PL Adaptor For HD Camera

Does anyone know if there is an adaptor out there to us a PL or a B-mount lens on the Sony F900 or the Panasonic Varicam?

Thanks

Douglas Glover

>Does anyone know if there is an adaptor out there to us a PL or a B->mount lens on the Sony F900 or the Panasonic Varicam?

Doug,

There are numerous posts on this list re: the Pro35 adapter (see "DigiPrimes vs. Pro35 adapter" ad nauseum).

Feel free to contact me offlist if you'd like any info re : our experiences with the gear.

Everett Gorel

Director/DP

South Coast Film and Video

Houston, TX 77081

That would be the P+S Technik Pro35, which is more than just an adaptor. There is also a unit made by Angenieux that is a series of lenses. There have been many good things said about the Pro35 and not many about the Ang. Look at the archive at cinematography.net to read all about it.

Mitch Gross

NYC DP

Doug Glover wrote:

>Does anyone know if there is an adaptor out there to us a PL or a B->mount lens on the Sony F900 or the Panasonic Varicam?

The Angenieux adaptor is, despite the pundits, is a high quality relay for PL mount lens's for any B4 mount camera.

GEORGE C. PALMER

HDPIX, INC.

www.hdpix.com

George Palmer wrote :

>The Angenieux adaptor is, despite the pundits, is a high quality relay for >PL mount lens's for any B4 mount camera.

I have used and tested the CLA. As a interim product many years back when there were no great lenses for 2/3" HD the CLA35HD answered a need.

Originally it was used alot on DVW DigiBeta's. It is a very well built, good optical design (it was made by Zeiss the folks who built the DigiPrimes), very crisp, relay adapter. Now that we have available, purpose built primes and some good zooms for B4 HD, as I see it there are only three reasons to use a relay: 1. I want to recycle good film lenses that have been paid for many times over, or 2. I want lens selections that are outside the range of lenses available for HD or 3. I need additional depth of field than I can get with a fast (T1.6 for instance) HD prime lens and am willing to pay the price of slower speed and additional size weight etc. But for an equivalent field of view the CLA system results in the same depth of field as any 2/3 HD lens except the image is inverted.

Please don't forget that nearly 90% of the camcorders that are being used today will require modifications to allow the image to be flipped because the CLA inverts the image. This modification is available to these camcorders but it adds costs and picture delays. Maybe for those shooting with a Viper, F950 or Varicam, the additional size and weight are ok. As you know I advocate purpose built optics for any and all 2/3"CCD prism, camera and they are now available for a few years so...

Michael Bravin

Chief Technology Officer

Band Pro Film & Digital

www.digiprimes.com

I guess the real comparison should be between the Pro35 and the CLA35HD. Mike has the easy answer, which is DigiPrimes! But for those of us curious otherwise, what are the opinions of those that have used both? I've tried the Pro35 but not the CLA35HD. Certainly the Angenieux/Zeiss adapter never caught on as a flavour of the month the way the Pro35 currently has.

Mitch Gross

NYC DP

Thanks for all of your responses. I am familiar with the Pro 35 but my concern is a budget issue. I can't afford Digi Primes or the Pro 35 for this shoot and have an older set of Bayonet mount Zeiss super speeds at my disposal. I have a zoom but was trying to use the primes for close focus issues. I was hoping there was something like a century adaptor.

I guess I'm stuck and need to find some more money.

Thanks again

Doug Glover

I would remind you that the original question from Doug Glover asked whether anyone knew of a PL to B4 converter. There is no question that a purpose built (B4 for B4) solution is the best solution, and the Digi Primes are an excellent example, as is the Optimo. As to the CLA, it is, currently, built and marketed by Angenieux based on an original design by Angenieux, and redesigned through a, then existing Angenieux/Zeiss partnership.

If I had my druthers I, too would suggest the best and most flexible (size and weight aside) B4 to B4 (or PL to PL) "purpose built" solution, for example, the Optimo, but that is not what the original post suggested, and we, have very often heard the allegation that "no zoom could be as good as a prime" from the "prime" side. But Zeiss flag waving and "primes only" arguments aside, the qualitative and creative merits of the Pro 35 and the CLA are well documented here on CML. So I am at a loss to understand why the concentration on the negatives of only the Angenieux "non-purpose built" solution, especially because of the involvement of Zeiss in its development process.

When speaking for the CLA we (and yes, I also have a vested commercial interest in Angenieux product, as does Michael in the Zeiss product) we appreciate that Angenieux receives the proper and accurate credit for the genesis of its design and manufacture.

GEORGE C. PALMER

HDPIX, INC.

George C. Palmer wrote :

>I would remind you that the original question from Doug Glover asked >whether anyone knew of a PL to B4 converter.

Ideally, future cameras will (following the lead of Dalsa) use PL mount, and a single sensor -- no prism, no B4 mount, no color fringing (from the prism), and lots of good film lenses available at reasonable prices.

I'm sure we'd see DigiPrimes for prismless cameras if that happens...meaning we have no way of getting rid of Michael.

Which is good, as he's racking up a fortune in "quoted middle name" fees.

Jeff "soon, I'll get a free set of DigiPrimes" Kreines

>Ideally, future cameras will (following the lead of Dalsa) use PL mount, >and a single sensor

A good reason to go to IBC, you never know what you'll see

Cheers

Geoff Boyle FBKS

Director of Photography

EU based

www.cinematography.net

> A good reason to go to IBC, you never know what you'll see

I just came out of a very interesting presentation to the German society of cinematographers BVK of a local camera manufacturer (?!) - they gave a pre -IBC information about what they will show at IBC...

A working sample of a "non-off-topic-HD-acquisition-unit" with a PL-Mount

+++ Florian "who loves rumours" Rettich +++

+++ Europe based DIT / vision control +++

+++ Munich / Germany +++

A working sample of a "non-off-topic-HD-unit-unit" with a PL-Mount

A "local German camera manufacturer" unit?

So the race in soon-to-be-available PL-mount HD cameras thickens. Joining the French, the Canadian, the American/English, the English-only and the several Japanese. What interesting times...

Mitch Gross

NYC DP

I originally wrote :

As to the CLA, it is, currently, built and marketed by Angenieux based on an original design by Angenieux, and redesigned through a, then existing Angenieux/Zeiss partnership. So I am at a loss to understand why the concentration on the negatives of only the Angenieux "non-purpose built" solution, especially because of the involvement of Zeiss in its development process. When speaking for the CLA we (and yes, I also have a vested commercial interest in Angenieux product, as does Michael in the Zeiss product) we appreciate that Angenieux receives the proper and accurate credit for the genesis of its design and manufacture

In the interest of accuracy I have checked my facts concerning the genesis of the CLA. I am told by my contacts at Angenieux that Zeiss manufactures the CLA which is based on a design and prototype created solely by Angenieux several years ago prior to the existence of the CLA. That original design was manufactured and tested by Angenieux and its customers several years ago. Through a, then existing, agreement an improved version of it was subsequently designed through a cooperative Angenieux/Zeiss effort, manufactured by Zeiss, and marketed by (at least) Angenieux. I'm not sure whether Zeiss actually actively markets it.

GEORGE C. PALMER

HDPIX, INC.