Blackmagic Forum

Have you seen these new lenses? They look like they might be pretty great, price to performance wise.

T1.4 throughout the range. They look to be on the larger side. Thoughts anyone?

Just saw this:


and:
https://www.ducloslenses.com/products/a ... 5-lens-kit

They look interesting

I have just spent a few days shooting with them on the BMCC6K, really impressed so far!
My kit consists of the 25, 35, 50 and 75 for now.
I am currently working on a project with them for DZO and will share it on my Youtube channel as well as a review once I have used them long enough. OF Two Lands if you want to check it out

Florent Piovesan wrote:I have just spent a few days shooting with them on the BMCC6K, really impressed so far!
My kit consists of the 25, 35, 50 and 75 for now.
I am currently working on a project with them for DZO and will share it on my Youtube channel as well as a review once I have used them long enough. OF Two Lands if you want to check it out

Oh I know your channel and Videos Florent, and I appreciate you chiming in on this! They picked the right person to showcase their lenses and I am looking forward to seeing the video. Thank you!

Note Suwanchote wrote:Just saw this:

and:
https://www.ducloslenses.com/products/a ... 5-lens-kit

They look interesting

Thanks for the link Note. I really like what I'm seeing. Looking forward to some hands on at Cinegear. You going to be there?

"A quick comparing test the new DZOFilm Arles 40mm T1.4 Vista Vision Prime with Red V- Raptor X.

Comparing to:
Nikkor 35mm T1.5 Prime
Sigma 35mm T1.5 Prime
Zeiss Supreme Prime 35mm T1.5

All lens shot wide open at their maximum T stop. Such as Sigma at T1.5, Nikkor at T1.5, Supreme at T1.5 and Arles at T1.4 by using Schneider IRND filter.

Brought all files into DaVinci Resolve Studio 19 beta 2 using ACES cct with no any color correction, just a little touch for exposure balance.

I really love the skin color of the Arles and also the background blending of the new Arles prime."

(Sittipong Kongtong, 8K HDR Video Channel, the first HDR Video channel in Thailand presenting in 4K and 8K HDR)

Florent Piovesan wrote:I have just spent a few days shooting with them on the BMCC6K, really impressed so far!
My kit consists of the 25, 35, 50 and 75 for now.
I am currently working on a project with them for DZO and will share it on my Youtube channel as well as a review once I have used them long enough. OF Two Lands if you want to check it out

Flo,

That is great. I look forward to checking that out to see how they look with BMCC6K.

Very excited for these lenses. I'm on the wait and see if DZOFilm adds /i Technology to the lenses in the near future. I've been in communication with my rep from DZOFilm about this. Since I have the Vespids I'm not going to race out to buy these lenses just because they are 1 1/6 stop faster and sharper. For me I want to have the metadata as well. That's the big one for me beyond the optical improvements, which also excite me.

I've loved DZOFilm since I first invested in the Pictor Zooms in 2020. It was a risk, but worth it. When I bought them they were so new and not much testing existed. But I took the swing and was so happy. Then I got the Vespid Primes and was incredibly impressed. They were a very nice compliment to the zooms and have worked wonderfully for me the last 3.5-years.

Last year we used the Pavo Anamorphics on a feature film, and a few other projects, and I was impressed with them as well. So the Arles was a nice announcement to hear because I do prefer spherical primes above all else. I'm sure at T1.4 these new lenses are very nice, and that makes it worth the investment. Again, I'll wait for that sweet metadata that is so important to me before I trade up my Vespids.

timbutt2 wrote:Very excited for these lenses… Arles was a nice announcement to hear because I do prefer spherical primes above all else. I'm sure at T1.4 these new lenses are very nice, and that makes it worth the investment. Again, I'll wait for that sweet metadata that is so important to me before I trade up my Vespids.

Tim, are all the lens elements spherical with no aspherical correction of chromatic aberrations? That’s a design feature of the original SLR Magic APO primes and contributes to a smoother bokeh. The Arles does appear to have a very creamy bokeh.

rick.lang wrote:

timbutt2 wrote:Very excited for these lenses… Arles was a nice announcement to hear because I do prefer spherical primes above all else. I'm sure at T1.4 these new lenses are very nice, and that makes it worth the investment. Again, I'll wait for that sweet metadata that is so important to me before I trade up my Vespids.

