SD B4 lenses on ⅓" cameras at DVinfo.net

Paul R Johnson · December 27th, 2020, 09:13 AM

Last year I think I posted about getting a B4 adaptor so I could pop a B4 lens from my old Betacams onto my JVC GY-HM750. I've always liked JVCs and have gone through 500/5000/100/200/700 series as they became available, and I now have a couple of 750s. HD 1080 and I have no interest in 4K at all for the present. I've also got a 100, which perches on a DJI Ronin S.

I got a parachute job - could I fill the screen from the ground as the parachutists exited the aircraft over the field - so I got the adaptor and plonked on the Canon 14X with 2X extender. The field of view narrows due to the sensor size anyway, and with the 2X extender in, the result was quite remarkable. It was, as warned, a bit soft and there was some chromatic aberration on high contrast edges, but it did a really good job.

Just before Christmas I opened a flight case looking for something and found the other old Betacam - this one with a Fuji 14X lens, and for curiosity popped it in one of the JVCs. The results were much better than the Canon. I've no idea at all why. In the studio the two side by side framed on the same subject and split screened look so similar, I wasn't sure which was which. I'll do some more tests during the week, but I didn't expect the images to be this nice - so I've got a very long lens capability that I've not had before. The Canon follows the internet advice - yes, it will work but the image will be soft and have coloured fringing, but the Fujinon seems to not follow these comments at all - unless it's just close distances in the studio. Most people are not into ⅓" cameras at all, looking for bigger and bigger sensors, but I like deep depth of field and although I could use a DSLR, I choose not to. I'm probably alone, but maybe we will have some nice weather for me to experiment a bit.

December 27th, 2020, 09:13 AM	#1
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,045	SD B4 lenses on ⅓" cameras Last year I think I posted about getting a B4 adaptor so I could pop a B4 lens from my old Betacams onto my JVC GY-HM750. I've always liked JVCs and have gone through 500/5000/100/200/700 series as they became available, and I now have a couple of 750s. HD 1080 and I have no interest in 4K at all for the present. I've also got a 100, which perches on a DJI Ronin S. I got a parachute job - could I fill the screen from the ground as the parachutists exited the aircraft over the field - so I got the adaptor and plonked on the Canon 14X with 2X extender. The field of view narrows due to the sensor size anyway, and with the 2X extender in, the result was quite remarkable. It was, as warned, a bit soft and there was some chromatic aberration on high contrast edges, but it did a really good job. Just before Christmas I opened a flight case looking for something and found the other old Betacam - this one with a Fuji 14X lens, and for curiosity popped it in one of the JVCs. The results were much better than the Canon. I've no idea at all why. In the studio the two side by side framed on the same subject and split screened look so similar, I wasn't sure which was which. I'll do some more tests during the week, but I didn't expect the images to be this nice - so I've got a very long lens capability that I've not had before. The Canon follows the internet advice - yes, it will work but the image will be soft and have coloured fringing, but the Fujinon seems to not follow these comments at all - unless it's just close distances in the studio. Most people are not into ⅓" cameras at all, looking for bigger and bigger sensors, but I like deep depth of field and although I could use a DSLR, I choose not to. I'm probably alone, but maybe we will have some nice weather for me to experiment a bit.