Cooke S4 vs SP3: Cinema LENS Comparison + Cooke SP3 Review (Shot on Sony a7s III)

[@ReachFilms]

Thank you so much for doing this test!!!

[@FilmJams]

Definitely! Thank you for stopping by the channel! 🎥😆

[@adrianwongmedia]

Can you compare cooke sp3 to either sony gmaster or sigma especially in harsher light condtion

[@FilmJams]

Oooh that would be a good one! We’ll add it to the list!

[@adrianwongmedia]

@@FilmJams I went cooke sp3 and sony burano event in burbank. I couldn't tell the difference between my sigma 24-70 and my sony 16-35mm 2.8 with my fx3. I think it was control lighting environment.

[@FilmJams]

@@adrianwongmediaoh nice. You like the SP3 better?

[@Visionmaker54321]

Nice video. Very informative. For the price of what the SP3 can do compared to the S4 is astounding. It should be taken into careful consideration when choosing these lenses. Thanks for comparing and reviewing in a way that's easy to absorb and fun to watch.

[@FilmJams]

Thanks for checking it out! I agree some really nice lenses and always good to have options 😁🎥🙏

[@ggdfggdfgdffgfddg34]

Could you compare the Cooke S4, at full frame, and 4\3 Gh6 or GH5 through a speed booster. I wonder if the speed booster kills all the image quality?

[@FilmJams]

Oh yeah that would be interesting to see! I’ll try to get my hands on a GH6 to do that.

[@DreamingOfReality]

love the flares and 3d pop of the s4! always have and always will haha impressive for how close sp3's can get tho!

[@FilmJams]

The S4’s just have that magic pop. But ya nice to have the SP3 option. Thanks for watching my friend!

[@videosintheworks6595]

That's awesome! This is a perfect reference for these Cooke Lens. Film Jams Rocks!!!

[@FilmJams]

A little chapter on the Cooke encyclopedia we’re working on! Thanks for checking out the video 🫡✌️

[@walmartpimp2]

The SP3's are gorgeous. After I am done completing my Zeiss CP.3 set, I will have to pick up a few of these. Thanks for bring them to my attention.

[@FilmJams]

I agree! They caught a lot of flack online but after filming with them myself, I’m a believer! Glad the video was helpful 😄🎥👍

[@ProfessaJ]

love this! super insightful!

[@FilmJams]

Thanks Professa! Appreciate you stopping by the channel. 🎥👍😆

[@kunstspielklavier185]

Did you suggest using the SP3s with PL adapters at 6:53?🤔

[@FilmJams]

I did and then said "that's not a real thing" Bad DP jokes!

[@FilmJams]

It's definitely confusing watching it now tho...probably should have left that bit out :D

[@MossChasteen]

So correct me if I am wrong but E/RF mount lenses (The SP3s) cannot be adapted to a PL mount camera due to their flange distance. just trying to clarify that because he said you could adapt them.

[@escapeworld6389]

He made a joke about it... The design does not to support PL flange distance (nor EF/Nikon F) It confused me also

[@FilmJams]

Sorry for the confusion guys. Bad joke. You cannot adapt them to PL.

[@CineRants]

Can't be adapted to PL. They can be adapted to Leica M-mount though, which would probably be the best option for the SP3s, since there are some nice postive-locking cinema mounts for Leica M (which use a much simpler locking method than the painful three-step process required for the locking e-mount on Sony cameras.

[@FilmJams]

@@CineRantsyeah the M mount is definitely going to be nice for that locking mechanism. Looking forward to trying those out when they’re avail. Thanks for watching!

[@flyingfox2005]

Simmod lenses are bringing out LPL mount replacements for the SP3s, I believe next year. So you could use them on any mirrorless camera, using an adapter, as you would with PL lenses.

[@FilmJams]

Great! Looking forward to that. Will be a nice addition to these lenses for those users. Thanks for sharing and watching!

[@flyingfox2005]

@@FilmJams nice to see a proper side by side with the S4s - seeing how similar but also how different they are.

[@FilmJams]

@@flyingfox2005glad it was helpful! And yes I was almost thinking the same thing. They share a lot of DNA but at the same time, there’s lots that they don’t.

