Lenses for Bolex H16 RX5 in S16

[Jon O'Brien]

Could anyone give me some advice on what lenses would work with a Bolex H16 RX5 camera (C mounts), in Super 16? I'd be happy for any advice you can give me ... even if you know of just one or two lenses that will work. Will a vintage Kern 18-86mm f2.5 zoom lens, designed for the Bolex in reg.16, work for S16? Regarding primes, anyone know a good wide angle that will work well for this camera outfit? Thanks. Please feel free to mention any good Nikon (or other good SLR still lenses) to C mount adapters you know of, and where to buy.

Edited September 28, 2016 by Jon O'Brien

[Tyler Purcell]

You've kinda run into the problem with C mount Bolex cameras. I don't believe there were any S16 format C mount lenses made. The only way to get S16 coverage that I know of, is through an adaptor to another format. Most common is Arri B to C or PL to C. The Bolex EBM has a much better mounting system and adaptors are much less money.

 

You will get some vignetting full wide with a zoom, but as you zoom in, it should be OK.

 

Adaptors are available through Visual Products and I see them all the time on ebay.

[Jean-Louis Seguin]

The best lenses for a RX camera will be the Kern Switar lenses marked "H16RX".

Full super-16 coverage is often judged subjectively by the user.

Some lenses will give you an image in the four corners but those corners may be a little darker.

This is acceptable to some and not to others. with hi-key images, the darkening will be more noticeable.

The 10mm and 25mm give you this kind of coverage.

Longer focal lengths, like 50mm, 75mm and up usually have plenty of coverage for super-16.

The 18-86mm zoom and also the newer 12.5-100mm, will not cover at the wider end.

The 16-100mm is in the subjective category; it almost covers fully.

You can use photographic lenses like Nikon, but the focal lengths will give telephoto perspective on 16mm.

 

Jean-Louis

[Volker Bendt]

Hi Jon,

 

no worries with your Bolex S-16.

In my experience all Switar RX c-mount pre set lenses will cover S-16.

The only exception may be the older non pre set 1,6/10mm.

Believe me, I have the 1,6/10mm, 1,1/26mm and 1,4/50mm pre set lenses on the turret of my RX4.

The Switar 10mm can also be used with the "ASPHERON" super wide attachment, which makes it an incredible 5,5mm combi.

The Vario Switar 1,9/16-100mm will cover S-16 through the entire zoom range from inf. to around 1,6m.

The Schneider Cinegon 1,8/10mm is also fine.

If you look at the full size film image (12,35x7,5mm), there may be a sign of shadowing in the very very corners.

The projected area is 11,75x7,05mm, the scanned area for HDTV is 11,75x6,35mm and there is no vignetting at all.

For private use I'm shooting reversal, lucky to have a S-16 projector, which makes a wonderful home theater

and there are absolutely no issues with all these lenses.

 

Have fun with your RX5

 

Volker

[Jon O'Brien]

That's good to know that there shouldn't be any hassles shooting S-16. Thanks everybody. Thanks too to Volker. I guess if, full frame, there is a little bit of shadowing in corners I could get the image scanned just a bit closer (zoomed-in a bit/cropped slightly). My main interest isn't reversal processing and film projection on 16mm projector, but shooting negative stock and having the image digitised by the lab, and putting the finished movie (after editing/post production/soundtrack etc using a computer) on the internet, and hopefully also projecting digitally in a small cinema. I wonder if, having got the digitised image back from the lab, and there is shadowing or very slight vignetting in the corners, whether the movie can be re-cropped at home using an editing program on the computer before being 'released' to the public. Maybe I will ask advice on this in another forum area, related to telecine which I'm supposing is what I'm referring to here. There is much for me to learn! My background is in reversal film and home projection.

Edited September 29, 2016 by Jon O'Brien