PrimeCircle "Silver Series" ZE lenses

Just saw this blog post over at Cinema 5D, Link

What do you think about these rehoused lenses?

I prefer manual everything. Particularly aperture. So not for me. If you want modified Zeiss look here http://www.ducloslenses.com/pages/cine-mod

I prefer manual everything. Particularly aperture. So not for me.

Yes. ZF lenses are way better than ZE because they have manual Iris. Nonetheless this is an interesting subject since Duclos is EUA based and that's an hassle for EU based customers.

So PrimeCircle can eventually be an asset for us on Europe but they will have to modify ZF lenses as well. I think I'll send them an email regarding this.

They are nice but, other than the silver colour, it's not much of a change from their previous version.

It's also a big cost when you could send your ZF.2 or ZE lenses to Duclos (in the US) or True Lens Service (in the UK) and have them cine modded for a lot less. Included 80mm fronts, hard focus gears that all match and in the case of the ZF.2s they de-click the aperture.

(…) or True Lens Service (in the UK) (…).

I wasn't aware of that service in UK. Thank you for pointing that out.

We used the normal series ZFs on a webseries which I Focus Pulled on and they gave a really good image, but their focus rings were so stiff it was rather hard to work with. They actually broke one of our Redrock Micro | Blue follow focuses. If you're going to use them you have to invest in a follow focus with some proper torque, like an Arri FF4 or something on those lines.

(…) or True Lens Service (in the UK) (…).

I wasn't aware of that service in UK. Thank you for pointing that out.

Good service and very helpful guys. Had 2 of my lenses done.

We used the normal series ZFs on a webseries which I Focus Pulled on and they gave a really good image, but their focus rings were so stiff it was rather hard to work with. They actually broke one of our Redrock Micro | Blue follow focuses. If you're going to use them you have to invest in a follow focus with some proper torque, like an Arri FF4 or something on those lines.

Sounds like the focus helicoil has dried our. Need to service an relube.

We used the normal series ZFs on a webseries which I Focus Pulled on and they gave a really good image, but their focus rings were so stiff it was rather hard to work with. They actually broke one of our Redrock Micro | Blue follow focuses. If you're going to use them you have to invest in a follow focus with some proper torque, like an Arri FF4 or something on those lines.

Sounds like the focus helicoil has dried our. Need to service an relube.

I'm not sure that'd be the case as it was really stiff on all four lenses we were using and he'd only had them for less than two months. It was not a dry or grinding stiffness, more of just excessive tension.

Considering it's almost a $2-3k investment, wouldn't it be smart to get the CP2's, a future-proof decision?

I like the modded lenses, the only annoying thing for me is the "lens breathing" they create

Considering it's almost a $2-3k investment, wouldn't it be smart to get the CP2's, a future-proof decision?

Where did you get that quote for 2-3k USD?

I like the modded lenses, the only annoying thing for me is the "lens breathing" they create

I've done many works with CP.2 lenses already and I have to inform you that CP.2s breathes as well. Curiously I've a set comprised by 5 ZF.2s and never bothered to test breathing against CP.2s but if I had to bet I would say that the difference between the 2 series is not a lot in that specific respect.

The main differences between the 2 are the obvious focus and iris throw (longer on CP.2s), markings and 14 iris blades against 9 blades for ZF.2s which contributes to a rounder/softer bookeh.

ZF.2s focus the wrong way but if you have a good follow focus you can revert it's orientation. Problem solved.