Bioskop.Inc

Anyone have any suggestions for a 35mm lens to use with an Iscorama - don't want to break the bank. I use a Canon 60D & already have a 30mm Meyer Lydith, but it produces a kind of fisheye effect. I was thinking of the Mir-1B 37mm f2.8 - cheap & gets a quite good rap. If i could spend the money i'd get a Mir 24M, but £150 is too much at the moment. Ideally nothing slower than f2.8 & no zooms. Any/all suggestions greatly appreciated. Thanks

Thanks Al & a pleasure. All i can say is good BBC Store training put into practice! About all the BBC were good for! Can assure you there's no movement in camera positioning, except the last one. Focus pulls all by hand - why throw cash away on an overpriced system when you've got these lovely 5 digit things for free! The wine's a corker!

Yeah, the 1.6 is just an approximate guess really, as it says nothing on the box - but its a corker, very low CA. This is the one i was talking about: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Boxed-Sigma-72mm-Close-up-for-use-with-lens-with-this-72mm-filter-thread-/280978212292?pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_CameraLensesFilters_JN&hash=item416b9b45c4 It'll get you really up close & personal to your subjects with your tiny S8/2x lens (which is definitely the same lens as the Iscomorphot 8/2x). The doublet variation sounds interesting.

LOL! I was shocked when i got mine too! Its a powerful little beast & produces the most sublime images.

Thanks Yeah the FOV freaked me out as well & just 0.1 difference. My mate has a +0.5, but is moving about at the moment, so will have to wait to compare the 3 together. The Sigma is a little gem as well & only £10-15 on ebay (gold box).

Here's a quick test that gives you an idea of the Angenieux +0.3 - on its own & in competition/combination with the Tokina +0.4 Achromat. https://vimeo.com/51816478

Just did some tests with the Angenieux & Iscorama 54 - you can focus throughout the whole scale right up to infinity (don't know if this is peculiar to the 54, the lens or what). No vignetting at all! If there is any CA, its not noticeable to my eyes. Well worth the money? I think so! Roughly this is how it converts: 2m = 1.2m 4m = 1.75m 10m = 2.45m Infinity = 3.25m Will post a vid on Vimeo later, as i started stacking Diopters to see what the results would be & again i could use the whole focus scale with no vignetting.

I got a clamp from Redstan aka Tony Wilson, on this forum (real name Alan). Its a perfect fit & he also does a front clamp to attach filters etc. His clamps really are the best option - they might be more expensive, but when you have them in your hand you know where your money went & won't regret your purchase (unlike the other cheap tin option, which will have you screaming for your money back!). He also does deals on multiple purchases - haggle. Depending on what camera you're using, you might get some vignetting with the 50mm (when stopped down), but 55mm & above are safe. I would highly recommend the Jupiter 9 (85mm f2) or Meyer-Optik Orestor 100mm f2.8 (15 blade version if you can) - if you are thinking of a longer focal length. As far as close up lenses are concerned you can pretty much stick anything on the front, as the glass inside the iscomorphot is top quality. I've used a +0.4 (gets you to about 1.5m) & a cheap £10 Sigma (gold box & doesn't say the strength) from ebay (gets you to 50cm) - no CA with either. Oh & it does flare! Enjoy

@Julian The Iscomorphot 8/2x is a fixed focus (@4m-ish) monoblock lens, so you'll need a diopter or 2 & if you get a good one it is very very sharp (even wide open). My Iscomorphot copy is sharper than my Iscorama & that is sharp. So if you don't like the x2, you can crop v.easily. I shot this wide-open @ f2 on my helios https://vimeo.com/41213761

I had a banding problem with my 60D, just on some shots & it really started to annoy me. (As yellow said you must keep to the right Decoding Matrix & Luminance range) I started to use the DPX file output option on 5DtoRGB - huge files, but amazing quality. I thought that this had solved the banding problem, but it was still noticeable on some shots - mostly white or off-white backgrounds. For screen grabs use MPEGStreamclip (its free & widely used by editors) & that goes double for converting any footage that comes out of FCP (you just use the simple export setting, NOT export to QT) - QT is a nice toy, but that's all it is! [u]The Solution:[/u] I am trying out the free 30 day trial of FCPX & guess what? No banding at all! I tried all the shots that had banding in FCP7 & in FCPX the banding was not present at all, just lovely clear footage like i knew i'd shot! I'm still playing with FCPX, but the more i do, the more i like it & will probably dump FCP7 for DSLR footage completely. Hope that helps a little

The angenieux is very nice & the +0.4 Achromat is a must as it not only gets you in closer, but it will also sharpen up the image if your anamorphic is a bit soft (a doublet which straightens the light rays). A very good cheap option is the Sigma branded close-up lens (goldish box, red lettering & doesn't say what strength it is) - it goes for about £10-15 on ebay & is about a +1.6 Also, don't forget/be afraid to use different focal length lenses - 85/100mm & 135mm are great options to have (or smaller/similar if you are using a M43 camera)

He's been away & is back now - i spoke to him today, as i'm meeting him tomorrow. I'll let him know that people are after him! He has some other diopters (+0.3?) made by Angenieux, which should be v.good if they are anything like their lenses - will let you know how good they are.