Notes from July 2007

Cooke CVK testing

I'm testing a late-model Cooke 9-50. It's an internal focusing lens with a speed of T2.5, comparable to a Canon zoom. The Cooke is twice the size of my Angenieux 12-120 T2.1, but still weighs in at a mere 3.25 pounds (the Angenieux is extremely light at 2 pounds). I read on-line that if framing for 1.85, the lens will cover from 11.5 to 50. I'm curious to know if this is true as last I checked the lens only covered 1.66 from 20-50 in the eyepiece, and I now have the mount/screen re-centered for 1.33 and cannot check coverage for 1.85. I shot a test with black and white Kodak and ORWO, 7231 and UN54 respectively. The lens is very warm in fact warmer than my Angenieux, and I was very pleased with its contrast range. Nice blacks, good grayscale. Regarding the stocks, I have to say the ORWO is impressive. Alpha processed it in D76. It's little lower in contrast than 7231 but not by much. I went for spot on exposure to see how the grain would look, and there was grain but much less than expected. I have another roll of N74 (ASA 400) that I plan to shoot in the coming weeks. I will also be shooting some 7218 to see how the Cooke does with high speed color.

July 14, 2007  –  permalink