Bold

I've ordered two different rubber rings in hopes that one of them will fit snugly around the lens and hold it firmly in the helicoid.  I also ordered some PVC pipe tape, some pipe thread sealant tape, and some shrink tubing...between those three I should be able to secure the helicoid to the anamorphic body.  Once the orders arrive I'll put it all together and - if successful - post the results back here.  I'm taking a few pictures as I go, hopefully they'll help other folks who want to try this mod.

Also, based on the conversation here, my curiosity was piqued about adding wide angle adapters to the front of the anamorphc, to offset the longer lens requirements of the B&H in order to avoid vignetting. I've picked up the following adapters:

Canon WC-DC58 | 0.8x
Raynox HD6600pro-58 | 0.66x
Century DS-55WA-58 | 0.55x
Vivitar VIV-67W | 0.43x

It looks like QuickHitRecord and nahua used the Sony VCL-HG0758 0.7x.  But after reading this I opted for the Raynox 0.66x because of the lower weight & less edge distortion.  Knowing the distortion was only going to get worse the wider I went, I opted for the Vivitar in the 67mm thread (instead of the 58mm) for the 0.43x.  My thinking is that the anamorphic looking through bigger glass will miss the more severe distortion at the outer edges.  We'll see.  Once I get the anamorphic together & working (fingers crossed) I'll do some test footage with various taking lenses as well as the wide angle adapters, and post results back here.  Vintage lenses I hope to test:

Sears 55mm f1.4
Helios 44 58mm f2
Helios 44-2 58mm f2
Jupiter-9 85mm f2
Nikkor-P 105mm f2.5
Angenieux 12-120mm f2.2 (to test parfocal zoom)
...Possibly a few others

Cheers,

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Rich, sorry to keep pestering you...did you use anything else from the front assembly?

The part I outlined above sort of looks like the part from your photo below that I've highlighted.  Or is that the rubber o-ring you used:

I'm trying to determine what I need for securing the element to the helicoid because there is a lot of open space.

Also, by your pictures it looks like you used something like electrician's tape for securing the helicoid to the anamorphic section.  Is that correct?

Heating it up did the trick.

I have banged this sucker up and down with the mallet, including using a dowel to tap the outer metal diameter between the glass and the rim on the back side of the housing. 

Excessive force with the lens tool has cause me to slip twice.  Glass is unharmed, but the surrounding metal now has some scrapes & one of the lens tool blades has deformed slightly.  This thing won't unscrew....I'm getting pretty disheartened about the whole thing.

What about heat?  Is it possible to heat it up in distilled water, to get everything to expand & loosen a little, without causing damage to glass/coating?

I think I'm having a similar problem to Tito.  I was able to unscrew the front section easily.  But I'm unable to unscrew the retaining ring/front element with a lens tool.  I rapped all around the rim with a rubber handle repeatedly.  I also used a syringe to apply the smallest amount of lubricant around the seam where the retaining ring meets the outer housing (yellow arrow) .

Nothing will budge.  I don't want to apply too much force to the lens tool for fear of slipping and scratching the glass.  Perhaps there's some kind of adhesive or glue that was used during manufacture to lock the front element once it was screwed in?  But I'm hesitant to use Naphtha or something that my damage any lens cement or coating.  Any ideas?

Thanks for the info Rich!  Just got my helicoid in the mail today.  Do you recall what kind (diameter, thickness) of o-ring you used to seat the B&H front element?

Nobody uses cd's anymore.

It is.  More info here!

Cool, great article!  I definitely want to get a WS13 if I can ever find one 

Hi Ricardo and welcome!  I am also a relative newcomer and have found a huge amount of info on this site, and people here are great at sharing their experiences.  You can take a look at the Anamorphic Lens-o-pedia, which is an aggregation of details about various adapters.  Also consider the Anamorphic Shooter's Guide. Tito Ferradans has put together some fantastic info here too.

All have adapters have advantages and disadvantages.  Anamorphic lenses with more in the 'plus' column and less in the 'minus' column are usually more elusive & expensive.  A full frame camera like the NX1 will reduce your practical options, and determining the anamorphic size/weight that fits your style of shooting (narrative, documentary, etc), will help narrow your choices further.  Once you have reduced your list to a few possibilities, follow that up with research on each,  Obviously EOSHD is a great resource, and you can find other tidbits of info scattered around the web.  Make sure to watch lots of videos and test footage of your choices to see if the image quality will meet your needs.  If you go for a vintage/discontinued product, you'll need to have some patience and diligence to locate it in the condition & the price range you're looking for.