Tim, are all the lens elements spherical with no aspherical correction of chromatic aberrations? That’s a design feature of the original SLR Magic APO primes and contributes to a smoother bokeh. The Arles does appear to have a very creamy bokeh.

When I said spherical I meant spherical vs anamorphic. The generalization.

I do not 100% know what the DZOFilm has done with regards to aspherical correction of chromatic aberrations with these lenses. I'm certain that they have done some work to limit the chromatic aberration, but as they have not released any real technical details I can't say yet. My contact is supposed to be getting me final tech specs for us to add the lenses properly into the LensKit app. We added them with the currently available specs that Duclos and B&H have listed with the pre-order of the lenses. But there are some differences between those specs minimum focus distance between the sites at the moment.

We will have to wait for the official announcement for now.

DZOFILM Arles Prime Lens Set Initial Impressions Ft. Nikon Z8 (Sidney Baker-Green)

So, um, if you had a coupon for 20% Off for a single Arles lens, which would you buy? Keep in mind that you also have a Vespid set already.

timbutt2 wrote:So, um, if you had a coupon for 20% Off for a single Arles lens, which would you buy? Keep in mind that you also have a Vespid set already.

I would get rid of the vespids, and try to get a more substantial set of arleses

MKUltraPrimes wrote:

timbutt2 wrote:So, um, if you had a coupon for 20% Off for a single Arles lens, which would you buy? Keep in mind that you also have a Vespid set already.

I would get rid of the vespids, and try to get a more substantial set of arleses

I hear you on that. However, it’s only a single lens I would have 20% off on. The full kit of 5 Lenses has about overall better pricing than the one lens 20% off and then buying the others individually.

I think since I’m still shooting S35 on the UMPG2 that the 35mm would be my first choice. Second would be 50mm or 25mm. If Full Frame (VistaVision) then first choice would be 50mm.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have a set up the SLR Magic APOs and when I shoot on the 6kFF I REALLY really like using the 32mm as my 'do it all' lens. It just looks so pleasant and I can frame easily for wider and closer shots.

My dream set of the Arles would be a 21, 28, 40, 65, 90

timbutt2 wrote:So, um, if you had a coupon for 20% Off for a single Arles lens, which would you buy? Keep in mind that you also have a Vespid set already.

Since I'm shooting on the BMCC6K, I would choose the 50mm? To be honest, I'm thinking about this since I can't afford these lenses, but have been thinking about buying one....trying to decide which one since I'm on full frame these days...choices, choices...

Chris Leutger wrote:

timbutt2 wrote:So, um, if you had a coupon for 20% Off for a single Arles lens, which would you buy? Keep in mind that you also have a Vespid set already.

Since I'm shooting on the BMCC6K, I would choose the 50mm? To be honest, I'm thinking about this since I can't afford these lenses, but have been thinking about buying one....trying to decide which one since I'm on full frame these days...choices, choices...

For full frame, I think 35mm might be a better choice if you only had a single lens. A 35mm can replace a 50mm by taking a few steps forward and a 50mm can replace a 35mm by taking a few steps backward. Unless you're always shooting cinema where everything is controlled and rehearsed, 35mm might be a more versatile choice, especially if you're shooting B-roll as well. You get a wider angle of view and then if you can get closer you can effectively duplicate 50mm. And usually the wider lenses have a shorter minimum focus distance, so that's a benefit to consider if you do any very close work.

That said, I shot a 50mm lens exclusively for about 30 years when I was shooting film (I'm shooting film again now but have a lot more lenses). I was able to make it work for everything--landscapes, portraits, aerial shots, you name it. But that was for photography. For video/cinematography I always think wider is a bit better.

Here is Flo using the DZOfilm Arles with the BMCC 6k FF in Arles, France. Which is kinda fun.

