Cooke Speed Panchros (The Affordable High End Cinema Lens)

insta: @robbiefatt
COOKE SPEED PANCHROS
The average price for a cinema camera lens is over $10000 US Dollars, and that’s for one lens. Most films require a set of at least 5 lenses. You can expect to double that price when it comes to anamorphic lenses, and also zoom lenses. So the hope for a low budget independent shooter to rent or buy these lenses is very unlikely.
With the cinema world, there are a variety of lens brands, but one of the most common and successful is the English company, Cooke.
Cooke speed panchros quickly became a go to for a lot of filmmakers wanting to shoot period piece style content. These exact lenses have been used on major film productions such as The Crown, Chernobyl, Bohemian Rhapsody and in The Academy Award nominated film for best cinematography Mr. Turner.
The unique look of the Cooke Speed Panchros is largely achieved when shooting wide open. Although not the fastest lenses, at T2.3, there is a very interesting swirling affect in the out of focus areas, which adds to a look which could be described as “smeary” or “painterly”. I think this is one of the biggest selling points of the lens. Imperfections add character to a shot, the way that film stocks would add grain and chemical inconsistencies. This is, what makes vintage lenses so sort after.
The Cooke Speed Panchros do have a lot of flare. But this is part of it’s character, and something which a lot of modern cinematography demands. By coming in and out of lens flare, the lens dramatically creates quick changes in depth and contrast.
So how much are Cooke Speed Panchros? Well, they’re still around $10000 US dollars for a single lens if you buy them in their rehoused versions, the Panchro i/classics, TLS and other alternatives.
So why are these considered affordable cinema lenses if they are still so expenseive and were used on all these major films?
Well, I decided that rehousing them wasn’t necessary for me if I wanted to save some money, so I began looking for older, unrehoused versions. Unrehoused versions sell for much cheaper.
Now buying Cooke Speed Panchros isn’t as easy as it used to be. These lenses are heavily sort after because their value and quality is well known. And not only that, it’s almost impossible to tell the quality of the lens because of their age. Fungus and hazing is very common among these lenses, and they significantly reduce the value of these lenses.
To top it off, there are so many different versions of the Cooke Speed Panchro lenses, that choosing the right lens can be a bit tricky. The best thing to do is to look at the serial numbers and only buy lenses which start with the number, 6 or 7 since these are newer and more modern versions of the S2 and S3 series. Although earlier serial numbers can produce nice results, the newer versions are generally of a more consistent quality and a safer purchase. The best place to look for these lenses is on eBay, but they do sell quickly when they are put up for the right price.
So how much can you expect to pay for a Cooke Speed Panchro lens in its original form? Well, it seems to me like the going price for a good quality lens in its original housing is around $3000 US dollars. While this is still a significant amount of money, keep in mind that this lens is optically identical to the newer, far more expensive rehoused versions, and a third of the price you would expect to pay for these newer versions.
One of the main issues with buying individual older speed panchro lenses is that there is almost always some sort of colour shift between the lenses because of their age being manufactured in the 1960s. In particular, I have found that the 75mm Cooke S2 suffers from a significant amount of yellowing in its optics, which is expensive to properly remove, and therefore I have to manually set the white balance every time I am shooting on this lens. I have found that this yellowing does not affect the overall image quality of the lens however.
Overall, these lenses work best with a camera setup which is smaller and designed for it. I have adapted it to my Blackmagic Pocket 4k and my Arri Amira, and am always impressed by the results.
While buying older lenses is a risk, it can also be very rewarding and it was the route I decided to choose when deciding what lenses I was going to invest in for higher end shooting.
Personally, shooting on Cooke Speed Panchro lenses was always a dream of mine, and I feel very lucky that I’ve been able have them as a part of my current kit. In the future I may choose to rehouse them, but for now, I’m happy enough shooting on them in their current form factor.

[@ryannordin7422]

Love this! I have been checking Ebay for several months now looking for vintage panchros - glad to see you've put together a set!

[@matthewaitkenfilms9477]

just flicked through your channel for the last little while while procrastinating doing some uni assignments analyzing some bad movies that my professor loves/ you've shown sooooo much improvement over the years and it is very respectable. alot of filmmakers just hit a wall when it comes to either their knowledge on the subject, skills, creativity etc. and seeing you break that wall and start running over the last few years is really respectable. I'm a newish filmmaker in Adelaide and quite alot of videography businesses I've worked with when doing weddings or commercials either follow a flowchart of approaching a task with little passion or creativity or they do outdated techniques which provide no stylistic benefit even though they have everything they need to make a better product but it'd take 1 minute or 2 to prep on set. I hope, as my career progresses, I keep my passion for the art alive and never top trying to improve!

[@robbiefatt]

Thanks for this comment Matthew I really appreciate it :)

[@ericellsworth9852]

Now you just need a three lens turret for your amira! Love the video. Nice job.

[@christianlagera9621]

This is great content, brother.

[@NYCMDP]

Awesome video! I’m about to get my first one, a 25mm. Could I have more information about the pl mount adapter you use?

