Dave Cramer

Hi Ira, I'm curious how much fish eye effect you will see with that 8mm lens on an M42 K-3 and what you think of it. As for the K-3 Bayonet primes, I am noticing an odd uptick in prices. It used to be that hey were $30 at the low end and $45 at the high end. There used to just be the 12.5, 20mm and 50mm. Now there is a 10mm for $120! I have a Mir 12.5 and feel the build quality is better then that of a nicely coated Arri-S Schneider lens because the of the simple, small glass elements. I actually like the large focus and aperture controls. The focus ring has this weird outer design for hand turning that is going to really be annoying for adding a 32 pitch gear for a follow focus. My question to add to this debate: Some sellers on EBay say that lenses they call "OKC 1 and OKC 2" will fit the Krasnogorsk 3 Bayonet. Is this true? Olex are you out there to give an answer? Thanks, Dave Cramer

Hi Ira, "I planned to shoot plus-x, and yeah--I want one of those wooden tripods. The problem is finding them." Ebay is where I have found bargin heavy tripods. I often type in wood tripod, or miller and good heavy duty tripods appear. The key thing is to get into a system (mitchel mount, the weird smaller mitchell mount, 75mm ball, etc) that works for you. The old school mitchell mount is the simplest and sturdiest mount. Unless you are only going to do lock off shots I would use fluid heads, not friction heads. "Check out the beauty this guy made for a telescope, but his email is no longer active: http://www.ucalgary.ca/~kmuldrew/woodworking/tripod.html" That's a cool tripod. If you are that handy to build one of those then repairing or rebuilding an existing wood tripod won't be a problem. "As far as Jerry goes, I worked in his print production department. The agency was first called Della Femina Travisano & Partners, and these were the days before computers. It was all paste-up, having dyes made from the chrome, and sending it to the engraver to have them do the separations and strip the whole job up. His first book "From those Wonderful Folks who gave you Pearl Harbor" is an old one, and it's kind of a time-capsule glimpse into the business back then. It's not one of those preachy "how to do great advertising" books or anything. It's just filled with great old advertising stories. (Like you see in the series "MadMen" about New York advertising in the 50s.) His second book "An Italian Grows in Brooklyn" has nothing to do with advertising. Just a funny book about his childhood. What makes Jerry so unique is that not only is he the nicest man on earth, but he just has great insight into how people think and feel--and also into how people THINK they think and feel. (There's a big difference.) The tragedy is that the ad business has changed horribly for the worse, and he's a man out of his time. Nowadays, clients are more interested in giving their accounts to agencies who can offer them the best media discounts. which means the giants like Omnicom. And make no mistake about it: A big agency can never be as creative as a small one. It's just the nature of the beast. The smaller places used to be called "boutique" agencies, and THIS is where great creative stuff came from--and where clients were convinced to TAKE CHANCES. Nowadays, it's same old, same old. Yeah, you see some awfully funny stuff out there. Some beautifully shot and directed work. But nothing new and ground-breaking has been done in 30 years. In fact, you'll see a lot of spots going back to old-fashioned 50s ANIMATION. We've just been dumbed down too much. Now, I'm talking about the U.S. here! Europe is doing amazing things, and you're smart to think about working in London. (And if you can check, at one time, we were owned by WCRS, a large British ad firm.) There's hardly enough room on this website for me to list all of the great things he did for the people who worked with him, how we felt/feel about him. And that's why I fly back every year for his party. Just to see him for an afternoon and BS about the old days." I agree with you about the ads today. Sure, we now can openly sell Viagra and controversial subjects aren't off limits. Yet, you don't see work like Bernbach?s "Think Small" campaign these days. Besides financial deals I blame clients keeping accounts in almost constant review. I feel it's hard to do good work when you just got the account. I appreciated your input on England as it's hard for me to get that kind of information on the West Coast. Do you think I should have spec work in my book that is about European brands and ideas? Back to camera supports. Do you have the K-3 hand grip and shoulder stock? I was wondering if they are worth getting. Also, do you think the other accessories are worth it for the K-3 such as the filters? Thank you, Dave Cramer

