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Kowa B&H Close Focus Mod & other 'Tweaks'
 
Recently I picked up a very cheap Kowa B&H that needed a lot of internal cleaning and a fresh re-lube. Since it was my 'Spare' Kowa, I have a chance to illustrate/share my findings on some simple modifications that I discovered a couple of years ago on another lens. Since I already have a 'Standard' Kowa to compare with, it should prove easier to illustrate the difference in performance before & after modifying such a lens.
These principles will work on many lenses of this type that share a similar construction.
Following these steps are at your own risk.
 
The modifications allow:
* Minimum focus to be reduced from 5 feet down to 3 feet.
* Reduction/elimination of 'Veiling Flare/ Barrel Glow' that is common with Kowa lens types.
* Overall sharpness improvement.
 
Close Focus:
To achieve closer focus from the 5 foot factory standard is pretty easy.The focus mechanism transport is done by a helicoid pushing/pulling the front element that is seated within a tube, guided by brass tabs/stoppers within slots in the housing.These brass tabs/stoppers ensure that the linear travel is straight and true (ensuring correct alignment with rear optic). By cutting these tabs to be shorter, the travel of the front optic assembly is allowed to seat closer to the body - allowing closer distance between front and rear optic.
This allows an increase in optic proximity to be achieved. This modification effectively allows the focus ring to turn to it's maximum close focus position, and not restricted by factory limits.
 
 
 
 
Veiling Flare/ Barrel Glow - Reduction:
 
A common artefact of Kowa lenses in bright light situations seems to be a strong Veiling glare. It is similar to a strong vignette of light that happens when the front optic is hit with off-axis light. Although this can be a desirable artefact, often it is too overpowering to the image when purposely flashing the lens to pop a flare for effect.
A simple solution I found is to blacken the edge of the front optic - this is the edge that gets hit by light and pools the image with a 'Barrel glow'.
Taking a fine tipped marker pen does the job well (without needing to disassemble lens) - even better would be black paint and a fine brush and a steady hand if you wanted to eliminate glow completely. I personally tried the marker pen method, as you can carefully remove or thin the ink with a tiny amount of lighter fluid on a brush - creating a reduction/dulling effect, rather than remove the glow effect completely. At least it is good to know how to minimize the glow effect, especially when shooting in bright sunlight without a mattebox and you don't want everything to be washed out all the time.
 

 
Overall Sharpness Improvement:
This came from a few year back when playing on another Kowa lens and is the nicest find I've discovered so far (about most projection anamorphic lenses). I found that when removing the brass tabs that are used for alignment, you can separate the front and rear optic assembly for cleaning etc.
But If you do not re-install the tabs into the pre-set positions (using the screw holes aligned in the factory) - you can often tweak the alignment and fine focus to be even sharper.
 

As a pure guess, I can only presume that back in the day when most of these lenses were made the tolerances for alignment were only considered for image projection, rather than image acquisition (iscorama/bolex types an exception) I found that by freehand rotating the front optic assembly (when attached to camera) - It is possible to achieve more finite sharpness from the alignment. Using high magnification on my camera and additional magnification on my EVF + focus peaking at a reference at infinity - it was possible to rotate the front element assembly to what is probably fractions of a millimetre from the factory alignment, then glue the brass tabs into a very slightly new position. Glue works well, as it does not require additional holes to be drilled to re-seat the brass tabs, or forever alter the lens. The glue does not bear any load of consequence, mealy seats the tabs to prevent rotation.
The lens can be easily returned to its original alignment by dissolving the glue with solvent and returning the tabs to factory position. I’ve found that the very slightest tweak to factory alignment in 3 out of the 4 of these Kowa lens types I've owned, improves the sharpness noticeably.
 

