Tele or zoom lenses for Bolex H16 reflex camera

[Anu-Laura Tuttelberg]

Hi!
I'm new to this site and maybe this topic has been discussed already. But can anyone suggest which lens to look for my Bolex H16 Reflex camera? I am looking for a tele lens or a zoom lens that covers at least 100/120 mm.

At this moment I have mostly found these lenses on offer:

ANGENIEUX 2.2/12-120MM C-MOUNT LENS for BOLEX 16MM

ANGENIEUX 2.8/15-150MM C-MOUNT LENS FOR BOLEX 16MM

I believe the Angenieux 2.2/ 12-120mm lens should match Bolex 16mm reflex camera but what about the Angenieux 2.8/15-150mm lens? And is there a difference if I am shooting on Super 16 or Regular 16mm film? 

Thank you for any hints!
Anu-Laura

[Robert Hart]

I understand that the Angenieux 12-120 will not give you full Super16mm coverage. It will vignette at the wide end and maybe again in the range 25mm-35mm and clear to 120. I understand that the Angenieux 15-150 is Super16mm capable. The Angenieux 17-70 "compact" which was built for the Cinema Products GSMO camera definitely is. They were being sold as new old stock a few years ago. People seem to be hanging on to them as I could not find any listed on eBay.

[Simon Wyss]

If you’re just up to long focal length, a telephoto lens will serve you better optically and with weight. You may want to consider a Tele-Tessar or an apochromat by Kinoptik. The Kern-Paillard Yvar 100 and 150 are triplets, therefore lightweight. Century was specialist in long lenses, the choice went up to 1200 mm. There are numerous other makes around such as Canon, Berthiot, TTH, Kilfitt, Angénieux, Wollensak, Astro, Elgeet, Schneider, Kodak.

[Dom Jaeger]

You don't really need to worry about the Bolex prism with most zooms, from my testing they are not very affected, especially ones that are fairly slow like f/2.8. Any lens stopped down to around f/2.8 or f/3.5 or more won't be affected very much, nor will any lens over 50mm. 

Those zooms should be OK, but as Simon mentioned if you want the best image quality a telephoto prime lens should perform better than a 10x zoom from the 60s or 70s. There are some pretty silly prices being asked for some telephoto C mount lenses though. You shouldn't have to spend more than a few hundred dollars, ie:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/354270790552

A zoom will be a lot more versatile if you don't have many other focal lengths, or want to quickly frame your shots. Just make sure to lock off the turret with the top lock and the bottom port lock if you have it.

Is your camera modified for S16? There is no such thing as S16 film as such, there is only single or double perf film and almost all film you buy today will be single perf. So whether a lens vignettes depends on whether your camera is modified for S16, not the film you use.