[@flyingfox2005]

@@FilmJams sort of like Zeiss Contax compared to standard speeds - close enough to be used on a B or C camera or even a pick-up shoot.. but still never different animals. The SP3s I can see becoming very popular though - and by far the easiest way to get the reliable Cooke look in 2023.

[@FilmJams]

@@flyingfox2005 Yeah that's a great comparison. I agree. I think they're going to be hot. It's a nicely packaged brand new lens instead of a rehousing, which for me makes them at least seem more reliable. Fun times!

[@MattSpaugh]

"Dearest mother, we've now been camped for 46 days with little to eat, no shoes and rancid water but we managed to hang the Christmas lights so there is great joy in camp. Eustace, despite losing a foot and still suffering from the gangrene is happy to pedal something of a generator for us deep into the night to keep the lights on. I hope to be amongst you all soon. Give my love to Eunice and Edgar as I know they worry terribly on my behalf... oh, and a whole crew of jackasses came by today pointing cameras our way and claiming to make moving pictures... they carried no wet plates or collodion in their wagons so the general consensus is that they were off their heads."

[@FilmJams]

I feel like I'm reliving my youth losing in Oregon Trail! :D Oh and I heard bear fat heals all gangrene in just hours! As long as it's applied under a full moon on the night of the Summer Solstice.

[@MattSpaugh]

@@FilmJams ha - you have died of dysentery... AGAIN. 💩

[@FilmJams]

Dangggggittttt! Those oxen were fresh beauties too!

[@skinspastpete5879]

Great video! Thank you Film Jams!

[@FilmJams]

Thank you for watching!

[@LucaBono.Studio]

I think I'll simply stick with my set of Leica R and see what other brands are going to bring to the table. I see a strong contrasty look in the images captured by the SP3....Thank you for the great video, it was super useful!

[@FilmJams]

Thanks for watching Luca! Leica R are nice. I want to do a video comparing those to the Cooke as well. And yes will be interesting to see what other brands do in response to these.

[@dandobi]

Same same. Leica r FTW

[@FilmJams]

Nothing wrong with a Leica R! I like mine a lot.

[@ReadytoChop]

My business just got these and we are loving them. Good contrast to our supremes.

[@FilmJams]

Nice! What are your thoughts in comparison?

[@ReadytoChop]

@@FilmJamsbetween the supremes? The supremes are just perfection of performance even wide open. We’ve been shooting them (nearly) wide open too much, and we’re gonna dial them down in the future with more time to light. The cookes have only been tested on the FX6 so far but they are incredibly stylized as you’ve seen. We are hoping Duclos develops the LPL mount for the cookes so they can mount to our Alexa mini LF. The one challenge I’ve seen is focus pulling on the small barrel diameter, but I think we should adjust the focus motors sensitivity to help mitigate that. I like that they’re T2.4 because a tac sharp wide open lens is still too shallow the vast majority of the time.

[@FilmJams]

⁠@@ReadytoChopthanks for sharing! Sorry I must have missed this comment. The Supremes sound fun. I still haven’t been able to shoot much with them aside from a a few tests. Did they ever come out with that PL to LPL ?

[@nicholasboule5134]

No competition in color rendering and what it does to the face. S4 is cut above for sure and idk if the sp3 could even be cut in cuz the cast is so magenta.

[@FilmJams]

Thanks for watching. To me the lenses are pretty close in color to my eye. I’ve definitely seen some much more far off lenses used on even large Hollywood film productions. Colorists can work a lot of magic these days to match. I wouldn’t be worried about a little magenta cast. But that’s just me! I’m just Ken!

[@nicholasboule5134]

@@FilmJams ya I think so, the color correct wouldn’t be hard, just annoying. But most Hollywood movies would probably use these as crash cam lenses because no pl.

[@FilmJams]

@@nicholasboule5134yeah for sure tho the Venice is pretty popular. And with the Burano now I imagine these might see some play. I’d prob still go for a PL myself tho !

[@nicholasboule5134]

@@FilmJams I’m just an old soul S4 maximalist too so there is that hahahaha

[@FilmJams]

@@nicholasboule5134I hear you! Just shot a feature last month on old school Cooke S4 and Angenieux Optimo DP zooms. My tried and true lens combo!

