Photo By: Ben Horton Lou Lesko over at Photo Cine News is reporting a great lens comparison from National Geographic photographer Ben Horton. The comparison is based soley on stills, however it does translate to the video side of these cameras. Here is what he had to say on the topic of Canon Vs. Zeiss in a nutshell. Click here to read the full article. “The real problem with the 5D Mark II isn’t the camera. It’s that the 22 megapixel sensor can capture more detail than the Canon L lenses can give it. These problems never showed up when the sensors were smaller. Until a few days ago, the 22 megapixel sensor was a useless product of the megapixel race that has forced me to buy new cameras every few years just to keep up. Using standard Canon glass, any sensor larger 16 megapixels is a waste. While trying to find a way to take advantage of the 22 megapixel sensor, I tried mounting a medium format lens on my camera that can pass more detail. Even though it worked, the easiest way to take advantage of these lenses is to permanently change the lens mount on the body of the camera rendering my Canon lenses useless.   I found a potential solution to this problem while talking to the sales rep for Carl Zeiss lenses at the PhotoCine News Expo. Just a few weeks later, I have three Carl Zeiss fixed focal length lenses in my hands, a Distagon T* 3,5/18 , a Distagon T* 2/35 and a Planar T* 1,4/85 . Even before the lenses arrived I knew exactly what the foremost arguments against them were going to be. They are manual focus, and they don’t zoom. I decided before I went about comparing the actual quality of the glass I’d get out and shoot with them for a few days. I want to challenge the idea that manual focus won’t work when you have to shoot quickly. The hardest thing to shoot manually is sports, so I took them to the 24 Hours of Moab bike race and tried the lenses in every lighting condition possible and with fast moving subjects.”

Filmtools is one of the best resources for cine equipment in the world. It is like a mini Home Depot for cine gear. They have everything in stock most of the time and it is always fun to troll through the parts they have there. This little demo video shows how they utilize the mini Matthews Gobo Head and Arm system that mates very well with HDSLR cameras. Some of the mini grip gear can get pricey, but it is well worth it. Source: (Photo Cine News

Photo Cine Expo 2010 is just around the corner and C5D will be there with guns blazing. There will be a bevy of industry leaders like Shane Hurlbut ASC, Vincent Laforet, Rodney Charters  ASC and Alex Buono there, speaking and teaching seminars. Tons of new HDSLR related equipment will also be shown at the expo. We will be shooting interviews and product demos the first day and speaking a little the second. I will be speaking on Sunday September 26th from 1:30pm until 2:30pm. It would be great to have  C5D get together. I will try to answer any many HDSLR related questions as I can. Here is the expo schedule. Team C5D will be in full effect. Chris Collins our main shooter for these events, will be there as well as an additional cameraman/editor we are bringing in from San Francisco. Chris Marino will be handling most of the post the first day. We hope to get a few interviews up within the first few hours of the expo. Stay tuned here for up to the minute info on any new products that may appear at Photo Cine Expo 2010. Here is a rip from their site. Check out the expo info here. Use This Promo Code For Free Day Passes For The Expo Floor: Cinema5Dtix “Join us at the PhotoCine Expo where familiar pioneers and new faces will come together in Hollywood at the Los Angeles Film School on September 25th and 26th 2010. It’s an event not to be missed for HDSLR filmmakers. There will be multiple theaters for seminars and workshops taught by industry leaders on topics ranging from the art and mechanics of filmmaking through post production.”

Photo Cine News is giving away a Red Rock Micro Running Man rig and a Zeiss ZE 50mm f1.4 lens to promote the Photo Cine Expo. The expo will have seminars, workshops and tons of vendors with gear to check out. C5D will be there in full force doing interviews and product reviews. Here is a quote from their site. “PhotoCineNews Expo is where familiar pioneers and new faces will come together in Hollywood at the Los Angeles Film School on September 25th and 26th 2010. It’s an event not to be missed for HDSLR filmmakers. There will be multiple theaters for seminars and workshops taught by industry leaders on topics ranging from the art and mechanics of filmmaking through post production. Don’t miss the Shane Hurlbut ASC Saturday Keynote presentation” To win this killer setup all you have to do is follow Photo Cine News on Twitter and tweet the following in quotes below. Click here for more details. HDSLR Filmmaking Expo Hollywood Sep 25&26 http://bit.ly/9pqJw5 Follow @PhotoCineNews and tweet to win Redrock Micro + Zeiss Lens package