leslie

There's forum thread post about removing lens coatings. Most everything i need to experiment with has turned up. Got a cheap super takumar 35mm f3.5, that had haze or fungus issues. The cerium oxide has arrived. " obtained " some polishing pads from the old work place, since i didn't get paid for 4 hours work the last time i worked there, i feel it was justified. Shame that's its the year 2020 and bosses still think its ok to rip workers off,  i already had the lens wrench.

I bought the 35mm super tak as i already had a 35mm smc m42 to compare it to. Still need to get some resin to make a lap with and i need to take a stack of photos for reference, before and after. i guess i'll pull it apart clean the glass reassemble, take some photos  and then repolish one of the lenses and see what develops. not sure which lens would have the most impact but we can chat about that later.  I'm guessing contrast should drop off abit, so will need some sort of shots with light in it for the flaring as well. Might be a good idea to re purpose one of those tungsten lights i picked up for nothing.

one thing i better do is video everything as there's a good chance it will take awhile and i'll forget a step in the process for sure

2 hours ago, noone said:

I usually spend about $20 on dumb adapters but in this case, i just know the lens (it is the lens I have owned the longest that i still have) so cheap as possible it was...Turns out there IS a small screw on the side of the adapter.

I have fond memories of using the 135 with film and having fun with it autofocusing on a Pentax DSLR with a 1.7x AF adapter (i had to use a bit of aluminium foil across the adapters contacts).

Now. it is not something I want to use anymore.

I have settled on my lens kit pretty much (AF portrait lens excepted). 

I only have one other M42 lens left and that is a 28 2.8 used mainly as a bodycap on my Spotmatic (come to think of it, that is ALSO a Promura).

I do not want to sell the 135 for sentimental reasons.

Yes, the previous adapter that fits inside the K adapter did have some play, the one with the flange did not (but no infinity).

looks like the cripple hammer makes it to adapters as well. You can have infinity focus or a tight fit but not both 🙄

finished paying of the mortgage last week. So now i can get really serious on getting some lenses. Looks like some moderns coming right up 😉

cheap for me, is up to $20  for a few extra dollars you can at least get rid of one source of annoyance, besides its m42 you can use alot of lenses with it. Well vintage lenses anyway 😉

regardless of cheap adapter or not they all seem to have a little bit of play in them which is my biggest source of annoyance.

On 8/14/2020 at 4:35 PM, noone said:

 

It also does not end up with the lens at the position I would like when mounted and screwed in.

 

look for a cheap adapter that has an inner ring that is held in position with a couple of set screws you can turn the inner ring until the lens is orientated the way you like, then tighten the set screws.

31 minutes ago, PannySVHS said:

Still have another premium kit to make one of us happy? Not me, of course, I would not buy another camera this year. Just asking. 🙂

at this point i'd take one over an eos r5   for sure 😎

your not alone, your never alone.  Not sure where i saw that... now. If its a lens test or similar i'll watch it in 1080 which probably equates to two or three items a month, otherwise its 720 for any tutorial or youtube that i want to enjoy. I try real hard not to watch anything on a lower quality setting, after youtube compression which has basically murdered anything sent it way, i find my eyes don't really thank me for watching anything on a lower quality setting anymore. Which has in turn made me more discerning about the content that i do watch.

Pretty sure on my internet plan anything i upload counts towards data used. So it would be kinda pointless and masochistic of me to upload 4k, not to mention slow. So i kinda settled on 1080 already, but thanks for the effort by the way, at least you post results to back up your statements, personally i am finding a lot of opinions finding their way into youtube without the visual evidence to back things up at times. Maybe i grow both, cynical and blasé perhaps.

i was actually thinking of buying a hd one of these a few days ago. Cant remember which model. have you tried with a card in camera ? it shouldn't make any difference but who knows. i'd be looking for a zoom to fit or similar setting. Maybe play with every setting and see what happens

i have seen the servo thing done before with arduino.. The last time i built myself an arduino and cable release that plugged into my 60d  and then i moved. i have it around here somewhere .....  I have nothing against servos i prefer the simplicity of a cable solution. My brother has been visiting   if he comes through with some of the money he owes me i may look at a later model canon to play with just with photos but everything is subject to change.

take one ajax bottle, one full moon, one p4k, and one canon fd 50mm ssc f1.4 lens, its the fastest thing i own. Never tried the p4k  by the light of the full moon before. Straight out of camera grabbed three frames from three clips. one shot at 3200, then 12600, and one at 25600. They are ungraded so you can make your own assessment. It was an interesting learning experience. I can't see that i would normally use these iso's , maybe if i was trying to capture the aurora australis or a concert perhaps or some other once in a lifetime opportunity. i guess at that point, something is better than nothing.

the first photo is 12600 the second is 3200 and last is 25600. For some reason they didnt import in order

On 6/3/2020 at 6:15 AM, noone said:

I would love to see a comparison between a few of the mentioned cameras against the A7s (both one and 2) at the same time and at various iso levels in low light.

