Lens requirement for Arri BL4?

Jeffrey Mahon · February 9

Hi,

New to the forum and new to 35mm. I spent the last 40 years behind professional video cameras so I have very little experience with 35mm....so I went out and bought a excellent condition Arri 35bl4 with all the trimmings except lenses..

I can't afford premium Primes at the moment but looking into Xeen.

So my questions are:

Will these new 35mm PL Primes, that are made mainly for digital cameras and 35 sensors, work on the 35Bl4 gate?

Any recommendations on descent affordable Primes other than Xeen?

And my last question, I prefer shooting oners, on a tripod, minimal cutaway unless necessary, letting a scene play out as much as possible within the frame. Saying that, if I were to have only one lens, what focal length would be the best? I'm thinking 25 or 35mm?

I appreciate any advice and insight offered!

Jeff

Brian Drysdale · February 10

The important thing to consider is clearing the mirror shutter of the Arri BL4.

A 32mm lens would probably be a good all round lens, although a 35mm is more common. The 25mm may have too much distortion for close ups, unless that's what you want. It really depends on the style you're going for.

Uli Meyer · February 10

I’ve shot plenty of footage on my 235 with a CP.3 25mm lens. Excellent all round lens for wide and tighter shots.

Jeffrey Mahon · February 10

4 hours ago, Brian Drysdale said:

The important thing to consider is clearing the mirror shutter of the Arri BL4.

A 32mm lens would probably be a good all round lens, although a 35mm is more common. The 25mm may have too much distortion for close ups, unless that's what you want. It really depends on the style you're going for.

Thank you Brian!

Jeffrey Mahon · February 10

3 hours ago, Uli Meyer said:

I’ve shot plenty of footage on my 235 with a CP.3 25mm lens. Excellent all round lens for wide and tighter shots.

Great footage! Thank you Uli.

Dom Jaeger · February 11

Almost all modern PL lenses still adhere to the mirror clearance standards of the film era, in other words they don’t protrude too far past the mount.
If you are concerned, here’s a diagram of allowable rear protrusion dimensions to clear an Arriflex spinning mirror camera like a BL4:

IMG_1679.jpeg.1edc6190a8e082911e2a3aa723e10251.jpeg

(Sorry for the low resolution, this site now limits pics to under 18kB which is barely useable). The surface to measure from is the lens mounting flange, with the four wings, where it seats on the camera mount. You’ll find nearly all lenses tend to fit inside this envelope.

Optically, cine lenses made for digital cameras will work perfectly fine on film movie cameras, so you don’t need to worry about that. Full frame lenses will cover a larger area than a Super 35 film gate, but if the focal length is the same then the angle of view will be the same as a S35 lens.

The only thing you sometimes need to worry about with modern lenses is the slope of the camera body where the mirror is housed. That can sometimes foul on the iris ring of some lenses before they are fully seated in the camera mount. I have heard Xeens can do this on certain cameras, so ideally test them at a rental house or rent one to test before buying. CP.2s are Ok.

Happy filming!