While many DPs prefer to specify Cooke lenses to take advantage of the Cooke look, cost has sometimes been a barrier. In addition, many purchasers of digital cameras like Red also want a full set of lenses at a realistic price. With the Mini S4’s, Cooke’s  goal has been to deliver a smaller, lighter lens which offers the same resolution, optical quality and reliability as the S4’s, but at a lower price. In addition, the lenses are equally suitable for shooting film and digital images up to and beyond a 4K resolution  and have a wide image circle suitable for large sensors such as the Epic Dragon. The lenses also include /i technology providing lens data per frame for downstream post production.

The lenses are one stop slower than the S4’s (T2.8) and as a result they are smaller and lighter. All Cooke lenses are colour matched. This means that mini S4’s and regular S4’s can be mixed on a shoot with full confidence that the resulting images will match, and like the S4’s, the mini S4’s don’t breathe.

Available with uncoated front element.

For those who want a softer contrast, more flaring and an “older” lens look and feel, the mini S4’s lenses at Camera Rentals are available with uncoated front elements. Offered as a set of or individually, they can be swapped with the standard coated elements by our in-house technician. Uncoated elements may help create a different “historic look” – more flare, softer edges. Take a look at this video example to see the difference, or stop by Camera Rentals for a live demo!