Drew Moe - Cinematographer

Vintage Lens Tests

Modern digital camera sensors have come a long way very quickly. SD, HD, 4K, 5K, and now 6K and beyond. Along with this upwards trend in resolution, the newest lenses available have kept pace, with ever-increasing optical sharpness and lack of artifacts. This super-sharp, ultra-HD aesthetic opens up a new and exciting realm of possibilities for the Cinematographer.

This increase in resolution is simply a tool in the Cinematographer's toolbox, however—which is to say it isn't always the right tool for the job. Sometimes a little imperfection is needed to soften, degrade, or otherwise give the image some character. A method that I'm particularly fond of is to use older, repurposed, or otherwise altered lenses. The flaring characteristics of a lens is a particularly useful measurement of the imperfections of a lens and its effect on an image.

^{Lens: Cineovision Anamorphic (50mm) / Stop: T4}

Thanks to CAMTec Cameras and their extensive collection of vintage, rehoused, and otherwise one-of-a-kind lenses, we were able to test the flaring characteristics of wide range of lenses and their effect on the high-resolution image of a RED Epic.

Gear and Settings

Camera: RED Epic w/ Mysterium X

Resolution: 5K WS (spherical lenses), 5K ANA (anamorphic lenses)

Compression: 5:1

ISO: 320

White Balance: 3700K

Frame Rate: 23.976fps

Shutter Angle: 180°

Filtration: none

Color / Gamma: REDcolor3, REDgamma3

All images have been exported as JPEG files at a width of 720, and at 50% quality.

Click on any thumbnail for a larger view.

If interested in viewing the original camera data or higher resolution stills, feel free to contact me.

Testing Methods

Two lights were set-up pointed towards the camera: an open-face 1k Nook (camera bottom-right) and a 1k Arri Fresnel (camera top-left). Camera settings were kept consistent between lens changes, with the exception of resolution settings between spherical and anamorphic lenses. Each lens was shot at T4, as a normal exposure, and T8, as an underexposure to more accurately capture the lens' flaring characteristics. I also captured alternative angles where the lens flared in interesting or expressive ways.

As a control lens, I started with a Zeiss Super Speed, to compare the other lenses with one most Cinematographers are probably very familiar with.