber for foreground, which are a lot more natural looking. You can tell this in the testing you did, actually
They mentionned that in the video with potatoJet I remember!
Yeah. Agreed. The hue of the fringing on the ARRI is less aggressive.
I swear some Canon lenses do this, too - at least going off of some older Christopher Frost reviews.
Thank for that technical tid-bit. So the coating on the glass makes the BG blue and the FG amber? A perfect lens for skin tones. Yeah? For just about everything you can capture with a camera. Yeah?
@@geraldundone I sincerely value your opinion. I have for years, now. So, the coating on the glass makes the BG blue and the FG amber. So says @kylehaggard7348. Does that make this a (nearly) perfect lens for skin tones. Actually, it would be the "best" (most visually pleasing to humans) for just about everything you can capture with a camera. Yeah?
Thank goodness for this in-depth review. I was on the fence between the signature primes and the G Master, and this just cinched it for me. Thank you, Gerald!
Haha. Same.
Lol
Best comment
LOL, the comments are pure gold
LOL :D
I was going to buy this lens, but the lack of image stabilization totally killed it for me.
😂 golden comment
Thats actually a good point
Lol
💀
Also, no auto focus, what a joke /s
Of all the reviews, and all the years I have watched your channel, THIS is hands-down my favorite review. So rare is it for us mortals to really get to see what makes $30+K of ARRI glass so incredibly special. And that projector melted my brain...
I quite like this comparison between the ULTIMATE and something premium. It gives a lot of context and perspective to the reviews. I think we get so much into the pixel peeping, spec sheet battling, this vs that battle, that we lose perspective. This gives perspective that we are looking at the wrong things quite often.
I think your assessment is correct and it goes beyond that. Not only are we looking at the wrong things quite often, we're the only ones paying attention to this stuff in the first place. 99.9% percent of consumers of content will not notice weird bokeh or minor fringing. The vast majority of people will not care about any of this stuff as long as the story or content is good.
@@ChadSchrandt Indeed. Its very similar to how shy individuals will imagine everyone is looking at them, judging and picking them apart, when in reality, no one cares. Same applies to a filmmaker viewing their own film...most audiences don't see the issues they see - whether that be color correction, chromatic abberation, angles that are shown, symbolism, etc.. Or even models and their perspective on their bodies. Its a human nature thing to put ourselves in the center of the world, thinking everything important revolves around our details, but in reality, its a different story for everyone. MORE big picture thinking.
@@POVwithRC Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
A lot of what reviewers look at has no bearing on actual, real world work and gets abused by manufacturers' marketing. Nikon just came out with a 135mm that eliminates cat's eye and vignette. Neither matters in the real world, but it shows up in reviews, so they give the lens a special name and charge a premium.
In real world use, only a few things really matter: Do the focus motors keep up with what I'm shooting? Is the lens sharp enough for display on a 4k tv and for my maximum print size? Are there ugly abberations that take a long time to fix in post (ie on trees against a bright sky; false color on textured clothing, etc)?
Beyond that, it's all just statistics with no real world impact. Run of the mill chromatic abberations and vignette? Irrelevant, they get fixed in camera or on import with zero work in post. Focus breathing? Doesn't matter whatsoever, unless you're trying to focus stack for macro. In video I've actually had clients comment *positively* on "that cool zoom effect". Cat's eye? Same thing, doesn't matter. No client is ever going to notice. Personally I positively like it. Build quality? Features like a good aperture ring can matter for some, but whether the lens is plastic or metal is not going to make a difference unless you're dropping it, in which case it needs to go into repair anyway. It's a style over substance thing in almost all cases.
What's really stupid though is the fact that it's usually the hobbyists who obsess over this the most. Yes,it's fun to be nerdy about gear. Definitely. But please understand that it's just that - a nerdy bit of fun. You're not going to get better images out of a lens that has those (non) issues mentioned above "fixed". Professionals who take tens of thousands of images with all sorts of glass don't care. You don't need to buy a technically perfect lens to take pictures of your kids. Get a nifty 50 and a camera with good eye af. That's all you need. :D
Addendum: Yes, I've mentioned elsewhere that I shoot with a collection of GM glass. Absolutely. This is because I want the reliability of fast, linear focus motors and I need the fast apertures because weddings include a lot of very low light work. The fact that they give the access to Sony Pro Services is a nice reassurance. However, in no way did any of the typical review-parameters deliniated above factor into my buying decisions.
