Speed lens

[chuck colburn]

Spotted this lens today. I poked around looking for info on it but kepy coming up with the Ang. 25 f.95 "C" mount lens which is some other animal (an inverted telephoto or retrofocus design). So I don't know if it would cover S16 or not. I do know that you can mount Arri standard or S/B mount lenses to PL mount.

Chuck

http://cgi.ebay.com/ANGENIEUX-25MM-F-95-W-ARRI-STANDARD-MOUNT_W0QQitemZ170074910854QQihZ007QQcategoryZ4691 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Also this lens.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Nikon-300mm-F2-8-MF-AI-Lens-REDUCED_W0QQitemZ7607468997QQihZ017QQcategoryZ1079 25QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Jeff Kilgroe]

I can't comment on the first 25mm lens... Don't even know who makes it or what it is. Not sure I would bid the $300 to find out unless they guarantee I can return it for a refund.

The 300mm Nikon lens is overpriced for one in that condition and that old. I've seen that same lens sell on ebay for less than $350 on more than one occasion, I bet nobody bids on it - woops, nobody can... It's a buy-it-now only listing. Brand new ones are indeed a lot more expensive, but this one in the listing is at least 20 years old and it's been around the block a few times.

I bought a 50-300mm f4.5 AI Nikkor for less than $250 off ebay. It's in OK condition and works pretty good, but it was 20+ years old too. Great lens, but I wouldn't have spent much more on it... Any more than that and I'll just go rent a new model or maybe even buy it if I have enough work to justify owning it. A 500mm Nikkor manual focus of about this same vintage sold last week on ebay for $1100.. I should have bid on that one.

[chuck colburn]

The 25 is an Angenieux. I was just wondering if anybody had any experience with it. Looking at the rear element my guess is that it is not of the retrofocus (originally an Angenieux copyrighted term) type. For all I know it might cover 35!
Yeah the 300 is an old design, not like the newer ED series that Century Optics and others have reconfigured for cine use. Wayyyy back when, we use to put the 50-300's in cine mounts. They were useable as a variable focal length lens but weren't capable of being used as a zoom due to focus shift and tracking errors.

Chuck

[Jeff Kilgroe]

The 25 is an Angenieux. I was just wondering if anybody had any experience with it.

I guess it is Angenieux - I overlooked that. Not that it matters on my end, no experience with such things here.

[chuck colburn]

I guess it is Angenieux - I overlooked that. Not that it matters on my end, no experience with such things here.

Hi Jeff,

I'm surprised that your not fimiliar with the Angenieux name. They are responsiable for some of the finest optics ever made. Their 35-140mm zoom was the first practicle zoom used on 35mm cine cameras (albeit not a sterling lens). And the original 10x25 knocked the industry on it's butt. Between Zeiss and themselves they ruled the zoom lens market for 16mm cameras. And nowadays it's a matter of taste between them and T.H.Cooke who makes the better motion picture zoom lenses. Who knows, you may end up with one of their lenses on your camera!

Chuck

[Jeff Kilgroe]

I'm familiar with the name, but I haven't used any of their products. Hehe. Actually in film club in college we shot with a 16mm camera, but I don't recall what lenses were at our disposal.

[XiaoSu Han]

Maybe you guys should put up a sticky thread saying what can't be discussed to avoid having people randomly banned for not knowing, as the said threads get closed without explanations and sometimes deleted.

[Dan Hudgins]

Their 35-140mm zoom was the first practicle zoom used on 35mm cine cameras (albeit not a sterling lens).

The first practicle zoom was made by cooke for the Bell and Howell 2709, it had a finish like the camera and was shoe box shaped.

Before that people would set up a large negative lens in front of the camera on a stand and dolly in about a foot while doing a pull focus, the cooke lens was a big improvment.

Since most zooms before the 70's were not as sharpe as prime lenses they were used as an effect shot lens, and for television and newsreels.

Here is one for sale!

http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=4813443

Quote: [BELL & HOWELL-COOKE VARO LENS NO. 1936
BELL & HOWELL, U.S.A.; BLACK PAINTED ALLOY CASE WITH BROWN LACQUERED FITTINGS, F/3.5 40-120MM., STENCILLED GB NEWS LONDON, with maker's plate BELL & HOWELL STANDARD CINEMACHINERY over 'breathing holes', patent no. 1,947,669, with lens and rear element caps, in fitted case also marked GB NEWS LONDON]

http://www.cookeoptics.co.uk/cooke.nsf/history/1930s.html

Quote: [The First Zoom Lens for Cinematography

The first non-telescopic complex zoom lens for cinematography was the Bell & Howell Cooke Varo 40-120mm Lens (British patent 398,307, Arthur Warmisham) for 35mm format. The lens was manufactured and sold by Bell & Howell.

The lens came equipped with a special saddle that attached to a standard tripod plate. The saddle held the Varo lens and the camera ensuring correct alignment. The definition is critical at all parts of the zoom, at a standard much higher than previously attained with other contemporary zooms. The lens had adjustable stops and the focal length of the Varo lens was changed by rotating a crank.]

==

After WWII the allies took many of the Ziess and other German optical companies work as part of "was reparations" so some of what the French were making may have been based on German desigines, like the Hasselblad camera and Kiev 88 in Sweden and Russia.

==

Did you see the Noktor 50mm f/0.95?

http://noktor.com/products.php

Being 50mm it sould illuminate more than 2/3" sensor area, maybe.

[Steve Gibby]

Wayyyy back when, we use to put the 50-300's in cine mounts. They were useable as a variable focal length lens but weren't capable of being used as a zoom due to focus shift and tracking errors.

Hey Colburn - how's things in Oregon?

Those 50-300's you converted were most likely the AI version of the 50-300. The AI version was made from '77 to '82. The AIS version of the Nikon 50-300 f4.5 is a way better lens than the previous AI version - more crisp, better contrast, etc. The AIS version was made from '82 to '99.

I've owned a stock AIS version of the 50-300, made in '93, for about three years now, and have used it extensively on Red since September 2007. Mine holds focus perfectly throughout a complete, full focal range zoom of the lens. Mine cost me $1,100, and was worth every penny of it - and then some.

The 50-300 AIS was one of the staple lenses for professional still photographers who shot nature, sports, and wildlife in the mid '80's up into the mid '90's. IMO its one of the best Nikon lenses I've owned - and I've owned probably a total of 200 different Nikon lenses since 1969. Now I own 22 Nikon lenses (and one Canon lens) that I use on Red, some vintage, but many new.

IMO the best vintage Nikon long telephoto is the 400 f3.5 AIS, which was made form '82 to 2005. I own a stock one of them, made in '99, which is in near new condition. I use it regularly on Red. It's very crisp, has excellent bokeh, and very good contrast. I bought mine in near new condition two years ago for $1300 - money very well spent.