The ARMY OF THE DEAD are eating this $5800 (or more) 35/1.5 Canon RF lens ALIVE!

[Archiver]

A good question. The cine conversion includes an elaborate housing with an M-mount. Could be the original lens is just sitting inside the housing and can be detached as original. Damned if I know

Generally, a cine conversion for a lens used on a big project like Army of the Dead is an irreversible rehousing. The original housing is disassembled and discarded, the lens elements are cleaned and separated, then put into completely new custom housing.

Other cine conversions are less invasive and include a new lens mount, like for Canon EF, the addition of geared rings to be used with follow-focus motors, and step up rings to make all the lenses fit a standard filter size. But what Zero Optik did for Snyder was a complete rehousing.

 

[rfaspen]

Nothing to mourn. Many of these lenses languished for decades and are now being put to use for everyone to see. It beats having them sit forgotten in someone's cupboard, glass being slowly eaten away by fungus.

While this may be true, I just wish folks had opened their cupboards for me before said lenses got so dang trendy. I am way out of touch with the hip and recent trends in every other aspect of living.... but I have been picking up interesting little lenses (that means RF lenses) whenever an interesting affordable gem pops up for years now. I inadvertently started doing this even during my early SLR days (full disclosure: a wonderful mentor gave me some RF lenses).

At this point in time, I will not likely acquire a Canon 35/1.5 unless some rather unusual circumstances bring one near me at an affordable level. My lament is that this is much more unlikely in our current "climate". So... my half-hearted dig at raid....I hope everyone knows I cherish raid here.

 

[MikeL]

I had a clean one that was hard on the eyes wide open, and flared a lot. Hard pass at $500, much less $5000. Crazy times!

 

[davhill]

... But what Zero Optik did for Snyder was a complete rehousing.

in that case, the seller is falsely advertising the item. Perhaps inadvertently but he says ‘this lens was used’ to film the movie, not ‘this type of lens’. There’s no way its bidding that high except some idiots think they’re getting the movie lens itself.

 

[jsrockit]

I think that the seller meant "this type of lens was used"
This lens combined with the Dream lens (50/0.95) were used to film the entire movie "Army of the dead"

I think so too, but wow, those bids are super high. Someone is going to be disappointed either because this lens does not give them the look they think it will or they really think it is THE lens that was used in the movie.

 

[ptpdprinter]

I think it is likely that not that many people were interested in this lens, so not that many people bought it when the price was low, which when you think about it sort of make sense - low interest equals low price. Now that the lens has become a cause célèbre because the bokeh in a zombie movie is creamy, the price has gone up, and people are regretting not buying it when they weren't interested in it. The moral of the story is buy lenses you aren't interested in. You never know when someone will make a zombie movie using one, and you can make a lot of money selling it, because you are not really interested in it anyway. Obviously.

 

[raid]

link with images: https://raid.smugmug.com/Canon-35mm-15-Leica-M9/
This is my Canon 35/1.5 ltm:

 

[Larry Cloetta]

I didn’t care about the lens used, but thought the movie was a bit of a slog. For those lurking here, intimidated into silence by anti-zombie-movie bigots, “Train to Busan” was much better, in the context of zombie movies. No movies are Shakespeare. Well, maybe the last version of “King Lear” with Anthony Hopkins was Shakespeare. But, for people capable of surrendering themselves to any movie in any genre of movie which has some qualities to it, “Train to Busan” was pretty good. A heck of a lot better than “Dune” turned out to be. And “Warm Bodies” is downright charming for a zombie movie, just charming, period.
Excuse the digression from middling lenses, my coffee titer must be off.

 

[ptpdprinter]

I didn’t care about the lens used, but thought the movie was a bit of a slog. For those lurking here, intimidated into silence by anti-zombie-movie bigots, “Train to Busan” was much better, in the context of zombie movies. No movies are Shakespeare. Well, maybe the last version of “King Lear” with Anthony Hopkins was Shakespeare. But, for people capable of surrendering themselves to any movie in any genre of movie which has some qualities to it, “Train to Busan” was pretty good. A heck of a lot better than “Dune” turned out to be. And “Warm Bodies” is downright charming for a zombie movie, just charming, period.
Excuse the digression from middling lenses, my coffee titer must be off.

I sort of feel intimidated into silence by anti-Dune movie bigots. But I bucked up, overcame the intimidation, and now have spoken out. I'll let you know how I like Dune if I ever get around to watching it. The book was not exactly a page-turner, and I am a pretty big fan of science fiction. Anybody know what lens was used to film it?

