Cooke Series XVa Convertible - Opinions and Experiences?

[William Whitaker]

Very nice, Ari!

[Ari]

"Sharp, in a very pleasing way." is how I characterized it to someone the other day. It's a really nice lens. Some lenses are sharp, but in sort of a 'clinical' or brittle way.

Yes, it's amazing what kind of smooth transition is built into the lens; unlike anything I've seen before.

Man, that image just jumps off the screen. It's all about the sharpness and falloff. Ok, I think I need the Cooke.

I spoke to Mr Clive Russ today, who lent me the lens and who had a hand in its design; he told me the chief designer knew he could make a very sharp lens, what they concentrated on was the OOF part of the image.
He also added that the sweet spot of the lens is f9 or f11 (!).
And yes, I could use a Coke, too. I mean Cooke.

We know its not just the lens, but wow, that shot really looks great!

Very nice, Ari!

Thank you both.

There will be more to come, I'll try different subjects and whatever else I can think of before I have to tearfully return the lens to its owner.

[Alan Gales]

Nice portrait, Ari.

From what I have seen I really like the look of the Cooke lenses. Like Karl says, sharp but not clinically so. After you shoot it a bit please give us your opinion on how it compares to the Commercial Ektars.

[Ari]

Nice portrait, Ari.

From what I have seen I really like the look of the Cooke lenses. Like Karl says, sharp but not clinically so. After you shoot it a bit please give us your opinion on how it compares to the Commercial Ektars.

I love how it balanced out all the highs and lows, leaving me a lot of mid-tones, but with plenty of room to adjust the blacks and whites.
And try as I might, that white area behind René's head would not could not get blocked up, no matter how much I pushed the "Whites" slider to 100%.

Thank you, Alan.
The section I quoted above is relevant to the comparison you mention.
As a long-time Commercial Ektar user, I immediately thought that the white horizontal area behind the subject's head would get burned out and become a white blob that I'd have to burn in in Lightroom.
That's probably what would have happened with a CE.
With the Cooke, the highlights were tamed on the sheet of film; for a laugh, I tried maxxing out the "Whites" slider to see how quickly it would cause the white area to block up, but it never did.

I just sold my 12" and 14" CEs, but I will re-do a shot from last week that I did with a neighbour; that was with the 12" CE, so I'll re-do it with the Cooke.

[Ari]

PS- Is there any way I can rationalize the "I can't afford not buying this lens" position?

[karl french]

I went with the "I've wanted this lens for 10 years. They may stop making them tomorrow. Just do it." rationalization. :-)

[Carl J]

PS- Is there any way I can rationalize the "I can't afford not buying this lens" position?

Seems very appealing (lovely portrait) but I guess my question would be how much do you see yourself using the other focal lengths (476/645mm)?

[Alan Gales]

PS- Is there any way I can rationalize the "I can't afford not buying this lens" position?

Thanks, Ari. A new Copal shutter would be nicer than the old Ilex #5's too.

I think it has a lot to do with money. You are a pro so this lens will pay for itself. Me being an amateur with limited funds it would be hard for me to justify.

[Ari]

I went with the "I've wanted this lens for 10 years. They may stop making them tomorrow. Just do it." rationalization. :-)

Where's that "like" button?

Seems very appealing (lovely portrait) but I guess my question would be how much do you see yourself using the other focal lengths (476/645mm)?

Well, that's a good practical question. I suppose 476mm would be used second-most often, and I would probably rarely, if ever, get to use the 645mm FL.
My camera has a max extension of 28 inches, just 2,5 inches of surplus bellows extension when using the 645mm.

Thanks, Ari. A new Copal shutter would be nicer than the old Ilex #5's too.

I think it has a lot to do with money. You are a pro so this lens will pay for itself. Me being an amateur with limited funds it would be hard for me to justify.

I forgot to mention that; the new Copal was a real pleasure to use, after having gotten used to old Ilexes and their many quirks.
I was a pro for a long time, but I recently took time off to build up the FLM distributorship over the next few years.
Looks like I picked the wrong time to become a "gentleman photographer".

[Christopher Barrett]

The "Cooke Look" is a long standing Hollywood legend. I owned a set of their Cine lenses for a number of years. If you feel like checking out my cinematography reel, it was all shot on Cookes.



CB