a little lens test

A couple of years ago I put together a little lens test consisting of 13 sets of prime lenses.  What I wanted to find out was, what are the differences between lenses in a purely image resolving way.  You always hear about differences in lenses, and one might have a certain kind of look or feel, and they're often described like a fine wine, with descriptors that don't always make sense.  The purpose of this test is really to see the differences between lenses, the look from one set to another. 

This was hardly a scientific test, or in optimal conditions.  We shot inside Old School Camera in Burbank, CA.   I want to thank Old School Camera for helping with this test, these were all of the lenses they had in house on this particular day.  Ultimately I would have love to have tried different lighting and environments, but this test still gets the results across. 

We shot all of the lenses wide open, to really show off their individual character and resolving power.  The test was shot on a Red Dragon.  I've separated the Spherical and Anamorphics, as they're two very different looking categories of lenses. 

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Spherical Lenses

Super Baltar

18mm - does not cover 6K on Red Dragon
25mm - does not cover 6K on Red Dragon
35mm - does not cover 6K on Red Dragon
50mm
75mm
100mm - flatter and duller color

The set has a non uniform lens size.

The 35mm, 50mm, and 75mm are the best of the set

Canon K35

18mm f/2.8 - Does not cover 6K on Red Dragon, neutral color, very small body
24mm f/1.6 - Does not cover 6K on Red Dragon, neutral color with slight blue shift
35mm f/1.4 - very sharp lens
55mm f/1.4 - minimal breathing
85mm f/1.4
135mm f/2

Vintage body style on the set

Overall a great set, great look.  Generally expensive to rent.

Cooke s2

16mm - Does not cover 6K on Red Dragon, very small body
24mm - Does not cover 6K on Red Dragon, this lens had some play in the focus
32mm - Does not cover 6K on Red Dragon, a medium level of sharpnes
50mm - very pleasing look
85mm - Sharp, slighting warm, very pleasing look
100mm - very pleasing look

Cooke s3

18mm - Does not cover 6K on Red Dragon, blue vignette, focus falls off at edge
25mm f/2.2 - Does not cover 6K on Red Dragon, Blue Vignette
32mm f/2.3 - Does not cover 6K on Red Dragon
40mm f/2.3 - Slightly warm color tone, darkening at edge of frame
50mm f/2.3 - medium warm color tone
75mm f/2.3 - little cooler, fairly sharp
100mm f/2.8 - little cooler, very sharp

The 50mm and 75mm are very different then the rest of the set

Kowa Prominar

15mm f/4 - ugly flairs, does not cover 6K
20mm f/2.6 - very soft, does not cover 6K
25mm f/2.3 - major halation, does not cover 6K
32mm f/2.3 -slight vignette and slight blue shift
40mm f/2.3 - bit soft, slight vingnette
50mm f/2.3-1st ok lens of the set, slightly blue, acceptably sharp
75mm f/2.3 -
100mm f/2.3 - acceptable sharpness

The 50mm, 75mm and 100mm all cover 6K on the Red Dragon.

The set as a whole had a fairly similar color uniformity. 

Only 250 sets ever made

arri master primes

16mm f/1.3 - slight vignette at 6K, slightly soft
18mm f/1.3 - slight vignette at 6K, slightly soft
21mm f/1.3 - slight vignette at 6K, very very sharp
27mm f/1.3 - slight vignette at 6K
32mm f/1.3
100mm f/1.3
135mm f/1.3

Very Modern and clinical look.  Bodies on these are very large and heavy.  zero breathing in focusing.  The coating on the lenses reduces lens flairs significantly. 

Did not have a full set to test*

Cooke mini s/4 (uncoated)

18mm f/2.8 - slight vignette at 6K, very unpleasing flair
25mm f/2.8
32mm f/2.8 -  slight vignette, very sharp and vibrant colors
50mm f/2.8 - just as sharp as master primes
75mm f/2.8
100mm f/2.8

These differ from typical mini s/4 lenses in that the coating was removed from the lenses, so they're more likely to flair.

red pro primes

18mm f/1.8 - Does not cover 6K on red Dragon
25mm f/1.8 - slight vignette at 6K, flair is neutral, semi-subdued
35mm f/1.8 - slight vignette at 6K
50mm f/1.8
85mm f/1.8
100mm f/1.8

Larger body size on this set.  As sharp as master primes without the color characteristics.  Undervalued set.

Zeiss super speeds

18mm f/1.3 - does not cover 6K on Red Dragon
25mm f/1.3 - Does not cover 6K on Red Dragon
35mm f/1.3
50mm f/1.3
85mm f/1.3

Overall this set is very neutral colors.  Very sharp lenses, has held up well over time.  The tone can be a bit flat or even muddy blending the image together.

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Anamorphic Lenses

Cineovision

35mm f/1.6
50mm f/1.6 - very wide distortion
85mm

Cooke s/2 anamorphic

40mm f/2.3 - Huge front element, medium amount of sharpness
50mm - Sharper then the 40mm but the flair isn't as pleasing
75mm - warmer lens, hints of brown in the image, 1/4 stop darker at the same stop, a lot of breathing in the focus
100mm f/2.8 -not sharp at all

Lomo anamorphics - Square front

50mm f/2.8 - medium amount of breathing in focus, not very sharp at f/2.8
75mm - not sharp
100mm f/2.3 -slightly sharper then the 50mm
150mm f/3.8 - Signs on halation, soft lens, chromatic aberration

todd ao

28mm f/2 - High edge distortion

Complete sets might be hard to find, we only had the single lens to check out