Jump to content

35mm prime lens to B4 mount adapter


Jason McKelvey

Recommended Posts

Maybe some will remember the debates of past about the XL1Solutions PL to B4 video adaptor, and whether or not it would work. Well, I finally tested it. And it didn't work. Well, let me explain. The makers know how to fix the problem, so I hope to get it back in a few weeks. The film lenses can not be physically close enough to the CCD to work. So they are going to put in a nice piece of glass to compensate. We did see an image with a 180mm lens though. The DOF was about 1 inch and would only focus on something about 4 feet from the lens. BUT!!!!! what we did see was pretty cool. The quality of the ARRi lens let you know that something was really really different... better. Even the straight-up film techs there were like "wow, that looks really beautiful". We were using an SDX900 with SDI out to a sony broadcast monitor. When I embarked on the search for an alternative to the P&S adaptor, I was more after the DOF difference that 35mm primes give you. Though I still want that, I now see the benifit of just the glass its self. I'll let you all know how the next tests go. If the compensation glass works out, I believe these guys will have a bit of gold here. The adaptor should cost under $2000, and has no moving parts (save for the back focus adjustment), and is very small compared to the P&S (25,000?). The only difference should be the calculations needed to pick your lens.

 

Jason

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
If the compensation glass works out...

 

Comments from a naysayer:

I'm curious to hear about the results. Additional optics would appear to do little for the quality of an image, actually quite the opposite. 2x extenders? I'm just looking at the numbers here.

 

Zeiss Ultra Primes are rated to resolve at 100 lp/mm, I believe, and so are the FujinonHD lenses. Maybe the only way a film lens would resolve better is when forming comparison to an SD lens. HD lenses should resolve as well as finest film lenses for the purposes of a 2/3" 16:9 imager.

 

Of course, there's the lovely warmth of Cooke S4's among other characteristics of high-end film lenses that may be desirable regardless of resolving power.

 

Proof of the pudding is in the tasting, of course.

 

Brian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The makers know how to fix the problem, so I hope to get it back in a few weeks.  The film lenses can not be physically close enough to the CCD to work.  So they are going to put in a nice piece of glass to compensate.

 

Good God- they didn't know this before putting it out on the market???

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...