Damien Dubois

Hi, this a great project! Concerning DSLR, and bypassing the shutter wear, why not using the camera in video mode and outputing the frames through the HDMI socket? I have a lumix GH4 capable of 4K videos and it can feed an external display or an external recorder, then it must be able to feed a video card as well. There wont be any sync issue if your camera delivers a progressive image. Does that make sens?

I own a 561 (that I am selling on the bay) and it is in focus all the way. I think it's your Camera especially which is in trouble.

I am getting deeper in this project. I'll try it this mod on my nizo 800 that has a custom enlarged gate. It's been a long time I wanted to properly adjust the viewfinder's mirror & mask frame to fit the custom gate. I'll kill two birds with one stone. I probably need to re-adjust the back focusing lens element behind the shutter as described here http://www.seafriends.org.nz/phgraph/unsharp.htm with this new c-mount feature. I'll also remove the motorised zoom and disable the shutter to do it manually. Well it will be a ultra modded nizo :) As I have 4 of them, it's worth the test. I'll keep you posted.

Hi Jean-Louis, Did you finally got the NIZO service manual ? Thanks Damien (Montrealer too ;) )

Hello, I opened up one of my NIZO yesterday to service it and wondered if it would be possible to machine/mill an custom adaptor to fit a c-mount Lens on it. When you remove the lens on the NIZO S series there's a deep cavity, wider than a c-mount that would allow a c-mount lens to be mounted at the same plane level than the stock NIZO lens. The shutter mechanism is between the lens bottom and the prism. Is it optically and mechanically possible, considering that we could set the c-mount lens wide open and let the NIZO stock shutter control the light coming in ? Thanks for your help Damien

Same thing for me. I'd curious to see that.

That topic is in the nick of time ! I am selling my Kowa 8-z on the bay. You will be able to find it in typing kowa anamorphic on the bay. (I don't give the link as it is a kind of commercial). It stays available till tuesday march 23. I say it just to let you know, as it is a hard to find and very sought-after item those last few months with the widescreen mania increased by the DSLR movie makers. They all want an anamorphic adapater, as it offers very impressive results. I was stunned by the beauty of some footage I watched on vimeo. Anyway, I gave lots of informations about this lens on this board. If someone needs help don't hesitate to ask me. I did not use mine at all as I filed the gate of my nizo camera in the same time. And to compare, it's far easier to use it compared to a rig with a rod support, a mattebox, a bracket for the kowa lens, the double focusing issue... It's not the same thing, I know... cheers damian

And don't forget the Seagull angle viewfinder which can be really helpful. http://onsuper8.blogspot.com/2009/06/seagu...viewfinder.html

I found a blog which is dealing with this hot topic: http://www.framedin8.com/2008/10/video-assist-wi.html http://www.framedin8.com/2008/03/moss-landing-su.html This is a beaulieu with the sigview on the viewfinder. and this is the French videoAssist: http://www.flickr.com/photos/arnitoo/sets/72157608676048867/ I also remember someone who tried to put a small digital camera as close as you can from the lens to see approx. what it will be printed. That's not exactly the same thing compared to the viewfinder but it could help a bit and is easy to do for steadycam, and this way you don't get the flickering issue through the VF when the camera is shooting. hope it helps and give good ideas ;)

You're definitly right. It looks like a blown up Pal :) with those bad interlaced lines that make steps on diagonals. This 1080 has nothing compared to the true progressive scan you gave through you website. So I guess we should stop about my prior suggestion with this store and that we come back to the main topic : TC for super8 in 2K :) Thanks kent

Thanks for the advice. I never used their TC service and There is not much videos on their website. I will ask them a demo for their 1080 service. Maybe it's bad, maybe it's just worth its price. The codec infos are not clearly shown and they did not talk about the compression ratio etc on their leaflet. Maybe they do not offer uncompressed file transfer. I will ask them and tell you. Thanks

Hi, I saw that mediacapture in Paris offers a 1080P TC service for super8 (they have got a TCM Debrie Memory machine). They deliver AVI files on HD for really low prices (less than 1€ for 1 meter as I can see on their last leaflet). http://www.mediacapture.fr/commande/tarifs_gp.pdf Hope it helps

Hello, I got my 52->50 adaptor too ! It fits perfectly to the kowa 8-z. That's perfect this way. I can share the seller's email if someone is interested. (PM me) Bengt, I think that your picture is squeezed. The kettle that should be more rounder is, to my opinion, a little bit too "oval". Hope it will be ok on your S8camera. I'm thinking about the way I'll fix the A-Lens on a rod support, to keep it in the right position. I'tried with the "pola filter glassless" technic, it's perfect! It's really hard to get something sharp according to the "double focusing" issue. If you have a nice method, I would be very pleased you share it, because if I follow the distance sclales on the two lens (zoom + Kowa), the image in the viewfinder is really soft. cheers