Ira, I'm glad you are safe and hope that continues. "Dave, didn't your Peleng come with rear filters? Mine has three, and it's threaded back there for this very reason. A clear daylight, and a red and yellow for b&w. The trick is, try finding any OTHERS at this tiny size. (Do you remember the size offhand? Maybe these ARE still available for use on rangefinders like Leicas.) I guess you could also rig something to take the large Cokin squares, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it." I, kind of inherited my Peleng 8mm lens when a friends roommate moved out and left it behind. All it included besides the front and rear caps were a M42 to canon lens mount adapter. Thank you for letting me know about the rear thread-on filters. I like your ideas about using range finder filters as the Russians probably made sets for those. In old movie cameras, CP-16's and oddly some Panavision cameras, I remember a gel holder that was in front of the gate but behind the lens. Do you think this could work for the Peleng, say snot tape on a gel behind the back of the lens? Tracy Trotter used to do that technique, but supposedly with expensive women's panty hose from France, as a diffuser. "Shooting at 24fps which is 1/60th under blaring sun with 100ASA, what kind of aperture do you think I'm looking at? I should be able to stop down enough, right? Or for the B&W, should I be looking at 200 Tri instead to be able to stop down that much? For my color reversal, I guess I'm stuck with Ext at 100". At 50 ASA, at a 60th or 48th shutter, in bright sunlight I'm usually pulling f16. So, with 100 ASA I'm thinking f22, or f16 with an ND3 or equivalent filter since 100 ISO Ektachrome doesn't like over exposure (in my experience). 200 ASA Tri-X makes me wonder why you don't shoot beautiful, rich, Plus X, which I think is 50 ISO? If the 200 ASA stock was negative I'd just expose it at 100 to give me more detail in the shadows and a thicker neg for telecine. "Another thing I heard about the Peleng is that not only is flare such an issue that you have to be really careful, but with the sun at your back, your SHADOWS are a PITA to deal with, since the lens captures EVERYTHING. So I plan on buying two inexpensive rechargeable Black and Decker spots to fill the shadows". I think you might be able to make a make-shift lens shade. I remember when the 10mm Zeiss lens had just come out. We couldn't use our regular matte box; we had to use a special one that came with the lens. I think you could make a lens shade with black wrap, maybe like those weird ones that wide still lenses have? As far as the flash light, well I'm a little curious about runtime, color temperature, spread of the light and making sure the source doesn't flicker since motion picture cameras can see that. Just my two cents. "I don't want to make the mistake of buying a cheap one, especially with the gears on that K-3 cranking and having to manually hold the shutter button. THIS tripod will be built like a tank, just like the K-3 itself." I've been looking for a good, simple tripod that is sturdy. A few suggestions; the sub-$200.00 Chinese tripods are nice looking, but often crappy. A used bogen is often simple, sometimes hard to get parts for but usually good quality. Sachtlers, Vintens, etc. are pricey but obviously have there benefits. So here's my suggestion for cheap, strong and good: A Miller or O'Connor fluid head on an old wood tripod. For decades cameramen lugged around the heavy wood tripods, hence these old school tripods are often a bargain. Built for heavy cameras, these tripods can carry quite a load. Also, in Florida, a properly maintained set of wood legs won't suffer like metal ones. "Ever hear of famous New York adman Jerry Della Femina? I worked with him for 10 years before I moved to Florida, and still keep in touch with friends working with his current agency. I also go back every year for a reunion party that he throws for his ex-workers. A GREAT guy!!!" My teachers speak of him as a legend and I've often heard the name. I am amazed at all he has done in his life. Did you used to shoot for him? Have you read his books? I appreciated hearing about him as I am always trying to learn everything I can about the business. Thank You, Dave Cramer

Hi Ian, When you start shooting with your Beaulieu R16 please post some footage. I see these cameras come up for sale every so often. I am an advertising student in San Francisco who, many years from now, plans to move to England to work in an Ad Agency there (probably London). So I have enjoyed talking with you and seeing 16mm footage of the U.K. Thanks, Dave Cramer

Hello, Please be safe. If need be use your trusty K-3 to protect you-they are usually built very heavily. By the way, I have a Peleng 8mm, it's slow at 3.5 and hard to filter (it sees everything), maybe a 6"x6" filter? Do you think a rear filter would work? May Ike leave you alone, Dave Cramer