My general rule has been using this lens choice over the last 20-years:

35mm Film Stills: 58mm (I had 58mm Rokkor and loved it) or 50mm
APS-C Stills: 35mm
Full Frame Digital Stills: 50mm

Video Cameras with Fixed Zoom: Full Zoom Range
Super 16mm: 18mm
Super 35mm: 35mm
Full Frame Lens Adapter on Video Cameras: 50mm

So, the 50mm is definitely my go to for the Full Frame format in stills, and I would say the same be true for VistaVision video. At the same time I'm still shooting Super 35 with my G2 so the 35mm would be my go to.

Overall, I do like having choices. So it does make sense to get the full 5-lens set. Either way, I'm getting the 20% off coupon, plus the Octopus PL to E Mount, the SmallRig Tripod, and a V-Mount as part of the gift package I won. So, will have to weigh the choice on what to do with the coupon.

Adam Langdon wrote:I have a set up the SLR Magic APOs and when I shoot on the 6kFF I REALLY really like using the 32mm as my 'do it all' lens. It just looks so pleasant…

Same. The 32mm APO seems ‘stuck’ on my camera whenever I consider other focal lengths, but the 40mm Arles might feel the same if I had to choose a single focal length today.

It’s not as simple as comparing focal lengths and sensor coverage, it’s how it feels to work with the lens. How you like its character.

Brad Hurley wrote:
For full frame, I think 35mm might be a better choice if you only had a single lens. A 35mm can replace a 50mm by taking a few steps forward and a 50mm can replace a 35mm by taking a few steps backward. Unless you're always shooting cinema where everything is controlled and rehearsed, 35mm might be a more versatile choice, especially if you're shooting B-roll as well. You get a wider angle of view and then if you can get closer you can effectively duplicate 50mm. And usually the wider lenses have a shorter minimum focus distance, so that's a benefit to consider if you do any very close work.

That said, I shot a 50mm lens exclusively for about 30 years when I was shooting film (I'm shooting film again now but have a lot more lenses). I was able to make it work for everything--landscapes, portraits, aerial shots, you name it. But that was for photography. For video/cinematography I always think wider is a bit better.

Thanks, that helps. With the BMPCC, I was always so cramped with that tiny sensor and I mostly used the Contax 18mm on there. To weigh in on photography:
4x5 - 240mm/350mm are my most used lenses.
Hasselblad - 80mm cuz that's what I have.
Sony FF - 65mm Voigtlander is the one though if I travel light, the CV 50mm replaces that.

I just put the Contax 50mm on my BMCC6k and will take that around. I agree, for film shooting stuff, I think wider is going to be better, the context of how I shoot will be different. I have the Contax 35mm so I can give that a go. I'll be in LA next month shooting a short film and will see what goes used when I'm doing something for someone else.

Chris Leutger wrote:With the BMPCC, I was always so cramped with that tiny sensor and I mostly used the Contax 18mm on there.

Unless you were using a speedbooster, that 18mm would actually translate to roughly the same field of view as a 50mm lens, so if that's what you're used to shooting for cinema/video maybe 50 would be better for you. I remember reading that the film 1917 was shot on full-frame Alexa using only 35, 40, and 47 mm lenses (all Arri Signature Primes).

Brad Hurley wrote:

Chris Leutger wrote:With the BMPCC, I was always so cramped with that tiny sensor and I mostly used the Contax 18mm on there.

Unless you were using a speedbooster, that 18mm would actually translate to roughly the same field of view as a 50mm lens, so if that's what you're used to shooting for cinema/video maybe 50 would be better for you. I remember reading that the film 1917 was shot on full-frame Alexa using only 35, 40, and 47 mm lenses (all Arri Signature Primes).

That was as wide as I owned! The widest that Contax went. I did have a 12mm SLR mft lens, but it never matched the other footage. I learned to make do by letting my feet do the adjustments. Walks back, sets tripod down, "Damn!" Walks back further into traffic....

I do love my BMPCC, but I'm liking working with a full frame sensor these days.

ProAV TV (UK) did a quick test with the DZOfilm Arles Cinema Primes and they look very impressive.

