stiff focus on 35mm square fonrt anamorphic

john price · November 7, 2007

I bought a 35mm square front anamorphic and the focus ring is quite stiff. According to the seller, the lens was serviced before it was shipped and it is the design of the lens that makes the mechanism stiff. Hmmmm. Can anyone speak to this? Is there really a lot of drag inherent in the design of these square fronts? At least it's sharp.

Hand holding the 2M is fine but when the focus is a fight, it makes operating tricky.

Tips on servicing these in north america would also be appreciated.

Thanks,

John Price, Toronto.

Bruce Taylor · November 8, 2007

I just took a look at my 80mm squarefront and it is not stiff. It is a one piece OCT19 rather than the earlier 2 piece style, I don't know which you have. I have a two piece squarefront OCT18 for my 1M and it is more stiff because both the front mounted anamorphic adapter and prime lens focus together, resulting in more drag. Whichever lens you have, if the stiffness is excessive you should get it looked at.

I have used Bernie O'Doherty at Super16, he is familiar with the Russian gear (upstate NY). I am having Paul Duclos at Duclos Lenses (LA) take a look at some of my other Russian optics, I have heard only great things about him.

Good luck,

Bruce

john price · November 8, 2007

thanks Bruce,

Only the sperical elements are moving when the focus is shifting. It seems like a newer style lens but there is a very pronounced hump in the focus between INF and 1 meter. Do you know if Bernie has experience with the square fronts? I guess I have to call him up. I am looking at an 80mm from the same seller who is telling me that the focus on it is also stiff... again because of it's design... I do not want to send the 35mm away if service will provide just a marginal improvement. Maybe it's a clump of grease in the tracking channel? It would sure be nice to get from minimum to infinity without giving myself carpal tunnel...

Chris Keth · November 8, 2007

It sounds like it needs service. There is stiff and then there is stiff enough to make you worry. The second probably isn't right.

Steve Zimmerman · November 8, 2007

I've got a 35mm and a 50mm square front Lomo anamorphic lenses. The focus is a little stiff on mine too. One could argue that in anamorphic you don't want to rack focus too fast because of the focus breathing. --But I figure the lubrucant inside the lens is stiffening, these lenses are from the late 60's to the 70's so it has aged a good bit. ;) I called Bernie and he said he could look at them.

Edited November 8, 2007 by Steve Zimmerman

john price · November 8, 2007

I think the focus would not be a problem if I was using a bridge plate and a FF3... there is a geared ring on the lens but that set up would cost at least 4 times what I paid for the glass! I have run into older superspeeds with similar issues but in those cases I have simply asked the rental tech to try another... I am mostly shooting experiemntal home movies on hi con stock so it's not a huge deal. If a real job came along however I would definitely need the focus mechanism to perform properly. I am an IA focus puller so when I encouner these things, I am wired to try and make them disappear. Has anyone ever seen a lightweight FF rig for a 2M? I wonder if one of those old SR rigs would be adaptable?

Thanks for all of the replies.

John.

Roy Cross · November 11, 2007

Hello John;

I think Raf machined a Follow Focus for the 2M. He found a solution to getting around the motor but it required sophisticated machining which drove the price up. I vaguely remember but it was about a year or so ago that it popped up on one of the sites.

Roy