B&W video can look beautiful for the right subject...especially portraits of interesting faces and documenting everyday life. Without the distraction of colour, often the viewers attention is drawn closer to the subject and can give a timeless feel.
Without the luxury of a monochrome sensor, it’s always best to monitor in B&W - since the composition often benefits from contrast in lighting and tone that is not easily noticed when viewing in colour.
@mercer MLVFS is now working with the most recent nightly builds, making post processing very painless...especially when combined with Resolve for export.
Here is an early ML video that made me upgrade to FF Raw a few years ago...something magical about it.
This music video also looks great in B&W:
 

Franz Kraus addressed at Conference of the International Association of Film and Television Schools (CILECT) in Munich on Nov 27th, that a s16 Amira prototype has been tested. They are apparently in progress to a feasibility study with an aim to supply film schools/educational market, as many schools still having lenses left over from the SR/ST days. Simplified s16 Amira (true S16 Sensor not a crop) sounds very much in the feasibility stage for now, but could end up being an interesting little camera if produced and made available outside the educational market.
http://if.com.au/2015/11/26/article/Arri-reveals-prototype-educational-camera/IQUTSYTINV.html

Here is what’s best I’ve found from over the years...
Option 1  Shoot with a camera that has internal ND feature.
Option 2  Instal fixed ND’s upfront in a rail mounted mattebox - or VND/ circular ND using a filter tray adapter.
Option 3  Rear mounting a fixed or VND (between Anamorphic rear and taking lens front) can work perfectly well, providing the setup is on rails. In bright conditions a collapsed rubber lens hood can also be used to create a lightproof donut that is compact enough to not introduce added vignette. Flares are not affected or dulled...at most an added faint green line is added to the streak flare from the ND’s multi-coating.
Option 3  If rail mounted setup is not used - front mounting ND’s can be attached to front of scope lens by using clamp adapter, or screwing into native thread if using iscorama lens types. If using clamp adapter, some added vignette might be introduced if using wider taking lenses. Fixed value ND’s are usually best used in this scenario since they are usually thinner. VND’s can sometimes introduce issues if used on the front clamp of scope lenses that rotate whilst focusing, since a shifting polarising effect can be introduced. Sometimes front mounting ND filters can introduce added flare effects, usually an added faint green streak line flare is apparent when exposed to intense direct light source.
 
Always best to get the best possible quality filter budget will allow - especially if mounted to front of a rotating scope, since some lower quality ND filters can introduce unwanted texture to bokeh. When these are rotated it can be very distracting to see this artifacts in bright light as well as ugly colour shift. A very decent budget solution is the Hoya PROND64 (six stop fixed ND) - quite capable in bright daylight and easy to rear mount in a rail setup as described previously.
 

When it comes to anything Apple power/ charger related - It is often best to avoid the cheap Chinese knockoffs. Always better to go for the expensive versions made in the factory next door. 

For Rectilux I’ve used basic white Lithium grease that can be found almost anywhere. A good quality synthetic grease like that is sold in cycle shops or DIY stores. You can buy it in small tubes and the grease itself has a similar consistency as hand cream. In my experience, more specific greases that have thicker viscosity and higher drag values are often harder to thin to get to a desirable friction.
There are quite a few synthetic grease brands out there that can work equally well, the trick is (especially with Rectilux) is to coat a very small and even amount throughout the helicoid, then work the action until is becomes smooth. It is always best to ad a tiny amount at first, and then build up the amount of you want more resistance. 

@billputnamphoto
“So the question is, based on the photos here what's it worth”?
As it stands, those web marks will effect the flare and image on that already soft lens.
I guess it’s worth what anyone wants to pay for it. I’ve had a few of these lenses in the past, one in a similar state to yours that I disassembled, removed fungus, cleaned and re-lubed back to good working condition. They are not the easiest lenses to work on for a first timer though, since they are so small and quite delicately engineered. FYI I never paid more than $350 for my mint copy of that lens (3 years ago).
If it was me, I’d list the lens ‘as is’ (with those detailed pics you already have) - along with some stills or footage as to how the image and flare look in its current condition. A starting bid of $300 might get interest going, but that would be dependent if a buyer is willing to take a ‘risk’. You can minimise the perceived risk and increase the value of your lens if you can prove it can still currently make pretty pictures...despite the less than ideal condition of the optics.

