8mm Lens that covers Super 16

James Wilsey · April 20, 2013

Hi all! I am new here but have been lurking for a while.

I am getting a set of primes together for the new blackmagic pocket cam and I am having a hard time figuring out what 8mm lenes cover s16.

So far I have figured out that

8mm T1.3 OPTAR covers

8mm Ultra Prime (way out of my budget)

8mm Optex T2

Zeiss 8mm T2.1 MK2 (the one with intergraded focus gears) Maybe covers I have goten conflicting answers.

Cant find any info on the Zeiss 8mm T2.1 MK1 no focus gears but T* coating

The Zeiss 8mm T2.4 looks like it will not cover. I have also seen 8mm T2.2 (not sure if its a mistake)

Is there anything I should be looking at thats under $1500, I have already purchased a set of super speeds and would like to get the optar but I might not be able to afford it right now.

Thanks!

Rudy Velez Jr · April 20, 2013

I dont know if this helps but I have a Krasnogorsk 3 ( Regular 16 not Super 16, if I do modify it, I would go Ultra because to my from what i've seen Ultra 16mm works great with K3 ) and I just got some footage transferred I shot with a Peleng 8mm lens.

Its a M42 mount lens so I am not sure if you can mount this patiucalr type of lens to your camera(if you have a c mount there are adapters on eBay for cheap prices) but I was throughly happy with my 8mm lens test on my 16mm camera. The Peleng is fisheye with a 35mm camera, so I was a bit worried about edge distortion and vignetting

I used tri-x kodak film stock and those black scratches are due to my cameras notorious loop informers.

Some shots are out of focus because I improperly measured my camera distance from my subject. :( but nonetheless I was happy with the effect it gave to my mother( although I am sure she would be mortified) it was a bit Gilliam-eque, although if I had more light ( all the lights were on in the kitchen) the footage could of have conveyed the sharp image that lens is known to produce. A new lens will produce real nice sharp images on 16mm in wide. Some shots ( a lot of shots ) are overexposed but I feel that is because I told the lab to Push it ( I forget either by 2 stops or 4) the widest the lens opens is 3.5, so you will need good light or artifical light if you can access it

Edited April 20, 2013 by Rudy Velez Jr

Gregg MacPherson · April 20, 2013

Zeiss 8mm T2.1 MK2 (the one with intergraded focus gears) Maybe covers I have goten conflicting answers.

Stopping down and focussing close, the vignette is just about to touch the 16:9 HDTV frame line on my ground glass. It may work. Someone will probably point out that the lens may not perform well right at the edge of the glass.

James Wilsey · April 21, 2013

Stopping down and focussing close, the vignette is just about to touch the 16:9 HDTV frame line on my ground glass. It may work. Someone will probably point out that the lens may not perform well right at the edge of the glass.

Thanks for the info! I have a line on a zeiss 8mm T2.2 but I have a felling that it will not cover. It has a arri standrad mount and thats never a good sign for s16 coverage.

James Wilsey · April 21, 2013

I dont know if this helps but I have a Krasnogorsk 3 ( Regular 16 not Super 16, if I do modify it, I would go Ultra because to my from what i've seen Ultra 16mm works great with K3 ) and I just got some footage transferred I shot with a Peleng 8mm lens.

That Peleng 8mm is another lens that I have been checking out, its a fish eye but hey its cheap and it covers s16 no prob. Could be fun! I would go with the Ultras in a hart beat if it made sense, but sadly there is no way for me to justify such an expense. Thanks for the suggestion!