better than good

[@CineDailies]

I 1000% agree with everything you said about these lenses. Hands down the best value and quality for the buck.

[@gabrielmachadobsb]

Hey Joshua, nice to see you here! I've got a question for both you and Spenser - is there a list of PL to Fuji X adapters that are fully compatible with the Athenas? I've seen Nisi doesn't make them for X mount, so I've been wanting to research this before pulling the trigger on them. Any idea if the DZO Octopus will fit?

[@janthony1980]

@cinedallies watched your review on them and making me want to pull the trigger on these lenses

[@limestone_xyz]

Honestly, I think the lighting is so good in these shots, you could take any lens to make them look great :D (besides that hard technical / mechanical specs of the lenses)

[@orangereyatoday]

The same thoughts on this:D

[@dareckmaurice4295]

that part! we are gettn too caught up with the glass (totally understand) but the key component, Lighting!

[@bloodswarms]

Man, yeah, the lens is amazing. But I want to know the information about the wood smoke whiskey thing at the beginning of the video. That's what I want to know about now.

[@redfacilities]

Love it - how did you match the R7 BTS camera the the REDs - is it with your luts???

[@katlis]

Didn't notice focus breathing at all, very nice!

[@bmefilms6879]

That dragon sensor is amazing!

[@EdProsser]

Been shooting with the vespids for a few years but these have me very interested as a cleaner alternative for certain jobs. Always interested in your thoughts of new gear. Thanks.

[@martinmestrevlog]

great video... just curious what did you shoot the review part of the video with ? camera ? lens ?

[@spensersakurai]

Talking head was on Canon R7 with speedboosted sigma 35mm f1.4. Slow motion b-roll of the lenses was Komodo.

[@disco.jellyfish]

Whenever you need "character" in a lens, you can (most of the time) add it into your matte box.

[@spensersakurai]

You can’t make your bokeh different with a mattebox in a way I like.

[@enricojakobsoriano]

Great review and footage. What are your thoughts on using these for architectural projects? Are the wider focal lengths pretty straight?

[@spensersakurai]

Didn’t test them in that way but they seem like they are pretty straight.

It’s because it’s back focus. Not the mount. The glass in the back moves back and fourth, hence why some cameras it might not work…like film cameras for example and it moves quite a bit, a friend had a tech at PV check them and said it moved quite a bit. Granted they are still great lenses for the price, but if you are using adapter, especially with filters/glass, I would have a look at the flange before I mount them so I won’t ruin the lens.

[@NeonCucumber]

He’s back! Good to see you brosif.

[@ThePatrvq]

would it be OK to buy 85mm of this for street photo? what would be the disadventage compare to photo lens?

[@spensersakurai]

I wouldn’t use cinema lenses for photography. You’ll probably miss focus lol

[@AutumnHxze]

rn my dream set

[@Clausmollerpetersen]

How would you compare the Athenas to the Sirui Jupiters? I’m able to find the Jupiters cheap 2. hand.

[@cruisechill1813]

Whats the best variable nd for the nisis?

[@vanraz]

Are you gonna do a video on the Dulens Apo Mini primes?

[@spensersakurai]

Yes

[@mohitkrish]

Great vid as always spenser but whose music is that in the beginning?

[@rossflaherty5595]

What's the rear filter thread size?

[@mittaw]

Does anybody know how the Nisi Athena compares to the Zeiss classics in terms of look?

[@spensersakurai]

Classics have way more “look” and lots of chromatic aberration. Very very different lenses.

[@bluerosestudios7118]

I own a set and have shot 6 short films on them and they're unparalleled (especially at the price point)

[@RicoStein_]

Would be nice to have EF Mount, to be able to use a Speedbooster with a Komodo for example. Just to use the FF coverage of the lenses. This is kind of a deal breaker for me :(

[@spensersakurai]

Agreed but also they look really nice on s35 and it’s not a deal breaker for me.

