Homemade 35mm Adapter

Corey Smith · December 21st, 2003, 11:18 PM

Hey, I tried to post this yesterday, but I may have found a way to not have to use a spinning CD. I had to scrap the spinning CD because of the size of my camcorder (which made it virtually impossible for me to have a spinning cd). The non moving method has no scratches, dust, etc. The image is bright too.

I used very thin, slightly diffused plastic and if i triple the layers it becomes diffused enough to create the projection. Worked for me. I was using other still pieces and the scratches from the sandpaper were just too noticeable. I knew there had to be an alternative. I'm not sure how it compares to the spinning CD, but it works for me.

J. Clayton Stansberry · December 21st, 2003, 11:19 PM

Yeah, you need to zoom or magnify it. If you are zoomed in as far as possible, then you need to magnify it before you capture it. I have had problems with the vignetting, but that was due to my holes being off and not totally centered. I was able to zoom in a little more and that fixed the problem...this is just with the lens going straight into the camera without the frosted glass. Haven't got my hands on the sandpaper yet. Hope it works!

Taylor Moore · December 21st, 2003, 11:20 PM

Hey Corey,
Can you post some pix?

J. Clayton Stansberry · December 21st, 2003, 11:22 PM

Corey,

What is this plastic you are talking about? And, where did you pick it up...as stated, I am waiting for the frosted CD, frosted plastic, etc. to complete generation 2 of the Agus35. Let us know ASAP! Thanks in advance...

Clay

Jeremiah Rickert · December 22nd, 2003, 01:34 AM

This may seem like a dumb question to some, but after some browsing, I couldn't find an answer.

On a canon FD lens, how do you open the iris? Does the lens have to be attached to a camera?

I turn the aperture adjustment ring and it clicks, but the iris doesn't budge. Do I have to hold one of the pins on the back of the lens and then turn it or what?

Here is a picture of the lens:
http://www.canonfd.com/lenswork/lenswork010.htm

Thanks in advance

Spass

Don Berube · December 22nd, 2003, 01:58 AM

Jeremiah (or is it "Spass"?),

Sounds like the silver locking ring collar on the back of the lens is locked into "lens detached" position.

If you are looking at the back of the FD lens:
1) Press down on the tiny Positioning Pin closest to the Red Dot on the outer back ring.
2) Move rear locking collar fully counter-clockwise.
3) Swing the rear "Automatic aperture lever to the right until it clicks into position.

You will now be able to open and close the iris by moving the iris control ring on the lens. Note that as you move the iris ring, the rear "Aperture signal lever" will move to a new position, depending on what you set the iris control ring to.

- don

Don Berube · December 22nd, 2003, 02:23 AM

I'm surprised that no one has yet asked that classic inevitable question: How does the Agus35 compare to the Vendi35 in terms of Low Light performace? >joke<

Well,,, I guess you could possibly mount a Lomo Night Vision scope to your adaptor,,, ;-)
http://www.opticsplanet.net/nightvision.html

- don

Louis Feng · December 22nd, 2003, 03:07 AM

Don, that's a good one. Actually I think Agus's last video looks really good. However, it's an outdoor shooting, lighting is much more abundant in that case. I have yet to see anyone that can handle in door lighting well.

It should be noted that the video I shoot was shooting directly from the GG without any cover and was not modified or color corrected in anyway. I'm sure it will look brighter when everything is in a blackbox. But I'm not expecting dramatic improvement from this type of GG (hint, hint).

In fact I am wondering how good the mini35 is, considering there really isn't that much light passing through the lens. I don't believe there is any magic that somehow they can "squeeze" more light from how much there actually is. Again, it probably works well outdoor with bright sun light. I haven't seen any "bright" indoor shots on their web site (most are dark and smoky).

Having played with different kinds of real ground glass, I can tell you that the best/finest ground glass can only produce ok results in a static solution. However, there are other materials can do much better job, both transmitting more light and produce clearer image, but also cost a lot more. Let science do the magic, that's what I'm going to test next. I might even impress myself.

Louis Feng · December 22nd, 2003, 03:23 AM

Regarding using ground glass/plastic/consumer products

All the materials above will work fine with a rotating/vibrating solution. The downside is they scatter too much light in every direction. They are not specially made for this video recording.

A static solution is even harder. Ground glass won't work, plastic CD won't work, any short of consumer product won't work. They all produce uneven illumination or visible noise.

I am only considering a static solution for myself, because it would be much more cumbersome to produce an upright image with the rotating/vibrating solution. The missing part right now is to find the best material for the projection. I might have found what I need. I'll know in a few days.

