Anchor Optics Achromats? at DVinfo.net

Lau Ho Ming · February 13th, 2007, 11:07 AM

I found a 60mm achromat with +7.35 diopter in Anchor Optics for about $29. And now I want to modify my own adapter into a HD ready one so that it can be used on Sony HVR-V1P. I would like to know if the quality of these achromat is acceptable. Since I really can't afford redrock's one. Anyone have tried Anchor Optics stuff?

Ben Winter · February 13th, 2007, 11:37 AM

achromat, or macro? for 29 bucks i cant imagine the quality would be that good. Is it a twopiece achromat?

Bob Hart · February 13th, 2007, 12:48 PM

The achromat might be stock left over from an OEM production run and sold at a discounted price, so you may come up lucky.

If you can put it in front of your camera before buying, try to do so.

Even better, try to shoot an image of a barcode which should be near enough to the right size although it is a little bit larger than the motion picture frame and about the same size as the still-camera frame.

This should suggest how sharp it is, what the contrast if like and if the camcorder/achromatic dioptre combination creates distortion in the image.

Lau Ho Ming · February 13th, 2007, 12:51 PM

It is achromat. Just that this is a division of Edmund Optics which sells experimental grade optics.
http://www.anchoroptics.com/catalog/product.cfm?id=257

Wayne Kinney · February 13th, 2007, 12:56 PM

Hi,
I've ordered achromats from here before about a year ago. They are very low quality, some were green glass, some are filled with bubbles. Just a warning...

Ben Winter · February 13th, 2007, 07:34 PM

Ah, experimental grade. Those are for high school science projects, not HD imaging. Steer clear.

Lau Ho Ming · February 14th, 2007, 03:20 AM

Oh Fxxk. I just ordered them. I thought they are at least better than those achromat in those $20 cheap binocular. But I ordered those so-called "Grade 1" one. They said they are free of oxidation and scratches. I wish that I will have some luck man.

Ryan Damm · February 14th, 2007, 02:21 PM

I've ordered some optics at Anchor - the Grade 1 optics seemed to be okay. Don't bother with any other grade, though. Of course, I wasn't using them in a critical imaging application....

But for $29, who cares? At worst it's a (cheap) lesson. At best, you got a great deal for what would normally be a quite expensive piece of glass.

It's worth noting, by the way, that if it was originally designed for OEM it may have different performance characteristics (if it were truly custom ground, etc, it may not perform that well beyond the conjugates it was meant for). Just a warning, for anytime you try to repurpose optics.

Wayne Morellini · February 15th, 2007, 10:21 AM

I have macro out of Binocular lens, would they be of suitable quality? If so, that could be an cheap option.

Lau Ho Ming · February 15th, 2007, 10:45 AM

I used binocular optics for standard definition video. It works really great for me. But the problem is that you won't find a single piece powerful achromat. You will probably need to combine two of the achromat. And I still have not try them on HD yet.

Phil Bloom · February 15th, 2007, 12:58 PM

Wayne's achromat for £99 looks like the best bet out there for my money!

Wayne Morellini · February 16th, 2007, 08:25 AM

It was free actually. An engineer at an optical shop gave it to me. It is an dual lens. I thought it might be an interesting source, old Binoculars, and enough to do 3D adaptor ;). Actually an friend of mine gave me a bunch of lens from an film processing unit. I guess some may have telecentric properties.

There maybe achromatic in a number of lens, but an problem might be chromatic aberrations. An lens system is balanced, and individual parts might not work because they are only shaped to fit the system they are in.

4/3rd lens systems are designed to be telecentric for Digital sensors. I wonder if they would make an good optical only adaptor?

Ryan Damm · February 16th, 2007, 09:51 AM

Hey Wayne,

Just out of curiosity, why the interest in telecentric systems? Are you looking to replace the stock lens on a 3-chip camera? And you may want to read this thread before thinking too hard about optical-only systems (I presume that means no scattering plate).

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=83854

The thread gets more technical as it proceeds. Near the end, I conclude that an optical-only system would have to be unreasonably fast to get the best DOF benefits (particularly if you're trying to go from 35mm to 1/3" chip size).

Cheers,

Ryan

Wayne Morellini · February 18th, 2007, 10:14 AM

Thanks for that, it is time I looked at it, I have been talking about this for around 4 years.

Yes, I know this problem, I would solve it with variable density filter ;). If I am using an sensor with range extension (I have been in the Digital Cinema camera projects) then I have upto 27 stops of latitude at the moment.

My interests in telecentric systems is simple. The faster the system the more extreme the angle the rays come in. In an 3 chip camera, we found that the 3 chip prism did not like apertures faster than f1.6 I think, and with microlens, the lens did not like apertures of more than f1.3, which produces chroma aberration, or washout I forget. If I can figure out how to project the lens image onto an system that straightens it, I can get the extra stops of light while delivering the image at an low aperture, which eliminates the chromatic aberrations. I also have interests for it in other areas.

Wayne Morellini · February 18th, 2007, 10:23 AM

I forgot to mention, an telecentric lens (the 4/3rds lens) should give an better image, and potentially easier to relay down to target size. I wonder if this sensor/lens format would give an suitable image, and DOF, for digital cinema.

February 13th, 2007, 11:07 AM	#1
Lau Ho Ming Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 81	Anchor Optics Achromats? I found a 60mm achromat with +7.35 diopter in Anchor Optics for about $29. And now I want to modify my own adapter into a HD ready one so that it can be used on Sony HVR-V1P. I would like to know if the quality of these achromat is acceptable. Since I really can't afford redrock's one. Anyone have tried Anchor Optics stuff?

