DyaliScope lens on eBay - what mount?

Christian Appelt · February 25, 2004

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3800268040&category=4691091/url]

I know French and Italian films from the 1960s shot with Dyaliscope, and some of them were extremely sharp. Maybe this would be a good lens for those who want to create a vintage look in anamorphic. B)

Does anybody know what kind of mount this is? I have a promotion booklet from the 50s that claims Dyaliscope lenses were available in Arri Standard, Mitchell or Cameflex mounts.

Mitch Gross · February 26, 2004

Looks like Arri standard mount with a couple of cutouts that are probably for alignment so that the anamorphot is oriented correctly. Not a great looking lens--did you see that scratch on the front element of the spherical section? And in classic Kinoptil style, the front element is coated but none of the interior glass is. Probably good for that fuzzy "antique" look. ;-)

Christian Appelt · February 26, 2004

The films I saw looked really sharp, but judging from the old ads they had many different lens types under the DyaliScope banner, from 16mm projection to 35mm attachments and block lenses.

Some Dyaliscope films I have seen:

THE 400 BLOWS (1959, Truffaut)

SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER (1960, F.T.)

LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD (1961)

THE GENDARME OF ST TROPEZ (1966)

In theatres most of them suffered from bad duping (grainy look, lack of steadiness), but when they are shown on TV stations like ARTE TV (French-german culture station) in new transfers, the detail is very good. But I guess they stopped down to a healthy 5.6 or 8, so this is certainly no lens for today's shooting styles... :)