I have no doubt that a few cameras would win a blind test against the A7s pair at 12800 and below now and maybe at 25600 but am not so sure above that and i would still guess above ISO 51200 that things might favour the A7s.

Edit

Video frame grab A7s Canon FD 24 1.4 L at ISO 102400 1/25 at f1.4 just 8 bit (of course) xavc-s at 25p

 

i'll do it tonight with the p4k, but with spray and wipe  😉, was going to shoot the moon anyway. So it shouldn't be much of a deviation

my brothers birthday yesterday, he's arrived for a couple of days r&r, I've news for him 😉

turns out he's bought a drone, he's also bought a second hand eos 5d iii. No mention of the money i'm owed 🙄   So i lashed out and got him andrew reids  mark 3 raw shooters guide. That should earn me some brownie points and keep him off my back for abit. Best thing is the guides on special... didn't mention that to my brother. 😃

26 minutes ago, ac6000cw said:

The EM-1 II has a 20MP sensor, no-crop (full sensor width) 4k video, plus phase-detect autofocus, weather sealing, mic and headphone jacks, bigger battery, better IBIS etc. etc. (it's a professional-level stills camera with very decent video and excellent build quality, basically).

But it's bigger, heavier and somewhat more expensive than the E-M10 III (in the UK at the moment a used EM-1 II is about twice the price of a new E-M10 III)

I seriously thought about buying a new E-M10 III a few months ago, but decided to spend the extra money and get a used EM-1 II instead as I wanted the extra features/weather sealing/build quality.

been building sheep yards today no chance to google anything as yet. I would have bought the e-m10 iii in a heartbeat if it had a remote cable release. doing remote triggering over wifi would have a lot of timing issues i suspect, for what i want to try anyway.

any ideas what the slow mo is like on the older e-m10ii or em-1 ii actually is there any slow mo on either ?

i'm almost sold on one of these, however i cant seem to find a remote cable release for it.  From what i have been able to google the older models have provision for it but the e m10 iii doesn't. Am i going to lose much if i go to the older m10 ii or E-M1 II ?

i'd be using it for photos 90% of the time.  I need the remote release to allow an Arduino to control the shutter. had a similar setup with a 60d and i'm wanting to go back down that path. Getting late now so i'll google the m10 ii and m1 ii tomorrow. 

The moons made an appearance the last couple of nights, but conditions have been pretty ordinary. However i did set up the tripod just on dusk tonight. Stuck the p4k and a canon fd 500mm mirror lens i received some 4 weeks or more ago on top of it. Pretty sure a 500mm mirror lens isn't something that most people would consider pairing with a cinema camera. 😉  I had a mirror lens a couple of decades ago i guess. Used it till the silver on the mirrors fell off, bit sad about that. The whole donuts thing, doesn't seem to bother me much,  although i don't find swirly bokeh appealing at all. Make of that what you will.

First light ( for me ) and the canon 500 and pk4. First attempt, there is a slight breeze to a gust every now and then. Which really shows up the less desirable traits of my tripod. found an old brake hub off something, suspended it under the tripod,  hopefully it will help with the wind next time,  seems like the wind is increasing, so may not get another chance tonight. A quick test shows that the weight acts as a pendulum in the wind, while it does a better job, gusty winds introduce a slight rocking motion. I'll probably shorten the bale twine that should help. 

500mm x the 1.9 crop on the p4k makes for a 950mm focal length, if my math is right which makes for a nice sized moon at least. After my first efforts i'm kinda impressed. Still lots to learn no doubt. Keen to see what i can obtain on a still night.

On 7/28/2020 at 6:59 PM, kye said:

 

....to go back to S16?     never went there

....to go back to MF?     go back ? i have only just arrived

....to shooting slower and more deliberately?   yes.. running around like a mad man, has hairs on it

i bought a 4k cinema camera. Since i dont have a 4k screen it seems like an odd decision.  but i am happy with the hd for now and the laptop manages ok just. No modern lenses here, everything is vintage apart from one ef kit lens. I have a theory that some where between either 4k/hd and vintage glass, i'll find some type of utopia.😎

Done some experimenting with the fvd16a and the russian 40mm lens as it seems to be the widest i can go. Main issue with the russian lens is to change the aperture you need to turn the little ring that surrounds the glass. Which is a little inconvenient when the anamorphic is mounted. 

