What's the cheapest alternative to get a wider angle than the fixed Scarlet?

[kmikami]

Aside from the question of "is the fixed Scarlet wide enough for you?" the next question that comes to mind for me is what is the next step up? What's the cheapest option for a lens that's shorter than the 7mm or so of the fixed Scarlet? The only options I'm seeing are extremely expensive s16 lenses. Am I missing an obvious option?

[MattN]

How about a wide angle adapter created by RED or some other third party?

[Peter Majtan]

wide-angle adapter for the fixed-lens Scarlet...

[kmikami]

I meant on the 2/3" interchangable lens version.

[MattN]

Did you know you are in the forum titled "Scarlet FIXED Lens System Discussion"?

[holy_handgrenade]

For the Fixed lens system; a wide adapter will be your only option. Interchangable system...well that's a different story.

[kmikami]

Originally Posted by MattN

Did you know you are in the forum titled "Scarlet FIXED Lens System Discussion"?

Yes, that's the point. I'm trying to compare the fixed to the interchangable. I'm leaning toward the fixed lens but the interchangable at $2500 looks really attractive. The lenses could be a serious issue though. I've seen a lot of threads with people talking about the various c-mount lenses they want to buy but none of them seem to be even remotely wide angle.

Maybe this is a better way to state the question: What other lens on the market would the fixed Scarlet be comparable to? Are there any affordable 7mm lenses available in ANY format? I can't find any.

[Mark A. Beal]

Originally Posted by kmikami

Yes, that's the point. I'm trying to compare the fixed to the interchangable. I'm leaning toward the fixed lens but the interchangable at $2500 looks really attractive.

You will definitely not save money taking the interchangeable route. There are a lot of reasons you might want to go that way, but cost isn't one of them. Like everyone else says, the most economical way is to get the fixed and use something like a Century wide angle adapter.

Used 10mm Schneider, Angenieux, and Switar c-mount lenses can be found for around $ 500.00. You can sometimes find Bolex H16 packages with 3 lenses included in that same price range. Once you get wider than 10mm, the price jumps drastically.

There are also c-mount zooms such as the Angenieux 9.5-57 or 9.5-95 that, due to their vintage, are getting pretty cheap now, but I'd personally be averse to trusting heavy lenses like that to such a dainty mount.

If you want to get really wacky, Sigma makes a 4.5mm wide angle in Nikon and EOS mounts, but there's no aperature ring. I've heard there is a way to force these lenses to stay wide open, in which case you could use ND for exposure control, but like I said . . . now it's getting wacky.

[kmikami]

Obviously the interchangable will be more expensive. My question is how much more? It's really not much more if you don't care about wide angle lenses. But it seems pretty clear that you can't come close to the fixed lens in terms of specs without spending what, 5 digits just on the lens?

The Sigma you mention is a fisheye right? And the rest are all longer than the fixed Scarlet.

It almost seems like the S35 Scarlet is the next reasonable step up from the fixed, considering the inexpensive stills lenses that are available. The interchangable 2/3 body seems like a very niche product for people who already own the lenses.

[Mark A. Beal]

Originally Posted by kmikami

The interchangable 2/3 body seems like a very niche product for people who already own the lenses.

. . . or for people who don't feel compelled to upgrade any time soon. If you plan on sticking with the 2/3" camera, going with the mini-Red primes (and I would expect at some point a mini-Red zoom) makes perfect sense.