Corey Smith · December 22nd, 2003, 03:31 AM

Plastic Sheeting. It's real cheap. 3-4 layers should be enough. Works pretty good. It doesn't need to be rotated, because it's not all scratched up. I'm not sure how it compares to the CD though. I will see if I can get some photos or videos up later. I'm still having some vignetting issues.

Zac Stein · December 22nd, 2003, 03:33 AM

Vendible Book,

i noticed some plans you posted earlier, but they don't make much sense and the picture is a bit small to study properly, is there anyway you could label what goes in and where from a few different angles, with bigger pictures so i can see how it is working?

Thankyou,

zac

Bob Hart · December 22nd, 2003, 03:34 AM

If people want to go the non-moving groundglass route, then medium format objective lenses onto a larger fixed forsted glass might be the way to go., ie., bigger format bigger groundglass, smaller grain defects across the image.

It may be feasable to use the whole of a secondhand medium format camera or modify it to mount the small camcorder.

Jim Lafferty · December 22nd, 2003, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Agus Casse:

hey Jim, thanks for that credit dude !!

i see that you are having some vibration problems, are you using a cd motor ? did you sanded the cd or was a already frosted one ?

Re: the credit -- of course, man!

Re: the shaking image -- that's a design problem that will be overcome when I build and mount my rail system. For the moment, the adapter is "free-standing," attached to the front of my GL1 with a piece of rubber coupling and an adjustable metal strip that tightens around the lens housing. While the weight is nice and it keeps the adapter tight to the front of the camera, the rubber has enough give as to shake when I make any adjustments to the film lens...

Any tips on where you got the parts for your rail setup? I really like the curved handle you put in place...but the overall design is nicely simple and effective.

- jim

Charles King · December 22nd, 2003, 10:49 AM

Hey Jim, do you have some pics to share? I too have a xm2 and would like to see your setup being that we have the same camera. Thanks

Agus Casse · December 22nd, 2003, 10:50 AM

Perhaps we should separate this thread to continue the progress about the agus35, and make a new one for the new vendi35

December 21st, 2003, 11:18 PM	#511
Corey Smith Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Hot Springs, AR Posts: 31	No Moving Parts Hey, I tried to post this yesterday, but I may have found a way to not have to use a spinning CD. I had to scrap the spinning CD because of the size of my camcorder (which made it virtually impossible for me to have a spinning cd). The non moving method has no scratches, dust, etc. The image is bright too. I used very thin, slightly diffused plastic and if i triple the layers it becomes diffused enough to create the projection. Worked for me. I was using other still pieces and the scratches from the sandpaper were just too noticeable. I knew there had to be an alternative. I'm not sure how it compares to the spinning CD, but it works for me.

December 21st, 2003, 11:19 PM	#512
J. Clayton Stansberry Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Colorado Posts: 316	Yeah, you need to zoom or magnify it. If you are zoomed in as far as possible, then you need to magnify it before you capture it. I have had problems with the vignetting, but that was due to my holes being off and not totally centered. I was able to zoom in a little more and that fixed the problem...this is just with the lens going straight into the camera without the frosted glass. Haven't got my hands on the sandpaper yet. Hope it works! __________________ I understand everything about nothing.

December 21st, 2003, 11:22 PM	#514
J. Clayton Stansberry Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Colorado Posts: 316	Corey, What is this plastic you are talking about? And, where did you pick it up...as stated, I am waiting for the frosted CD, frosted plastic, etc. to complete generation 2 of the Agus35. Let us know ASAP! Thanks in advance... Clay __________________ I understand everything about nothing.

December 22nd, 2003, 01:34 AM	#515
Jeremiah Rickert Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Newberg, Oregon Posts: 494	Canon FD Lens question This may seem like a dumb question to some, but after some browsing, I couldn't find an answer. On a canon FD lens, how do you open the iris? Does the lens have to be attached to a camera? I turn the aperture adjustment ring and it clicks, but the iris doesn't budge. Do I have to hold one of the pins on the back of the lens and then turn it or what? Here is a picture of the lens: http://www.canonfd.com/lenswork/lenswork010.htm Thanks in advance Spass

December 22nd, 2003, 01:58 AM	#516
Don Berube Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Boston, MA (travel frequently) Posts: 837	Jeremiah (or is it "Spass"?), Sounds like the silver locking ring collar on the back of the lens is locked into "lens detached" position. If you are looking at the back of the FD lens: 1) Press down on the tiny Positioning Pin closest to the Red Dot on the outer back ring. 2) Move rear locking collar fully counter-clockwise. 3) Swing the rear "Automatic aperture lever to the right until it clicks into position. You will now be able to open and close the iris by moving the iris control ring on the lens. Note that as you move the iris ring, the rear "Aperture signal lever" will move to a new position, depending on what you set the iris control ring to. - don __________________ DONALD BERUBE - noisybrain. Productions, LLC Director Of Photography/ Producer/ Consultant http://noisybrain.com/donbio.html CREATE and NETWORK with http://www.bosfcpug.org and also http://fcpugnetwork.org

December 21st, 2003, 11:20 PM	#513
Taylor Moore Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 94	Hey Corey, Can you post some pix?

