ok
 

after skimming this thread i see that dino reyes is leading the campaigne for the xl1 aldu35. i'm counting on you dino.

Did anyone build an adapter for the DVX100?

finally... the xl1/xl1s version is very close
 

thanks patrick for the encouragement! it's actually great timing, i had a REAL breakthrough this evening. i'm hoping to have something to post by this weekend...

stay tuned
-D

Dino, please keep us informed as soon as possible. I havn't had nearly enough time to read through this thread but if you could sumarize your progress thus far or create a website of some sort to keep track in one central location that would be great.

I've been hoping for a cheap 35 adapter solution to be developed for the XL1s.

I've gotten enought parts to experinment with. I'm having trouble with the tube design. It seems like no matter what I do I cannot get the FFL correct. I'm using pvc parts and am getting a little upset at them. I can get the FFL by hand, just not with the tubes all put together. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas?

I saw in one post somewhere in all these threads of a threaded tube for R&D build of optics. Now I cannot find it again. Does this ring a bell with anyone?

I took a 10+ macro and put on the camera side of the GG and I don't think a hotspot will be a problem.

If I can get help with this tube I'll be posting pics soon.

Yeah, John -

I'm in a similar boat. I just got my shipment of 'experimental' lenses, with a wide assortment of various plano-convex, achromat, aspheric, and concave lenses to mess with. *plenty* to experiment with, but the mounting/positioning is tough.

I'm using Canon FD lenses, which have a FFL of 42.1mm (really short...), so I have much more trouble with PVC.

Here's what I've done with some success:

I got a male/female pair of the 2" PVC Couplings described in the various tutorials.

The male coupling has a threaded part and then a long 'coupling' part. I put this on the tablesaw and first, cut the coupling way down to about 3mm. This makes a nice 3mm even surface for mounting the canon FD mount.

I have two possible mounts for the Canon lenses: 1 is the actual mounting plate from my disassembled AE-1 - it's about 5mm thick. The other is a 'rear lens cap' like Alain described, with the cap part cut out. It's much thicker at somewhere around 10+mm.

Then I threaded the female part on and tightened it down failry tight. I took a measurement of the distance from the lens with my chosen mount on it, and marked down on the female side of coupling at around 38mm from where the lens actually mates with the mount. With the rear lens mount version, this only leaves me with like 25mm of threads. Still enough to unscrew it the 3-4 mm required for proper focusing.

One trick is to spray paint the male threads. This adds some friction and makes the threading of the loose PVC feel more 'secure'. I haven't done this next part yet, but I've also picked up a tap wrench and a matching die and nylon screw. I'm going to put a threaded hole through the female part of the coupling and thread the nylon screw down there which I can tighten once the adjustment is right. (This idea came from someone else who did it on this board...)

I have also gotten a lot of good utility out of cheap (around $5 at my local camera shop) step-up rings. In my case, the 58mm ring wraps nicely around the end of the 2" pvc and I'm planning to use JB Weld to make a permanent connection here. I'm using a 52mm UV filter as my ground glass, so the 52-58mm step up gives the back end of the coupling a threaded ring to put my ground glass/UV filter (which is threaded) right on to. I think this will be good also because I can just twist the assembly apart for easy cleaning of the ground glass. Of course, the step-up lengthens the FFL and needs to be considered when measuring.

That's as far as I've gotten, but I'm hoping to use a similar contraption in the other direction to get from the threaded ground glass back onto another segment of PVC to attach back to the macro and camcorder (via more step rings).

Made some changes to my tutorial, and added a third page.

The piece of PVC that I'd originally intended to affix the F-mount to ended up being just a hair too short once sawed off, so I purchased another, different piece of coupling and sawed it to a depth of 1 and 1/2 inches.

Initial tests show that grinding both sides of the filter was a mistake :/ Oh well, off to the photo store with $12 in hand...

- jim

Jim's design
 

Jim-
How strong would you say your connections are with your PVC design. Would you be able to suport cine zoom lenses or only 35mm still lenses?

For thoughs painting your threads to make your adapter feel more solid - Dont forget that the paint is likely to start flaking off and creating a mess inside a adapter that must remain absolutely spotless clean inside.

Brett:

If I was going with larger-than-35mm-SLR-lenses, I'd add a support like this:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=126662&is=REG

It's not so much the PVC as it is the achromat that I'd worry about, which bears the brunt of the adapter's weight.

Thanks for your advice re: flaking paint. Shouldn't be too much of a worry provided the paint is sprayed onto a scuffed surface and not laid too heavily. I'm just looking to give it a dampened color on the inside, and a deep black on the out.

Tomorrow I'll probably have mine finished, with more pics. Next week I begin filming a short with it, and I'll have clips up sometime then.

- jim

Brett & Jim, you're both right about painting. There are no good paints for PVC (Crylon for plastics is the only one, but they don't make flat black paint), and regular spraypaints don't stick well, even to sanded surfaces. I used thin coats of some generic ultra-flat paint, and let it dry for about 2 days. It seems to stay on as long as you don't scratch it with something sharp. Still, I only see it as a quick-and-dirty prototype solution.

I just got my bag of lenses from A.S.S. and this condensor REALY made the difference. I will post footage tommorow, It looks as good as Alains.

John Gaspain

I'm going to try coating the inside and outside with this black rubber stuff you dip your tools in. I'm going to thin it and try to be careful in the application.

you got a bag of lenses from ASS, hahaha. Someone had to say it, unfortunately that turned out to be me.

<<<-- Originally posted by John Heskett : I'm going to try coating the inside and outside with this black rubber stuff you dip your tools in. I'm going to thin it and try to be careful in the application. -->>>

If your tube is PVC, Plastic Dye might be be a better solution, its available in a spray can at home depot, its used for lawn chairs 'n stuff.

Or for aluminum tube, anodizing would be the best, which can be done at your local gunsmith.

John Gaspain - condenser lens specs
 

John Gaspain - Let us all know the focal length and diameter of the condenser your using plus the physical length between your condenser and your macro lens.