For me personally, wanting to do narrative, I decided I wanted something that is single-focus and relatively lightweight.  I have a Century Precision Optics widescreen adapter which can be acquired relatively easily, but is not great at wide apertures and is soft at the edges.  However it is easy to swap out taking lenses, allows partial zoom-through, the taking lens does the focusing, and is light enough to carry around handheld if needed (though rails is always a good idea to reduce stress on camera & lens joints).  I also have a Bell & Howell projection lens, but it requires modification for greater ease of use.  I haven't done the mod yet, and there is always risk of damaging the anamorphic unit.  So like I said, every choice has pros and cons.

I don't know if any choice is perfect, but most folks here seem to have found workarounds for limitations,  Sometimes that means changing the way you shoot, sometimes that means selling the gear and putting the money towards a different option, sometimes that means doing crazy and ingenious modifications.  But first: research, research, research, and a good anamorphic choice will emerge.  Hope this helps!

Best

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Well, if you had waited more than a couple days, I would have my paycheck, and I would have bought it out from under you 

But there's no use in getting a 2nd B&H unit until I know I can do the mod on the 1st one.  As soon as I get that paycheck I'll be ordering a helicoid of eBay (add a couple weeks for shipment from China) and I should be ready to startmodding in mid August.  I'll definitely post back to the forum with the results!

I'd jump on this if I had the funds handy, someone else might want to snap up this B&H Projection Lens for $84:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BELL-HOWELL-2-INCH-F-1-4-ANAMORPHIC-PROJECTION-LENS-DESIGN-921-/131564846539?hash=item1ea1e03dcb

Awesome, thank you Rich (and Nick), this is super helpful !!!

By the way, I have been told by a B&H user that the thread on the rear assembly of this projection lens is a Series 7 thread.  I will try to confirm as soon as I have money to start buying some parts...

Hi Rich - Thank you for your response!!!  This certainly seems like a more affordable solution than finding a machinist to fabricate a new front element.  I made the following diagram to make sure I understand the process:

1. Transfer the glass from the B&H front element to a suitable helicoid (using step/filter rings as needed).
2. The helicoid with the B&H glass then replaces the old front element and is joined to the rear assembly.
3. The old front element is not needed and can be stored in case it's ever required again.

Is this correct?  If so:

1. Which kind/brand of helicoid did you use (or would you recommend)?
2. Will the helicoid require any adaptation or modification to join the rear assembly of the B&H?
3. Which kind of step/filter rings did you use (or would you recommend) for the glass? 
4. If you're able to go down to 58mm on aps-c with little or no vignetting, what would be the shortest lens usable on m43? 40mm-ish?
5. And the million-dollar question: Since the B&H is doing the focusing and not the taking lens, can it be used with a parfocal zoom?

Thanks again for the info,  I'm excited to reach the point where I can start putting this modification together and share some test footage.  if anybody else has anything they can share, it would be hugely appreciated - I'm hoping to consolidate enough info to add back to the Anamorphic Lens-opedia.

Cheers,

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Inspired by QuickHitRecord's excellent post, and this post here, I just acquired a Bell & Howell anamorphic projection lens like this one in very good condition.  

Does anyone out there own/use this lens?  If so, which taking lenses do you find work best?  Are you able to zoom through?  I'm hoping to find details on how to modify to the front element to reduce the focus throw, and really any details to get the most out of this lens.  Any pointers are greatly appreciated!

If I can collect enough info to make modifications safely, I'd like to document the process and post it back to the forum in case anyone else may find it useful.

Cheers,
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Will do!  I know a guy who casts brass in the area, if his costs are reasonable, I would have several thread sizes made.  If enough people were interested I could possibly commission a few batches and sell them for a (modest) profit.  If I can relocate the guy I will let you know!

Thanks for posting this Tito, I like the footage!  I have the Century 1609 in a Canon Bayonet mount.  I've done the step ring hack, but I also acquired a Canon GL1 lens assembly which includes the bayonet.  I'm considering making casts of the bayonet (probably in brass) and fixing those casts to step down rings, to live on each of my lenses so each lens can be attached quickly by bayonet, as originally designed. (Though I'm still deciding if it's worth the cost/effort}

Ahh...simple but effective!

Well done!!!  What set up did you use for rolling the camera?

Thanks Nrubloc, QuickHitRecords had posted pictures in that thread but they are dead links so I wasn't sure. I was really impressed with his footage so I would like to attempt the same modifications.

I am wondering if lens below is the one QuickHitRecord is referring to in this thread:

QuickHitRecord posted that thread a year ago, mentioning these lenses are found on eBay for $75-150, but I'm seeing them for $500.  I have a line on one in good condition for $250 and I'm wondering if this is a good deal.

Thanks John & dhessel.  I will probably stick with a cheap, short-term zoom option for now.  The Foton sure is pretty though 

Looking a little further, it appears this adapter is probably too small for practical purposes...

Model 225-000 16:9 Anamorphic Adapter from Resolve Optics. Here are the specs, although I'm new to anamorphic so I'm not sure what it all means.