Owen A. Davies

I'd love to hear the pros, cons, and overall differences between these two 1.5x anamorphic projection lenses and people's experiences using them.

I'm used to shooting with 400ft magazines on smaller student productions and never having to change the magazine mid-shoot. However, I may be using the Krasnagorsk-3 soon, which only accepts 100ft reels. Is there a safe and reliable way to swap out the film reels reels, store them, and replace them with new rolls mid-shoot? 

I'm used to shooting with 400ft magazines on smaller student productions and never having to change the magazine mid-shoot. However, I may be using the Krasnagorsk-3 soon, which only accepts 100ft reels. Is there a safe and reliable way to swap out the film reels reels, store them, and replace them with new rolls mid-shoot? 

I'm used to shooting with 400ft magazines on smaller student productions and never having to change the magazine mid-shoot. However, I may be using the Krasnagorsk-3 soon, which only accepts 100ft reels. Is there a safe and reliable way to swap out the film reels reels, store them, and replace them with new rolls mid-shoot? 

Hey, did you use any kind of color temp correction filter whilst shooting this?

4 hours ago, Adam Guzik said:

I've shot on the 500T 7219 stock in daylight conditions, both with a filter and without a filter.  

What I've found, through experience, is that it's possible to warm it up to a Daylight-ish balance, when shooting without a filter, but be aware: you're more than likely going to have to correct a good deal of blue out of your shadows and the darkest areas of your image, as it contaminates them a lot more when shooting without the filter.  

It won't look the same as if you'd shot with the 85/85B filter, but it's a look all unto itself that you may or may not prefer.

I've attached some examples below for you in different conditions.  For the shots that I took With the 85B filter, I also used a .9 ND filter as well, which is why they're a little underexposed. 

Bright, Sunny Summer's Day at Noon, Without Filter

Ungraded:
 

Graded:
 

 

Overcast, Rainy Day, Without Filter

Ungraded:
 

 

Graded:
 

Partially Cloudy, Autumn Day in Mid-Morning, With Filter:

Ungraded:
 

 

Graded:
 

 

Late Afternon, Autumny Day, With Filter:

Ungraded:
 

Graded:
 

 

Incredibly helpful, thank you Adam. On a different note, which lenses did you use for those test shots of Autumn/Fall? 

What I would highly recommend you do is buy a decent 16mm camera which has the option of at the very least attaching a 400ft magazine and simply buying a crystal sync or arriflex SR3 motor and installing it in the camera in place of the old motor. Truth is that you don't really need any of the $8,000-$15,000 16mm cameras out there if you just buy a 400ft mag, replace the motor, and buy a blimp to silence the camera noise. Literally saved me thousands of dollars in camera buying. 

19 hours ago, David Mullen ASC said:

If all you want is more saturation, I'd shoot close to correct colors and then add more saturation in the digital color-correction.

What happens when you shoot without the 85 correction in daylight is that the blue layer is overexposed compared to the red and green layer, as opposed to each layer being more balanced.

If you were printing the negative, you get somewhat more saturated blues and greens compared to reds.  I found that when doing the correction digitally, you get a somewhat brown-ish tone by taking out all of that blue by adding orange. If you opt to leave it on the cooler side, you're OK though, it looks fine but the skin tones can seem a bit paler.

It's actually quite funny you'd say that. An acquaintance of mine who pushed me in the direction of shooting 500T in daylight w/no filter quite literally told me "I would recommend shooting on Tungsten and correcting it back to Daylight in post. I've been finding that it really helps give me that vintage look with cool blues but warm skin tones". So in your professional experience, would you strongly disagree with this statement? 

On 1/9/2022 at 2:28 AM, Dom Jaeger said:

Oh sure, ACLs can take C mounts so no problem with Arri Standard lenses, as long as you have the adapter.

Since I may actually have to end up going the Eclair route regardless of preference, would you happen to have any more of an understanding/any information regarding the rudimentary optical differences between the Distagons and Kinetals? 

SOLD

4 hours ago, James Coleman Rogers said:

Kinetals were also made in C-mount although they are quite rare. I have a 12.5mm in c-mount for sale. A good number of the C-mount kinetals were late production/high serial number, and actually have Cooke's multicoating:

C-mount wouldn't work whatsoever on any Arri camera, and if I were in fact going to shoot Eclair, I would be much better of just buying Arri mount and adapting it to C/Cameflex mount. 

Just now, Bruce Greene said:

Use the orange 85 filter on your camera when shooting daylight.

If for some reason you won’t, over expose by one stop to allow not under exposing non-blue light.

I was actually planning not to use any kind of correction filter. I heard that you can get much more out of the dye layers by not filtering out the blue in camera, but instead correcting in post. Heard it can produce a pretty vibrant look with warm skintones. I'm going for somewhat of a vintage look, hence the grain of the 500T.

I'll be shooting a 16mm project exclusively on 500T soon and had planned to simply correct the color balance to daylight in DaVinci Resolve. Whilst I do have experience with color grading 16mm film in DaVinci, I don't have very much experience at all correcting one stock of film to an opposite color balance. Does anyone here who has any experience in this field have any advice, tips, guides, or steps they'd generally take in doing so? Thank you!

I'll be shooting a 16mm project exclusively on 500T soon and had planned to simply correct the color balance to daylight in DaVinci Resolve. Whilst I do have experience with color grading 16mm film in DaVinci, I don't have very much experience at all correcting one stock of film to an opposite color balance. Does anyone here who has any experience in this field have any advice, tips, guides, or steps they'd generally take in doing so? Thank you!

5 hours ago, Dom Jaeger said:

I will save you the dilemma of choice by pointing out that many Cooke Kinetals cannot be used on Arri 16SR cameras because they protrude too far back. They were designed for the Arriflex 16S back in the 50s, but with the 16BL and subsequent cameras Arri changed the mirror and groundglass positions and the Kinetals were no longer compatible. 

That’s a shame. You know if they would work on something like the Eclair ACL 2?

Going to be shooting a short film on the Arriflex 16SR in the coming weeks, and I'm caught at a crossroads. I either go with Zeiss's Distagon (super-35, 1960's, Arri S mount) line of lenses for the shoot or Cooke's Kinetals (super-16, 1950's, Arri S mount). There are many aspects (including price) which I really like about each in their own respective ways. I'm most certainly the minority here, but I've never been too crazy about "The Cooke Look" in the same way the rest of the cinematography world is. I just wanted to through this one out to you all and hear some opinions. Mainly, how do the Distagon's and the Kinetal's differ in make, reliability, handling, sharpness, contrast, abberation, flares, skin tones, DOF, and everything else worth mentioning. Thanks!

Price: $5,500

RED Scarlet Mysterium-X Cinema Camera Ready To Shoot Bundle. Shows signs of wear, though none of which affects functionality. I have been using this camera for two years with no issues, and have gotten an incredible amount of value out of its capabilities. Technically the camera is an above average condition. The only possible issue is that the LCD may not function properly until the camera has fully heated up internally upon powering on. All sales are final.

1. RED Scarlet Mysterium-X Camera Brain

2. RED PRO Touch 5.0" LCD Monitor (with cables)

3. EF Lens Mount

4. (2) SMALLRIG 8 Inch 15mm Rods 

5. CAMVATE Battery Cheese Plate

6. KUNLUN 10000mAh 14.4V 140Wh V-Mount Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery Pack

7. (2) 64 GB Redmags

8. SMALLRIG Camera Mounting Plate 15mm Rod Clamp

9. Redmag 1.8” Card Reader (with power cable and USB!)

10. KUNLUN 240V D-Tap V-Mount Battery Quick Charger

11. PL Mount

12. Misc. Nuts, Bolts, Screws, and Wrenches for Camera Rig 

13. Wooden Camera RED Scarlet Mysterium-X Top Handle

Payments to be accepted either through paypal or via purchase from my ShareGrid page at this link > https://www.sharegrid.com/boston/l/224569-red-scarlet-mysterium-x-5k-dsmc-cinema-camera-industry-filmmaker-package-ef-pl

NOTE: There is a slight crack on the back of the model next to where the fan is. It should be noted that this is purely an aesthetic flaw, and has no bearing on the functionality of the actual camera itself in any capacity.

Does anybody here happen to know the decade in which the Carl Zeiss Distagon 16mm f/2.0 lens was manufactured? I know it has an Arriflex Standard mount and can cover the Super-35 format. If anyone else has any additional information about this lens, feel free to reach out. Thanks.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/384545645331?mkevt=1&mkcid=16&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0

Asking Price: $15,000

Rare opportunity here friends, I am currently selling my Todd-AO 35 2x Anamorphic 40-240mm f/4.2 Varifocal Cinema Zoom lens with its original casing. This once in a blue moon piece of glass from the 1970s is used with signs of ware external ware, though in perfect working condition with no loss of optical quality. It is made with a BNCR mount, which may be converted to match any other full frame lens mount which supports BNCR flange depth (IE a PL mount for example). This is a vintage anamorphic cinema zoom lens from the 1970s which comes with its original casing. Todd-AO’s are known for their incomparable violet anamorphic flares matched with a sharp yet distinct image. If this is a lens you can’t let slip by, click the link to my eBay page at the top of the forum. If an eBay account isn’t your thing, feel free to send me a direct message. Other than eBay, I will only accept PayPal. Item will ship once payment has gone through, and I will handle the shipping costs. All sales are final.Feel free to reach out with any further questions!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/384589947809?mkevt=1&mkcid=16&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0
 

I am now selling my RED Scarlet Mysterium-X ready to shoot bundle for the discounted price of $4,000. All you need to do is simply click the link above to my eBay listing, and any offer submitted $4,000 or above will be accepted on a first come first service basis. Please not that there is a slight crack on the backside of the camera brain above the fan, though this is merely an aesthetic issue, and has ZERO bearing on the functionality of the camera itself. These old school digital cinema cameras are become rarer and rarer as the years go by. This could be one of your last opportunities to get a camera like this including all of its accessories for this kind of price. If you do not have an eBay account and would like to purchase, please message me directly. Thank you, and best of luck.

I realize that technically any lens on the market large enough to cover the 16mm circle would work on a 16mm camera, but in terms of vintage cine lenses out there designed specially for 16mm cameras, which ones are your guy’s top picks? Been hearing a lot of good things about Angenieux zooms and the Cooke Kinetals, but I want to know what else is out there and every time I try and search for "lenses for 16mm” I keep getting stuff regarding literally "16mm” lenses, which I find both very frustrating and very funny For my upcoming short film, I’m trying to emulate a very kind of vintage 1930s-1940s look, so I do have that image very much in mind.

I realize that technically any lens on the market large enough to cover the 16mm circle would work on a 16mm camera, but in terms of vintage cine lenses out there designed specially for 16mm cameras, which ones are your guy’s top picks? Been hearing a lot of good things about Angenieux zooms and the Cooke Kinetals, but I want to know what else is out there and every time I try and search for "lenses for 16mm” I keep getting stuff regarding literally "16mm” lenses. For my upcoming short film, I’m trying to emulate a very kind of vintage 1930s-1940s look, so I do have that image very much in mind (think It’s a Wonderful Life).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/384545645331?mkevt=1&mkcid=16&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0

Asking Price: $15,000

Rare opportunity here friends, I am currently selling my Todd-AO 35 2x Anamorphic 40-240mm f/4.2 Varifocal Cinema Zoom lens with its original casing. This once in a blue moon piece of glass from the 1970s is used with signs of ware external ware, though in perfect working condition with no loss of optical quality. It is made with a BNCR mount, which may be converted to match any other full frame lens mount which supports BNCR flange depth (IE a PL mount for example). This is a vintage anamorphic cinema zoom lens from the 1970s which comes with its original casing. Todd-AO’s are known for their incomparable violet anamorphic flares matched with a sharp yet distinct image. If this is a lens you can’t let slip by, click the link to my eBay page at the top of the forum. If an eBay account isn’t your thing, feel free to send me a direct message. Other than eBay, I will only accept PayPal. Item will ship once payment has gone through, and I will handle the shipping costs. All sales are final. Feel free to reach out with any further questions!

I have a Fuji B4 zoom lens which I need to fit an Arri Universal Bayonet mount 16mm camera. I realize no mount adapter exists to make these two fit, but I could potentially have my lens serviced by a professional company and converter to Arri Standard Bayonet? And if so, do you have any referrals?