Zack Jones Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 I'm debating on getting one of these from NCS Products. Have any of you guys purchased from them? Are they a good place to get a Super 16 K-3? I know it's more expensive, but I don't usually like ebay and I wouldn't want to do the S16 modification myself. I might talk with the guys at Du-All and see if they have any in stock too. Another question. My grandpa gave me his Pentax SPIIa and a bunch of lenses a while ago. Unfortunatly, the widest is a 35mm. Would these be much better quality then the included lens? I know they'd have a narrower angle of view. What if I slapped one of these on in the future? Do SLR lenses work okay? Even though they weren't designed for movie cameras? I'm new to all of this. I'd only use the camera for small mos projects and home movies. I've looked at super 8, but I like the resolution of S16. And despite the cost of film and telecine, I want to get into 16mm. Thanks for any help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Alvin Ekarma Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 The K3 is such a simple and rugged camera you should just bite the bullet and get it from one of those Russian sellers provided they have decent feedback. At the very least, you'll need to remove the loop formers and you can find videos for that from the NCS guys on youtube. Personally I've never done it but it looks fairly simple (or just flat out snap them out with needle nose pliers as was suggested to me once upon a time.) Re: SLR lenses. 35mm Wide Angle lens isn't going to cut it. It's been covered here before, but you're only real choices for a wide angle are going to be an 8mm Peleng and a 17mm Zentar. Both are prone to flare so you'll need to rig up a french flag to take care of that and/or jerry rig up some sort of way to put on a lens shade ( I gaffered tape a 67mm to 72mm step ring to my lenses). Actually here's an idear: you could get a k1 or k2 and have them converted to Ultra16 by a guy like Bernie at Super16inc . You can find those dirt cheep, have them converted fairly economically and you won't have recentering issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Jones Posted March 7, 2010 Author Share Posted March 7, 2010 Thanks for all the info! I think I'll consider ultra 16 some more. I don't mind the centering issues with s16 though, the framing isn't that critical for what I'll be using the camera for and I won't be using the zoom. My main concern is getting a good quality lens on this thing, at least a 25mm. I'll take another look at ebay, the prices are so good, I don't have much to loose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Alvin Ekarma Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 My main concern is getting a good quality lens on this thing, at least a 25mm. FYI: the zoom on an S16 K3 is good from 25mm on up so if that's your only issue, you're good to go. My experience is that the zoom lens is under-rated and it performed as well as my Pentax M42 primes at 2.8 and above. The only thing you may want to spring for is to have it properly collimated (sp?) to make sure its up to spec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Jones Posted March 7, 2010 Author Share Posted March 7, 2010 I'm seeing a lot of good looking K-3's from one seller on ebay here. It says in the description the lens was adjusted and centered for s16. $370 +$65 shipping (from Ukraine) isn't bad at all considering this is a s16 camera (half the price of the other K-3 I was looking at). How does this look to you guys? I guess there's really no way to know for sure, the seller does have great feedback though. I'll give it a couple more days before making any move. I've just heard so may different reports on the K-3, either you get one that works fine or it need repairs that aren't worth the investment. I like the interchangeable m42 mount and the reflex viewing enough to want one over a Scoopic or Bolex (both also nice looking cameras). I already have a set of m42 lenses from 35-200mm that wold be nice for telephoto work. I was aware of the included lens covering s16 from 25mm up, that's fine for me. I may eventually get one of the wide angles you mentioned though. Thanks for all the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Alvin Ekarma Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 I'm seeing a lot of good looking K-3's from one seller on ebay here. It says in the description the lens was adjusted and centered for s16. $370 +$65 shipping (from Ukraine) isn't bad at all considering this is a s16 camera (half the price of the other K-3 I was looking at). How does this look to you guys? I guess there's really no way to know for sure, the seller does have great feedback though. I suggest going through the feedback, finding others who got one of the S16 rigs, and ask them how its worked out for them. If it sounds good, then godspeed to ya :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Will Montgomery Posted March 12, 2010 Premium Member Share Posted March 12, 2010 Just the fact that he has the re-centering ring and the Super 16 gate indicates that he probably will be ok. I know that's a stretch, but when they can talk intelligently about the product I'd bet they want to keep a good reputation. I bought my K3 for about $170 complete and unused, but added that ring and modified the gate for another $300 or so. I would go for it. BTW, you can toss those plastic film reels as soon as you get them. Stick with the Kodak metal daylight reels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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