price of RED lenses

I just read through this thread http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1000&message=22894806
about the 4K digital camera system made by RED.

I was stunned to see the price of their zoom lenses
http://www.red.com/store/show_by_tags/PL+MOUNT+LENSES

The 18-50 f/2.8 costs $6500 !!!

Does anyone here know more about the special requirements for film lenses ? Why are the zooms so expensive ?

The 300mm f2.8 is not out of the ordinary at 4950$ - after all Canon's EF 300 f/2.8 L IS USM sells for about 3900$...

While we are on the subject - 18-50mm sounds like a very familiar focal length to anyone with a dSLR and a 1.5x/1.6x "crop" sensor. Is the RED sensor the same size by any chance ?

Cheers

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While I'm not a complete expert on the red pricing model, I can tell you this.

Cine lenses in general, and zooms in particular are much more expensive than their still counterparts for a few, and probably more reasons. But the few I know are 1...a cine lens typically will not "breathe"...ie the image size doesn't change during focus shifts like a still lens does. 2. a cine lens zoom zoom mechanism is typically motorized, which no SLR lens is (not sure if the red is) 3. The number of lenses sold in this market is substantially less, although to hear Jim Jannard talk, he'll be quite disappointed if they don't sell a ton of them. 4. Go back to the beginning of this paragraph and read the first sentence again, and then note that for this market the Red lenses are pretty reasonable, certainly not anywhere near the most expensive for this type of camera. And FYI, Red will be producing an adapter so you can use any Eos lens on the camera.

There's a pretty decent discussion board at dvinfo.net -- if you want more detailed info.

. . . is the size of theater "super 35mm" film, so like an APS area, with a 16x9 aspect ratio AFAIK.

The cost of a lens is proportional to the cost of designing and making that lens adjusted for sale of demand. I would imagine the ludicrous price for a middling zoom is there because most people will not be really interested in that lens . . . if I had oodle sof cash lying around and wanted a RED the first thing I would get is the RED Prime set, which includes 5 f/1.9 primes covering 15-25-35-50-85mm focal lengths for about $20,000. This would make a much more versatile kit for filming assuming you had two to three RED bodies.

The whole thing is expensive but it should sell very well. Also of note, the whole thing is chump change compared to other HD rigs. And at the same time it will offer more DOF flexibility, in fact equal to "super" 35mm. So it automatically has that going for it.

I wonder how the quality stacks up to the smaller 2/3 sensors of the "pro" HD cameras?

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Comments are always welcome.

Zach Bellino

'Nothing, like something, happens anywhere.”
-- from 'I Remember, I Remember'
Philip Larkin (1922-1985)

Barry Goyette said:

Cine lenses in general, and zooms in particular are much more
expensive than their still counterparts for a few, and probably
more reasons.

Click to expand...

[Good reasons snipped]

Another factor is the lens mount design. Even though the Super 35 frame is slightly smaller than a typical APS-C sensor and quite a bit smaller than 35FF, the PL mount has a longer backfocus than standard 35mm SLRs. I think that the longer backfocus is required because of the complicated reflex mirror setup in cine cameras (obviously not needed in the EVF RED, but still there for mount compatibility) but it complicates wide angle lens design.
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As with all creative work, the craft must be adequate for the demands of expression. I am disturbed when I find craft relegated to inferior consideration; I believe that the euphoric involvement with subject or self is not sufficient to justify the making and display of photographic images. --Ansel Adams

Also keep in mind that the pricing of the RED lenses is WAY cheaper than other alternatives. The Cooke 15-40mm T2 zoom, for example, is $45k here in the United States.

$25,000 + is usual pricing for 2/3 inch Bmount lenses, so this red lens is consumerish in pricing. I'm on the cusp of spending $37,000 for my next lens.

Thanks for all the comments about cine lenses.

I forgot about the obvious need for computerized motorized zoom control - something you don't think about when talking about lenses for stills cameras.

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http://www.fredwobus.com