How to quickly identify if an arri standard or bayo mount lenses is made for 35mm or 16mm format ?

[Gabriele Turchi]

HI there

i am trying to find an inexpensive 35mm or 40mm 50mm lens in either arri standard mount or bayonet mont (to test an arri 2C) ,

 

i am looking ebay etc..but most of the time the auction won't tell of the lens is made for the 16mm format or if would cover the 35mm format .

 

is there a quick way to tell from the way it look ? or perhaps by the lens name serie ( from various zeiss - schneider - cook)?

 

thanks a lot

 

g

[Dom Jaeger]

It can be tricky sometimes, but 16mm format lenses in early Arri mounts tended to only go up to a 25mm, so longer focal lengths like 40 or 50mm are almost certainly 35mm format.

 

Cookes are easy, since their 16mm lenses were all labelled Kinetals, and Zeiss Super Speeds for 16mm were labelled as such, but with other brands like Schneider for example you need to know the lenses.

 

A quick check if you have the lens in your hand, is to point it towards a bright, patterned light source (a louvred window works well) and hold a piece of paper an inch or two behind the lens to form a sharp image of the light source. If the image circle formed is not large enough to contain a postage stamp (roughly a 35mm frame) then it is a 16mm format lens. You can ask a seller to do this.