P+S mini35 300 Series

[Tobias Utz]

Hi,
for a short film i rent the p+s mini35 300 series. When i switched it on it sounds like you rewind a tape. is this normal? is the 400 series as loud as the 300 series?
Does anybody know what Nikon Lenses are good for using with the mini35?

thank you

[John Colette]

Tobias - they 400 series is really quiet - can't speak for the 300 - but I'm told the older versions are a bit on the noisy side. Like really noisy.....

As for lenses - get the fastest primes you can get, and a good zoom is nice for shooting in daylight. The adapter soakks up a lot of light - 2 stops for sure. You will need to "overlight" compared to the very fast qualities of modern video cameras - the difference being that with the Depth of Field reduced, you can be more creative with backgrounds. Imagine using a 300w light - then you use 2 with the adapter at least!

I use Nikon 35, 50 and 80mm f1.4 for main lenses - and some wide/tele f2 and f2.5 lenses for fixed lens shots. (24mm 16mm, 105mm) ....Looking for a faster 135 f1.8 at the moment :-)

Bear in mind the Nikons *do* breathe when you pull focus - especially the 8omm - and I use a Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 constsnt Zoom for a lot of other work outdoors - and It's a really great zoom for the price. Bought it from ebay from T.Dimension - a shop in Hong Kong. Arrived in 2 days via EMP post. All my other lenses I bought 2nd hand from various sources.

Look at www.dandiaconu.com/ - Dan has some great gears for still prime lenses that not only gear the lens - but increase the focus diamater, so the short throw on many stills lenses - like the Nikons - is compensated for. He also sells a **great** folow focus - by far the best you will find for the cost.

hope that's helpful

-John

[Tobias Utz]

Hi John,
thank you very much! It was a very good help for me.
Now i`m looking vor T dimension and lenses with the specs
you`ve told me.

-Tobias

[John Colette]

A pleasure Tobias - I am hoping to put up some WWW info on all of this when I get some spare moments!

Hopefully it can point out our experiences for the rest of the community.

Look also in the "Alternative Imaging Methods" forum here - it's very helpful.

-j

[Tobias Utz]

Hi! Infos would be great!
I will also put a list of tested lenses online when it`s done.

[Dennis Hingsberg]

The 300 you rented likely needs to be serviced. I rent out a 300 here in Toronto and she's extremely quiet when run in either high or low speed.

Hope that helps.