Hi Ira, "I figure I'll go with reversal, 100D Ekt and Plus-X to start." These two film stocks rock. 100D gives vivid, rich, gorgeous colors while not tweaking out skin tones too much. Plus X delivers nearly grain free contrasty images with clean blacks and bright whites. I used Yale labs out here in CA. However, reversal is a more demanding stock to shoot. I've always been told it has a stop of latitude over and under, but unlike negative, I do not recommend over exposure. Also, where a negative never is projected, reversal was often used as both the original camera stock and what students and even old television stations in decades past edited on. It's great for experimentation. "I'm in this for the fun. No ambitions of it going anywhere, so I figure with my level of experience (zero), I'm going to lean in a direction where I do a series of similar shoots with the same look and feel. In other words, TRY to develop a style that I can replicate time and time again". I would get a color chart that has a grey scale on it to. If you shoot a color chart at the beginning of a roll you can color correct off of it for telecine. Even if you will never transfer to video, this chart gives you a great reference to judge the footage that follows it. A slate is also helpful, especially when shots end up looking alike, take after take. Camera reports, which are available for free from labs, even preprinted, are nice for keeping track of f stops, filters and lens choices. Good Luck, Dave Cramer

Hi Ian, "I then applied a couple of tweaks to boost the contrast in a couple of shots when the footage reached me". Any idea which shots needed these tweaks? I'm curious if you were doing this more on footage shot with the 12.5 lens or the zoom? "All of the colour footage on my Vimeo account and YouTube page are shot with the K3. There's a couple of extras on YouTube, but even on the 'high quality' setting the picture isn't as good as on vimeo. The B&W footage was shot on super-8 and again Tk'ed at Todd-AO. The traction engine film is the only one shot on Vivid 160T, the rest is on Kodak stock". Thank you for those details about the footage. This helps people like me see how well the K-3, various 16mm stocks and lenses can look. So, do you have any plans on buying any other lenses? I personally would love an 85mm or a 135mm lens for the K-3 bayonet. How much did the telecine cost? Thanks, Dave Cramer

Dear Ian, "From what I've read, the 12.5mm, 20mm & 50mm prime lenses were supplied with the K1, then the meteor 17-69 zoom was supplied with the K2 and K3. I think those are the only 4 lenses you're likely to find, although I have read comment that there's a different Russian lens/camera which is also compatible with the bayonet mount - but much googling didn't find any examples, so I doubt you'll have much joy either". Twice I've read about Kinor 16 zooms being modified to fit K-3 bayonets and that lenses from SP-16's (a kind of Arri-S knock off). I'm still trying to figure out if that is true. Who knows maybe the Zeiss primes that often come with the Pentaflex 16 might even be modifiable? "I've had a look back at my notes I made whilst shooting the traction engine film. Unfortunately I didn't record the f stop on that occasion. I can tell you it was the first shot on roll 3 and lasted 13 seconds though! The film used was Fuji Vivid 160T, with an 85 colour correction filter. I suspect the lens was closed right down at f16 as the weather was pretty sunny. Focus with the 12.5mm isn't too difficult, you can almost leave it set on infinity the whole time! ;)" I can't tell you who happy I was that you shot Fuji at F16. That is what I am planning to do next year. How did you transfer your film? Did you spend allot of time timing it in telecine? Did you shoot the other footage that is there with your K-3? Thank you, Dave Cramer

Dear Ira, What do you think of your 135mm Takumars? I've been thinking of getting one. 6) Super Takumar 135mm 3.5 5) Super Takumar 135mm 3.5 If you have any pictures taken with them or your new 200mm I'd like to see them. Thanks, Dave

Dear Olex, "16 OPF-12-1 10-100 mm or (with 0.75 front attachment 7.5-75 mm) can be upgrade on K-3 bayonet mount only". So, what does it take to do this upgrade? Is it expensive? How much do you think the 16 OPF-12-1 lens should cost to buy? "As for my opinion, Russian 16 OPF-12-1 10-100 mm have better optical characteristics from Angenieux 10 -150". Thank you for the lens review. Over here we have allot of French Angenieux lenses and not many 16mm Russian zoom lenses. Thank You for the Information, Dave Cramer

