Transient - ZEISS Otus Lenses

Dustin Farrell shares this excellent piece shot with ZEISS Otus Lenses on a Phantom Flex 4K camera. Here's Dustin's account:

“My name is Dustin Farrell. I am a cinematographer based out of Phoenix, Arizona. I am an adrenaline junky, a seeker of adventure, and my taste in gear far exceeds my bank account balance. A couple of years ago I became a Phantom Flex 4K owner. The camera’s ability to shoot 4K resolution at 1000 frames per second in a very high quality, low noise, raw format was irresistible to me. My goal when purchasing such an expensive and exotic camera was to take it places far away from a studio or green screen. The obvious stuff came first – flames, explosions, gunfire. And then I had the idea to go storm chasing with the Phantom. I wanted to film lightning at 1000fps.

I purchased the 28, 55, and 85mm Otus lenses from Duclos well before my Phantom Flex 4K acquisition. The set’s reputation at the “mini Master Primes” was what sold me. I also do a lot of star photography and time-lapse work. For astrophotography, the 28mm was very interesting and did not disappoint during my first Milky Way time-lapse shoot. The edge to edge quality, even at wide open, was the best I had ever seen.

Shooting on a Flex4K at 1000fps demands a lot from a lens. At these frame rates I was using every bit of stop from my Otus glass. The priority was shooting lightning flashes at sunset at the highest framerate possible. At 4K resolution I expected a soft image at f1.4 with a significant vignette. Surprisingly to me, the image from all three Otus lenses held up very well at f1.4 and resolved a very clean 4K image. I created my piece “Transient” wearing almost exclusively the 28, 55, and 85mm Otus lenses. “Transient” is my short film I am most proud of. Without such quality glass, a sacrifice of slower frame rates would have been inevitable.”

For more information:

ZEISS Otus Lenses:
www.zeiss.com/otus

Dustin Farrell:
www.dfvc.com