DIY mid format adapter used in production

Ted Ramasola

Ted Ramasola

Veteran
I just wrapped production for a real estate company commercial. I finally used my DIY lens adapter using mamiya 645 lenses. I'm attaching some stills from the production. I used the JVC HD100.

Thanks to all that gave critical advice in this and other forums. The last key component i added is Dennis Wood's 72mm achromat designed for his Brevis adapter.

Hope those going this route find these results usefull.

Ted

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SWEET! Man, time to post how you built this thing; mamiya makes some nice glass, and there's plenty of 645 stuff on the used market.

Has anyone noticed how adapter-able the old Mamiya 6x7 bodies look? Just a big box with a bellows... hmmmm....
 
OK, I'm going to be a little critical, not to offend but to try to help you get better results.

1, Man reading @ 150mm) Good light and exposure, but excessive grain. It looks like GG grain to me...

2, Couple with dogs @ 45mm) Same grain issue, sky is overexposed. Composition may have been better by placing both columns on 'the thirds'.

3, Little girls @ 80mm) Grain is better, a touch more headroom would have been better. Beautiful color and very artistic.

4, Grandfather / granddaughter reading @ 80mm) Very bad grain. Pretty bad chromatic aberration (red bleed on left of chair & blue bleed on right of table). Plant intrudes on subject instead of framing it.

5, dinner) Lighting is uneven as the sides fall off. Edges seem soft. Hints of chromatic aberration and bad grain.


As far as the grain, you might try spinning the CD faster. A lot of work goes into getting the texture just right, you might be able to mount a Redrock M2 Cine Screen which has a very good texture.

The chromatic aberration comes from lens glass (the term achromatic means that the glass is designed to keep the spectrum of light aligned). I would assume that your Mamiya lenses and the JVC HD100 lens are very high quality so I would suspect your achromat.

All this being said, it looks DAMN GOOD for a DIY adapter!

Bob
 
Thanks for the comments Bob, its one reason I post, so we can subject it to scrutiny. I'd like to add some information that these are all moving shots, I mounted the entire rig on my DIY Plywood skater dolly so the composition is constantly in motion.

The one with the dogs, the rig was on my DIY Track Doly which tracked the female model while she has moving past several pillars, the shot will dissolve to a medium shot with one of the pillars acting as a wipe for a transition.

i'll do some tests adding another battery since i underpowered the motor if i can improve on grain. Again, since its a spinning GG the grain when viewed on screen becomes less apparent.

I'll post the same frames after post grading and CA removal.

Thank you for the constructive words.

Ted
 
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It's easy to spot these defective things others have mentioned, from stills; I imagine finding the same defects as the commercial is playing, would be very difficult. Heck I think most of us here wouldn't even spot the defects at all!
 
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