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Looking for vintage cine-lens maintenance London (Lomo, Angenieux)


jgharding
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As in the title, I've recently got a few of such lenses, older Angeniuex zoom, Lomo zoom, and they're functioning but could do with a once over due to their vintage.

 

Does anyone know where I can get them looked at in London? I figure there must be someone used to dealing with vintage glass, or someone on this forum? If so, do say hello.

 

I had one repair done at Sendean but the less said about it the better, I won't go back.

 

JG

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You would've thought there was somewhere in London - Alan will probably know (but he's having a fight with Vid-Atlantic @ the mo, so probably won't reply).

 

Go to www.mflenses.com & ask the question on their forum.

 

If not these guys are good & reliable (not in London, but they won't bullshit you):

 

http://www.bonwcameras.co.uk/contact.html

 

http://www.thelensdoctor.co.uk/index.html

 

 

I was just about to go down the same route as you (Angenieux/Lomo Zooms) & any comments or pros/cons about the types of lens? 

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From what I have experimented so far, you give up ultimate sharpness, but on a good sensor you don't seem to be losing detail as such. It's pleasant.

 

Kind of the way film isn't as sharp as digital, but still has detail, if you get me?

 

The T-stop ratings are quite a bit lower than the Fs. There is a lot of absorption and refraction going on, which probably contributes to this soft look. Again, I like this though, if you're after clinical, it's best to stick with things like Canon L. Or if you want sharp yet expressive there's Zeiss (I've still kept most of my Zeiss, sold a couple). And of course the lovely Leicas.

 

I'm just not 100% sure about one of the new lenses so I'd like to get it looked at.

 

It won't be long before I put something up video wise, watch this space...

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Yeah i know exactly what you mean & that's exactly what i'm after.

I think i'm there already, but am looking for something to simplify things up, hence the zoom & am nearly decided on a true parfocal zoom lens, which will make things much easier.

 

Finally been able to experiment with NeatVideo, since FCPX update, and the ML Absolute Zero setting - you can bring back detail without it looking over sharpened, a really subtle but important difference.

For all the Canon bashing that goes on, I think most people are missing the point of the ML hack & the multitude of custom PPs.

Have no more hope that they are going to bring something new out, in terms of video, and am now thinking more & more about a cheap 5D2 with the Mosaic Filter - they got it right with the 5D2 & everything else has just been a disappointment.

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@JGharding  Which Angenieux did you get?  I'm interested in its look compared to the supposed Angenieux designed Tokina 28-70/2.6-2.8;  from what I've see they tend to render the shadows slightly cooler (a bit of blue-green) and warms the flares to a kind of light gold along with a slightly warm haze, especially wide open.  At least that's what I'm seeing compared to the (as you put it) clinical look of Canon L glass.  I've also heard that some older Leica R glass a similar look to the Angenieux zooms of their day and also produces a lower contrast image compared to Ziess ZF glass.

 

@Bioskop  I too have been looking for a good true parfocal zoom but have started to think they may be overrated, we would probably be better off working on our focusing and just picking up a modern day "almost parfocal" photo zoom.  The only reason I want one is when doing run and gun/one man band stuff because for everything else I can measure things out and have a focus puller watching the focus.  Then I realized parfocal works best when zooming out not in, since it's almost impossible to set the depth of field for a wide shot that is dead center (if you can do that quickly I don't think you need parfocal), so if you need it for zoom out shots than it would be of some use but since I mostly want push in shots I have to zoom all the way in, set focus, zoom out, then slowly push back in and hope the subject doesn't move.  I find very little time to do that whenever I'm doing something like a wedding or event so I actually don't find it that useful over the "almost parfocal" modern zooms and like I said everything else I could just measure and mark.

 

Also, I personally prefer the 5D3, 6D or 7D over the 5D2.

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Although it begins with an L, Leicester is hardly London. However, I came across these guys at BVE and they seemed to know their stuff:

http://www.lensrepair.co.uk

Very much a specialist type of service though so I'd expect a pretty hefty quote from them to disassemble and reassemble a cine lens. If it's a stills lens you simply want cleaning, then Fixation are supposed to be kings of London for that sort of thing (though they mostly do Nikon and Canon), but failing that there's a cheap place I went to get some old Nikon AIS lenses cleaned that looked like they'd been found buried in the desert. It's called Camera City and it's on Little Russell Street (I think) by The British Museum. It did take the fella a while though to get it done (about 4 months truth be told!), but he only charged me about £350 to clean a 135/2 and an 85/1.4 so can't complain really.

 

Yeah, what Angenieux is it? If it's the 25-250 I'd love to see it in action. Heavy though eh?

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I'm keen to find someone back in Britain to service LOMO anamorphic lenses. The one I know is superb (Olexander or Olex Camera Services) but being based in the Ukraine has me a bit afraid customs may open the box and kick the lens around the floor for fun :)

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LOL

 

photo_zps39c3a3b6.jpg

 

@Pkent: It's the older Angenieux 20-120 T3. It's a wonderful look from what I've seen so far, very 70s (this lens is from 1972). I've not had a chance to shoot much, I still need to properly rig it.