@@youknowwho9247 I appreciate this. Gear heads can have fun, and that's all fine, and I like obsessing over the details as its a hobby as well as the next gearhead and that can be its own existence. Though, for those who like execution of product, in the big picture, small issues with a lens can be "character" or framing/story is more important. Tools are there to just enhance, support, or detract. Its very similar to the PC and consumer tech industry, minute gear details get talked about all the time in marketing language. "The faster ever" "50% faster processor over the previous", but in the end, they represent minute and incremental improvements, nothing that will change the artists work monumentally. Some of the best creative works come from limitation in budget and resources. Sometimes when you have everything perfect, sometimes bad stuff can come out too. The only situation where I say the details matter, is when you leap frog from a largely older system to new gen to speed up the work, bring down costs, democratize the technology, and help distribute the work.
So what you’re telling me is that photo lenses have actually just gotten incredibly good.
Not really, photographic lenses and cinema lenses have almost always been of equivalent optical quality, but the cinema industry only used the highest-quality lenses. There is little to no fundamental difference between photographic and cinema lenses. For example, Leica lenses use the same optical formulas for both cinema and photography. The crucial aspect is the housing, to attach motors and control focus breathing.
@@quentindescotte6037
But the glass of the cinema lenses is much larger (to collect more light as video needs way more light?)
@@FutureChaosTVThe lens is this large so that the light can pass through it in very straight manner in order to decrease CA and distortion. But it doesn’t gather more light than the Sony (well it kinda does as it has way less vignetting)
@@FutureChaosTV As a hybrid wedding shooter I can tell you that stills photography requires more light than video. This is because in video, I can drop the shutter speed much lower. Let's say I'm shooting the first dance of a wedding couple. The lighting at the venue is beautiful, so I don't want to overpower it with speedlights, I want to capture it. But it's also dim, which is the case pretty much always. For my stills, I'm going to need a shutter speed of 1/250ish. For 60 fps video I want 1/125, but I can get away with 1/60 in a pinch. This means that if I'm shooting photos at 3200 ISO, I can get my video down to 1600 or even 800 (which is base ISO for S-log 3). Same light, cleaner video.
Photo lenses have always been optically comparable to cinema lenses, imax films are often shot on still lenses, but as always they still fall way behind on breathing, matching, and manual focus mechanics
This is a fantastic comparison and analysis, and a great perspective on re-aligning what qualities we should be looking for in a lens. I'd love for you to continue doing a series of this!
Great video Gerald and really the first time I did NOT put something into my shopping list after watching your review. Greets from Berlin!
Dear Gerald, my anxiety issue ramp up during this video. Seeing this 30k lense sitting on the rear lense cap on the edge of your desk, with you, moving randomly your hands... it was too much for me. I had to take my mediation...again, i thought I was done with this.
😂😂
By the way, as a professionnal photographer for 15 years now, I really never understood why the "roundness" of bokeh balls was a criteria of perfection for so many people reviewing lenses.
Thank for this video and all your work
10:59 This is such a great reference photo I just had to screenshot. Each focal length gives off different vibes. This is great for when you aren’t sure what focal length to use but you know what emotion you want to convey
It's common for manufacturers pursuing APO quality to go for more purple/blueish than magenta because the blue is less offensive or visible. Arri is clearly following that tradition. And it does make the CA more subtle.
That into the sun comparison was incredible. Consumer lens and even pro ones losing contrast where the Arri showed why it’s a cine performer !
The contrast was stunning. The deep blacks in the shadows really shows how well that lens puts the light rays exactly where they belong, and nowhere else! Impressive to say the least.
Arri showed us what consumer lens could have been. ✨
If they had the real estate to not need to bend light as Gerald says
@@nyanyamero
Impression filters are the most exciting things about these lenses to me. It essentially gives you new lenses with each filter. I'm wildly hopeful that another lens manufacturer will implement this kind of filtering, as it's still tough to handle the Signature Prime price tag. Even when considering rentals.
Great video, Gerald. Cool concept. Glad you're finding ways to keep things fresh for your reviews and still helping folks learn!
Hands down the most interesting video from you in a long while. Awesome to see this comparison
I like the return of the old format. Maybe not always but keep doing some time this kind of episode. As always awesome job!
