NormNelson

Thank you for your information and interest in helping me out. Here's what I found out, Dean Snyder Cameras in Denver rents a conversion mount. If I wanted to buy a mount it only costs a measily $2,500 as this a is major mirror/mount. So it's not simple, the Sony is a Bayonet mount the image reversal is the challenge. So bottomline I have rent a mount to do the work. quote name='Michael Nash' date='Apr 8 2008, 12:15 PM' post='226180'] So I'm assuming it's a three 2/3" chip camera with a B4 lens mount? We need to confirm the tech specs before we can figure out a solution. There are lots of different ways to get still photography lenses mounted on a video camera, but they each have their caveats. It's not always as simple as just using an adapter, so you have to be very specific. But the more pragmatic solution is to just get a different lens that's made for your camera. If all you want is a longer focal length, there are lots of good 2/3" video lenses out there. Depending on your project that might be more practical than trying to find some technological work-around for still lenses.

This is a full size professional HD camera with built in wireless mic receiver. Use HDCAM tape. My understanding is that a telephoto lens cannot be mounted on this camera even with an adapter because it requires an additional lens adapter that turns the image over. "Without an adapter you would be shooting upside down.

I'm working on a wildlife project using a Sony 720 HD camera with a 2x lens This is not enough telephoto, I have a Canon 600 and numerous telephoto Century lenses with Century adapters to Arri, Canon, and Nikon. Since all these lens have the standard c mount for Century adapters to still cameras etc, would there be a way of getting these lens adapted to the Sony 720? I've researched this a bit with no results, finding that only the Canon Mini DV and JVC 500 could be converted to use these lenses. Any help out there Thank you Norm echofilm@mindspring.com

I was disappointed to read your point that Red camera is probably not great for small crew, ie me in a blind filming wildlife, let along the fact you have to know how deal with the footage in a computer etc to get any thing done. I was kind of interested in this because of PL mount light weight and the fact you could some slow motion....that would be a benefit to a wildlife shooter. I guess I will follow these discussions til spring then maybe rent a Red after I know more. Thanks Norm Nelson

Gee, hostile cinematographers, generally rare breed I've found, anyway I just found out about this Red camera as I was interested because of the PL mount and light weight along with the fact is will shoot 60fps slow motion. Perfect for my wildlife needs. I'm shooting and lugging a 35 Arri around and spending a ton on film and transfers. I'm sorry digital is here but it is and I have to adapt which is quite a challenge for an old guy. This Red deal looks pretty good for going into say eagle country and filming behavior. I do fear that doing self follow focus using the electronic viewfinder might be real hard with a long lens, say a 600. Filming anything flying is hard enough but in l6mm you can do pretty well, it would sure be an assest if the red camera was light, had a clear viewfinder, and could handle our film lenses with ease. I'll probably wait til spring and then see how it all falls out. I will continue to visit here to see what you experts are saying about this camera, meanwhile I will learn what Raw and 4K means while I'm loading my old Arri IIC thank you very much Norm

By far the best is l6mm film with long lenses exceeding 385mm. You have no choice but the Canon digital as it's the only camera you put a long (film) lens on, however you have a difficult situation in that the view finder extends out from the camera body so you can't sight the wildlife down the lens and find your subject without considerable practice and it changes with whatever lens you put on. If you have a professional market go film, if you are enjoying wildlife shooting go with the Canon and a few solid telephoto lenses. l6mm film...go for an Arri with 80fps motor, old or SR series cameras at the minimum. You have a fabulous environment in which to shoot, so shoot, that's the most important thing of all. Norman Nelson

I'm afraid I agree with the $60,000 estimate given. We just did a stock footage shoot with 6 rolls of 35mm film shot and processed then transfered to Digital Betacam. After we saw this wildlife documentary style eagle flying footage we realized we did very well as far as waste goes and we send it all in to be transferred to HD. Best light. So we figure we are in the $3,500 range for all this. We shot Daylight Vision 2 so we had lots of depth of field with this fast moving bird on the wing. Our ratio was actually in the 5:1 area but we were very careful turning on and off and being set. Realistically thought 5:1 is low but possible, read about Clint Eastwood s approach to filmmaking, he reheases, and then rehearses, when he gets on the set he shoots and moves on...he's pretty proven. Hey atleast you're shooting film, you're thinking about film, you know you want film, thank god there's a few of us left as the HD Digital cloud is moving fast in our direction and it's no cheaper in the long run than film. Good shooting Norm

just keep them out of bright light, it's safer if you cover your loading area with a dark cloth, coat, anything to load in dark shade. If the reels get loose from handling etc the light will penetrate in up to 6 or even 10 ft of film so keep it tight. Always run off 6' before your first shot Norm

