March 2022 - In my 20 plus years of being in the video production industry, I have wore many hats…from producing, to editing and everything in between. But nothing gives me greater satisfaction than having the camera in my hands and in the role of cinematographer or DP. And any DP will tell you it all comes down to the gear you choose, from camera, lens to lighting. In the past year or so, I have been on the hunt for quality set of prime lenses that I could use to compliment my go-to zoom lens, the Fujinon Cabrio 19-90. But a good prime lens set can cost upwards to six figures, but for the life of me, I just could not bring my self to spend that amount on lenses. I was on the search for a used set or something within a reasonable price point.
I scoured the internet, talked to colleagues and perused social media posts to see what other cinematographers were using. Was there anything new out there?? Maybe a dark horse lens that I had over looked? It was on this search that I discovered DZOFilm’s Vespid Prime lens set. It was through social media of other content creators that I slowed down to take a closer look at the Vespids. Before I knew anything about the lenses, the company, the price….
I knew I liked what I saw in the end result from other users.
Then I learned how much the lens set cost and I was immediately skeptical. Nothing in this industry that is of any quality is cheap. It usually means the product is cheaply made, with substandard materials and could not hold up to the quality expected with professional video production. But everything I read from other Vespid users told me otherwise, it was enough positive reviews that I pulled the trigger and bought the 7 piece set of the DZOFilm Vespid.
Once you put the lenses in your hands, you realize very quickly that there Is nothing cheap about the Vespids other than the price. From the lens housing to the glass itself, the materials used to craft the Vespid are high quality, and of solid construction. The compact build makes these lenses very portable and mount with ease.
The first thing you notice about the footage shot with any Vespid prime, is the texture you see in focus and the transition in and out of focus is smooth and consistent. Add a beautiful rounded bokeh and rich contrast and color rendering of skin tones, you start to realize these lenses are special and provide any indie filmmaker with the tools needed to create dynamic imagery.
The full set comes with a 25mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm, 100mm, 125mm and even a 90mm Macro lens to round it out. All lens are a consistent T2.1-T22 at all focal lengths. DZO just released the 16mm with a T2.8 f-stop, which I was a little disappointed to hear, I was hoping it would at least match the others at T2.1, but it won’t stop me from adding it to the package eventually.
I’ve never felt compelled to take time and speak out about any of my gear, but in my search in finding an affordable prime lens solution, I found a quality product in the DZOFIlm Vespid and have been truly blown away by the end result with the entire set. I argue that the Vespid is best in class for prime lenses and quite possibly hold up against lenses that cost 10x’s as much. It’s certainly the best investment & value I’ve made to my camera package in quite some time, dare I say DZOFilm, you could have charged me more for this set and I would have gladly paid! I look forward to sharing some more content in the coming months.
- Dean Camara - DP, Cineasta Digital Productions
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