 

And rig it you must! Heavy does not even come close to describing it :o 4.5KG!

 

My word. You just never assume anything can be so dense, it feels like part of a f***ing tank! Or a piece of dark matter.

 

So yeah, not for run and gun! But can't wait to let it loose on the BMD 4K on the next big film.

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The Lomo I have is a Foton, minus the anamorphic. It's much cheaper that way! Plus most of those foton anamorphic seem to be so fuzzy and distorted they look like special effects! I suppose you just need luck to get a good one.

 

Unfortunately, the seller asked if I wanted the OCT19 or a PL mount as a replacement. I asked to keep the OCT19 but it's arrived with PL of some kind. It seems to be easily replacable and a simple mistake, but I'll need to wait until I get the replacement through to use it on my own kit, which is a shame... 

 

This video below sold it to me though. It looks lke a 70s british grit film, like Ken Loach or something. 16mm prettiness from a 550D!

 

https://vimeo.com/60629595

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It is purely for blocked out and planned work really. That was the reason behind it, I wanted to use something with a slower aperture that necessitates both planning and lighting, rather than always running about with tiny fast primes.

 

In order to become more accomplished I think it's best to break out of boxes you build for yourself as well as ones that others create. I was very much a run and gunner with available light up to now. Time to do the opposite and learn something new!

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Absolutely, run'n'gun is ok for a while, but it just gets boring.

I bought the 54 for that exact reason & i think it makes you more creative with the shots that you produce, just because you have to think & plan so much more. Also, with the zooms you're going to open up a whole new dimension of shots to think about, practice & get perfect - you'll need a focus puller. But with the 4k BM you're going to have so much fun & produce stunning images!

I think i'm going for the Pocket cam, if i go for the 4k it'll mean a new computer just to edit the footage & then that's just too much money to throw down all in one go.

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Indeed, it needs a fair bit of power! My PC is maxed at 24GB of RAM, 3.2GHz overclocked i7, sold the old Quadro and got a Geforce 580GTX 3GB (worked out as £20 upgrade once I'd sold the former). Even like that 4K would be a struggle, so I think I'll use the 1080p ProRes at first!

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I'm editing some Anamorphic Timelapses on a v.old iMac with FCPX at the moment & its a real struggle! 10,368 x1080 image squeezed into a 2.66 rapper size template - it took so long to do anything, i scrapped everything and started again with proxy files.

ProRes will be v.manageable, but am not sure if i'll be able to use Davinci Lite for the so-called DNG files the pocket might/can produce - damn , more saving for a new computer! 

On the bright side i'll only need to buy 1 or 2 extra lenses for the S16 sensor size, an adaptor, a few extra batteries, some faster/larger SD cards or an external monitor/recorder - bugger, i hope they ship fast so i don't have too much time to think this through!

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Yes indeed on the extra costs, I'm actually hoping they'll delay a bit so I can get more time to line up projects to pay back for it!

 

My PC is maxed at 3.2ghz i7 overclock, 24GB or RAM and Geforce GTX580  3GB. if I need any more it's new motherboard and CPU time... I've butchered the case and fans in so many ways to keep it upgrading. I don't think I'd buy a mac unless I had fortunes.

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Here's some footage.

 

it's all person in frame natural light. A ballet dancer who may be in a film of mine soon...

Everything from 35-120 is great even wide open. Like most old lenses, wide open character is soft and nice, come down a stop or two and its more modern.

It doesn't behave parfocally, and everything wider 35mm is soft closer than 3 or four meters and very much so wide open. Close focus is basically fuzzy wider than 35 or so. I've not yet tried with a short extension tube at the back. I'm not sure if its an element alignment issue or the sheer amount of coma, spherical aberration and so on. There are a lot impurities, which give a lovely look, but at the wide end it's a bit extreme.

 

You can see an example of this toward the end.


The zoom markings are slightly out of place too so it's definitely been repaired.

So I could get someone to have a look, or just use it as a 35 to 120 where its fine and save the money.

The flares are a very soft purple haze, natural and not at all distracting. It vignettes a lot on the 550d sensor, but it's not unpleasant.

Video link:

 

PW: frenchglass

 

https://vimeo.com/64009621

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Looks nice & vintage - its going to be great on the 4k BM!

You can get diopters made by Angenieux (i use one with my 54 & its nice - i think 96mm thread) & the last 2 that have popped up on ebay went for between £10-20, but i missed them.

 

As far as repairs go have you tried asking/looking on this forum:

http://www.cinematography.com/

 

They seem nice & helpful - lots of info about all sorts of stuff by professionals & they don't stand for the agro/nonsense that can plague other forums.

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Thanks, I'm currently conversing over there and the current opinion is a back-focus problem, so it's probably too far from the sensor.

 

~Still looking for someone to assist with this in London area though... I wonder if someone at Pinewood could do it?

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