This vid is so good. One of my favorites you’ve ever done
Videos about Arri are always fun. They seem to do everything right. I wish we had more really good manufacturers like that. Of course, then we'd have to rent or lease everything. Might be ok.
14:16 microlensing effect (sensor diffraction) in the flare. Same problem often seen in astrophotography when imaging bright stars.
Thank you for the video, Gerald. I am a cinematography student. I had NO IDEA that Arri made lenses with "impression filters" that change the character of the otherwise pristinely neutral image. That is brilliant innovation from Arri. Now... I just thirty grand.
One of the most interesting reviews I have got to see since a long time. I am so bored by the limited product scope of most reviewers. Please produce more videos which are not the version 27 of the same old story (with some minor technical improvements). TH-cam videos - like yours - have educated the audience to be ready nowadays for more excursions into the professional domain and more looks "behind the scenes" of innovative manufacturers like Arri.
Thank you so much, Gerald! For someone who just recently started renting cinema lenses for the narrative client projects i shoot, this is really something i´d love to see you doing way more. There are already some really good, affordable (and of course less affordable) cinema lenses on the market. To see them compared to the KING made by Arri would be so cool. For a lot of the newer cine lenses you don't even need a PL mount anymore.. how convenient. 🙂
Lens projectors are so cool to use. Back when I used to work at a Nikon, Tamron and Sony repair centre, I used them all the time for calibrating and inspecting lenses and it's really something else.
I tried this lens from ARRI yesterday and was quite surprised at how smoothly the focus ring moves plus the size - I thought it was bigger - I got that impression from this wonderful YT ❤😊. It was at the same time a bit funny because at the same time I looked at Nisi Athena - which is much smaller, but I have no doubt where they have been inspired in their visual expression and surface treatment. At the same time, they are more within range of something I can afford - plus they don't take up as much space and weight if you're on the go. It's a wild time we live in with all the possibilities. THX for the upload Gerald 👍🏽
Very cool, did you manage to mount the GM onto the projector to make a comparison?
they really need to do this
As a first assistant camera the signature primes are a dream to work with. They make everything faster and communicates with the camera and wcu-4 system without having to manually set up everything.
That contrast shooting directly into the sun was mind-blowing on the Signature Prime.
Thank you Gerald this was a fantastic review and I hope you can continue doing this with other equipment to show what the top tier of equipment is vs your regular pro-sumer and just get people back to shooting and creating instead of endless gear acquisition syndrome.
That projector is nuts!
Which non-Arri lenses did they put on the projector for comparison?
4:40 The cool thing is Arri tuned the Chromatic abberations to be more warm and cold OR Blue And yellow Which is sooo much better looking than green and magenta
This is a great idea, I think. Sure, comparisons between a bunch of lenses that are "good" is interesting to make a purchasing decision. But having the context of what is actually possible can be really helpful. I would even suggest to have a comparison of non compromise lenses against each other. One of these cinema primes, a Zeiss Otus, a Noct, a Leica SL APO Summicron ... That would be crazy. :D
Such an entertaining episode! Great premise and it worked well. Reward yourself with that projector. 👍
Nikon released 135mm f2 'DC' lens long time ago, and its internal lens element position can be adjusted to get the effects similar to impression filters you expained. It's bit disappointing that almost no major camera companies try bold experiment on their lenses nowdays.
They also made one in 105mm
Canon has put that as a feature on their RF100mm macro
BTW speaking of Nikon, I wonder how their new 135mm Plena lens would stack up against an ARRI Signature prime. Their marketing for it mentioned some of the tweaks that are also present on the Signature Primes, like a larger projection circle. Would be interesting to see how it performs against a lens that has turned those tweaks to eleven
You can get rear filters for signature primes as well as a bunch of Cine lenses these days
The difference in the second shot with the sunstar along the edge of the roof was insane!
Asante sana kwa maelezo nzuri Gerald, you're the best reviewer hapa,wueh! Hii lens ni motoo...alafu mbona watu wa Canada wanapenda pickles? 😂
Gerald, you are too much buddy! I was not expecting this. You always have a surprise up your sleeve. Great comparison. Love your videos. No wonder the movie guys love ARRI lenses.
Francois is the best!! Btw, the key difference with Signature Prime chromatic aberration is that it's shifted more towards blue and orange than green and magenta. It is impossible to remove chromatic aberration after a point, and Arri found that shifting it to blue-orange felt much more natural to the eye. I would agree.