According to the FAQ from B&H store: So, If the lens has a 52mm thread filter size, and you want to screw a 50mm filter on it, you need a 52mm-50mm STEP DOWN ring ;) to screw the kowa 8z on a camera, you need a XXmm-50mm ring. I'll give you the email of the 52-50mm ring seller in PM. Cheers

Did you get your money back from the store ? I don't... I found someone else on ebay who sells a lot of 50 52mm-50mm step down rings. I asked him to buy only one piece. He told me that it will be 20$ each s/h inc for North America. If you want, I can send you the mail via PM. Hope it helps.

Hi Bengt, Did you received your 52mm-50mm step down ring ? The guys from the ebay store send me an email today to advice me the item is missing at their store... That's a shame, I paid it, and the even sent me an email while ago to tell me "your item has been shipped". That's what they say in the email: That's unbelievable...

Hello Bengt F, Thanks a lot for your tips. I bought a 52mm >>> 50mm step down ring too. Hope it will arrive from china :)

That could be really easy to make a perfectly suited adaptor. The easiest way to screw this Kowa lens is to use a Standard step up ring (5$). i.e 49mm >>> 52mm step up ring with a custom made ring screwed inside the 52mm cavity. This custom ring must be 3-4mm thick and must be 52mm pich 0.75 in the outter circumference and must be 50mm 0.75 pitch inner circumference. This is really easy to do with a lathe or a mill. If someone knows a machine shop or a person who could do this let us know. Maybe we could order a batch of 10 rings if people are interested to decrease the price.

I sent an email to Kowa Japan and that's what they replied to me. The mail is really kind and helpful. So here it is ! The thread is M50 x 0.75 ( Diameter x Pitch )

Hello, I have a Kowa 16-H anamorphic adaptor and I bought a small Nizo 561 with the 49mm lens filter thread to fit with. I order a step up ring on ebay which converts 49mm to Serie VII. it definitly does not fit the back thread of the Kowa 8-Z. the serie VII is a bit wider. serie VII is 54mm and the Kowa thread is 50mm / 2" I am looking for a 2" thread or something else to connect the lens to the Kowa. I know that the thread filter of some telescope are near 2" maybe I should take a look at this but it's not really easy to find. I found something in the microscope area which is a "off-the-shelf adaptor ring".The tube size is 2" wide (exacly the size of the metal ring of the Kowa) and the other side is 52mm e.g. But it costs way too much for me... (50 to 100$). So, If someone found the perfect filter thread type to connect the kowa 8-Z on my camera that would really help me. Thanks

That's so nice ! I love your footage. I've got 200T in my fridge, can't wait to load it in my camera :) However, it's seems that you don't apply the correct aspect ratio or maybe it's from vimeo's side. On the footage the cars are skinny and the basket ball is oval. Thanks a lot for posting this so quickly.

Yes, the famous Autom-B mode is only featured on the 801. There's a viewfinder difference too. On the 800 you have to tilt your eye in order to see the lightmeter, on the 801 you can see both the frame and the lightmeter without playing with your eye. That's the main difference. I prefere the stealth knobs of the 800 though, just a matter of look :)

Hello, Your footage is really nice ! It's a good idea to compare all the stocks you tried. I saw that there is a small excerpt shot with a kowa anamorphic lens. I bought one this year that I have not yet used and was really impressed by your exemple because i've never seen a good sample of an anamorphic s8 work. That would be so nice that you send us a longer footage of what you've shot with the anamorphic lens setup on Vimeo. Thank you in advance and all the best for 2009.

Series V ? filters 1-3/16″ (~30mm) ? retaining thread 1-1/4″ (~32mm) Series VI ? filters 1-5/8″ (~41mm) ? retaining thread 1-3/4″ (~44mm) Series VII ? filters 2″ (~51mm) ? retaining thread 2-1/8″ (~54mm) I think it's a 52mm filter thread or a series VII one. We have to try both of them.

Hi, I've just received a kowa 8-z (serial 448XX) won on ebay too. It's pretty obvious that the rear filter thread is nonstandard :( I really want to shoot films with it soon but I can't screw it on my cameras. >>> Did you get some more info from widescreencenter UK about the perfect step up/down ring size we should get to use it with nowadays threads? super8man tells on his website that it's a serie VI thread. That will not be easy to find an adaptor as far as serie 6 is a neolithic size :) I was thinking about mounting the camera & the lens on a rod system with a "Canon Tripod Mount Ring AII" with foam to keep the kowa tight in place... Do you have some other ideas about fixing it? Waiting to reading from you soon regards Damian