[@marcoaslan]

Good review, perhaps the best out there. You go into depth about the difference between a more affordable cinema lens and one of the most established cinema lenses out there - the Cooke S4s. Thank you very much for the effort and taking the time to share your insights and comparison. However, I have a bit of constructive criticism: We millennials need to break free from our habit of intentional attention span interruptions. Yes, we grew up with TV commercials breaking our focus every 15 minutes, but this cycle has to end. Random comments like "it's giraffes or rhinoceros," "it's fried chicken or chicken fried rice," "my stomach is growling," "are you recording?" etc., only add to the distractions and highlight a lack of overall generational maturity.

[@FilmJams]

Thanks for watching and your comments! We do have to have a little fun on our end as we aren’t paid for these reviews and don’t make enough money from KZbin to even buy a cup of coffee each week - if we had to make them as boring as the other videos out there we probably wouldn’t want to make them at all. Hope that makes sense! Now giddy on up cowboy! 🤠

[@hzubovi1]

Cooke S4 75mm much sharper but has some strange bokeh wide open. Are You sure Your copy isn't defective? Plus the B roll for the SP3 look very much like the S4 on 7:12

[@FilmJams]

I’m not seeing any strange bokeh. Looks standard to me. Can you describe what you are referring to? Yes in the b-roll when you’re not looking at them side-by-side the SP3 definitely still has that Cooke look. They share a lot of similarities which is nice. Will be able to mix them for a lot of projects.

[@joshkiddfilms1295]

@@FilmJams probably referring to the jaggedness of the bokeh at 2.0 on the 75mm s4. its odd to not have smooth bokeh at that price point I think

[@FilmJams]

@@joshkiddfilms1295the s4 have 8 leaf design, the sp3 have a 9 leaf so the sp3 will look smoother and more circular. I would caution anyone from judging a lens’s qualities from 1 shot or 1 source of light. Part of the reason the bokeh looks like that is because of the actual shape of the lights. They’re tiny tree lights. Look at the other elements in the background. You can also check out another video we shot with the same exact 75mm lens, which will show you maybe more what you’re expecting from the Cooke s4 75mm: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKG5eK1ngrd4hbssi=qKxALeVBrrQQLc64

[@petero1068]

2:10 you forgot to mention how much sharper the S4 is over the SP3s

[@FilmJams]

S4 Definitely sharper. Figured that one was obvious from the side-by-sides.

[@panmaew]

You look at the size comparison you immediately know something has to give.

[@FilmJams]

The T stop is certainly one obvious thing and the E lens mount helps the SP3 reduce size too. Thanks for watching!

[@cammackey]

These lenses really dont look similar at all. I feel the SP3 are just over seas optics, with Cooke coatings. Which is great. Im probably wrong. But yeah, they just look very clinical in comparison to the real deal Cookes

[@FilmJams]

Interesting! I found the the opposite. The SP3 flare more and have much more focus fallloff towards the edges - I would say the S4 are more clinical because of those reasons. What makes the SP3’s look clinical to you?

[@cammackey]

@@FilmJams the S4 had a lot more "character" on the edges, granted its a S35 lens. To me, the SP3 look very clean and dare I say boring. The flares are great tho. But even skin texture looked insanely sharp and almost gritty to my eye. Just reminds me of all the other "perfect" clinical glass coming out. The coatings def help when light flares it out, but everything else about them is just meh. They remind me of the Nisi Athenas. Would be interesting for someone to compare the two sets.

[@FilmJams]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I do think part of the digital sharpness could be from the a7s. This footage is all straight out of camera. No edits to it… no filters….no picture profile. Often when I shoot on Sony cams I need to dial down the digital feel in post or by using filtration. And yes that would make for a good comparison. Can never compare too many lenses!

[@Integr8d]

idk how you can say that color was a bigger difference than that lens chart. oof. the 20 year-old S4 dogs the SP3 in resolution.

[@FilmJams]

Color at 2:36? Looks pretty close to me. Especially compared to other lenses I’ve shot side-by-side. As far as sharpness yes the s4 is sharper but sharpness isn’t always everything these days…with how sharp 8k sensors are I often soften my lenses anyway.

[@Integr8d]

@@FilmJamsSorry. Your synopsis started with 'the biggest differences' and I skimmed through and saw 'color'. Thought to myself, "Color looked pretty close; At least way closer than edge resolution." Even flaring was pretty different... Either way, there's no way I'd take an SP3, wide open, on an establishing shot of anything. It's just not even close to the same caliber.