I was a stringer for NFL films in the 80's because I had an Arri SR and Photosonics High Speed. Since Sabol loves slow mo, tight, long lens stuff I as perfect for their work as I was quick on camera having filmed falcons diving. I learned that was along way from what they wanted after the first 2 games. You don't turn off the camera at the end of the play you stick with the action or athlete, follow into stands, so on. You shoot, you look through the viewfinder all the time so you are "never not ready" It was demanding in most positive of ways and the crews are all real guys in levis sorts, looking for the action on the field, the personalities, humor, and drama of the game. We were amazed at Ernst ball shots and continued to try to improve our own work by following the ball to the receiver, that way you make Monday night high lights which is always a goal. We didn't have loaders, we had magazines. You would shoot the first half then reload 3 or 4 magazines for the second half. We had 2 cameras on the field and one in the stands doing the coverage. Field cameras are shooting tight, very tight, then pulling back for the action as the quarter back starts everything off, however we were often assigned a certain player and you stayed with him. We would shoot 64, 72, and 100 fps using 12-240 zooms mostly hand held. I did some of my best work on a tripod where I could really concentate on specific players, the ball, the line, the kicker and this was great fun. We always had a switch on the tripod handle for on and off so your other hand could follow focus. They want it tight and slow mo so if you mess up the follow focus its especially embarrassing for a real long time. Games are exhausting and not glamorous, unloading mags in the parking lot with the other guys was fabulous, then the winning or loosing team would exit our area and you'd another angle on the emotion of football. NFL film is a fabulous talented fun and tough team.

I have used B&H 70's for wildlife stuff. I suggest you look for a 12-120 with built in reflex viewfinder. The viewfinder will have a small circle of frost in the middle to focus, not the entire frame, so it hard, but you have reflex viewing a zoom capability without having use the turret, parallax and so on. Also, Angenieux made a l7-16 zoom with a prism viewfinder built on and this a very sharp lens. In Sync would end up advertising some of these lenses and they do turn the B&H into a fast operating more capable camera. Us camera oil, Arri or Photosonics has great oils. Dont over oil and dont over wind the camera be very gentle on the last wind. Also make sure the turret is tight all the time otherwise a heavy lens will start to pull it away from the plan. Our cameras never stopped and hauled em in the wildlerness and beat around considerably. I think its great people still use these old timers.

We accomplished this with a Beaulieu camera as it can handle the use of smaller batteries, weighs less than 6lbs with a 10mm and delivers images that will be saleable. This camera can be remotely turned on and off with the radio control unit. The bolex weighs too much when you add the motor. The Aaton suggestions are terrific for this purpose but really expensive if you dont have sponsorship. You could consider a GZAP rental from Alan Gordons, shoots 50' in a cassette and runs on 12 AAA batts, so your weight problem is really helped out. It is good to mount the camera mid way on the plane so you dont have to use any counter weight. The GZAP would require a servo to get it on and off. Has to been very carefully loaded to prevent jamming and must have good power to prevent flutter. Our problem turned out to be crashes so if you need parts for a Beaulieu let know, crash or not its fun to shoot this kind of footage just as long you keep her in the air.

We have used this camera as a remote on cliffs filming eagle nests. Ours has auto exposure which helped as weather changed but it eats the battery so we ran a line down the cliff and added new batteries each day. Its just fragile, we have used them for skiing and work well even in the cold but going in and out of packs etc they dont hold up well. Be very gentle with the camera and it will serve you find. Do slop tests with it as they get out of registration and that seems to be hard to find anyone that can fix it. We have 2 200 magazines and would like to sell ours as we dont use it much any more. The disadvantage is not the camera its the fact it is not made anymore and servicing is quite a challenge on a Beaulieu but we've had a great time using our for all kinds of different uses since it is small and electric. For a production camera in the same price range I'd look at an ArriS or even a CP, but for quick stuff, a mount camera, and a remote the Beaulieu offers some excellent applications. Frankly, the Angenieux 12--120 that everyone has is really not much of lense anymore as it is not that sharp, is really blue, and costs alot to fix if the zoom transport gets out of alignment. Use warming filters on the Angenieux to getter a nice feel to the footage and make sure your f stop setting perfect then you'll get good results.

We accomplished this with a Beaulieu camera as it can handle the use of smaller batteries, weighs less than 6lbs with a 10mm and delivers images that will be saleable. This camera can be remotely turned on and off with the radio control unit. The bolex weighs too much when you add the motor. The Aaton suggestions are terrific for this purpose but really expensive if you dont have sponsorship. You could consider a GZAP rental from Alan Gordons, shoots 50' in a cassette and runs on 12 AAA batts, so your weight problem is really helped out. It is good to mount the camera mid way on the plane so you dont have to use any counter weight. The GZAP would require a servo to get it on and off. Has to been very carefully loaded to prevent jamming and must have good power to prevent flutter. Our problem turned out to be crashes so if you need parts for a Beaulieu let know, crash or not its fun to shoot this kind of footage just as long you keep her in the air.

I just shot on a stage, greenscreen with talent, everything looked sharp, even looked through the lens and did a slow pull back today and it remains sharp. Footage is soft either because of a bad transfer or perhaps the lens is not optimized anymore. Question is it possible for the image to be sharp in the viewfinder yet slightly out of focus on the film? 7248 Arri SR l6 with 10-100 Zeiss 3.3 shot at 3.3. If you have a perspective email me at echofilm@mindspring.com thanks alot and good shooting Norm Nelson

You can see our slow motion and timelapse wildlife, outdoor stuff on www.echofilms.com on the stock footage page. Norm Nelson