Lenses

[JayV2010]

We need Jim/Red to break down this crazy system that is going on with propitiatory lenses. The saying is very true that you invest in Glass and not the body. New sensors and Gadgets come and go, but great glass lasts. There are plenty of Canon users that would love to have a D3/D700, but the reinvestment in glass is way too big to overcome. And while they say they are ok waiting, Nikon users have had over a year to get images not possible with any other system out there. If you were able to come up with some sort of universal mounting system that could take Nikon/Canon/Sony lenses or if you could change out the mount like a lens, that would completely blow the doors off this industry.

- DNG (or other open source formats)
- HDMI on a single shutter press
- Open source the firmware to allow for third parties to write software for it.
- Make certain things like GPS and networking add ons and not built in to keep the base price low and size small
- Upgradeable/Customizable

[VikramTank]

I would love to be able to use my old lenses. I have a huge investment in medium format glass, and I don't want to throw it away to use this new system. Plus rental markets are pretty set for renting Hasselblad, Mamiya, Nikon and Canon so it would be nice to have a strong rental base in place.

[fde101]

Unless the sensor is medium-format, I wouldn't count on medium-format glass without an adaptor of some sort...

[Sergei Franklin]

Except for Panavision the film industry uses PL mount: Arri, Aaton, Sony F-35, Dalsa, Cooke, Zeiss, Angenieux. This is a motion picture camera and it uses the standard.
The Nikon mount is a bonus that allows us to use old Nikon lenses on small projects.

[Ron Goodman]

The Leica M mount is now available from SpaceCam systems for the Epic camera. It will not affect the camera warranty and directly accepts Leica M mount lenses. Additionally, with readily available adaptors, Nikon, Canon, Contax and Leica R mount lens can be used easily. This is especially attractive for owners of these manual lenses.
Leica lenses with M mounts are somewhat limited on the shorter focal lengths up to 35mm but virtually all lenses longer than this may be used. Images are truly stunning!

Ron Goodman

[Erik Bien]

PL, Nikon, Canon, Panavision, BNC, OCT-19, probably others I'm forgetting ...


If there's a more 'mount agnostic' motion picture camera than RED, I'd love to hear about it!

[Stivan Widick]

...if you could change out the mount like a lens...

Four screws and you can change to the Canon mount on the RED Epic. The Nikon mount is coming, 4 screws. Doesn't get much easier than this.

[Ron Goodman]

Just wanted to add that we are testing the Voightlander 12mm F5.6 on the Epic this week. This is a specially prepared lens modified by SpaceCam to mount on the Epic using the SpaceCam Leica M mounting system. This is a beautifully made, rectinlinear super wide lens providing around 96 degrees of horizontal view. Initial subjective impression of the image is very positive. Will keep everyone informed. This lens is 42.5mm long and weighs 230 grams!

[Paul Russell]

With the Canon Mount on, I can also use the old Mamiya 645 lenses that I own by using the Mamiya/Canon adapter. OK, they're manual focus, but they still look great.

[Ron Reddick]

Idea
Have been sketching a design to mount Mamiya RZ lenses to my Epic (think 617) in the future, great glass, but issue bellows focus, but I think I have a workable design, wonder if anyone else would be interested as the image circle on those lens is huge, and the quality is stunning.

Ron

[Paul Russell]

absolutely. I can pick up Mamiya Rz lenses here in Asia for peanuts.

[Ron Reddick]

Cool
The basic design I have is a bellows adapter that fits on the PL mount, and a gear assembly to the rails for the follow focus. I am still working out how to reduce the size of the bellows from the size on the RZ-Pro II

Ron

[Josh Beadle]

With the Canon Mount on, I can also use the old Mamiya 645 lenses that I own by using the Mamiya/Canon adapter. OK, they're manual focus, but they still look great.

Where did you get that? I have several PhaseOne lenses I would like to repurpose

[Paul Russell]

I got it as part of a package that I bought off a guy who was selling three used Mamiya lenses. I don't know what make it is, and the only markings on it say EOS-M645, which is pretty selfexplanatory. (see the pic).

It's a purely mechanical mount, so focus and aperture are manual. I usually set camera on AV mode to use it, but it does the job very nicely.

http://www.paulrussellphoto.com/misc/m645-eos(1).jpg

It's not a Fotodiox, but you can easily get one of those from Amazon,
http://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Adapter-Mamiya-Camera-Digital/dp/B002JXZL1E

[Josh Beadle]

Thanks Paul

[Paul Russell]

Apparently there's also a brand called Kipon that makes them.