I love Philip Bloom for the information what he has given us. But I dont think he is a DOP, not even a cinematographer, videographer/camera operator is more likely the term you can describe him with.

Not meaning to open a can of worms - but most iscorama models (at least 36, pre 36 and 54 types) have an actual stretch factor of 1.42x. But to answer the question - no, I’ve not noticed any discenable shift in ratio when setting minimum focus using the proxiscope.

Blackmagic already have prores export functioning on the windows version of thier Fusion software...as of yesterday that was how I’d normally export ‘genuine’ Prores from my windows 7 workstation.
Now with Adobe being granted prores export for windows (as long as you are on windows 10 that is) it makes life a lot easier. Blackmagic indeed need to implement prores export via Resolve - or at least a simple ‘send to Fusion’ dynamic link feature so as to make that software suite complete for windows users. 
DNxHD flavours are all well and good, but deliverables often need to be in a recognised prores flavour...mostly when passing video material to die hard Mac-based post people who assume nobody could possibly use PC’s for creative purposes. One can only assume that the only reason Blackmagic have not enabled Resolve prores export on PC yet is because of licence restraints, rather than any technical reasons. I really hope Adobe have not somehow snatched the rights away from Resolve having native Prores export features on a windows platform.

Blackmagic already have prores export functioning on the windows version of thier Fusion software...as of yesterday that was how I’d normally export ‘genuine’ Prores from my windows 7 workstation.
Now with Adobe being granted prores export for windows (as long as you are on windows 10 that is) it makes life a lot easier. Blackmagic indeed need to implement prores export via Resolve - or at least a simple ‘send to Fusion’ dynamic link feature so as to make that software suite complete for windows users. 
DNxHD flavours are all well and good, but deliverables often need to be in a recognised prores flavour...mostly when passing video material to die hard Mac-based post people who assume nobody could possibly use PC’s for creative purposes. One can only assume that the only reason Blackmagic have not enabled Resolve prores export on PC yet is because of licence restraints, rather than any technical reasons. I really hope Adobe have not somehow snatched the rights away from Resolve having native Prores export features on a windows platform.

To be fair, it is hard to avoid strong brown tones when filming the seafront of Weston-Super-Mud

To be fair, it is hard to avoid strong brown tones when filming the seafront of Weston-Super-Mud

Q: Where is the SDI Port?
A:

Q: Where is the SDI Port?
A:

Iscorama Pre-36 with Helios 44 @ f2.8 (oval aperture) on Canon 5D3

To get that sharp on my (sharpness tweaked) Kowa Inflight or Kowa B&H with Core DNA attached I'd need to stop down to at least f5.6. Sharpness is indeed often overrated, but it's sure nice to have and can always be softened in Resolve very nicely. Iscorama still has perfect balance of sharpness but with organic feel due to vintage coating. More modern cinelux type lenses are as sharp, yet look very clinical (to my eyes at least).

