Prime lens for Viper Filmstream

[Brian Rose]

Hello All:

 

My company is planning a shoot in late March, using Thomson's Viper Filmstream. It is a B4 type mount, 2/3 CCD, and one we will be using currently has mounted an Canon HD-ED HJ9 8x zoom (5.5 to 50mm).

 

However, the producer is interested in tracking down a set of primes for rental, for the sharpness and greater speed.

 

I've found a few examples, like Canon's FJ line, and Carl Zeiss Digiprimes, but the rental houses for these products are all largely coastal, and we're located in KC. It would be nice to find something closer to home.

 

The next possibility is adapting some S16 or 35mm lenses to B4, but I understand that for some lenses (such as those with PL mounts), this could prove troublesome (in another thread, it was stated PL to B4 could yield focus issues).

 

Any advice on new avenues to consider would be really appreciated!

 

Best,

 

Brian R.

[Satsuki Murashige]

Well, definitely stick with B4 lenses. I like the Digiprimes a lot. Canon cine zooms are good too.

 

Have you tried contacting Zeiss distributor Bandpro and asking them who has Digiprimes for rent in your region?

 

Their number is: 818.841.9655

[Phil Rhodes]

Digiprimes.

 

Also, digiprimes.

 

If you're stuck for ideas: digiprimes.

 

Edit: the issue with adapting PL mount lenses onto 3-chip cameras is that they don't necessarily, or possibly even often, have light rays coming out of the back which are parallel to the optical axis (strictly, they are not image-space telecentric). This can lead to convergence issues between the RGB imagers.

 

Though frankly, I have seen it done, and it was not unusably terrible; they suffered perhaps more badly than usual from magenta-green bokeh but that's a completely subjective assessment. You could probably get away with it if you carefully assessed the performance of a particular set of lenses in this regard.

 

P

[Brian Rose]

Thanks for the great advice. I was pretty sure digiprimes were my best/only option, and your input really reassures me I've found the best route. I wanted to investigate as many paths as possible, to try to get a great set of primes for a good price.

 

Luckily, a place we've rented from in Chicago carries them, so it looks like we'll get a good arrangement.

 

Thanks again!

 

BR

[Satsuki Murashige]

No problem Brian. There are also the Fujinon B4 primes which are good, but they are much larger and heavier than the Ziess. I think they might be a touch faster. Have not used the Canon FJ primes, but have held them and they are very compact and light. The Digiprimes are probably much easier to find though.

 

If you go with Zeiss, make sure to also rent the Zeiss Sharpmax collimator. It's a tube that slides onto the front of the lens and projects a Seimens star so you can check back focus quickly at infinity focus. Much faster and more accurate than throwing up a focus chart as you don't have to pull out your tape measure and move the c-stand back and forth, it's well worth the extra rental cost. Do it for every lens change if possible.