I have plenty of lenses, some stills, some cine and some legacy, but there is still a desire (need?, maybe not) for one lens to be “the” lens in my kit.
The 45mm IRIX wuld make some sense to match my 150, a Nisi Athena even, but both are close to $2000au at the moment (my 150 was picked up on clearance for half that).
I have for MFT the Hope 25/50 pair, a supporting 12mm Vision, matching pair of Sirui 24 anamorphic, plenty of M43 glass (9, 8-18, 12-40 are stars) and the odd legacy option.
The Hope lenses are strong in most areas.
In full frame there are the two Spectrum primes (35/50), a trio of S-Primes and a kit zoom covering 20-85 and the excellent 28-70 Sigma. I also have the IRIX 150 macro, an impulse sale buy that does double duty in my video and stills kits.
How do I add something to this that will be of value, cover several roles and keep the other lenses valid?
The Vespid 40mm could be effectively eight lenses in my kit ranging from the perfect “one” lens to several portrait lens lengths. Why not change camera instead of lens, even change brand in future?
Let me elucidate.
Being a PL/EF mount lens, I can buy two adapters (MFT and L-mount to PL or EF), for a total of four focal lengths (40/60/70/80) depending on the camera used. The lens also has two personalities, something the clean new Vespid 2’s, IRIX and Nisi Athenas do not.
The Vespids are smooth-soft wide open, character filled and gentle. This has often been the thing that swung reviewers and buyers towards them. Luc Forsyth for example in a blind test comparing Cooke, Nisi, Vespid and Sigma primes kept picking them as the Cooke 4’s.
The other personality is a clinically sharp lens from T4-5.6 on, much like the competiton. The sweet spot is possibly T4, even balance of both personalities.
So, eight lenses in one?
Currently, they sit in a reasonable price at about $1290au (+ $300 for a Nisi adapter and I do have a cheap EF/MFT adapter already). My fear is, they will run out with the Mk2 available and I will miss out on one.
The other option is the 50mm Sirui anamorphic, which would add to both my L-mount (APS-c) range and my anamorphic coverage. This tempts me and is less than a third the price (no adapters needed).
Ok, taking stock.
The Spectrum 50mm is a favourite. I like how it handles, the rendering, it is perfectly sharp for stills, so plenty for video, it is a tight mount fit and I got it very “right” at $220au in the sales a couple of years ago.
Rich, contrasty, sharp (but I did miss focus using only the camera screen). What more do I actually need?
Nice rendering, smooth and pleasant as I have come to expect.
Character, which many fall back on with these as an excuse for them not being technically perfect.
Good detail and the rendering/Bokeh hides the transition from sharp to soft quite effortlessly, ideal for a video lens.
Try as I might, I could not get it to flare obviously.
Just a really pleasant lens to use. The lens tames contrast, a very cine lens thing to do and it results in well controlled photos.
Ok, so I have a decent 50mm for full frame video, the IRIX 150 needs no consideration and the S-Primes are excellent and consistent.
A screen grab of some V-Log video. Nice rendering.
The 7Art 35mm Spectrum is an issue however. It is a lot warmer than the 50, a little loose on the mount and a little tight to focus, so not as pleasant to use, but fine on a rig I guess. It is a stretch to say the pair make a pair in real terms.
I would love the Vespid but feel it may unbalance my kit. I also feel drawn to the much cheaper anamorphic to deepen that offer, but overall, do I actually need anything at all?
Balance is the key.
My quality peak is B-Raw via a mirrorless Panasonic (several on hand). This is realistically too much for most clients who would not be able to tell the difference between raw and a standard profile. I am happy that these cameras offer much the same quality as their Black Magic equivalents, which is to say base level pro quality.
My lenses are either sharp and contrasty stills lenses, the Olympus and Pana S-primes are well suited to video, or budget cinema glass, all carefully chosen for their quality more than their price.
I could make an indie movie I guess, but for commercial clients I usually take the road of least resistance (S-Primes/MFT stills glass), the cine lenses are for the most part just for me, which brings us to the question “do I want another cine lens enough to over ride a need, which is hard to justify”?