Sir Alvin Ekarma

The K3 can be hand cranked; you can get a hand crank accessory that will not only help you wind the camera, but let you do shoot Old-timey-silent-movie-style although it's not something I've personally done http://cgi.ebay.com/Krasnogorsk-3-add-on-H...1QQcmdZViewItem

Hopefully. My zenitar had to be properly collimated before I could use it, dodgey quality control and all.

You're going to need both since the Peleng can distort and is slow and the Zenitar isn't wide enough. But if money is an issue, go for the Zenitar if you can't come across a 17mm takumar. (And bear in mind the issues with dealing with these lenses i.e. flaring and you'll need to rig up some kind of filter threading system since they're shaped oddly.)

No, it's still a normal SLR lens, albeit generally considered a step up from Takumar.

Like I said, theoretically. You're definitely going to need to test. If it works on the Super-8, move up to tests on a 16mm set up. I think that's on the money although I'm not an expert. The DOF w/ these adapters seems to be measured in centimeters and milimeters, rather than feet and inches. I'll say it's pretty neat the way it was able to focus on the dog's nose, then snout, then face. (I think that shot was there, right?) Also, I'm fairly certain that you're going to lose at least 1-2 stops so you'll need to factor any hassles that might bring regarding lighting and shooting style.

Ah rats...!

I just had a brainstorm and I think I know how you could get exactly the same effect as those DV camera SLR adapters-- except you'd need a whole new camera. The idea is simple: get a c-mount camera with a c-mount lens (let's say 10mm) attach a DV camera SLR adapter, and then the SLR lens of your choice. Theoretically, it should work; it's the same set up as it would be with a DV camera, right? But of course you'd need to rent or borrow a bolex, beaulieu, eclair, etc. (and the SLR adapter, and an SLR lens) to see if this gets you what you want, and then purchase a whole new camera. Whichever way you decide to go, expect to do a lot of experimenting....

IMHO, I think you'd need a tilt-shift camera lens (here's DIY version http://www.creativepro.com/story/howto/25432.html I don't think you're going get that extreme DOF without something like that. Since the sweet spot of most lenses are around 5.6 generally, you'd need to open all the way which is going to affect image quality adversely (unless its a really primo, pricey lens). Also, if you're outdoors, you'd need to have a bunch of ND filters, what with an average exterior day being around F11 and you'd have a hell of a time seeing anything.

When I did my tests, I had the roll processed and projected so your mileage may vary. Also, I forgot to mention my K3 was converted to S16. Anyway, you may want to consider having the lens collimated to make sure it's up to spec and then shoot some test footage. You'll need to run tests with the SLR lenses you'll be getting anyway so you can use that as a baseline, comparing the SLR lenses and Zoom lens at their respective focal lengths..

The stock meteor zoom lens is very underrated; I tested it at f4 against some takumar, russian and bushnell SLR primes and it totally held up. I'd stick with the meteor and get an 8mm Peleng if you're on a budget or this faster (but pricier) 10mm sigma lens http://cgi.ebay.com/SIGMA-10mm-F2-8-EX-DC-...1QQcmdZViewItem although I don't know if there's an adapter you can get to have it fit on an M42 mount. Also, chances are that you'd need any SLR lens recollimated so they can focus to infinity on the K3 but I'm not a 100% on that.

Correction: 25.5mm to 46mm step rings on the camerafilters.net page and some more here... http://www.camerafilters.com/pages/rings1.aspx

If you do a search in the "Lenses and filters" subsection of "Cameras & Photo" on ebay, you can find a 25.5mm to 37mm step ring and if you go here http://camerafilters.net/shopsite_sc/store...p_Up_Rings.html you can find 25.5mm step rings to a variety of sizes.

I was doing some research and I found these instructions for making a DIY follow focus rig with off-the-shelf parts for around $130; the nicest thing about it is that it apparently just requires assembly and you're done with it (although some drilling is suggested for securing a knob.) It was made for a DV rig but it should work just as well for a 16mm set up.... http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?p=800267

Scratch that last entry. If you use "computar" as a search term using Ebay, you'll find a bunch of cheap variable focus/aperture 8mm c/cs mount zoom CCTV lenses.

You'll probably just need to troll Ebay; I did a cursory search and found this but it's way too pricey... http://cgi.ebay.com/Pentax-Cosmicar-8-48mm...ksid=p1638.m118 You should be able to find a proper manual focus/manual iris 8mm lens for under $30 on Ebay but it's going to take time. However, just sticking a miniDV camera over the viewfinder can also work and might open up more possibilities. Check out the 16mm thread and the guy who did that custom job with the Scoopic... http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/in...showtopic=27593 You could probably find a busted cheep miniDV camera that can't record but has a functioning flip out monitor and lens and have that as a dedicated video tap. From there, you'd just need to rig up something to fasten it to the camera (probably from Home Depot methinks) and you're in business.

If you get the russian Zenitar or Peleng m42 lenses, they need to be re-collimated for RX distance (or not as there are varying opinions on this since the literature says that this can't be done and/or won't make a difference); in any event, Bernie O'dougherty said he could do it when I asked him about this service some time back. Also note that if you use either of these lenses, you definitely need a french flag as these are terribly prone to flare that will only be apparent once the film comes back and that the Peleng is slooooow. As for other lenses, I've tested and have good results with a an 85mm Jupiter 9 and a vivitar 135mm; both very sharp and punchy. I also tested an old 50mm takumar that was good but yellowing.

There might be problems focusing to infinity. I have some M42 lenses (85mm, 100mm) for my EBM and they need to be tweaked.

What kind of c/cs mount lens are you using? Ideally it should be either an 8mm fixed lens or 3-8mm zoom lens, and in both cases it should have manual focus/aperture...

Have you tried JK Camera...? http://www.jkcamera.com/ Not quite in San Francisco, but pretty close so shipping would be reasonable.

have you tried Du-all? http://duallcamera.com/store/index_BatteriesChargers.shtml

Let's not forget "El Mariachi"...

You could have the mount modified to an Arri or PL mount but that might cost as much or more than the camera...

I have on POE 16-100 and a year or so ago I did some s16 tests and had it projected at Colorlab in Rockville, MD. There was some verrrrry slight vignetting in one of the corners (I forget which) but Chris the techie said that was because the projector used exposed a sliver more frame info on the right than a standard projector as it was a proprietary set-up that can switch back from 16, S16 and 35mm. (Also of note is that the 35mmm SLR 17mm Zenitar lens I tested also exhibited the same vignetting.) But in any event, I never saw any vignetting in the telecined footage I later shot with the lens. My two pesos...

As long as you don't have a battery in the K-3 for the meter, it won't do anything...

There's a "v" notch in the viewfinder that would be frame center in R16 so frame things off-center to the right of that and you should be okay. Still, you'll need to practice a bit to get a feel for the framing.