armisiano
Veteran
So there's about a million of these on this forum. But damnit, here's mine.
I had designed and built a previous DIY adapter, but noticed some flaws, and set out to correct them. This adapter DOES NOT thread into the camera. My previous one did, and it put too much strain on the camera causing the CCD to temporarily go askew, which scared the shi* out of me. Anyway, some instructions:
(of course during this entire ordeal you want to be in a very clean environment, wearing surgical gloves if possible and keeping the old lens cleaning kit handy at all times. Dust is our enemy.)
- In the non-threaded end of the female PVC coupler, dremel out a space for the Lens release nob (see the photo collage below).
- If there are ridges on the outside of the wide end of your male PVC piece (there were on mine, although not in the PVC photo above), dremel them off, so that end of the PVC can fit nicely up against the DVX lens.
- Spray paint the inside (outside optional) of the PVC pieces with Ultra Flat black paint, to keep as much light from reflecting inside the adapter as possible.
- Knowing that the wide end of the male adapter will fit against the DVX lens, place the 58mm +10 Macro Lens, with the threads toward the camera, about 1.5 centimeters into the PVC piece. It should fit relatively snugly. Glue into place with super glue gel (IF using super glue, ALWAYS use the gel, never the liquid. It'll run EVERYWHERE and ruin EVERYTHING. I learned that the hard way).
- At the small end of the male PVC piece, super glue the 49mm UV filter. The threads if facing the camera, will fit nicely inside, with the lip of the filter remaining outside the PVC (as seen in the diagram above).
- Set focusing screen carefully in the center of the 49mm UV filter, it will fit very snugly. Using SILICONE GLUE (super glue will MELT the focusing screen), glue the outside edges to the glass. (The Canon Ee-S Focusing Screen has NO GRAIN WHATSOEVER. I HIGHLY recommend it for a static 35mm adapter. It is also a very bright screen.)
- Place the 52mm UV filter, threads facing AWAY from the camera, against the focusing screen. The outer edges of it will lip over the 49mm UV filter. Silicone glue it into place. (Why not super glue here? The fumes MAY get in to the focusing screen.)
- Set Nikon extension tube into the non threaded end of the female PVC piece. It will fit VERY TIGHTLY, but super glue anyway.
* You can then mount a lens, and begin to thread the PVC pieces together until the image on your focusing screen is clear and sharp. The 46.5mm point is somewhere in the middle. When you find it, it will already be quite snug, so proceed to glue the shi* out of it.
- (Redrock inspired moment here) As seen in the photos below, take a 72mm rubber collapsible lens hood, remove the metal threaded ring, and then about 2 inches up the male PVC piece away from the camera, attach the lens hood with a radiator hose clamp. When the hood is collapsed, you can adjust the zoom and focus of the DVX, when the hood is fully extended it cuts out any excess light.
Now luckily an old stagecraft professor of mine was able to help me attach my adapter to my Cavision rails. It was really quite simple though, just a wooden piece bolted into the barrel of the adapter and screwed into the rail support did the trick. I later added an additional radiator clamp just for added rigidity.
I have now, FINALLY, added some of my test footage. The clips you'll see were done with a Nikon 85mm, 28mm, and 100mm (no, not 105 if anyone asks). Enjoy and please continue to comment.
WATCH FOOTAGE HERE
I had designed and built a previous DIY adapter, but noticed some flaws, and set out to correct them. This adapter DOES NOT thread into the camera. My previous one did, and it put too much strain on the camera causing the CCD to temporarily go askew, which scared the shi* out of me. Anyway, some instructions:
(of course during this entire ordeal you want to be in a very clean environment, wearing surgical gloves if possible and keeping the old lens cleaning kit handy at all times. Dust is our enemy.)
- In the non-threaded end of the female PVC coupler, dremel out a space for the Lens release nob (see the photo collage below).
- If there are ridges on the outside of the wide end of your male PVC piece (there were on mine, although not in the PVC photo above), dremel them off, so that end of the PVC can fit nicely up against the DVX lens.
- Spray paint the inside (outside optional) of the PVC pieces with Ultra Flat black paint, to keep as much light from reflecting inside the adapter as possible.
- Knowing that the wide end of the male adapter will fit against the DVX lens, place the 58mm +10 Macro Lens, with the threads toward the camera, about 1.5 centimeters into the PVC piece. It should fit relatively snugly. Glue into place with super glue gel (IF using super glue, ALWAYS use the gel, never the liquid. It'll run EVERYWHERE and ruin EVERYTHING. I learned that the hard way).
- At the small end of the male PVC piece, super glue the 49mm UV filter. The threads if facing the camera, will fit nicely inside, with the lip of the filter remaining outside the PVC (as seen in the diagram above).
- Set focusing screen carefully in the center of the 49mm UV filter, it will fit very snugly. Using SILICONE GLUE (super glue will MELT the focusing screen), glue the outside edges to the glass. (The Canon Ee-S Focusing Screen has NO GRAIN WHATSOEVER. I HIGHLY recommend it for a static 35mm adapter. It is also a very bright screen.)
- Place the 52mm UV filter, threads facing AWAY from the camera, against the focusing screen. The outer edges of it will lip over the 49mm UV filter. Silicone glue it into place. (Why not super glue here? The fumes MAY get in to the focusing screen.)
- Set Nikon extension tube into the non threaded end of the female PVC piece. It will fit VERY TIGHTLY, but super glue anyway.
* You can then mount a lens, and begin to thread the PVC pieces together until the image on your focusing screen is clear and sharp. The 46.5mm point is somewhere in the middle. When you find it, it will already be quite snug, so proceed to glue the shi* out of it.
- (Redrock inspired moment here) As seen in the photos below, take a 72mm rubber collapsible lens hood, remove the metal threaded ring, and then about 2 inches up the male PVC piece away from the camera, attach the lens hood with a radiator hose clamp. When the hood is collapsed, you can adjust the zoom and focus of the DVX, when the hood is fully extended it cuts out any excess light.
Now luckily an old stagecraft professor of mine was able to help me attach my adapter to my Cavision rails. It was really quite simple though, just a wooden piece bolted into the barrel of the adapter and screwed into the rail support did the trick. I later added an additional radiator clamp just for added rigidity.
I have now, FINALLY, added some of my test footage. The clips you'll see were done with a Nikon 85mm, 28mm, and 100mm (no, not 105 if anyone asks). Enjoy and please continue to comment.
WATCH FOOTAGE HERE
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