Farhad Dehlvi describes using the ZEISS CP.3 lenses to shoot "Have you Ever Seen the Rain?" for it's 25th anniversary

CP.3 and CCR

Asked to shoot one of the 25th anniversary music videos for Creedence Clearwater Revival, Farhad Dehlvi knew he would need lenses that were robust and deliver under harsh conditions. He sat with ZEISS Cine Lenses to talk about why he chose the CP.3 lenses.

When I learned that we were to shoot the video in the wilds of Montana, I knew that I needed lenses that were lightweight, portable and didn’t need a lot of accessories, but something that would look robust enough wide open as it would at T4. With the ZEISS CP.3 Compact Primes, we found a wonderful set of lenses that really held their own, at night and wide open with lights flaring in. We could shoot night exteriors in single-digit temperatures, taking the lenses in and out of warmer interior sets, throwing every type of weather that Montana had and the lenses never skipped a beat.

Farhad Dehlvi describes using the ZEISS CP.3 lenses to shoot "Have you Ever Seen the Rain?" for it's 25th anniversary

In the little time that I had to test the lenses, I found that they softened up a little bit when wide open and then as soon as you got past a T2.8 or a T2.8 T4 split, they got really sort of crisp and crunchy. This control helped when for some of the interior shots, we wanted a softness, an intimacy and tenderness to those moments. We opened up the lenses wide open to get a little shallower depth of field, a little softer contrast and roll-off. I think that gave us a gentleness and a sense of intimacy of being in another character’s private space as opposed to feeling clinical or cold.

The CP.3 Compact Primes delivered on a couple of levels, both aesthetically as well as being a pleasure to work with because of their solid construction. Never once did they give us any mechanical or optical issues, they were just flawless and we couldn’t have asked for anything better.

See the full music video here

See the Behind the Scenes interview with Farhad here

Farhad Dehlvi has served as Director of Photography on a number of short and feature films including PRISM, RENE, THE LAST MARBLE and GREEN, which was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the 2020 Sundance Short Film Awards.

Click here for more information about ZEISS CP.3 Compact Prime Lenses.