Todd Liebman

The assist for steadicam works well- (I dont own one of Raf's, but I know someone who does, and it worked just fine when we were shooting). The question is how wide is your lens, how much dof do you need, and will you be able to pull focus remotely during the shot? If you cant pull focus, you had better use a high enough stop and block it out as precisely as you can, so that which you need to remain in acceptable focus throughout the range of your movement does so- The assist, where steadicam is concerned (and arguably for most film shooting), is only for framing reference. I would not advocate using it as a critical focusing tool in this case. peace, Todd

Interesting camera... not too common, either. Of the 2 original Ostcams I have seen in my travels, one is for sale in the classifieds section of this forum, and I own the other. Mine doesn't have the super-35 option, but it does have a PL mount with pin registration, readout for speed and footage counter, intervalometer, and some nice accessories -a nice top handle, a newer orientable viewfinder that takes an extension, much like the Kinor 35H. There is some VERY interesting stuff made in Russia during the early to mid 90's floating aorund out there... Todd Liebman

I would tend to agree this looks an awful lot like a cameflex adaptor on an OCT18 mount lens (the Konvas 1m takes an *OCT-18* mount -which kind of resembles a Bayo mount, the 2M an *OCT-19* mount -which kind of resembles a PL/BNCR), same as if you would adapt an ARRI B lens to Cameflex or an ACL intermediate mount... Todd Liebman, DP/Steadicam 16/35/HiDef Los Angeles, CA

Steve, The 'spin' is a normal funtion. The orienting prism is on a rotating axis in the housing where your VF locks in- if you carefully turn the notched ring inside the housing (you can carefully use your thumbnail and avoid the glass), the prism spins around to reverse the image coming out of the port (this is for the short VF vs. long VF attachment). It may very well be that your prism is just in the middle of the range. If it is loose or broken, don't try it, but that is one possible (and simple) solution to your dilemma if you havent spun it all the way through the range... Another possbile thing to look for is corrosion- over very long periods of time, the prism coatings can go black, and need to be resilvered. You'll need to seek a qualified tech for that- any well-equipped motion picture camera service center should be able to handle it. If you prefer, there are a few who specialize in Russian gear in the US...I wont advertise for them, but you can feel free to contact me off list if you need a recommendation. Best of luck! Todd Liebman, DP/Steadicam 16/35/HiDef Los Angeles, CA todd_liebman (at) yahoo (dot) com