First Bolex test with Nikon lenses

Bryce Lansing · October 20, 2009

I got my first test back, and was pretty satisfied for the most part. But a few things are worrying me a little bit, because I have a friend who wants me to shoot his short film on it in a month.

There are a few very noticeable scratches throughout the beginning, but they're gone by the end. This confused me a little bit, because if it was something in the camera that was scratching the film as it came through, wouldn't it have scratched the whole roll?

Another is the soft focus. I had always read that you should never use non-reflex lenses open past f4. I noticed shots at 1.2 and 1.4 were completely out of focus (although they looked focused in my VF.

Most shots were focused, but some shots at 2.8 (for instance the one at 00:36) were pretty soft. However the sharpest shot of the roll was shot at 2.8 (at 01:04). So how do I know if it's ok to shoot at 2.8 or not? How do I know what shots will be soft and what will be sharp?

http://www.vimeo.com/7149130

David Auner aac · October 20, 2009

Hi Bryce,

have your Bolex checked and cleaned. That should take care of the scratches. Also, your film is pretty speckled with dirt, try and keep the interior and film very clean during loading.

Secondly, be sure to use a tripod for test shoots like this. Makes it much easier to check for stuff if the frame doesn't bounce around as in some of your shots.

As for softness, it's really hard to say with the vimeo file. Some shots looked pretty good to me. Maybe you could post some`full-res stills?

Cheers, Dave

Bryce Lansing · October 21, 2009

Heres some frames:

16mm f2.8 lens, f2.8, pretty sharp.

24mm f2.8 lens, f2.8, soft

24mm f2.8 lens, f2.8 1/2, soft

50mm f1.2 lens, f2.8 1/2, very sharp

16mm f2.8 lens, f8, sharp

The only thing I can think of is that the 16mm and the 24mm lenses don't perform well at 2.8, because that is their open aperture. The 50mm performs very well at 2.8, but it's open aperture is 1.2. But what confuses me is the first shot with the 16mm at f2.8 is not soft.

Edited October 21, 2009 by Bryce Lansing

David Auner aac · October 21, 2009

The only thing I can think of is that the 16mm and the 24mm lenses don't perform well at 2.8, because that is their open aperture. The 50mm performs very well at 2.8, but it's open aperture is 1.2. But what confuses me is the first shot with the 16mm at f2.8 is not soft.

Hi Bryce,

you should really have your camera checked. I seems to me that the shots you describe as soft are not soft because of using Nikon lenses. They seem to be sharp behind the subject (e.g. the lines next to the persons face near the window seem quite sharp). If these shots appeared in focus in the finder my guess is that there's something afoot in your optical path in the camera. It either seems like the FFD is off or the GG isn't where it should. That's my guess.

Regards, Dave

Bryce Lansing · November 2, 2009

The actual GG is in the right place, but could it be something in the viewfinder?

Also, what is the blue streak that keeps appearing on the left side? Is that a result of the motor starting up? I only see it at the beginning of each shot. And why is it blue? Not quite as flattering as the orange marks I've seen on other Bolex footage.