February 13th, 2007, 11:37 AM	#2
Ben Winter Trustee Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hollywood, CA Posts: 1,675 Images: 1	achromat, or macro? for 29 bucks i cant imagine the quality would be that good. Is it a twopiece achromat? __________________ BenWinter.com

February 13th, 2007, 12:56 PM	#5
Wayne Kinney Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Brighton, East Sussex, UK Posts: 938	Hi, I've ordered achromats from here before about a year ago. They are very low quality, some were green glass, some are filled with bubbles. Just a warning... __________________ Thanks, Wayne.

February 13th, 2007, 07:34 PM	#6
Ben Winter Trustee Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hollywood, CA Posts: 1,675 Images: 1	Ah, experimental grade. Those are for high school science projects, not HD imaging. Steer clear. __________________ BenWinter.com

February 14th, 2007, 02:21 PM	#8
Ryan Damm Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 46	Mixed bag at Anchor I've ordered some optics at Anchor - the Grade 1 optics seemed to be okay. Don't bother with any other grade, though. Of course, I wasn't using them in a critical imaging application.... But for $29, who cares? At worst it's a (cheap) lesson. At best, you got a great deal for what would normally be a quite expensive piece of glass. It's worth noting, by the way, that if it was originally designed for OEM it may have different performance characteristics (if it were truly custom ground, etc, it may not perform that well beyond the conjugates it was meant for). Just a warning, for anytime you try to repurpose optics.

February 13th, 2007, 12:48 PM	#3
Bob Hart Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: PERTH. W.A. AUSTRALIA. Posts: 4,476	The achromat might be stock left over from an OEM production run and sold at a discounted price, so you may come up lucky. If you can put it in front of your camera before buying, try to do so. Even better, try to shoot an image of a barcode which should be near enough to the right size although it is a little bit larger than the motion picture frame and about the same size as the still-camera frame. This should suggest how sharp it is, what the contrast if like and if the camcorder/achromatic dioptre combination creates distortion in the image.

February 13th, 2007, 12:51 PM	#4
Lau Ho Ming Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 81	It is achromat. Just that this is a division of Edmund Optics which sells experimental grade optics. http://www.anchoroptics.com/catalog/product.cfm?id=257

February 14th, 2007, 03:20 AM	#7
Lau Ho Ming Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 81	Oh Fxxk. I just ordered them. I thought they are at least better than those achromat in those $20 cheap binocular. But I ordered those so-called "Grade 1" one. They said they are free of oxidation and scratches. I wish that I will have some luck man.

February 15th, 2007, 10:21 AM	#9
Wayne Morellini Inner Circle Join Date: May 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 2,762	I have macro out of Binocular lens, would they be of suitable quality? If so, that could be an cheap option. Last edited by Wayne Morellini; February 16th, 2007 at 08:12 AM.

February 15th, 2007, 10:45 AM	#10
Lau Ho Ming Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 81	I used binocular optics for standard definition video. It works really great for me. But the problem is that you won't find a single piece powerful achromat. You will probably need to combine two of the achromat. And I still have not try them on HD yet.

February 15th, 2007, 12:58 PM	#11
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	Wayne's achromat for £99 looks like the best bet out there for my money! __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

February 16th, 2007, 08:25 AM	#12
Wayne Morellini Inner Circle Join Date: May 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 2,762	It was free actually. An engineer at an optical shop gave it to me. It is an dual lens. I thought it might be an interesting source, old Binoculars, and enough to do 3D adaptor ;). Actually an friend of mine gave me a bunch of lens from an film processing unit. I guess some may have telecentric properties. There maybe achromatic in a number of lens, but an problem might be chromatic aberrations. An lens system is balanced, and individual parts might not work because they are only shaped to fit the system they are in. 4/3rd lens systems are designed to be telecentric for Digital sensors. I wonder if they would make an good optical only adaptor?

February 16th, 2007, 09:51 AM	#13
Ryan Damm Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 46	Hey Wayne, Just out of curiosity, why the interest in telecentric systems? Are you looking to replace the stock lens on a 3-chip camera? And you may want to read this thread before thinking too hard about optical-only systems (I presume that means no scattering plate). http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=83854 The thread gets more technical as it proceeds. Near the end, I conclude that an optical-only system would have to be unreasonably fast to get the best DOF benefits (particularly if you're trying to go from 35mm to 1/3" chip size). Cheers, Ryan

February 18th, 2007, 10:14 AM	#14
Wayne Morellini Inner Circle Join Date: May 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 2,762	Thanks for that, it is time I looked at it, I have been talking about this for around 4 years. Yes, I know this problem, I would solve it with variable density filter ;). If I am using an sensor with range extension (I have been in the Digital Cinema camera projects) then I have upto 27 stops of latitude at the moment. My interests in telecentric systems is simple. The faster the system the more extreme the angle the rays come in. In an 3 chip camera, we found that the 3 chip prism did not like apertures faster than f1.6 I think, and with microlens, the lens did not like apertures of more than f1.3, which produces chroma aberration, or washout I forget. If I can figure out how to project the lens image onto an system that straightens it, I can get the extra stops of light while delivering the image at an low aperture, which eliminates the chromatic aberrations. I also have interests for it in other areas.

February 18th, 2007, 10:23 AM	#15
Wayne Morellini Inner Circle Join Date: May 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 2,762	I forgot to mention, an telecentric lens (the 4/3rds lens) should give an better image, and potentially easier to relay down to target size. I wonder if this sensor/lens format would give an suitable image, and DOF, for digital cinema.