I have shamelessly exploited the cat again. my setup was p4k, viltrox speed booster, russian lens, elmoscope and fvd16 hanging off the front. I shot wide open, light level were quite low, not sure if that contributed but i feel, its still abit soft, i had focus peaking easily seen on the cat, so i figure i got that part right.  I shot it in hd and delivered it in hd so i don't think that can contribute to the issue. I figure something of my understanding is flawed or maybe the russian lens  could be contributing. I have a vague memory about this lens not reaching infinity and the seller saying that it had been modded to reach infinity.  In my next experiment i'll swap out the russian lens for either pentax  50mm or fd 50mm, leave off the speed booster and use just the elmoscope and fvd16. that should eliminate two possibilities and narrow the field.  

the second clip is of me, pulling an old canon laser printer apart for the stepper motors. i used a gopro 4 for that timelapse both clips have a little banding from the florescent lights. i think that will be easier to fix with the p4k, more experimenting with the shutter angle should sort that out i think. I also feel the second clip is the opposite of the first much sharper maybe too sharp perhaps.

My fvd being brand new is a little stiff to focus, i understand it will take some time to wear in or bed itself. and i don't have an issue with that, however it is stiff enough to overcome the elmoscope focus ring and then the elmoscope turns with the fvd16. Whats the consensus regarding this ? do i tape the elmoscope focus ring to the barrel to stop it turning or is there something else that can be done ?

I have been splitting my time between the p4k, anamorphics and website building. like everyone at the moment i have been watching youtube and to be honest, the advertising bores me, i also feel that uploading my videos even with my warts and all approach shouldn't be a justification for them to apply their own compression and gummy it to death like a 2 year old with an ice cream. Too that end i'm posting my journey and tests on my own website. If you have a spare minute and a half, you are welcome to have a look at https://troveofstuff.com/anamorphic videos/ana montage1.mp4

any constructive input as to whats happening with my set up would be appreciated.

3 hours ago, Tito Ferradans said:

My review is coming up soooon.

www.youtube.com/anamorphiconabudget

you da man, Tito !

some of these reviewers are lucky, they can tell the front from back of the lens.  Ok maybe i'm exaggerating slightly but not by much.

actually it seems like i read it wrong, he is a bit younger, still its a wise man that can take advice at any age.

dudes done well to make it to 84, and run a rather large business. How many 84 year olds rock stars are there?  most of them are dead at half the age. Me i would have sold it all off 20 years ago retired and bought a small island continent somewhere. 😀

i

love

it

apart from the p4k, not even folding up, handicaps itself somewhat. Maybe two 45 degree mirrors perhaps.

calebs right, got the 40mm sorted and took a shot this morning as you can see there is a slight vignette on the left. I guess the camera has twisted sideways a little. try as much as i like, the p4k seems prone to move easily i blame the cheap and probably to small quick release mount i have plus for experimenting i haven't mounted the anamorphic to the taking lens   and its a bit tedious changing things. However 40mm goes real close to little or no vignette and thats the main thing for me more testing to go but i have to move some sheep so i''l get back to it later. 

On 7/20/2020 at 5:48 AM, Marty said:

Now I wonder : Is there a real difference at all between shooting without any anamorphic adapter,  just elongating the image's width in post production, and shooting with this Isco ultra star small version that has less character than other lenses ?

 

 

I dont think the ultra stars have less character, their a modern anamorphic with, clean, neutral, or perhaps even a sterile look. but their still an anamorphic they still do all the anamorphic stuff with less exaggeration one could say. well that my interpretation anyway lol

@Tito Ferradans has an ebook out out on faking it with spherical lenses. When i had some spare money recently i bought it and its quite informative. I guess you can 90% fake it with spherical lenses, however some lens disassembly is required for some of the mods. So you can either,

1. fake it, till you make it, with tito's book and some diy

2, splash the cash for cheap projector lenses and or single focus solutions, once you tire of double focusing

3. rob a bank and buy an iscorama or atlas, cooke or  similar.

did a test for you, 35mm with and without speedbooster on the p4k with elmoscope and fvd16a. So it vignettes quite badly regardless of how you use. I ran out of light trying to figure out how i got to 4omm the last time i did a test. I may have used i used the kit zoom that came with the canon to get 40mm i'll give it a try tomorrow. 50mm is ok i took a photo but screwed up the focus. Anyway thats the first few dng's with the fvd16a i'll have another play tomorrow.

mission is a go,  bought the lens, bought a 100 grams of cerium oxide. Should probably get some resin to make a lap or mould with, don't really want to change the lens shape. Probably will "borrow" some half used grinding pads from the old factory next time i go past.  Spent 13 years in the stone industry running bridge saws and cnc's although i think i have done about half a days work in the wet bay polishing a couple of jobs. Ebay thinks the lens should be here by september, Maybe we'll see some results before xmas 😉

5 hours ago, noone said:

Again, Thanks!

I ended up getting a helicoid adapter from Ebay.

Makes it sooo much better.     I still need victims but once it starts warming up and the virus is less an issue it should be good.

people are over rated, try some wildlife or landscapes perhaps. got in a session with the p4k and the fd 50mm f1.4 ssc this afternoon. Cant fault either, although my dop and colour grading is pretty newbish 🙄