The 35-millimeter Signature Prime lens from ARRI is considered by many to be the best lens on the planet. In this article, the author sets out to use the Signature Prime as a benchmark for future lens reviews. With topics like focus breathing and chromatic aberration becoming more contentious, the author aims to provide a realistic expectation for lens performance in these areas.
The author compares the Signature Prime to the 35-millimeter G Master, which is considered the best overall 35-millimeter lens available for Sony mirrorless cameras. The article provides a detailed analysis of the physical attributes of the Signature Prime, including its weight and size, as well as its manual focus and usability. The author also evaluates the lens’ optical performance, including its chromatic aberration and distortion.
Contents
Lens Selection Rationale
In his quest to set a realistic benchmark of expectations for future lens reviews, Gerald Undone selected the 35-millimeter Signature Prime from ARRI, which he considers to be the best 35-millimeter lens on the planet. Undone chose to compare this lens against the Sony 35-millimeter G Master, which he considers to be the best overall 35-millimeter lens available for that system.
Undone praises the Signature Prime’s telecentric design, which keeps light rays as straight as possible traveling through the lens. This design allows for a large but not heavy lens, resulting in a perfect balance of optical quality.
Undone also highlights the Signature Prime’s imperceivable focus breathing, a stark contrast to the 35-millimeter G Master’s notoriously bad focus breathing. He notes that the Signature Prime goes incredibly out of focus due to its better-than-expected close focus capabilities, but there is very little, if any, movement of the frame.
Undone compares the chromatic aberration and distortion of both lenses, noting that both lenses have some chromatic aberration but that it is not worth being critical of the small amount present in the G Master. He also observes that the Signature Prime has excellent distortion and color tonal consistency, and there might be the smallest amount of barrel distortion present.
Overall, Undone’s rationale for selecting the Signature Prime as the benchmark lens for future reviews is due to its superior optical quality, telecentric design, and imperceivable focus breathing.
Comparative Analysis Setup
The purpose of this section is to set up a comparative analysis between the 35-millimeter Signature Prime lens from ARRI and the best overall 35-millimeter lens available for Sony mirrorless, the 35-millimeter G Master. The comparison aims to establish a realistic benchmark of expectations for future lens reviews and to determine how much better the best lens is over a best photography 35-millimeter lens for Sony mirrorless.
To ensure fairness, the comparison is done on the Sony a1 camera using the LPL to E-mount adapter from Wooden Camera. The camera was chosen because it is the same camera used by the author for most of their lens reviews for Sony.
The author visited the ARRI Rental in Toronto and did some lens tests with the staff there, but it is important to note that ARRI did not sponsor this video. The author also disclosed that the video has a sponsor, Storyblocks, but ARRI did not sponsor it.
The Signature Prime lens is known to have imperceivable focus breathing and a telecentric design, which keeps the light rays as straight as possible traveling through the lens. It is surprisingly light for its size and comes with a massive case. The focus gear on the lens is set up for using it for a motor, and it has a 300-degree throw for focusing. The build quality is stellar, and the focus ring and the iris ring are incredibly smooth and consistent.
The comparison between the Signature Prime and the G Master includes tests for chromatic aberration, distortion, and vignetting. The comparison aims to determine if the elements are worth talking about anymore and establish a benchmark for future lens reviews.
Physical Attributes of the Signature Prime
The Signature Prime from ARRI is a 35-millimeter lens that is considered to be one of the best lenses on the planet. It weighs 1.7 kilos or 3.7 pounds and comes with a massive case. Despite its size, the lens is surprisingly light and is part of a telecentric design that keeps the light rays as straight as possible traveling through the lens. This design allows for a large but not heavy lens, which is the perfect balance for stellar lens quality.
The Signature Prime has a focus gear with a 300-degree throw, which is set up for using the lens for a motor. The focus and iris rings are consistent and smooth, and they require less resistance than one would expect. The lens has a telecentricity formula that keeps the light rays as straight as possible traveling through the lens instead of bending at extreme angles to work their way down, such as in a compact lens with a smaller exit.
The Signature Prime has imperceivable focus breathing, which makes it an ideal lens for manual focus. It goes incredibly out of focus because the close focus on this thing is way better than expected too. The change from minimum focus to infinity is rather drastic, but there’s very little, if any at all, movement of the frame.
When compared to the 35-millimeter G Master, the Signature Prime lens has minor chromatic aberration, which is not noticeable unless one is pixel-peeping at 400% or more. The lens has excellent distortion, with the smallest amount of barrel distortion that is hardly noticeable. The lens has a vignetting and color tonal consistency that is different from photography lenses.
The Signature Prime lens has a stellar build quality, and it is perfect for those who are looking for a lens that can deliver optimal performance.
Manual Focus and Usability
The ARRI Signature Prime 35mm lens is known for its exceptional manual focus capabilities and usability. The lens has imperceivable focus breathing, which is a significant advantage over other lenses, such as the 35mm G Master, which has notoriously bad focus breathing. The Signature Prime’s focus gear is set up for using it with a motor, and it has a 300-degree throw, making it challenging to focus manually. However, the focus ring and iris ring are incredibly smooth and consistent, requiring less resistance than one would expect, given the lens’s size and scope.
The lens’s build quality is stellar, and it is surprisingly light for its size, weighing in at 1.7 kilos or 3.7 pounds. The exit of the lens is quite large, which is part of a telecentric design that ARRI is working on to keep light rays as straight as possible traveling through the lens. This design allows for a compact lens that is still large, and the Signature Prime is probably the perfect balance of that.
