Why do cinematographers (sometimes) use clean lenses?

💭 Comment - Let us know what you think of clean cinema lenses down below!
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Chapters:
Intro - 00:00
Clean Characteristics - 01:12
ARRI Zeiss Master Primes - 05:13
ARRI Signature Primes - 07:16
Zeiss Supreme - 08:30
Leitz - 09:04
Tokina Vista - 09:45
Budget Clean Lenses - 11:04
Character In Camera or Post - 12:52

[Krmelj]

Shout out to CVP for using and attributing Photography Life's field curvature diagram. The website is a treasure to anyone into photography as this channel is for video makers.

[simonc]

When Blackmagic introduce the Ursa Mini 12k and claim its nothng to do with resolution but everything to do with have better colours they could not really prove it except when using the Zeiss Otus, clean aterfefact free lens that properly deliver colour seperation from the sensor that vintage and other inspired modern lenses cant do.

[solarsky]

Great topic, seeing that most discussions tend towards lens "characteristics"...

[simonc]

Why cinematographers (the best ones like Deakins) use clean sharp lenses? It is because he knows his lightings and create conditions with lights to achieve what he wants. Deakins don't even use diffusion filters. In effect a perfect artefact free lens is liken to a blank canvas. Lens that are soft with artefact and warm cast, etc, full of problems but lend itself to what others describe as "character" to tell a story are useful but cannot be useful for all types of stories or projects.

[MonigMedia]

Arri Signature primes are the absolute standard ill tell ya

[emmanuelboadi]

I hope I didn’t miss it but what do you think of the new Zeiss nano primes? Would you consider them another clean option?

[loudandclearmedia]

Let's discuss clean cine lenses for all budgets. First up, the Grand-Uber ARRI Zeiss Signature Plus Deakins Baller. It's dope...moving on.

[sonofthesea]

I bought the Zeiss Otus set based on recommendations by CVP and I was not disappointed, thank you

[robertdouble]

Lenses with a very imposing "look" can be so distracting if used without a valid narrative reason. It's so inside baseball, no viewers could give a toss. If you're shooting projects on wanky lenses primarily to impress other cinematographers than you're running a fools errand.

[C.C.Cope]

I think we tend to fixate so much on camera’s and the technology of sharpness that we can forget the other departments. I was at a recent panel and a hair and makeup up deisnegrr was talking about how on the recent season of Bridgerton the swap to 8k (I assume leaping form Sony Venice 1 6k to Venice 2 8k) caused the wigs to look horrible.* Like the hair nets they have always used were suddenly very noticeable so they had to try and relearn their craft and techniques for cheating. And the same thing applies to production design and costuming. Do I think vintage or grungy or character lenses also have the benefit of saving time and money in other departments since sharp 8k, won’t only add to the cost of data storage!

Though ultimately as with most things it’s up to the artists involved and the story should come first. I just don’t want to see a whiplash effect where everyone starts saying “only the best DPs shoot sharp and with deep focus.” Like people so often assumes a trend = bad, and the mindset should be more about finding what you need for the specific project not worrying about what other creatives are over using or under utilizing.

*bridgerton films on arri signature prime lenses

[Auris.]

Clean lenses can also be unique. I've seen countless films and series with 'Cooke look', but those straight aperture blades can be distracting, especially when shooting specular highlights through the leaves. On the other hand, a drama I watched recently had these backlit night scenes with soft waterfall bokeh, whilst the subject was crystal clear with no flare and minimal loss of contrast. I can't find what lenses they used, but I'm fairly certain Arri Master Anamorphic lenses are the only ones that can give you that.

[cinemaipswich]

The best thing about clean footage, is that you can dial in a "look". In post production there are filters, LUTs, stock types and many other tools to give your footage the look that you want. This gives you a choice, before you do delivery. If you use a "character" lens you have basically used a physical "burn in".

[colemowery]

I'm pretty sure that Loki season 2 used the Tokina vistaprimes as well.

[SuLu_B]

It feels like everyone wants an easy path to visual interest, hence the huge jump in interest in vintage glass or swirly bokeh. It's the same trap we fell into when full frame first became available to the masses with a DSLR -- shooting at f1.4 is a great way to trick the viewer into thinking "this image is higher quality and more artistic!" As many love to point out with aperture, most DPs shoot at f2.8 and above and using ultra shallow or deep focus is a creative choice. Characterful lenses should be a creative choice with intention behind it, not a crutch to just try and make whatever you point the camera at look "better" without having to put any thought into framing, composition, lighting, movement, etc. Roger Deakins has made some of the most beautiful and visually intriguing images of our generation, and he doesn't fall back to the crutches of Helios-44 or anamorphic everything to achieve it.

I am probably biased as almost all my lenses are Sony GM, but I do own a single vintage manual lens for the rare times a project needs that look.

[justjanne-de]

I love my Fujinon MK zooms, they're cleaner than most primes and I absolutely understand why Cameron shot Avatar 2 on them, even though they're a budget lens.

[shueibdahir]

There's only two sets of glass i've been blown away by and makes my work look really good. Sigma ART (EF w/ HSM)and Zeiss OTUS. Nothing beats them

[alanbesedin]

Amazing video, coming from a vintage lens fanatic 🤣

[zgwlx]

After watching your videos, I bought my Otus 85 and love it. I take photos more than videos. I am thinking about selling my Zeiss Loxia 25 and Sony 35gm to get a second hand Otus 28mm for Otus’ best backlight performance…But I need to go to gym more often…

[TheRealJamesWu]

Thank you again for making such a subjective field as objective as possible. I think it is much needed.

[OliKember]

The new DZO Arles are looking like another fabulous sharp, compact and affordable set of FF primes with an extra stop of shallow DOF and better CA than the Vespid.