The greater the stabilisation needed, the greater the crop will be to hide the edges of your footage from being ‘in shot’ after correction.
So shooting at a higher resolution (such as 4K+) on a wider lens would be beneficial in most cases, since any post crop introduced from the software would have a negligible effect on resolution, or nil impact if delivery is HD.
The nice thing about the SteadXP software is that it allows full override control of the stabilise intensity, with options to keyframe just the sections in need of maximum stabilisation. In other words, a slow keyframed post zoom can be set to hit the crop amount needed to clear the stabilised edges of the frame - then the crop amount can be dialed back to slowly regain the wider FOV. The features of the SteadXP software are too rich to exist as a simple NLE plugin, the power and customisation options in processing the footage needs its own application to exploit the full power of the correction method.
Using SteadXP to stabilise handheld moves or jitters from a small camera is not really the best use of the system IMHO. It is too much of an involved process to have for what could be addressed with a gimbal these days. Where the SteadXP really shines is when used in dynamic situations such as filming out of a helicopter or rigged to a car/bike or when the camera is on a helmet rig and you need to iron out a lot of bumps and shakes from a relatively compact setup that does not require mechanical stabilisation on the camera mount.
I suspect the initial excitement over SteadXP dropped off due to the swell of gimbals and IBIS enabled cameras...as well as people being put off after learning that a separate workflow of lens calibration/hardware setup and software processing have to all be done correctly just to get to the corrected footage stage. It is not a ‘click and analyse’ post stabilisation solution that many had assumed or wanted it to be. The SteadXP guys themselves have not particularly pushed the media section of their site to appeal to dummies, so there is a little bit of research required elsewhere online from other users to figure out how to achieve the best results.
I personally think the SteadXP fills a specific niche that is yet to be bettered. Using a hardware/software solution is a pretty unique method for a prosumer product...the results are relative to the time spent finding and exploiting its advantages over mechanically stabilised solutions. It is not a magical solution that will appeal to all, but I’m keeping mine for a while - as it can be deployed for a few situations that are not simply practical to achieve with my Ronin-S.

I’ve had 3 copies of the iscomorphot 8/1.5x over the years, two with optics in fair to heavily used condition that I took apart to re-grease the helicoids...one lens that I owned was totally pristine. All lenses were soft unless taking lens is fairly heavily closed down with better performance on smaller sensors.
I found that the characteristic ‘bloom’ softness that the lens has is a limitation of the front focusing optic. It is of not of a sufficient design that was intended to resolve sharpness at wide apertures on sensors with an equivalent gate size that is larger than for 8mm film, and the relatively thin edged optic can easily create a bloom on highlights that infect the whole image...as well as some CA on high contrast edges.
On used copies of the lens, it is common for the edge blackening of that front optic to loose its black and accumulate micro scratches...resulting in even more contrast drop and apparent softening of the image. Overall, I really don’t think the lens is worthy of the ‘Baby Iscorama’ name...IMHO the smallest lens that exhibits the most comparible optic quality to an Iscorama (pre-36) - is the iscomorphot s8/2x (fixed focus). Same golden coating, zero CA and lovely balance of sharpness and defocus render. The iscomorphot (and it’s bigger non-MC brother 16/2x) are of course 2x, but they have enough of a complimentary look to the Iscorama 36/42/54 family, footage can be easily intercut when mixing lenses. The ‘baby Iscorama’ 8/1.5x however would stick out like a sore thumb in a lot of scenarios if wanting to match the look of the Iscorama clan...the sharpness and edge performance is just is not there, unless using a small aperture on the taking lens.

I’ve had 3 copies of the iscomorphot 8/1.5x over the years, two with optics in fair to heavily used condition that I took apart to re-grease the helicoids...one lens that I owned was totally pristine. All lenses were soft unless taking lens is fairly heavily closed down with better performance on smaller sensors.
I found that the characteristic ‘bloom’ softness that the lens has is a limitation of the front focusing optic. It is of not of a sufficient design that was intended to resolve sharpness at wide apertures on sensors with an equivalent gate size that is larger than for 8mm film, and the relatively thin edged optic can easily create a bloom on highlights that infect the whole image...as well as some CA on high contrast edges.
On used copies of the lens, it is common for the edge blackening of that front optic to loose its black and accumulate micro scratches...resulting in even more contrast drop and apparent softening of the image. Overall, I really don’t think the lens is worthy of the ‘Baby Iscorama’ name...IMHO the smallest lens that exhibits the most comparible optic quality to an Iscorama (pre-36) - is the iscomorphot s8/2x (fixed focus). Same golden coating, zero CA and lovely balance of sharpness and defocus render. The iscomorphot (and it’s bigger non-MC brother 16/2x) are of course 2x, but they have enough of a complimentary look to the Iscorama 36/42/54 family, footage can be easily intercut when mixing lenses. The ‘baby Iscorama’ 8/1.5x however would stick out like a sore thumb in a lot of scenarios if wanting to match the look of the Iscorama clan...the sharpness and edge performance is just is not there, unless using a small aperture on the taking lens.