December 22nd, 2003, 02:23 AM	#517
Don Berube Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Boston, MA (travel frequently) Posts: 837	Low Light Performance of Agus35 ??? I'm surprised that no one has yet asked that classic inevitable question: How does the Agus35 compare to the Vendi35 in terms of Low Light performace? >joke< Well,,, I guess you could possibly mount a Lomo Night Vision scope to your adaptor,,, ;-) http://www.opticsplanet.net/nightvision.html - don __________________ DONALD BERUBE - noisybrain. Productions, LLC Director Of Photography/ Producer/ Consultant http://noisybrain.com/donbio.html CREATE and NETWORK with http://www.bosfcpug.org and also http://fcpugnetwork.org

December 22nd, 2003, 03:07 AM	#518
Louis Feng Vendible Book Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 59	Don, that's a good one. Actually I think Agus's last video looks really good. However, it's an outdoor shooting, lighting is much more abundant in that case. I have yet to see anyone that can handle in door lighting well. It should be noted that the video I shoot was shooting directly from the GG without any cover and was not modified or color corrected in anyway. I'm sure it will look brighter when everything is in a blackbox. But I'm not expecting dramatic improvement from this type of GG (hint, hint). In fact I am wondering how good the mini35 is, considering there really isn't that much light passing through the lens. I don't believe there is any magic that somehow they can "squeeze" more light from how much there actually is. Again, it probably works well outdoor with bright sun light. I haven't seen any "bright" indoor shots on their web site (most are dark and smoky). Having played with different kinds of real ground glass, I can tell you that the best/finest ground glass can only produce ok results in a static solution. However, there are other materials can do much better job, both transmitting more light and produce clearer image, but also cost a lot more. Let science do the magic, that's what I'm going to test next. I might even impress myself.

December 22nd, 2003, 03:23 AM	#519
Louis Feng Vendible Book Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 59	Regarding using ground glass/plastic/consumer products All the materials above will work fine with a rotating/vibrating solution. The downside is they scatter too much light in every direction. They are not specially made for this video recording. A static solution is even harder. Ground glass won't work, plastic CD won't work, any short of consumer product won't work. They all produce uneven illumination or visible noise. I am only considering a static solution for myself, because it would be much more cumbersome to produce an upright image with the rotating/vibrating solution. The missing part right now is to find the best material for the projection. I might have found what I need. I'll know in a few days.

December 22nd, 2003, 03:31 AM	#520
Corey Smith Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Hot Springs, AR Posts: 31	It's called... Plastic Sheeting. It's real cheap. 3-4 layers should be enough. Works pretty good. It doesn't need to be rotated, because it's not all scratched up. I'm not sure how it compares to the CD though. I will see if I can get some photos or videos up later. I'm still having some vignetting issues.

December 22nd, 2003, 03:33 AM	#521
Zac Stein Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 730	Vendible Book, i noticed some plans you posted earlier, but they don't make much sense and the picture is a bit small to study properly, is there anyway you could label what goes in and where from a few different angles, with bigger pictures so i can see how it is working? Thankyou, zac

December 22nd, 2003, 03:34 AM	#522
Bob Hart Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: PERTH. W.A. AUSTRALIA. Posts: 4,477	If people want to go the non-moving groundglass route, then medium format objective lenses onto a larger fixed forsted glass might be the way to go., ie., bigger format bigger groundglass, smaller grain defects across the image. It may be feasable to use the whole of a secondhand medium format camera or modify it to mount the small camcorder.

December 22nd, 2003, 10:49 AM	#524
Charles King Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: sweden Posts: 795	Hey Jim, do you have some pics to share? I too have a xm2 and would like to see your setup being that we have the same camera. Thanks __________________ Charles 'What we perceive to be may not be what we believe to be.'

December 22nd, 2003, 10:50 AM	#525
Agus Casse Major Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Guatemala Posts: 322	Perhaps we should separate this thread to continue the progress about the agus35, and make a new one for the new vendi35 __________________ Agus35 - the ultimate tool for indie DV filmakers -