Oh the humanity! cheers,
frank On Thu, Jul 23, 2015 at 3:16 PM, Steve Cottrell <[email protected]> wrote: > Some minor surgery the other day to the wonderful SMC 17/4 fisheye, > converting it for use as a cine prime - more in a moment. > > Some may know that I had previously done the same with my A*85/1.4 last > year: removed the detent balls and springs from the aperture ring to > allow smooth and continuous aperture change while shooting video. It is > very effective and the images from it onto the Canon C100 super-35 > sensor are luscious beyond dreams. The super 35 sensor size is smaller > than 'full-frame' (36X24mm) and only a tad larger than APS-C... > > see chart: > > <http://cvp.com/images/uploaded/sensor_table.gif> > > ...so fields of view are similar to Pentax DSLR territory, which means > shooting wider angles are more of a challenge. For wide zoom work - for > instance when filming groups of people at close quarters - needing wide > shots and closer detail at will, I have been using the Canon EF17-40/4. > The problem with that lens is that the aperture is controlled via a > click-wheel on the camera body, and when performing a move (say) from > bright to dark and needing to adjust aperture ('pull stop') dynamically > during the shot, the aperture steps are visible - even when the camera > is set at 1/3 increment control - and so not acceptable. > > To get round this I'll be sourcing a copy of the only decent wide zoom > lens on the market with an aperture ring - the Nikkor AF-S 17-35/2.8 and > then having it doctored, literally, by a company that specialises in > transforming still lenses for cine use; > > <http://www.thelensdoctor.co.uk/page6.html> > > They'll remove the clicks from the aperture ring and dampen it to avoid > inadvertent movement. The Nikkor is a bit more involved than the old MF > Pentax lenses, so it's worth doing properly. Why? Because the cine > alternatives are cost-prohibitive for my needs. That's further down the line. > > Meanwhile I remembered the 17/4 sitting in a drawer and thought it would > be fun to convert it for cine use. An hour removing the aperture clicks > and a bit of jiggery-pokery re-situating the return spring and fitting > an EF mount (sourced from the few I had specially made about 15 years > ago when i first modified some lenses to Canon use) and hey presto. > Early tests with it are fantastic - love the barrel distortion this lens > offers and the field of view works really well on the C100. Will come in > very useful for in-your-face wide shots in music sequences etc. > > I'm working on some video I shot while sailing in the Baltic earlier in > the summer where I used the 85/1.4 so when that's completed I'll post a > link to view. Will hopefully get a chance to use the 17/4 in anger soon, > watch this space. > > Hope all are well, am dipping in on the list sporadically and often. > Very little stills photography going on at the moment sadly! > > -- > > > Cheers, > Cotty > > > ___/\__ Broadcast, Corporate, > || (O) | Web Video Production > ---------- <www.seeingeye.tv> > _____________________________ > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