 

[das]

Canon EF modding by the normal players is still pretty destructive. With at least Contax, you have to remove the aperture arm and other parts, rendering MM lenses unable to perform autoexposure with 35mm cameras. While cinematographers try to make themselves feel better by saying that are not permanently taking a film camera lens out of circulation for its intended purpose, they definitely are. No one is going to take the time and effort to "undo" those mods to bring the lens back to 35mm film camera spec. I wish someone would just invent a digital filter to simulate whatever effect these folks are going for.

The Canon 35mm f/1.5 makes no sense to me. I've never owned one, but it never struck me as a "great" lens, just a speed king for the time. I would like to see how the W-Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 would work in cinema. That lens actually is actually really nice at f/2-2.8 with incredible distortion control, although the old coatings weigh it down somewhat.

 

[valdas]

I sort of feel intimidated into silence by anti-Dune movie bigots. But I bucked up, overcame the intimidation, and now have spoken out. I'll let you know how I like Dune if I ever get around to watching it. The book was not exactly a page-turner, and I am a pretty big fan of science fiction. Anybody know what lens was used to film it?

I will never be intimidated by that kind of thing. I can oversimplify by telling that tastes differ - some might argue that there are some universal rules of aesthetic, regardless of the taste - but I once compared movie reviews by Leonard Maltin and Roger Ebert. Some very well known movies were rated so differently.

 

[Larry Cloetta]

I sort of feel intimidated into silence by anti-Dune movie bigots. But I bucked up, overcame the intimidation, and now have spoken out. I'll let you know how I like Dune if I ever get around to watching it. The book was not exactly a page-turner, and I am a pretty big fan of science fiction. Anybody know what lens was used to film it?

LOL (10 characters)

 

[Pablito]

Truer words were never spoken. And this applies to so much more than bad zombie movies!

There is no such thing as a bad zombie movie.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

The Wollensak 35/2 would be the one to go for in a film. Just about covers 35mm full-frame, would be fine for most cine cameras.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I have some 120 lenses in RF coupled Leica mount. At least as many in other mounts.

It would be fun being a "Lens Caddy" for a film. "I think this shot calls for an uncoated 5cm F1.5 Sonnar"...

 

[xayraa33]

I think it is likely that not that many people were interested in this lens, so not that many people bought it when it was affordable, which when you think about it sort of make sense - low interest=low price. Now that the lens has become a cause célèbre because the bokeh in a zombie movie is creamy, the price has gone up, and people are regretting not buying it when they weren't interested in it. The moral of the story is buy lenses you aren't interested in. You never know when someone will make a zombie movie using one, and you can make a lot of money selling it, because your are not really interested it anyway. Obviously.

They were never that common as a lens...all the Camera shows I went to I only seen two at the same time from the same seller and I bought one. Plenty of sellers every year had the exotic Canon 50mm f.95 speed lens..in the Canon mounts and TV versions converted to M mount and these always got lots of attention and sales ...so did the more common and often foggy Canon f 1.2 lens in LTM. The Canon 35mm f 1.5 from the 1950s to the 2000s had a reputation as a soft lens at full bore and people overlooked it... Many lenses had some bad rap thru the ages and now are quaint and have interesting bokeh and now sought after which = big bucks. I remember 17 dollar Summars and 15 dollar Meyer Primoplans and the latest darling, 5 dollar Helios 44-2 lenses.

 

[Mackinaw]

It just dawned on me that I can mount my Canon 50/0.95 onto my Leica M240, and shoot my own zombie movie wide-open at F0.95. Now I just need to find some zombies.

Jim B.

 

[ptpdprinter]

I remember 17 dollar Summars and 15 dollar Meyer Primoplans and the latest darling, 5 dollar Helios 44-2 lenses.

I remember when gas was 21 cents a gallon at the Esso station. And they gave you a plush tiger’s tail with an elastic so you could attach it to your gas cap and everyone would know you had a tiger in your tank.

 

[xayraa33]

Cheapest gas here in Canada back then was 29 cents an imperial gallon...not much cheaper than today if you use the inflation calculator and the common cars with V8 and 6 cylinder engines of the 1950s and 1960s never got better than 15 miles per gallon, many cars today can achieve 32 mpg.

 

[ptpdprinter]

Just so you guys don't think I'm crazy or anything:



I bet one of those tiger tails would be worth about $5000 too if they featured it in a zombie movie, so don't limit yourselves to buying only lenses you aren't interested in. Buy all kind of stuff. When you die, you can leave it to your kids, and they can go on Antiques Roadshow and be surprised.