Hey Gerald!! A big fan of your work 😊 Can I please suggest a video topic that is related to the missing video formats on Sony Alpha cameras?
Basically, modern sony a7 series of cameras don't support H.265 PAL 4k25 shooting mode at all. Almost all of Europe and Asia use that mode and it's completely missing here.. There's no 4k30 mode as well in the XAVC HS mode which is honestly a weird omission as all canon, nikon or panasonic bodies support it
HS is so much more space efficient for budget and beginner users and it's actually easier to edit on Apple M and Intel based modern computers.
4:06 this is the most stable focus rack I have ever seen in my friggin LIFE
I wish there were more reviews like this. You did a very good job showing and explaining what characteristics are going on from lens to lens. Also surprised to see the CA on the signature, although subtle - just inherently is what comes with glass. The only test I wish I saw was color consistency from lens to lens in a set, but I also understand why you only had the 35mm. It'd be nice to know what a realistic expectation of that would be since I feel like "color consistent" is used for marketing, but I've seen shifts on the more expensive cinema lenses. All in all - great video Gerald!
Curious to know the Arri 35mm Signature prime with the Cooke equivalent, since we are talking about 'unobtanium' lenses.
Absolutely loved this video. I've personal been very curious to see Gerald review the extreme high-end level of video gear; RED, ARRI, etc.
Really cool to see the actually difference between a ARRI 35mm and a Sony G Master 35mm.
amazing video, Gerald! I love it when people nerd out over super high-end gear, it just speaks to my soul.
and yeah, I've been saying this for ages, but cat-eye bokeh is actually good, idk why people don't like it. if anything, it draws attention towards the centre of the frame, making the subject stand out more.
and that projector is incredible!! if only you could've mounted a G-Master on it 🤔😂
Impressive review. Thanks for bringing back the swirling vortex at the end. I always look forward to it.
This is a great and informative video. It is hard to get this kind of access andd perspective as a "regular person". That being said, I have a thought.
Lenses are the new film stock. Back when everything was shot on film, you had the option to change film stocks; speed, ASA, and various physical properties within the composition of the emulsion gave each stock a slightly different look. Kodak alone had A bunch of different formulas for their popular VISION stock. (still do). The point is, when they could use the film stock as a factor, the lens was just a part of the look.
NOW... digital has nullified that difference. Your digital sensor is not going to change... so the lens and filters are the only way to affect the image optically on set. Companies like Panavision spend a lot of money and time perfecting what they call "prescriptions" that will add coatings and treatments to a lens set that will essentially 'destruct' the clean look of a so-called, perfect lens. DPs love to talk about 're-housed' vintage lenses that they have. Imperfect is a choice to them.
The point is... Each lens has a look. saying one is more "pure" than another may be a fair statement... but calling it the BEST is subjective. The look of a lens isn't about how little distortion or color shift... it is about what you like.
Gerald makes one point that is KEY in my opinion, but glosses over it pretty quickly. Consistency. What makes these crazy expensive lenses worth using isn't the perfection of the image. To me, it is the consistency of the "imperfections" that make them great. Knowing that you will get the same results from your 24mm - your 85mm is a great thing. I think this is where companies like SONY fall short. They treat each lens as if it is the ONLY lens. Use this G-Master 35 and then put the 85 equivalent on... not only will there will be a visual difference, but also the lens itself will feel like it was made in another factory and designed by another engineer. (often they are). Arri, Panavision, etc... create lens SETS that are meant to match in look and build, and quality.
IF you are looking for a perfect lens and can afford the Signature Prime... go for it. But you should also ask yourself, if it is perfect... Why isn't it used in EVERY movie out there? Because Lenses are the new film stock.
That was really interesting, Gerald. I enjoyed it.
4:42 When Gerald says, "Yes," he sounds like Christopher Walken.
Awesome video. Love seeing how you are geeking out to this. It's very impressive!
Interesting comparison, but a few questions / thoughts: I'd be curious if a native lpl mount on an Arri camera would have had any different results, as i'm not sure if wooden camera is a mathematically "flawless" lpl mount on a Sony camera (this lens wasn't designed for that sensor). Its also worth noting that the signature primes aren't advertised as being a "perfect" lens, they paint them as having a classic softness, warmth, and naturalism: I don't think this is the lens to be the benchmark for physical perfection, more of an aesthetic benchmark based on what arri feels the human eye likes the most. I wonder if Panavision primes or the recently updated Leica lenses would check the boxes on bokeh and aberration better for "flawless".