"So this afternoon, the 50mm and 100mm Arles arrived at my doorstep. At the same time, DZOFilm published more information about the lineup, with details on all ten lenses. In my short time with these lenses, I am ABSOLUTELY BLOWN AWAY. These are my jam. Yes please." (Nick Salazar)

"Join Nick Dabas, a New York City DP, as he showcases firsthand the all-new DZOFILM Arles Vista Vision Primes in a lens test. He goes over the lens breathing, distortion, and flaring, showcasing the beautiful character and fall off, of these lenses. Paired with the Alexa mini LF, they offer a true and neutral look suitable for any commercial or film.

While conceptualizing the perfect scene, Nick created a short film featuring his bubby Rob. All the footage showcased in the video is unaltered and ungraded, directly shot with the Alexa mini LF in Rec 709. The only adjustment made was the white balance for the outdoor scenes. Watch as Nick discovers that these lenses maintain a genuine and neutral quality, offering a pleasing image without excessive sharpness. Particularly when capturing the intricate details of subjects' faces." (Adorama)

"The DZOFilm Arles Cine Primes provides a low budget alternative Cooke and Zeiss's high end Cinema Lenses, like the Cooke S8i and the Zeiss Supreme Primes. These lenses will give independent film makers access to some of the image quality that was once only available on a Hollywood Budget." (Mark Wiemels)

This is some nice looking footage from the Arles on Alexa:

Hey everyone,

Here is my review of the new DZO Arles Primes, used on the BMCC6K.


I have recently shot a short film with these so in this video I will talk about my experience with them what I like and don’t like about these lenses and finally whether or not I would recommend them.

I also go over the kits that I used which includes the DJI Focus Pro and Ronin RS4 Pro.

Hopefully you find this video helpful if you are considering these lenses!

Let me know what you think and if you have any questions

Cheers,
Flo

Flo,

Very cool thanks for sharing with us.

Florent Piovesan wrote:Hey everyone,

Here is my review of the new DZO Arles Primes, used on the BMCC6K.

I have recently shot a short film with these so in this video I will talk about my experience with them what I like and don’t like about these lenses and finally whether or not I would recommend them.

I also go over the kits that I used which includes the DJI Focus Pro and Ronin RS4 Pro.

Hopefully you find this video helpful if you are considering these lenses!

Let me know what you think and if you have any questions

Cheers,
Flo

Thank you for sharing. And, thank you for giving us on camera a proper way to pronounce the name Arles. Considering that the lenses are named for the French Province, then that is the way we should pronounce it. Thank you for that.

These lenses are definitely the most impressive from DZOFilm yet. Before I trade up my Vespids I'll wait and see if /i Technology will come to the lenses in the next year or two. After all the Vespids still serve me well at this time. But the Arles are definitely a great improvement.

I will be especially interested to see the Arles Primes paired with the URSA Cine 12K.

Lovely review and especially like the minimal use of the walking follow shot of your subject. The shots of the artist working on a sketch were so well executed to illustrate the characteristics of the lenses such as the shallow depth of field full frame which clearly become a great strength of the lenses rather than an obstacle to documentary shooting. Carefully executed and not cinema verité will make for an immersive shoot.

Again the lack of flares shooting toward bright light can be a benefit to your subject, but if it’s a limitation in a desired shot, adding flare with an appropriate filter may be all that’s required. Compared to my Tokina that strongly flares, I’d rather have a clean image to start and then let me control the final image look.

Now with 16 iris blades, I would have liked to have seen the bokeh in front of and behind the subject including lights as I imagine that would be creamy, but better to see it illustrated in such an engaging review.

The size, balance, and weight of the Arles may be better suited for the Pyxis; as for walking all day with these large lenses, it would be better to have better rigging and camera support (at the cost of no longer being able to pretend you’re just an amateur couple out to snap some vacation pics while eating French pastries).

Given the price compared to a comparable set of Tokina Vista primes, these lenses will do well aided by those who appreciate your review.

rick.lang wrote:Lovely review and especially like the minimal use of the walking follow shot of your subject. The shots of the artist working on a sketch were so well executed to illustrate the characteristics of the lenses such as the shallow depth of field full frame which clearly become a great strength of the lenses rather than an obstacle to documentary shooting. Carefully executed and not cinema verité will make for an immersive shoot.

Again the lack of flares shooting toward bright light can be a benefit to your subject, but if it’s a limitation in a desired shot, adding flare with an appropriate filter may be all that’s required. Compared to my Tokina that strongly flares, I’d rather have a clean image to start and then let me control the final image look.