I have the SteadXP (DSLR version)  and it is impressive for sure.
Seems like it was unfortunate timing for the company since during the time they announced and raised their funds from kickstarter , and started actually shipping the product - many cameras were appearing onto the market with improved internal stabilisation support....not to mention the shit tone of affordable gimbals available now.
SteadXP works great for cameras that do not have IBIS, yet can shoot higher than HD resolution - so that the inevitable post cropping of the software will not impact to drastically on the final image quality. The SteadXP software is surprisingly featured and efficient at processing footage and has a hidden bonus option of being able to export prores output on a windows pc.
SteadXP blows away any consumer grade post-stabilisation software, as it will never exhibit the same warped artefacts from being confused by trying to correct the visual input only, but instead it applies a corrected distortion mesh from the accelerometer data...much more accurate.
It could be considered a slight PITA to setup these days, but I still have my SteadXP to hand for if I need to mount or use in a vehicle, where my Ronin-s is not practical or has to have a small enough footprint to fit somewhere hidden or confined. 
Higher shutter speeds are a must (as with every optical-flow based post-stabilisation software)..but post motion blur can easily be reintroduced with the SteadXP software or later on using RSMB plugin or similar. No big deal.
They are going pretty cheap on Ebay right now...but if you buy one make sure the seller includes login registration details to activate the software. Very short sighted idea that SteadXP had that owners might one day want to sell on to another user. But I suspect it could be a condition of having the prores licence. 
Looking at the footage of the most recent GoPro model, it appears that GoPro have either collaborated with the SteadXP guys to endorse the Gopro SteadXP add-on tech - and miniaturised it within the camera body...or GoPro have straight up copied the idea from them. The stabilised results look identical to what the SteadXP can do to the earlier GoPro models when using the SteadXP add-on pack. 
 

I have the SteadXP (DSLR version)  and it is impressive for sure.
Seems like it was unfortunate timing for the company since during the time they announced and raised their funds from kickstarter , and started actually shipping the product - many cameras were appearing onto the market with improved internal stabilisation support....not to mention the shit tone of affordable gimbals available now.
SteadXP works great for cameras that do not have IBIS, yet can shoot higher than HD resolution - so that the inevitable post cropping of the software will not impact to drastically on the final image quality. The SteadXP software is surprisingly featured and efficient at processing footage and has a hidden bonus option of being able to export prores output on a windows pc.
SteadXP blows away any consumer grade post-stabilisation software, as it will never exhibit the same warped artefacts from being confused by trying to correct the visual input only, but instead it applies a corrected distortion mesh from the accelerometer data...much more accurate.
It could be considered a slight PITA to setup these days, but I still have my SteadXP to hand for if I need to mount or use in a vehicle, where my Ronin-s is not practical or has to have a small enough footprint to fit somewhere hidden or confined. 
Higher shutter speeds are a must (as with every optical-flow based post-stabilisation software)..but post motion blur can easily be reintroduced with the SteadXP software or later on using RSMB plugin or similar. No big deal.
They are going pretty cheap on Ebay right now...but if you buy one make sure the seller includes login registration details to activate the software. Very short sighted idea that SteadXP had that owners might one day want to sell on to another user. But I suspect it could be a condition of having the prores licence. 
Looking at the footage of the most recent GoPro model, it appears that GoPro have either collaborated with the SteadXP guys to endorse the Gopro SteadXP add-on tech - and miniaturised it within the camera body...or GoPro have straight up copied the idea from them. The stabilised results look identical to what the SteadXP can do to the earlier GoPro models when using the SteadXP add-on pack.