Dear Ian, "The effort required to make that modification and get everything aligned means it would be easier to just get a second K3 which is already M42!!" I agree with you, especially after your concise description of lens mounts and Flange Focal Distances. My first K-3 will be Bayonet while the second will be M42. " That said, Tim Carroll's Website has a selection of clips filmed with different lenses". That's a great website, thanks for the link. "I have the 12.5mm lens and the standard zoom with my bayonet K3. The image from the 12.5mm matches that produced by the zoom. This short film was shot using both lenses. The majority is with the zoom, but the shot from 1:54 until 2:06 used the 12.5mm". I'm grateful that a 12.5mm lens produced footage as good as yours. I bought one for $20 USD from a fellow in Texas and am waiting for my camera to arrive to test it with. I hope my footage can look as good as yours. It was so sharp in focus! Any idea what f stop you were shooting at? Also, on EBay I've only seen a 12.5, 20 and 50mm lenses for the k-3 Bayonet. Do you know of any other lenses for the K-3 bayonet? Thanks Again, Dave Cramer

Ira, Is the 200mm lens a macro? I remember a Kifit Macro lens that seemed to have a weird aperture ring feature. Do you think the Vivitar 28mm's L/O button is like the manual or automatic setting on a Takumar? Maybe it's a depth of field preview? Discussing these lenses makes me think of a odd question. I remeber being told that, Cookes (not the modern S4's) and Angenieux (not the modern zooms) are soft and warm while Zeiss is sharp and cold. So where do you think that puts Russian optics? Does it matter since we will all just time out the differences in Telecine anyways? This came to my mind when considering how shots from your lenses will cut together. Talk with you soon, Dave Crmaer

Dear Ian, "The inside diameter of the bayonet mount is 43mm, so in short I suspect you'll have great difficulty making an adapter that will position the lens in the correct place". Thank you for the technical info, this helps me before I go do some work. Now, if I only wanted to use M42 Telephoto lenses or zooms, do you think an adapter would work? I ask this because I've seen so many 35mm still camera mount adapters to c-mount for people wanting to use those lenses. "HOWEVER, if you have machining facilities have you considered making an adapter to fit Arri STD mount lenses to the K3 bayonet mount??" Arri standard mount is a little out of my price range right now, though it does provide so many more quality and fast f stop lens choices. I'm basically trying to work out the best arrangement for a K-3 to be able to take usable wide lenses, a zoom and telephoto lenses for my trip to Belize next year. Yet, if the Angenieux zooms are sharper then the Zenits then I'll find the money to buy one and get it modified or make an adapter. On that note, how sharp do you think the old Rodenstocks or Schneiders were in Arri standard mount for a 75mm lens? Ian, have you shot anything with the 12.5mm, the 20mm or the 50mm prime lenses that are available for the K-3 bayonet? Just curious. Talk with you soon, Dave Cramer

Ira, Thanks for your post. Just like you wrote I only want a zoom for when I have to use it, not as my only lens. I'm planning on traveling down to Belize with two K-3's. A K-3 Bayonet with a 12.5 lens in an underwater housing and a K-3 M42 for all long lens shots because it seems only the M42 version has any good long lens options. Right now in M42 I have an 8mm Peleng, 28/35/50MM Takumars, a weird Hanimar 135, a Vivitar 70 to 150 and the matched 2X extender for the zoom. The zoom has a constant 3.8 f stop and allows close focus at 75mm. I got on the kick about a lens other then the 17 to 69 because of the footage (all be it very compressed) from K-3's on You Tube. Now, individual exposures, processing, lenses and even bad telecine affected the quality of those videos. Yet one music video looks really good, it was shot with a different zoom lens. That music video was also transferred to Digi Beta. I agree with you about the T mount adapters. I'm tempted to try to machine a K-3 Bayonet to M42 adapter. Which do you think is sharper, the K-3 bayonet primes or the Takumars? Have you ever thought of taking your K-3 underwater? Have you used the East German Zeiss (the DDR stuff) lenses? Thanks, Dave Cramer

Olex, again thank you for all your information and help. Basically, I'm trying to find another zoom lens for a K-3 M42 camera other then the 17 to 69 zoom lens. Can the 12-120 or 7.5-75mm zoom lenses be converted to M42 Screw mount? Which do you think are sharper, the 12-120 Russian zoom or the Angenieux 12 -120 zoom lens? Thank you for your Patience, Dave Cramer