SLR MAGIC APO HyperPrime / Microprime CINE

Balkan

Hi !

First message here and a happy owner of a Edge (in France😉

I’m still searching some cine lenses for my mavo Edge.

Any toughs about the slr magic Apo hyperprimes? Do you have any experience with those lenses?

It’s a little bit confusing, for the microprimes, they are saying here that it will cover full frame 46mm image circle

http://www.slrmagic.info/product/APO+MicroPrime+CINE+APO25EF

and here (slrmagin site also) they talk about 43.27mm image circle , who is gonna vignet right on the Edge?

https://www.slrmagic.com/apomicroprime

Have you used any SLR Micro ou HyperPrimes? I like what I saw here and there, and also aimost no

breathing..

Thks!

cheers

Balkan

Jerome

hey Balkan. Welcome on our forum!
Here is a small review with the mini primes stacked up againast cooke s4 mini
https://www.eoshd.com/news/slr-magic-vs-cooke/

the mini primes are not the sharpest and need to be stopped down to t4.0 to sharpen up, however they have quite some nice character.
Image circle is always kind of subjective, and the longer the focal length in this series the bigger the image circle. For de widest one you might see a bit of fal off in illumination to the borders, but it will cover.

Balkan

Thks Jerome for the link !

I really like what I saw here and there, but there is not huge amont of recent reviews on them..

I just saw a B&H comment from 2020 for the 32mm, 😅 wonder how it’s possible..^^

As soon as I attached this lens to a lens motor I realised this lens is a huge mistake. Focusing this lens makes the elements inside shift so that you get small creeping tilts and pans in the frame. Especially when you want to make very small focus adjustments. So yeah, the lens looks great but it’s completely unusable in any filming situation. I sent it to the manufacturer (cause B&H does not take responsibility after 2 weeks the sale is made) and they even sent me a video where the lens is working?! So they don’t acknowledge the problem at all. I have tested with several camera bodies and with a professional lens technician in a projection room and this lens has faulty mechanics. I would sell this piece of junk but obviously it has no value to anyone.

Jerome

Balkan Hey Balkan, Yes this is true, optically they are quite nice, but the reason they are so affordable is due to a chea helicoid mechanism, which has aplay and backlash. Which means that when youbchange focus, the eement can wobble, thus tilt or pan. This is obviously not a big issue, if you expect this, and know what your buying, but if you expect a performance of a cooke, or arri ultraprime, then better dont buy these lenses. they are basically just stills lenses in terms of focus mechanisms.

Balkan

What a pitty, they were perfect for my budget, nice image, no breathing, Apo, but there is always something in that price of range 😅

unfortunately I don’t have the budget for full frame ultraprimes or Cook, and also the environment who goes with it (big and heavy lenses etc..)

I’ll continue to explore 😆

thks

Jerome

Balkan Hey Balkan, it’s actually not so bad as you think, if your used to photoglass, its all fine. Just try to find a test to test, at a rental house or something or a dealer, and try them out. YOu might be suprrsed they are good lenses.

colin

Jerome, have you ever tried to use these APO Microprime lenses as taking lenses for the Aivascope?

trouterspace

I have the SLR Magic APO Hyperprimes and yes the 50 and 85 do work with the Aivascope. I have used them with my s35 Mavo and there is some slight vignetting with 50mm and KineEnhancer but none at s35, the 85mm does not seem to vignette boosted. The 25mm is a no go obviously, and I don’t own the 32mm, but I’d venture to guess it’s also a no go.

As far as elements wobbling, I can’t say that I have really noticed that, I will take a critical look. Not sure if that goes for all the lenses or just certain examples? Personally, what drew me to these lenses initially was the chromatic aberration performance. There is essentially none. They are definitely soft wide open, but sharpen up significantly at 2.8.

They also do some pretty interesting rainbow flaring wide open, but again that goes away at T2.8.

Test with 50mm and KineEnhancer

Test with 85mm and KineEnhancer

50mm at s35

trouterspace

In retrospect, just the first shot in the video with the baby is with the KineEnhancer.

Balkan

No problem🙂
I’m also looking those Nitecore lenses again 😅 .. or the APO Microprimes APO .. same lenses they say but 150degre focus rotation

trouterspace nice footage !

colin

Very interesting and very helpful. Thanks for the posts @trouterspace. The footage looks great. And I agree about the SLR Magic lenses… I think they give a very nice look. I see that you’re in NYC, like me 🙂

It looks like you’re using a Mavo S35 with the full 16mm sensor height. I am actually using a Canon C300III which has only 13.8mm sensor height. I’m mostly curious if the 32mm SLR Magic APO Microprime might be paired with a Aivascope and clear the full sensor on the Canon C300III. I guess I’ll have to rent and test.

trouterspace

Hmm, i suppose it’s within the realm of possibility seeing as your sensor is a little less tall. My only concern is that because the front element is set back from the filter ring, you might have a harder time getting coverage compared to a shorter lens or a pancake. The 25mm SLR Magic Hyperprime does not get close, it’s like looking through a toilet paper roll. I say give it a go, if it’s not gonna cost you a lot, and let us know the results. I’m located Upstate NY

Adam

Jerome

trouterspace @ @colin thanc for the great discussion. One sidenote, to avoid misunderstandings from the side of the one who started the conversation @Balkan ;

He was simply opting for some information on the slr magic lens lines, but he’s not planning to use it together with a Aivascope, however still a very fruitful conversation 🙂

gr
Jerome

JIEYIWANG

Balkan hey it’s an old thread but still want to ask you did you have the chance to test the APO microprimes in the end?

trouterspace

Yeah that’s my bad, I didn’t realize there were two people asking two different questions. I haven’t had element wobble issues with the hyperprimes, and again i just love that there is virtually zero chromatic aberration, and they sharpen up substantially at 2.8. I also have some of the Irix Cine lenses, and I have to say they’re actually a really nice lens for that price point. I hadn’t heard of the Nitecore lenses. Is it just me, or do they look exactly like rebranded Mavo primes? I’ve heard a lot of good things about those lenses too. I bet Jerome could speak to that.