@@nick_salazar It's a fantastic time to be in the market for lenses, so many to choose from - just wish these would have been released sooner! How are you liking the Athenas?
@@keith-knittel the Athenas are tiny, very sharp, reasonably fast, and virtually flawless. I just wish they were a bit faster. The distance between T1.9 and T1.4 is - for me - huge. And much of the time I'd rather lug around the larger, slightly softer, slightly less perfect Arles set, because that T1.4 image just feels more magic to me.
@@keith-knittel The biggest dealbreaker of the Athenas is the protruding rear element, which prevents the use of speedboosters and most of drop-in filter adapters. Secondly, it doesn't have a user-swappable EF/PL mount like the Vespids or Arles set. These two downsides combined really limit its versatility and rentability.
@@frankfeng2701 Exactly what I realized. I wanna get the Athenas to use with my new Mofage Poco VND but I believe that moving rear element won't allow that. Do you know if they're compatible with the Mofage Poco?
The 95mm diameter of Arles actually favors the use of mattebox because lots of compact matteboxes like SmallRig can fit on the lens barrel directly without a 95mm step-up ring. The 86mm filter size is no big deal if you just use a 86-82mm step-down ring for 82mm filters, which won't create much vignetting given the already large front element. If you've used the DZOFilm Pictor Zoom set, which is very popular, you'll understand the logic behind it.
You’re the second person to tell me about the 86 to 82mm ring trick, I’m going to have to try that - I have not used the Pictor zooms, but will have to try them out soon. Thanks for the recommendations
I felt that ending haha 😮💨😅 Next MUST HAVE Lens set is always right around the corner haha 😂 I was close to pull the trigger on the Athena’s but now I am considering just to get three focal lengths for the beginning. I’m thinking maybe the 25, 40 & 75mm
Hey brother. Great great thoughts and review! You seem to be right in my boat. I was getting tired of trying to get a Nikon 24mm 1.4G to work on my Lidar with no hard stops and stupid crap stuck to the lens to simulate hard stops. It's a nice lens but goodness........the hoops I jump through. Bought an Arles 25mm and MY GOD! We are getting veeeeeerrrrryyyy very close to image perfection. And I have a whole case of vintage glass that I use for my other focal lengths but this Arles chemistry is SO well sorted that I may be getting a few more. Vintage was fun when I couldn't afford squat but these Arles make you feel like you just purchased a $10k camera. Currently using BlackMagic 6K Pro FF and these things make that camera really sing. And then we should be done getting more lenses........right.......RIGHT??/. LMAO
Surely you'll be done buying lenses then, right? Right? LMAO, I'm exactly the same. I should be replacing my car, but I'd much prefer to get a set of Arles 🤣 These look wonderful, and as a Vespid owner, a big thank you for comparing them so thoroughly. I love the Vespids, and DZO just keep getting better and better. One thing very few other reviewers seem to note about the Vespids, is the short minimum focus distances. For me this adds so much extra flexibility of use compared to the competition. With the 40mm in particular, I can get such close up shots, I feel hamstrung with other lenses that don't focus as close. The Arles look to be *slightly* longer minimum distances, but still closer than so many competitors. For going light, I've been using the Tilta Mirage lightweight filter clamp without matte box, as all the filters are 95mm, and you can get them right up against the front of the lens, so there's no vignette even on the 16mm Vespid or the 14mm Athena. I find it's a great system, and there's no screwing filters on and off. Could do with a wider range of filters, but there are quite a few now that work well, and they're reasonably priced.
I sold my DZO Pictor Zoom and looking to buy 1 lens at a time, rather than the whole kit. When you start closing the aperture on a T1.4 lens, it literally becomes like any other lens when you start shooting at T.5.6 >>. That's the only reason I see myself buying these lenses. Wide open at T1.4, only then can you truly see the real characteristics of the lens. Otherwise I will settle for a Sigma FP T1.5 25mm FF lens at double the price. Thanks for the review, still cheapest FF/Vistas on the market.
No. No. No and no. Once again, do your research before. Arles is a city in the South of France. Its name comes from ancient Roman language (also named Latin) and the last letter is silent. This "s" is muted, just as in 95% of French words and names. About 60% of English words also come from Latin, due to the Roman Empire invading and occupying the British lands for two centuries or so. You probably all know about the World's largest and most prestigious cinema festival : le Festival international du film de Cannes. Held in a tiny city of the Côte d'Azur ( = the French Riviera), on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The name Cannes is spelled with a final "s", also silent : it sounds exactly "can", nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. So... "arl" is how the name Arles must sound. Searching is easy, a child can do it with todays tools. How is it that an adult can not ? Especially when the city is the World's capital of Photography, with its annual "Rencontres de la Photographie", a place that matters for all imagery professionals. Respect this, you'll get respect in return. ✋️🙂
@@HayaoHuang Yeah I know that, thanks 🙏🏼 I just wondered why someone whould put such a rant out there just because someone mispronounced a name and then talking something about respect haha 😂 I’m just saying that there was another way of saying the same thing without being such a jerk. Like: „Actually the name is pronounced so and so because it’s a French name and that is how they pronounce it“
