converted Meike 3.5mm m4/3 to cmount for Bolex

[Allyn Iwatsuru]

On 1/4/2023 at 1:38 AM, Daniel Meier said:

Any chance of giving us a manual on how to build the adapter?

Or even better: did anyone figure out a 3D model yet?

I would love to have one if these Frankenstein-Adapters.

Sorry to leave you hanging, I emailed you. A 3d printed one would be super cool. 

[Jeff Cecere]

On 1/15/2023 at 11:40 PM, Allyn Iwatsuru said:

Sorry to leave you hanging, I emailed you. A 3d printed one would be super cool. 

Would it be possible to email me a manual as well?

Would love to try this set up out.

[Luis Hartmann]

On 1/16/2023 at 5:40 AM, Allyn Iwatsuru said:

Sorry to leave you hanging, I emailed you. A 3d printed one would be super cool. 

Hey, any chance you could share this with me as well?

[Allyn Iwatsuru]

On 9/9/2024 at 7:01 AM, Luis Hartmann said:

Hey, any chance you could share this with me as well?

Not to get the few people that are interested hopes up but since there is still actual interest in this I’ve been working on an actual c mount fabricated out of aluminum. The process is still in its very early stages ( I made a completely useless 3d printed mount), but since I have no engineering background or 3d modeling background it’s taking me a long time because I’m learning how to do this from scratch. I have a fabricator lined up that gave me a very rough estimate on cost and if I get these made they will be hopefully very affordable. Take all this with a grain of salt because I still have a long way to go.

[Luis Hartmann]

Keep us updated!

Edited October 15, 2024 by Luis Hartmann
forgot

[Allyn Iwatsuru]

Update: the mounts are going into production, they’ll be made out of aluminum and then anodized. The earliest I should get a sample will be in about a week, if everything’s good I’ll have the full production run of 20 in about another week give or take. Then they’ll need to be anodized ( not sure on the turn around). They’ll be priced roughly around $100 usd (that could change depending on the anodized cost).

[Luis Hartmann]

15 hours ago, Allyn Iwatsuru said:

Update: the mounts are going into production, they’ll be made out of aluminum and then anodized. The earliest I should get a sample will be in about a week, if everything’s good I’ll have the full production run of 20 in about another week give or take. Then they’ll need to be anodized ( not sure on the turn around). They’ll be priced roughly around $100 usd (that could change depending on the anodized cost).

Cool! Are you gonna setup some website, or is paypal fine? 
I‘m down for it, let me know how the sample comes out!

[Allyn Iwatsuru]

On 11/28/2024 at 3:10 AM, Luis Hartmann said:

Cool! Are you gonna setup some website, or is paypal fine? 
I‘m down for it, let me know how the sample comes out!

PayPal will be fine, along with Venmo and Zelle. I won’t be doing a website or Shopify because I’m making this run of 20 and that’s it.

[Geffen Avraham]

Could you tell me more about this adapter? I want to see pictures. Also, JLCCNC can probably make them very cheap, if you're not planning on making more it would be good to have a CAD model in the community.

[Allyn Iwatsuru]

8 hours ago, Geffen Avraham said:

Could you tell me more about this adapter? I want to see pictures. Also, JLCCNC can probably make them very cheap, if you're not planning on making more it would be good to have a CAD model in the community.

What would you like to know? It’s not really an adapter as it’s more of a replacement mount, it’s just a c mount for the meike fisheye. I’ll post pictures of the product as soon as I get my sample (should be as early as next week).

[Luis Hartmann]

16 hours ago, Allyn Iwatsuru said:

What would you like to know? It’s not really an adapter as it’s more of a replacement mount, it’s just a c mount for the meike fisheye. I’ll post pictures of the product as soon as I get my sample (should be as early as next week).

so it's not universally usable on other m43 lenses?

[Raymond Zrike]

I’d also be interested in more info about/photos of the adapter and possibly buying one. Also wondering if you think it would work on other c-mount cameras or just the Bolex?

[Allyn Iwatsuru]

8 hours ago, Luis Hartmann said:

so it's not universally usable on other m43 lenses?

Not sure haven’t tested it on any, the rear lens barrel has to be small enough to fit inside the c mount barrel. So short answer, no it is not universal. The next lens I’d like to try and fit it on would be the Laowa 6mm cine lens. If anyone lives in Los Angeles or Southern California and owns this lens and would be willing to let me do some measurements I’d like to work out some sort of deal.