The lens’s manual focus capabilities are further enhanced by its excellent performance in terms of distortion. The lens has the smallest amount of barrel distortion, making it an excellent choice for shooting a wide range of subjects. Additionally, the lens’s chromatic aberration performance is impressive, with only a minor amount of magenta fringing around white lines visible when pixel-peeping at 400%.
Overall, the ARRI Signature Prime 35mm lens’s manual focus and usability are exceptional, making it a top choice for professional photographers and videographers.
Optical Performance Evaluation
In this section, the optical performance of the 35-millimeter Signature Prime lens from ARRI is evaluated. The lens is considered one of the best 35-millimeter lenses available in the market. The evaluation is based on a comparison between the Signature Prime lens and the 35-millimeter G Master lens, which is considered the best for Sony mirrorless cameras.
The evaluation was conducted using the Sony a1 camera with the LPL to E-mount adapter from Wooden Camera. The lens was mounted on the camera to ensure that the camera did not play a role in the evaluation process.
The Signature Prime lens has a telecentric design that keeps the light rays as straight as possible, resulting in a high-quality image. The lens has a consistent and smooth focus gear, which makes manual focusing easy. The focus breathing is imperceptible, and there is very little, if any, movement of the frame.
In terms of chromatic aberration, the Signature Prime lens performs well, but it still adds magenta and green to out-of-focus areas, especially when viewed at high magnification. However, the chromatic aberration is minimal and is not noticeable in most cases.
The lens also has minimal distortion and vignetting, which is not corrected by the camera. The color tonal consistency is excellent, and the lens performs well even in low light conditions.
Overall, the optical performance of the Signature Prime lens is exceptional, and it sets a high benchmark for future lens reviews. The lens is perfect for professional photographers and videographers who require the highest level of image quality.
Chromatic Aberration Assessment
In his lens review, Gerald Undone compared the ARRI Signature Prime 35mm lens with the Sony 35mm G Master lens. He used the Sony a1 camera with an LPL to E-mount adapter from Wooden Camera to keep everything even and interesting.
Undone tested the chromatic aberration of both lenses by examining the out-of-focus areas of the images. He found that both lenses add magenta and green to these areas, but the ARRI Signature Prime lens had a minor amount of magenta fringing around the white lines. Undone concluded that the chromatic aberration of the Sony 35mm G Master lens and the ARRI Signature Prime lens were similar, and therefore, the small amount of chromatic aberration on the G Master should not be considered a factor in the lens review.
Undone also examined the distortion of the lenses and found that both lenses had excellent distortion control. He could not see any significant barrel distortion on the ARRI Signature Prime lens, and he concluded that the distortion of both lenses should not be a factor in the lens review.
Overall, Undone found that the ARRI Signature Prime lens had imperceivable focus breathing, and its optical formula kept telecentricity without bulking up and causing other problems. The lens had a large exit, but it was still light, making it easy to handle. Its focus and iris rings were smooth and consistent, and the build quality was stellar.
Distortion and Vignetting Analysis
The Signature Prime 35-millimeter lens from ARRI is considered one of the best lenses on the planet. In this lens review, Gerald Undone compares it to the 35-millimeter G Master lens, which is considered the best for Sony mirrorless cameras. He mounted the Signature Prime on a Sony a1 camera using an LPL to E-mount adapter from Wooden Camera.
Undone noted that the Signature Prime has imperceivable focus breathing, while the G Master has notoriously bad focus breathing. He also found that the Signature Prime has a better close focus than he expected.
In terms of chromatic aberration, Undone found that both lenses added magenta and green to out-of-focus areas. He noted that ARRI’s stance is that they solve chromatic aberration, but in reality, it is still present in both lenses. However, he found that the Signature Prime looks more impressive out to the edge compared to the G Master.
Undone also analyzed distortion and found that there might be the smallest amount of barrel distortion in the Signature Prime, but it is not noticeable. He noted that there are no lens corrections for this lens when shooting on the Sony a1 camera.
Regarding vignetting and color tonal consistency, Undone compared the G Master with corrections turned off to the Signature Prime and found that the G Master looked worse. He concluded that the Signature Prime is a lens that focuses on the things that matter, such as optical formula that keeps telecentricity without bulking up and causing other problems.
Conclusion
In this lens review, Gerald Undone set out to determine whether he was being too picky about certain aspects of lenses. He chose the 35-millimeter Signature Prime from ARRI, which he considers to be one of the best lenses on the planet, to serve as a benchmark for future reviews.
Undone compared the Signature Prime to the 35-millimeter G Master, which he considers the best overall 35-millimeter lens available for Sony mirrorless cameras. He used the Sony a1 camera with the LPL to E-mount adapter from Wooden Camera to keep things even and interesting.
Undone found that the Signature Prime had imperceivable focus breathing, which is a major problem with the G Master. The focus gear on the Signature Prime is set up for a motor and has a 300-degree throw, making it difficult to focus manually. However, the build quality is stellar, and the focus and iris rings are incredibly smooth.
When comparing chromatic aberration, Undone found that both lenses had a minor amount of magenta fringing around white lines. The Signature Prime performed better than the G Master in terms of how it looked out to the edge. Undone found that there might be the smallest amount of barrel distortion on the Signature Prime, but it was not a factor.
Overall, the Signature Prime is a high-quality lens that offers excellent image quality and minimal distortion. While it is expensive, it is worth the investment for those who demand the best in their photography and videography.