[@thekeyframecorner1212]

One of my favorite lens sets. Old housings can be tricky to operate though.

[@chi-wanglee5917]

Hi! Robert, Glad to see you in watching your video and your knowledge on the Cooke lenses. I used to playing around the Cooke, Ross and Wray lenses 30 some years ago on cameras. We modified those lenses to suit the cameras which we used then. It was fund. I still own those lenses which I bought then. I was more into Ross lenses to Cooke as there were more people chasing behind, especially the "Speed Panchros". The prices were very high for me. The Wray lenses are also very good if you can find time to play around with it. Yet, they are more for taking pictures and not video. Have fun with all these English lenses. These are my favorite. Have fun with what you have and I am sure you will enjoy them from all the outcomes they give you.

[@Autorange888]

Why do you omit Dallmeyer lenses, these are also British.

[@SeeDoubleYou]

Wow I really enjoyed this video man. Thank you..!

[@ramigoodwin7647]

You deserve more views keep em coming

[@deathmonkeycrew]

where i can get this pl-adapter?

[@zoltankaparthy9095]

I use an Amotal on an M9 and it displays the same "Cooke Look." And is especially glowing when wide open at f/2.0. Nice lenses from Cooke. Great video, thanks.

[@alexanstey7740]

Great advice! With everybody headed at great speed to larger and larger sensor sizes, do you still consider these a good investment as they probably won't cover the bigger sensors?

[@NicolasWaldvogel]

That is a gorgeous image that you're able to produce with them! I'm not on that level of budget yet but will one day. Thanks for the class content mate

[@jona5093]

Hi Robert, thank you for that wonderful video! I am a young filmmaker from Germany and I recently found 3 old Cooke’s and one old angenieux at my grandpas old arriflex 16st set. They are nearly unused and untouched! I’d love to Adapter them to PL mount for an Arri Amira. Do you think it is possible to find an adapter that doesn’t cost 800$? I’d love to hear some tips from you. Thank you!

[@aregal]

Nikkors are the closing things to Cooke's I'll get. Since I moved to large format, the cheapest Cookes are the S7i line now. :(

[@rafiqueahmed9128]

what a class content, one word only Thanks.

[@filmstudent7389]

Hiya, I'm really loving your footage from your Amira/Cooke set-up, and glad you're living the dream! I've recently bought an Alexa Classic so now saving up to invest in some good quality glass. I think you purchased some Contax Zeiss some time back, and wondered if you had tried them on the Amira? Would be awesome to see a side by side image quality comparison with the Contax and Cooke Speed Panchros to see how well they fair up. All the best with your future films.

[@willhemcrool2645]

how did you buy Arri alexa?from where? please tell me .How can I get it ?I am from Calcutta,India.

[@filmstudent7389]

@@willhemcrool2645 Hi, I saw the advert on Ebay UK, and called the seller to go and see the camera in person. I was happy with the deal so purchased the camera. Just check your local Ebay listing for a good deal.

[@mazurindependentfilmmaking2713]

hey, did you see any test of zeiss vs lomo or cooke? Looking for that too!

[@daviddn5631]

and then there is Deakins that shoots on alexa with the sharpest, most clinical lens out there and still makes it look like peak cinema. What an absolute master.

[@andreasstcrewproject]

Helloo , nice video , i have the 18mm ser 3 f2.2 but its i think its Standart mount . can i use it with adapter to PL mount or will have some issues on RED EPIC , because i read in some forum there is some issues with alexas , amiras . Thnkx

[@shadi5885]

Any idea how much cheaper it is to rehouse them if you own them?

[@mishamiros7240]

where can i find that mount ???!!! i have some old B-mount Pancros and Zeiss that need to see that light !!!! been searching the web but its hard to find a good one!

[@ManofTones]

Hello Robert, do you use these lenses with a speedbooster aswel on the black magic pocket? Or do you keep the cropfactor in mind when shooting with them? Cheers!

[@robbiefatt]

Visualluuks - I don’t have the speedbooster adapter and so just have to work with the crop, I’m waiting on another adapter so I can shoot some more stuff with the Pocket and Cookes 👌

[@oight]

really good video! going through some of my dad's ancient gear who was a camera man, and found one of these so far. he chucked it underneath some heavy lighting equipment in a shed outside full of spiders, so the lens is covered in fungus 😂don't think it'll be worth much tbh, never seen a lens this badly covered in fungus

[@yanbinguo3882]

I really need your help! I want to ask you that today I plan to buy a set of S1 series cookie speed panchro to rehouse the lens to save costs, because s1 is cheaper than s2, but I want to ask what is the difference between s1 and s2 or s3 after rehoused? Should I use s1 or s2? Thank you very much for answering me

[@Warren3carpentry]

great video great info!

[@antonv.]

Thanks!

[@dvsvamsi2421]

You should make more videos on this topic.... Plzzz

[@_oliviagray]

where did you shoot that shot in the dunes???

[@brennanstrader6639]

If you had to choose your top three favorites, what would they be? Im trying to find out which lens I want to start with first.

