NAB 2009 seemed to be hot with 2 main things. 1- PL lenses. 2- 3D everything.

As far as lenses go I was very impressed.

PRIMES

Red’s new primes WOW! Okay these things are SHARP! These could very well be the sharpest cine lenses available. Also the RPP have very nicely built housings and from what I found the overall mechanics were

solid and well built. The coatings looked good and it was very hard to flare them. At T-1.8 they are fast enough for most any shoot. To be picky the issues I found with the RPP were that the focus was a little stiff and could use a lighter grease (In cold weather lenses get stiffer and the current RPP’s I played with would cause problems for remote follow focus motors when it gets cold), T-stop was light and would be better if it was stiffer (After you set the stop you don’t want it to change from being bumped and I found it to spin a little to freely for my liking), the lenses themselves were a little bit heavy (Although not really any different then Master or Ultra primes so they are in really good company), on the projector I could see that the 25mm rounded (fish eyed) a tiny little amount (not anything of consequence but more then MP’s or S4’s hopefully the RPP 18mm does not round more), an 18mm lens is needed ASAP,  it would me nice if both feet/meter markings were put on the RPP lenses like other high end lenses rather then having to choose one or the other. All this said the RPP look very promising and may just be the set that puts Red up in the same echelon with other highly priced/respected lens companies. After looking closely at the lens coatings I wonder if Jim has built a cozy relationship with Nikon (for our sakes lets hope that is the case). The 5 lens set (25mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 100mm) sells for$19,000 US.

 

 

The UniqueOptics primes look like another big winner. Very well built housings and mechanics. The coatings looked good and were very hard to flare. At T-1.9 they are fast enough for most any shoot. A proto 18mm was shown and is a must for a prime lens set. No projector was available to check them on. Overall these look like they may be very good. The 5 lens set (25mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 100mm) sells for $24,000 US.

 

IlluminaS35 primes. I have heard these lenses use the same glass as Zeiss so there is a big fat plus right off the bat. At T-1.3 they are the fastest of the new glass being offered. They looked quite sharp on the projector, especially considering that they mentioned there are a lot of changes still to come to the prototypes we looked at. The 5 lens set (18mm, 25mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm) sells for $32,500US.

 

Rebelprimes. These primes were almost alien to me. The glass and mechanics seemed good. I was unable to see them on a camera but they seemed… interesting. They may be very good I just refuse to pass any judgment until I have the chance totest them properly. These lenses however have a very “outside the box” engineered design/mechanics which could possibly be very good, I question what maintenance cost and durability would be like though. T 1.9

 

ZeissCompact primes. Zeiss glass is always nice. This one is simple for me to make a call on though. They are to slow and face to many issues for the price. There are many better options available for the same or less money.

 

 

ZOOMS

 

Fujinon18-85 T2. Okay this sucka is fast for a zoom. It looks good mechanically and image wise. At $82,500 US this thing better be unbelievable. At that price they are taking on Angenieux and Cooke and although Fujinon puts out some of the best video lenses on the market I am a little unsure if they are at the same level as the big cine zoom companies.

 

 

FocusOptics Ruby. This lens is very well done and uses great 14-24 optics from Nikon. It is light and sharp throughout with pretty much no distortion on the edges even at the wide end.

 

Uhry/DuclosTokina 11-16 T2.8 . For a wide PL lens option this is by far the best value out there by a long, long way. I checked it out and the mechanics are smooth and everything works well. At under $3,000 US this one is a no brainer. I just question how easy it will be to color match with other lenses.