[@FilmJams]

Ahh I see what you mean now. Yes the SP3 are certainly softer on the edges. Luckily I own the S4 and not the SP3s! 😆🎥👍 but like I said a lot of modern cameras are so sharp I don’t know that it’s as much a factor anymore. Everything looks too sharp to me these days. I like softer looking footage like my atlas anamorphics wide open. Love the creamy dreamy vibe. But certainly not for everything.

[@DmitriFilms]

Cool and all, but Cooke says that the SP3s are meant to match with the Panchros. Interesting to test against the S4s.

[@FilmJams]

😂 sounds like you didn’t watch the video. We go over all that and more!

[@DmitriFilms]

@@FilmJams yes you did, but you also said "It's fried chicken vs chicken friend rice". I'd be curious to see fried chicken vs fried chicken, SP3 vs Panchro. How close do they match?

[@FilmJams]

@@DmitriFilmsluckily Film Jams has more planned! And the Panchro test is on the list. One reason I wanted to test VS the S4 is because our rental shop owns them. We wanted to see if we could match them to the SP3 for a movie I’m doing. And after doing this shootout, I certainly would feel comfortable shooting them side by side for a feature. And Chicken fried rice does share some DNA with Fried chicken…but how much…that’s what the world may never know! 😂

[@DmitriFilms]

@@FilmJams Nice! Well you definitely cannot go wrong with the Cooke Look, no matter the glass. But the fact that we now have Cooke lenses at a cheaper price and for more accessible film cameras is astounding! I would love to try the SP3s on the new full frame Blackmagic! That colour science with this lens would be fantastic!

[@FilmJams]

@@DmitriFilms I agree! We live in good times! Very exciting stuff. SP3s on BM6k is definitely something I'd like to see too!

[@kennytirado7728]

The comparison we’ve been waiting for! Wish they made the sp3’s with autofocus

[@FilmJams]

Haha thanks Kenny! Ohh that would be nice...maybe the v2!

[@NoSuRReNDeR001]

I understand why you would think that.... AF on lenses with long throws would bump the price crazy high, the throw for cine has to be long thats why you never see AF on glass with 220 or longer...There will be lidar solutions that are el cheapo very very very soon so wait for lidar and ext motors. Still be cheaper and than if that had to Manufacture them that way which would kill the purpose of the glass.

[@FilmJams]

Good insights! Yes for sure cinema glass definitely has its specific design that’s tough to change in a cost effective way. The LiDAR stuff is interesting tho - hope it continues to develop to a more useable tech.

[@janpheno5806]

I'm shocked. The S4's are having so much more detail, richness and depth. SP3 are looking extremely flat and not having these typical "cooke-feeling" to me.

[@FilmJams]

Thanks for watching. That’s why we do these comparisons. I always find something I wasn’t expecting.

[@360DigitalStudios]

The SP3s cant be adapted to PL. Thats one big drawback.

[@FilmJams]

For sure. These def seemed designed for cameras like Komodo and Burano with native RF and E mounts. I imagine canon will announce an RF cinema camera soon too which will make these lenses work on many of the modern bodies including Venice.

[@GreekAudioGeek]

While I appreciate the effort in this vid, you have undone all your hard work by comparing the lenses at two different T stops. Why go through all that effort when you are comparing apples to oranges? It ultimately diminishes the value of this video significantly.

[@FilmJams]

Both lenses are shot wide open to show how they perform at their shallowest aperture. For us this is how we shoot these lenses most commonly. As with most lenses there are much less differences when stopping down to say a T4 or a T8. It certainly was a tough choice for us. But ultimately we felt that filming them wide open was the most interesting comparison for us. I’m sure there are others out there that compare at difference t-stops. Either way…Thanks for stopping by!

[@GreekAudioGeek]

@@FilmJams I would suggest you do both - show them wide open and then show them at the same T stop. Otherwise its still apples to oranges. Again, in no way is this meant to take away from the significant amount of work you put into making the video. Just one mans opinion. :)

[@FilmJams]

@@GreekAudioGeek I hear ya! And thank you. I wish I had unlimited hours in the day to make Film Jams :)