[@RicoStein_]

@@spensersakurai but you get totally different characteristics, like flares and distortion on the sides when using the full frame coverage. This is what they are made for. I was in contact with NiSi, but they will not make an EF mount and unfortunately they will also not make interchangeable lens mounts to switch from PL to RF or E mount for example....sad and disappointing nowadays.

[@raildude270]

Is there anyway these lenses can be used with a speedbooster on the Komodo? I think I heard someone say it wasn’t possible

[@spensersakurai]

Not possible unfortunately but you can see they look great without a focal reducer.

[@raildude270]

@@spensersakurai that's true. I just like being able to make one lens two focal lengths. Especially with the komodo cropping in lower resolutions

[@KaceyBakerFilms]

I thought this was a Master Prime video, I was watching it thinking God I miss mine…. Then you said NISI, and I was like .. wait what????? I need these lol…

[@KaceyBakerFilms]

The have a Cooke look these lenses, soft with detail.

[@kunstspielklavier185]

So just like the Master Primes then?🤔

[@JvanEtten]

Which 35mm do you prefer? The nisi one or the zeiss milvus, image quality wise (bokeh, micro contrast etc etc)

[@spensersakurai]

tricky. The zeiss have more of a "look" to them but dont' have the same nice cinema housing the Athena's have. And you can't get the Milvus in PL. That being said Im about to shoot a multi episode project all on Milvus just because I liked what they offered for the project.

[@JvanEtten]

Yeah i’m a bit torn which to get but i do like the “look” of zeiss more. I don’t mind that they don’t have a PL mount since its not that difficult to adapt canon or nikon mounts. The fact that you chose the milvus over the athena’s for a new project says a lot! Only minor negative of the milvus would be the focus breathing but as long as you don’t do a lot of focus pull shots it shouldn’t matter that much. If the breathing was as good as the nisi it would be an absoluut no brainer choice for me. Thanks for your reply!

[@SWATxPolicy]

These lenses are awesome and so affordable I almost feel bad for investing in them lol… everybody is going to have access to these through a friend or really cheap rental from a rental house I’m almost saddened it can’t be leveraged as a business perk over my competitors.

[@LuDawgg]

Review the Sony cine Alta mkiis!!!!!

[@turbophat]

Damn these look great 🔥

[@whatnow5598]

For such short distance pulls when you were messing around sitting down, pretty significant breathing : ( . Very nice sequence you shot!!

[@ioanandrei8814]

Who really cares about fb in real life?😅

[@David_Schwarz_DOP]

I do.

[@noranoskyle4417]

which three lense sizes would you suggest to buy first? i have only RF lenses 85 1.2, 15-35 2.8 and the 28-70 rf 2. They can be problematic for focus breathing but great for one person scenes. Which two for land scape and two or 1 person scenes ?

[@hactrain]

The goddesses

[@kunstspielklavier185]

Seeing you move the motor for your lens change bothers me way more than it should.🤣

[@Artfulscience1]

If only that rear element didn’t move….unfortunately the deal breaker for me since I have a mofage poco VND

[@REDEpicGuy]

I can get ya'll 20% off these bad boys if interested!! Amazing lenses!!!

[@bobbydrake8965]

You guys would want to show off a lens yet you alter the .709. What are we supposed to see here?

[@VideoVo-Tech]

One might say great?

[@lkptlst3256]

another clinical sharp photo lens with cinema housing, not for me.

[@spensersakurai]

this is 100 percent not a photo lens.

[@Keerationfilms]

​@@spensersakurai just saying, dzofilms vespid imo is the better lense. If I wanted the athena, I'll stick a photo lense that gives me the same look. Got the Athena because all the KZbinrs were hyping it up. The image to me just look like Sony gm lens, decided to rent the dzofilms lens and straight away I see the difference in characters between the two, I returned the Athena and bought the dzo lens. I usually don't say anything til you said that cine lense at that same price point was the best lense that you've tested, I don't believe you believe that when you said it.

[@MrIsaacE]

unbelievably boring and unengaging image