5 hours ago, Raymond Zrike said:

I’d also be interested in more info about/photos of the adapter and possibly buying one. Also wondering if you think it would work on other c-mount cameras or just the Bolex?

 

Yes it works on other c mount cameras, I own a bolex rex5, eclair acl and a super 8 Beaulieu 2008 and it works on all of the above. The only other common 16mm I can think of I haven’t tested it on is the Beaulieu r16, but it doesn’t appear anything would obstruct you from mounting this lens and the c mount is universal through all camera systems so I see no reason why this wouldn’t work on that camera system.

[Allyn Iwatsuru]

Got my samples, full production should come shortly. Photo in the link. A couple of things to make clear, this is not an adapter but a conversion mount. There’s roughly only 2mm in difference between m4/3 and c mount focal flange distance so an adapter in my eyes is impossible. Second this does cover the entire frame of standard 16mm but does not cover the entire frame for super 16mm.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QdDjusuT9NXGzNtpmfVMdksgNRFBqwth/view?usp=drivesdk

Edited December 4, 2024 by Allyn Iwatsuru

[Boris Kalaidjiev]

I am also interested in the conversion mount! 

 

Do you have any sample video footage from the Bolex?

Edited December 5, 2024 by Boris Kalaidjiev

[Don H Marks]

Nice way to adapt that lens. I was wanting somethng similar but went about it different. I had an adapter made that allows a 37mm thread adapter screw into the front lenshood thread of my 5.5mm Switar (Standard-8).

I put this Raynox 0.3 fisheye adapter on the lens. 

 

Edited December 5, 2024 by Don H Marks

[Don H Marks]

I had been told many years ago that the fisheye effect in David Holzman's Diary was a fisheye adapter on the front of the lens. Maybe someone knows more. 

 

 

Edited December 5, 2024 by Don H Marks

[Don H Marks]

Other 37mm thread lenses can be put in front of the 5.5mm Switar. 

This is a Kenko 0.5 wide converter.  This is my substitute for a Kern Aspheron that they never made for this lens  ( don't know if the Kern Aspheron for the 10mm lens works on this 5.5mm lens).

Seems no one wants these 'Camcorder' accesory lenses and they can be found pretty cheap these days. 

 

Edited December 5, 2024 by Don H Marks

[Allyn Iwatsuru]

15 hours ago, Boris Kalaidjiev said:

I am also interested in the conversion mount! 

 

Do you have any sample video footage from the Bolex?

I have sample footage from the prototype that is an amalgamation of two mounts put together (see the first two posts in this thread). I have not received the new mounts yet, but they are the same concept, footage wont look any different since it’s the same lens just different mount design.

[Luis Hartmann]

On 12/3/2024 at 1:33 AM, Allyn Iwatsuru said:

Not sure haven’t tested it on any, the rear lens barrel has to be small enough to fit inside the c mount barrel. So short answer, no it is not universal. The next lens I’d like to try and fit it on would be the Laowa 6mm cine lens. If anyone lives in Los Angeles or Southern California and owns this lens and would be willing to let me do some measurements I’d like to work out some sort of deal.

 

Yes it works on other c mount cameras, I own a bolex rex5, eclair acl and a super 8 Beaulieu 2008 and it works on all of the above. The only other common 16mm I can think of I haven’t tested it on is the Beaulieu r16, but it doesn’t appear anything would obstruct you from mounting this lens and the c mount is universal through all camera systems so I see no reason why this wouldn’t work on that camera system.

Let's see, I was planning to use it on my r16, the PL adapter from RAF doesn't clear according to RAF, for example.

On 12/5/2024 at 4:17 AM, Allyn Iwatsuru said:

Got my samples, full production should come shortly. Photo in the link. A couple of things to make clear, this is not an adapter but a conversion mount. There’s roughly only 2mm in difference between m4/3 and c mount focal flange distance so an adapter in my eyes is impossible. Second this does cover the entire frame of standard 16mm but does not cover the entire frame for super 16mm.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QdDjusuT9NXGzNtpmfVMdksgNRFBqwth/view?usp=drivesdk

Ah that makes sense, I was always a bit confused by how it'd be possible to make an adapter.

[Allyn Iwatsuru]

The mount is finished and ready for sale, the mount alone will be $100+shipping. If  this is inappropriate to post here I’ll move it to the classifieds. I also made an Instagram figuring that maybe a better way for people to view photos of the mount and example clips. https://www.instagram.com/microcmount?igsh=MWYzMXB5cXdlZTV2Yw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr