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zooms vs. primes = rx5 vs SBM?


ishan vernallis

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Not wanting to divert the preceeding thread,

which answered a several questions I have been wondering

about zooms vs primes (thanks!)...

but it also raised a few questions too...

 

 

I am considering between buying a bolex rex5 or a sbm.

and have been leaning tward the sbm due to its more rugged

bayonet mount... and easier/cheaper super16 conversion.

 

but if it seems that using the smaller prime lenses will offer better image/lower fstops

is it worth the extra money for the sbm if I'll just find myself putting on a c mount adapter

most of the time anyway?

 

are there really great bayonet lenses other than the larger zooms

that I will regret not being able to use down the road?

 

thanks-

i

Edited by ishan vernallis
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The only bayonet lenses are the larger zooms - I am yet to come across a bayonet prime ...

 

All of the zooms do however come in c-mount versions but are rarer to find in the newer models...

 

I own both an RX4 and an SB (same thing as RX5 and SBM but without the mag top) I would find it hard to justify selling either in preference over the other...

 

The turret mount is great for jetting out with three primes, knowing that you pretty much have all the focal lengths you'll need - I have 10mm, 26mm and 75mm and sometimes I carry the 150mm in my pocket - It has a really low profile and is easy to carry, great for off the cuff doco 'faux journo' style shooting ...

 

I am yet to super16 it however as I dont want to ruin the turret system and am still having a good think about how it will be achieved in the most elegant fashion.

 

In any case I own two super16 Bolexes an EL and the SB I mentioned earlier... They have both been much easier to convert, The EL marginally easier once you get your head around the more delicate fixtures that its disassembly requires.

 

The Bayonet mounts provide me with the use of the PTL zoom lens which I pretty much only use when I require focal lengths not covered by my primes (almost never) and when I need a zoom shot (more often, but still a relatively rare occasion).

 

Yet because of the fact they are both super16 they get more use than the RX4.

 

I have two bayonet adaptors and have the preset primes mounted on them so the witness marks and aperture levers are in the correct orientation already (not an issue with the standard Switars) - I could do with another adaptor but they seem to have gone up in price on ebay by a factor of three lately ...

 

It is a hassle compared to the turret, but no more than any other standard bayonet lens mount camera...

 

If I were to sell one I think I'd sell the SB and keep the EL and RX4 - if I were to keep only one it would be the EL - If I had to keep only one wind up, I think it would be the SB ... with a sob for the RX4 :wub:

 

i.e. - buy an EL !

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Although I own Switar primes, I've not compared them directly to the Switar 12.5-100 zoom which I used a couple times in the past and rather liked (I remember thinking, I wouldn't mind having this in Arri B).

 

Drawback to that lens is, to go wider than 12.5 (I like wide) you have to put on the Aspheron, which gets you down to - I forget - about 6.5mm ? --- you can actually use fl's in between if you are careful with rear focus but of course cannot zoom with the Aspheron. It does cover S16, a plus.

 

Are you a zoom person or a primes person I guess is the question ???

 

-Sam

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It does cover S16, a plus.

Only with an expensive flight to Switzerland or other facility...

 

Without the mod it vignettes in the wide range especially if focused close - If you have the Aspheron knob you can bodge the forward focus ring in closer so as not vignette so much but then you cannot zoom without the focal plane moving.

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but if it seems that using the smaller prime lenses will offer better image/lower fstops

is it worth the extra money for the sbm if I'll just find myself putting on a c mount adapter

most of the time anyway?

 

 

 

I use to just leave the C mount adapter on my SBM, then covered the lens port with a C mount cap.

 

 

-Alain

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Only with an expensive flight to Switzerland or other facility...

 

Without the mod it vignettes in the wide range especially if focused close - If you have the Aspheron knob you can bodge the forward focus ring in closer so as not vignette so much but then you cannot zoom without the focal plane moving.

 

Really ? Sorry for giving misinformation; current versions of the 12.5-100 are advertised as covering S16,

I guess I made wrongly the assumption you could use the Aspheron in that case also. Or do you mean earlier 12.5-100's vignette on their wide end ?

 

Too bad as the Aspheron is cool, actually

 

Of course you throw a rear focus out zooming & holding focus won't happen

 

-Sam

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Well - I'm refering to the PTL I have here ... If they have since made the current model the same as what I'd get if I sent in the PTL for mod then there may well be some super16 PTL's floating around on eBay.

 

But yes - I can clearly see vignetting... at 12.5 it even just a very small amount will vignette on regular 16 (yep!)

 

I dont have the 6.5 aspheron but as the rear focus is pulled in you could have the forward focus ring on infintiy thereby reducing the vignette as much as possible - might not be so bad...

 

As for the standard 12.5-100 's with the iris preset or the aspheron (you can only fit one or the other in there) - its coverage I'm not sure

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Actually I have a BOLEX SBM and a reflex with lens revolver.

I feel that the Bayonet is the better choice, as well for the zoom as for the primes (which I use with a c-mount adapter).

I have the revolver camera (similar to the REX5) because the SBM would not fit into my Bolex underwaterhousing (the oldstyle one).

Of course the revolver can be very handy, but as it can happen that while focusing, the turret moves i always lock it with a locking screw, and this way the 3lens turret looses its sens.

 

daniel

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