Now with 16 iris blades, I would have liked to have seen the bokeh in front of and behind the subject including lights as I imagine that would be creamy, but better to see it illustrated in such an engaging review.

The size, balance, and weight of the Arles may be better suited for the Pyxis; as for walking all day with these large lenses, it would be better to have better rigging and camera support (at the cost of no longer being able to pretend you’re just an amateur couple out to snap some vacation pics while eating French pastries).

Given the price compared to a comparable set of Tokina Vista primes, these lenses will do well aided by those who appreciate your review.

Thanks for the positive and detailed feedback Rick!
I would also rather have a clean image to start, unless the project/look required strong flares.

I did try to get some bokeh with lights but shooting in summer in France means I had to wait a long time haha and we had specific locations and shots to get so I wasn't able to shoot more that was intended.

I definitely also think that the Pyxis would be better suited for theses lenses, the Vespids would be my choice for handheld work. I wasn't able to use my Easryrig or any other means of support aside from the Ronin since I was in the middle of a city on my own with already a lot of eyes on me haha!

Tokina Cinema Vista T1.5 Primes are on sale in various bundles, but even with. 30% discount, they’re hardly inexpensive, $27,296 reduced from $38,994 for the most popular configuration of 5 lenses:

https://www.tokinacinemausa.com/product ... 5-lens-kit

Seeing details on these Tokina compared to the Arles would be interesting in a future review. Just speculation on my part, but I imagine the Tokina would be a good match for the URSA Cine 12K.

rick.lang wrote:

Tokina Cinema Vista T1.5 Primes are on sale in various bundles, but even with. 30% discount, they’re hardly inexpensive, $27,296 reduced from $38,994 for the most popular configuration of 5 lenses:

https://www.tokinacinemausa.com/product ... 5-lens-kit

Seeing details on these Tokina compared to the Arles would be interesting in a future review. Just speculation on my part, but I imagine the Tokina would be a good match for the URSA Cine 12K.

Actually I think that's a 6 lens kit, making that a really great price for some classically nice glass.

Agree, the link says 5 but it points to the webpage with 6 lenses.

DZOFilm Arles FF/VV Prime Review (Matthew Allard ACS, Newshooter)

"The CA is reasonably well controlled and the lenses are capable of producing very nice round bokeh because of that 16-blade iris and fast aperture. I personally felt that the fall-off was a little harsh and perhaps the bokeh wasn’t as soft as I would like, but these are aesthetic opinions.

Unlike the competing NiSi lenses, you don’t have any issues with the rear mounts extending.

The Arles primes are optically very good and they are solidly made and feature good mechanics and reasonably good consistency across the focal lengths. If you are looking for an affordable set of full-frame cine primes then they are currently the lenses to beat. At least in my opinion, if you are looking at full-frame cine primes that are under $2,200 USD each, nothing else currently comes close to the DZOFilm Arles."

https://www.newsshooter.com/2024/08/04/ ... me-review/

Thanks for the link. Would be interesting to see how these new Arles lenses perform against the ‘old’ SLR Magic APO lenses some of us have that were in the same ballpark for cost roughly 8 years ago.

Zeiss ZE2 Classic, DZO Vespid & Arles Cinema Prime Lenses Comparison (Danton Wieneke, DP)

DZOFilm Arles - The New Super Lens? (Northwest Camera Co.)

"In this video we go over the new DZOfilm Arles primes with footage and studio testing and compare them to the Sigma Cine Primes and Tokina Vistas."

I have the 25mm for my Ursa 12k. Beautiful image as stated by everyone who has reviewed them... Very heavy, about 3.5 lbs.

The guys at Northwest Camera Co. announce the V35 Takumarles lenses:



Pretty niche, but cool to see people doing stuff like this.

Chris Leutger wrote:The guys at Northwest Camera Co. announce the V35 Takumarles lenses:

Pretty niche, but cool to see people doing stuff like this.