[@alexandrehugo8363]

Do you now if the Zeiss set for the old ARRI 16ST, will also cover the amira sensor?

[@supercine35]

I think (hope) that old Standard Zeiss primes 16, 24, 32, 50 and 85 mm will do the Job. The 16 mm Distagon must be the version for 35 mm cine film format.

[@flyingfox2005]

Zeiss 16mm lenses will mainly vignette on the Amira. The 50mm will cover as it has a larger image circle.

[@MrBazsi888]

would you consider cooke 25mm for universal field of view? i only have money for one.

[@Autorange888]

The Cooke lens was not made by a Cooke Company, it was made by Rank Taylor Hobson. The Cooke is one of their famous lenses.

[@user-gd2ve6ni1j]

Thank you, it was interesting.

[@oneeye7581]

Great video! :)

[@I_Am_Jos_A]

Theres a good way to get rid of that funk I looked online for professional advice on it if you place it under a UV light it treats and removed that rink you get on the lens

[@amirbrayan6825]

Dont know if you guys gives a shit but if you guys are bored like me during the covid times then you can stream all of the new movies on InstaFlixxer. I've been binge watching with my brother for the last few months =)

[@cooperkane4077]

@Amir Brayan yup, I've been using InstaFlixxer for years myself =)

[@Rohambili]

4:47 what about UV light?

[@vadimka4]

Love Panchros

[@MrTroyboy76]

For those who might want to know where to find an Arri std to PL mount. He mentioned a U.K. vendor named Les Bosher. There is a website but it’s old school and you would need to email or call. For those in the US, you might find the reputable vendor Duclos a nice alternative: www.ducloslenses.com/products/arri-standard-pl-adapter

[@VintageLensCorner]

This is why I went for LOMO OKS cine lenses, many of them were based on Cooke Panchro S2 optics. Lomo OKS 1-50-1 footage (LOMO OKC) kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYKqZHiXrayXrqM

[@gliterr16]

Thanks

[@donovanjugarap]

dang how do you afford all this nice stuff being so young :p great content sir!

[@robbiefatt]

A lot of saving and working, investing in the career I love :)

[@redaizo]

@@robbiefatt Amen to that.

[@chumleyk]

Good luck putting this on full frame camera. remember, full frame is larger than 35mm film which was the other direction on 35,, film.

[@RustyNotesTV]

Is there any more affordable alternative to the Cooke Speed Panchros in the budget of $1,000 for Sony cameras?

[@robbiefatt]

Could go for cooke kinetals, but have to shoot in crop

[@boyd8763]

​@@robbiefatt not true, depends on the focal length. The 50mm Kinetal covers S35. In fact some DPs would use the Kinetal in preference to the Panchro for c/u 'beauty' shots, they are sharper in the middle but soften to the edge of 1/2 frame. (Kinetals were optimised for 16mm, so are not consistent across 35mm)

[@ezzie24]

I've got a set of Mitchell mount Kinetals. Have you successfully adapted to PL (or anything) from Mitchell mount? Thanks

[@boyd8763]

@@ezzie24 The 4 screw turret mount, yes, but only M43 and e-mount. The 3 screw Pro 16 mount.. No (the flange distance is too short)

[@lrave17]

Great stuff man! Can I ask what's the adapter from m4/3 to PL you´re using? I´m aiming to use my pocket 4K with some Speed Panchro (newer version) but I´m struggling getting the right one. I saw this one from Metabones (link below), but Cooke is not on their compatibility list. Thanks! www.metabones.com/products/details/MB_SPPL-m43-BT2

[@RaymondGabriel-gl2mx]

Can anyone help me identify this lens? Or at least send me in the right direction? I have a classic Taylor, Taylor Hobson Cooke Panchrotal Anastigmat 4inch T2.8 lens. It has a very odd mount, kind of like a reverse bayonet with three insert locations, one of which has a push button on the side of the lens. The lens is nickel in color ad a very nice looking lens. The serial number starts with, 364,xxx. Any help with resources or even a database that can give me information would be wonderful. I actually reached out to Taylor Hobson and Cooke and have had no response and it's been about a year. Thank you for any tips and information. I may shoot some footy of the lens for you to see. Stay tuned...

[@supercine35]

Unfortunately are all my Cooke Speed Panchros absolutely useless on my Ursa Mini 4.6K as they perform a horrible green fringe in the picture.

[@boyd8763]

?? perhaps only wide angle Panchros, they are not retrofocus, so the angle of light incident to the sensor can be more than the sensor can handle ( it varies from camera to camera and can lead to vignetting and colour problems). Picture quality improves as you stop it down and more vertical light hits the sensor .. but maybe that's not the look you want! I'd say 40mm or longer would always be ok, and stick with K35s or more modern lenses for wides (where generally you want better/consistent sharpness across the whole frame anyway).

[@adsertheblade]

When I saw the swirl in Kong, I thought it was shot on a Helios...oops

[@nageshkashyapr4301]

Name of the background music please

[@nukliozz]

Super Takumars are incredible and super cheap!

[@KristianSkylstad]

If Leica is Porsche then Cooke is Rolls Royce.