Alright, I’ve just clicked play. I’ve been waiting for a video like this for a while from you! Is this a turning point on this channel where you dive into the stuff I’ve been wanting for you to dive into for the past 4 years? I hope so! Let’s get into the Arri cameras, the red cameras, etc. you do the best tests on TH-cam and we want to see the exotic cameras and lenses!
that focus chart was the coolest thing I've ever seen
You get to a certain point where you're paying an insane premium for very small improvements generally only perceptible to other filmmakers but that's the beauty of having options. You can rent Arri primes if that difference means something to you or the story you're telling or you can buy a G Master lens which is also amazing and is usually sufficient for the job at hand.
If anything this review demonstrates how fantastic the Sony G Masters are! Another fantastic bit of work!
Sometimes it's the imperfect things that we look for to get a unique impression
Excellent video. Good for viewers (like a hobbyist as me) to relax and go to improve and get better results starting with composition and technique. I went from Sony rx10 to a6700 and did buy lenses after reviewing several influencers and only cared for sharpness because of cropping afterwards and using TC on my long lens. (11mm1.8; 16-55mm2.8; 56mm1.4; 70-200mm2.8.)
Wow! You have the talent to teach! Fantastic job! Thank you!
Loved the lens! Thanks for sharing your review Gerald!
Thank you for this video. Even though I will never have the opportunity to play with that lens, it was amazing to see the pinnacle.
I would bet that you could build a projector like they had. If out of the question, maybe this is an opportunity for a partnership with ARRI as it would continuously be a proof of their quality in comparison to any/all other lenses.
absolutely bonkers. beautiful review. interesting to see that arri projector. thank you gerald
i loved this review a lot of reviews out there are just unnecessary nit picking and don't even translate to actual usage, that's why I prefer gerald he just gives you the review as is and you learn more after watching each video
Would also be cool if we coul get a comparison to the hasselblad setup
Wow, that was amazing. So nice to learn more about Arri’s lenses. And am so curious how this experience might change the approach to your reviews! Btw. Potato Jet’s review of the Arri SP 40mm was great too.
Hey Gerald, you ever got the occasion to try the 12mm of the Signature Prime series? One of the most jaw dropping lenses I've ever seen, and incredibly clean too (with barely any distorsion, for a 12mm!!)
Once I tried to take photos of night sky and milky way. I found out there are astigmatism and coma artifacts and no one mentions them in a reviews, because they normally do not matter, they are causing just some sharpness issues in the corner and/or barely noticeable loss of contrast. It surprised me they are described on some webs dedicated to astrophotography, but not elsewhere.
Every review video from Christopher Frost includes this information
so when can we expect you to get a Chrosziel P-TP7 II to do your future lens testing with?
Thank you Gerald for the video, very informative. Also, Wouldn't it be awesome if there were a future video comparing the Arri Signature Prime and Zeiss Otus lenses?
exactly what I thought :-) pls do it!
i watch video just because i like your content.
no chance in the world i would even get to touch these. as much as i trust in myself and hoping for the best, this lens is like 10x of my current rig :P
What's the name of the PL adapter? I looked at your gear page but couldn't spot it, but maybe I'm blind (I'm not going to buy and Arri lens but maybe som other PL lens)
Great review! Love the Signature Primes! Shot with them last year. It'd be interesting to hear your take on the Tokina Cinema Vista lenses-since they claim to have no breathing and CA. They aren't as sharp as a Signature but for the price really hard to beat
They are also used as a base lens for Masterbuilts and it is claimed Panavision use the Vistas for some of their FF frame sets.
I massively enjoy your content, it’s helped along years to make real purchasing decisions, but I also love to just watch how thoroughly you and semi-scientifically analyze whatever gets on your hands.
And I’ve got to say, this is the video I’ve enjoyed the most, it’s so interesting in so many ways.
All right, I’m done…
the impression filter basically does the same thing as the canon rf 100mm f2.8 macro lens
which has an additional "SA Control" Ring that goes from negative to positive. it affects the foreground and background bokeh in the same way as how the positive and negative impression filters does to this arri prime lens.
Hey Gerald!