After watching the new "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" with the Tribe7 Blackwing7, Russian lenses, and Petzval lenses blasting all kinds of artifacts and funky distortions all over the place with psychedelic purple and oversaturated colors mixed with chromatic aberration-heavy VFX, I'm kind of out of the "tuned" lenses trend.

I'm sure some people will love the Takumarles and some effects shots could definitely use them but for now I'm looking pretty hard at the nice and clean Arles lenses as they are. It would be nice to have some sort of metadata features but then how long will that take to include when these are just coming out?

BabsDoProd wrote:

Chris Leutger wrote:The guys at Northwest Camera Co. announce the V35 Takumarles lenses:

Pretty niche, but cool to see people doing stuff like this.

After watching the new "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" with the Tribe7 Blackwing7, Russian lenses, and Petzval lenses blasting all kinds of artifacts and funky distortions all over the place with psychedelic purple and oversaturated colors mixed with chromatic aberration-heavy VFX, I'm kind of out of the "tuned" lenses trend.

I'm sure some people will love the Takumarles and some effects shots could definitely use them but for now I'm looking pretty hard at the nice and clean Arles lenses as they are. It would be nice to have some sort of metadata features but then how long will that take to include when these are just coming out?

I have been speaking with my contact at DZOFilm about lens metadata for about two years plus. They are working on integrating it. Part of this is working with Cooke for integration of /i Technology.

I’d suspect their main focus has truly been getting out the release of each of the various lenses. Adding lens metadata is the next step, but it will increase the cost of each lens. Good example of cost difference would be the Vespid vs Vespid Cyber.

Thus my math says that for a six lens set of Arles /i Technology Lenses it would increase the overall price to $21,000. Thus each lens would now cost $3,500.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

BabsDoProd wrote:
After watching the new "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" with the Tribe7 Blackwing7, Russian lenses, and Petzval lenses blasting all kinds of artifacts and funky distortions all over the place with psychedelic purple and oversaturated colors mixed with chromatic aberration-heavy VFX, I'm kind of out of the "tuned" lenses trend.

I'm sure some people will love the Takumarles and some effects shots could definitely use them but for now I'm looking pretty hard at the nice and clean Arles lenses as they are. It would be nice to have some sort of metadata features but then how long will that take to include when these are just coming out?

I thought the Arles were nice lenses with gorgeous bokeh that seemed to have a little something special without having lots of "character" or channeling "vintage." I thought they were clean in a way that doesn't look clinical like some others. Not sure why you would mess with that, but hat's off to those who just want to mess with things. I'll rent when they become available to do so.

The DZOfilm Arles B set Primes are too good to be true (Cine Dailies)

"One of the many underlining skill sets of a cinematographer is to understand the look and character of lenses. That means I study and test a lot of lenses. I’ve used high-end lenses like EZ-1, cookes, tokinas, and zeiss. down to premium budget options like my Nisi Anthena’s and Vespids. But with the new Arles Primes, DZOfilm is pushing limits with little compromise. In the video, I will share my experience using the DZOfilm Arles Primes B set!"

I got the Arles 35mm T1.4 and liked it so much that I got the Arles 180mm T2.4.
Please enjoy samples from the 180mm shot on a URSA Mini Pro 12K at 4K super16 240fps.
Note: for playback:
clips 1,3 & 6 are the full 1/10 speed
clip 2 is real time speed
clips 4 & 5 are 4/10 speed
also clip 4 uses 2x superscale
(originals better than YouTube, but still can get the feel of this lens)

Jeffrey D Mathias wrote:I got the Arles 35mm T1.4 and liked it so much that I got the Arles 180mm T2.4.
Please enjoy samples from the 180mm shot on a URSA Mini Pro 12K at 4K super16 240fps.
Note: for playback:
clips 1,3 & 6 are the full 1/10 speed
clip 2 is real time speed
clips 4 & 5 are 4/10 speed
also clip 4 uses 2x superscale
(originals better than YouTube, but still can get the feel of this lens)

Nat Geo.

Looks great! I was thinking about the 14mm for my U12K. It would be about a 19-20mm equivalent, I have the 25mm and it's about a 35mm equivalent. Love it, just want to be a bit wider at times. The 21mm is too close to the 25mm imo. If I had the money I'd just get them all

Looks beautiful, Jeffrey.