Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => The Coffee Corner => Topic started by: PeterAit on November 05, 2020, 08:52:33 am

Title: Some perspective on lens prices
Post by: PeterAit on November 05, 2020, 08:52:33 am

I am currently pondering whether spend $2,400 on a new lens. Seeing this listing gave me some perspective!

Title: Re: Some perspective on lens prices
Post by: Peter McLennan on November 05, 2020, 10:23:01 am

In my days on set, I recall lens boxes containing a half dozen or so such items. Quite sobering.

Title: Re: Some perspective on lens prices
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on November 05, 2020, 01:41:51 pm

I don't know how accurate the information is, but I found this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkTaMyatsTo) very interesting. I first saw it last year some time, perhaps directed to it by a post here.

Jeremy

Title: Re: Some perspective on lens prices
Post by: RSL on November 05, 2020, 02:49:20 pm

Yeah. I see people on the street with that camera slung over their shoulders all the time.

Title: Re: Some perspective on lens prices
Post by: BobShaw on November 05, 2020, 03:56:05 pm

If you are not spending it on travel at the moment you may as well spend it on a lens. A TV broadcast lens can be $150,000 (posted here somewhere).

Title: Re: Some perspective on lens prices
Post by: JoeKitchen on November 05, 2020, 04:14:42 pm

That beast is a t/2.8 and probably have zero distortion throughout the entire zoom along with fluid aperture, zoom and focus.  That cost is well worth it for a big time production, especially  if you are using it on the Alexa. 

Anyway, to get the best out of that lens on set, you would need four camera operators working in tandem with each other.  This would be a pretty expensive team considering how fluid they would need to work together and could easily cost you more then that after just a week of shooting. 

Title: Re: Some perspective on lens prices
Post by: Peter McLennan on November 05, 2020, 06:12:45 pm

Quote from: BobShaw on November 05, 2020, 03:56:05 pm

A TV broadcast lens can be $150,000 (posted here somewhere).

I think that was me.  A Canon DigiSuper can easily top a hundred grand. If you ever go to NAB, you can try one out, a sobering experience. That's the lens that gives you a head and shoulders of the batter with ump and the catcher in the BG. Yes. From straightaway center field. 400 feet away. It's about a foot square and three feet long and can't really be picked up by one person, so it's not much of a theft risk.

https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/products/details/lenses/broadcast/hdtv-field-box-lenses/digisuper-100

On the other hand, I've carried four lenses like the one shown in the OP (about two hundred grand worth) aboard an airliner as cabin baggage.  Also quite a sobering experience.

Not sure why that short zoom would take "four camera operators working in tandem with each other", though.

Title: Re: Some perspective on lens prices
Post by: John Camp on November 07, 2020, 06:57:17 pm

If I had the lens pictured in the OP, I bet I could take some really great pictures.