Regarding the projector: you should really check out the Dulens MF60 cinema lens projector. It's quite new and will support LPL for about 5 to 6k (if my memory is correct). I can get you in touch with Jackson, who is handling most of the customer orders and support :-)
You do you, sir. You do you, and your vibe will attract your tribe.
I don't have much to say other than, this video was so to watch. Incredible content once again GU!
The cut to the wide shot to reveal a Teddy Bear seated in your guest chair? Amazing. 😀
Regarding the lens color: I have heard (but don't remember where or how reliable this is) that on Nikon Z lenses this 'Color' was one of the things that made a lens 'S' line - supposedly the 'S' line lenses all use the same coatings and that gives them a matched color balance. Likely not to the same level as Sig Primes but still something.
Amazing stuff man 🤘🏻
Hey what mic are you using for this video? Sound is stellar
Love it! Hope you do the same thing for cameras. Would love to see everything compared to Alexa 35.
Don’t think that would be too interesting. Sensor technology today is reasonably even between price points and most sensors are made by Sony anyways. Arri lenses are expensive because they are perfect lenses. Arri cameras are expensive because DPs are willing to pay for them. Obviously they have pleasing color and high Dynamic range. mostly they are just reliable and provide a good platform for a cinema rig. I wager the difference in what you would see out of the final image between a sony mirror less and a arri is a lot less than differences in lenses. And sony gives that in a smaller form factor, with af, and for a lot less.
One of my favourite directors grei Fraser is as you probably have heard using a Sony mirror less for the movie The Ceator
Currently. Perfect optical quality is more expensive than perfect sensor quality. So that’s why I think the leap for cameras when moving into professional cinema gear is not as great.
Very interesting review and comparision. Thank you for your effort. I wished you would a similar video about the Leica SL Apo 35mm.
Impressive. If anything, this just highlights (again) how awesome of a job Sony did with the 35GM.
*Love the distortions and chromatic aberration at the end... Never tough an ARRI could do that. :D*
1 layer of effect is great for most commercial projects, but attenuated characteristics passing through multiple optical elements are more nuanced, more complex and depending on the project that nuance and/complexity is contributed in service of the story.
God I would love to see someone out on the street taking vertical photos with a signature prime
The projector is a Chrosziel Lens Testing Projector TP7. They also make some stuff for the FX6
In regards to the flaring performance, particularly the hazy blacks, and the chromatic aberrations the arri looks incredibly similar to fuji's gfx lenses (at least the ones i've tested: the 55 and 110). Apart from breathing and the general cinema build they might be pretty much on level with the arri lenses
Very interesting, thank you for the video. The projection device for lens testing is next level.
WOW!!! those filters are incredible!!!
Finally, a photographer who knows how to pronounce "boke". For the longest time, I was trying to figure out what "boka" is because so many photographers say it that way. I'm going to pull rank. I'm fluent in Japanese, and Gerald is pronouncing it correctly. I wanted to give you 5 likes just for that.
But did you disable chromatic aberration correction in your raw processing?
Interesting comparison, did you add the distortion for the Sony?
80-20 principle all the way :D
After a certain point the cost to increase quality/performance just skyrockets
I'm a 1st AC and the Signature primes are awesome, but my favorites to work with are the Master Primes
Man vignette control and sharpness is out of this world 😮
I got to mount a anamorphic prime from Vantage - Hawk on my Sony a7RIII, and the colors, contrast and 3D effect You get out of those is amazing
Hi Gerald, can u do nisi Athena review please, I just pre-book excited for ur review.
Would love to see a shootout between say something like the DZO vespids, NISI etc against these lenses. Most impressive lens I’ve seen on set was Ari’s anamorphic primes in the widest they had, it took a short hallway and turned it into a super tunnel with no distortion. Incredible
I’m gonna geek out hard if you just start blasting through Signature, Ultra Primes, Cookes, Angenieux, Cabrios. 🤤
Usually the only way to get this level of detail is being a prep tech at a rental house. ❤️
I had a lot of problems with the sony 35mm gm 1.4 doing some focus hunting for seemly no reason (this was done in video mode on the a7iv and a7rv) Phot mode does great, but I seem to have trouble with video mode where it wants to always find soothing else to focus on. (This was my experience shooting 2 weddings with it) Would the sony 35 1.4 lens still be the best 35mm for video?
ps i had focus breathing compensation turn on so that wasnt a problem
@@sloop24 slow down the focus tracking and sensitivity
@@geilin2394 I'll try that thanks