indiSYSTEM SNAP! Gear & Collar - Yes! you can now pull focus with c-mount lenses!

G

gmoe

Well-known member
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There have been a few posts here on the SNAP! lens gear since this is slightly different I thought I'd start another thread.

I've been testing out some gear for Tim Ovel with indiSYSTEM. He has been refining his SNAP! lens gear as many of you know it has a unique design with magnets so when placed over your lens the gear snaps and fits securely together.

I've been talking with Tim about the possibility of creating gears that would work with c-mount lenses. I'm happy to report that we have a solution. For those who are hoping to use c-mount lenses with a follow focus the SNAP! gear with SNAP! collar will allow you to pull focus on smaller cine c-mounts lenses.

I've been wanting to do something like this for a while since I've acquired many old school prime and zoom 16mm c-mount lenses. We all know the problems with shooting with the GH1 but they are fun to use and each lens has it's own character and have done a few pieces with them but this is the first time where I'll be able to use these lenses with a gear and a follow focus which is pretty cool.

Just a quick FYI I think the SNAP! gear can be used simply by itself as a focusing gear to help get critical focus with out having to worry about trying to focus with the small focus ring of a c-mount lens. The SNAP! gear with the collar fits the c-mount lenses very well and gives you a little torque when you turn the gear. I found it really nice to be able to use the gear just by itself for focusing with my Kodak Ektar lenses.

I’ve been a little delayed because my computer crashed this weekend so I'll be posting footage to demo the setup and it's use on a few different c-mount lenses. I do have pictures that you can see here:

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And have more pics and details here:

http://www.componentgeek.com
 
Still doing some testing. So far the lenses that work are cine c-mounts that generally have the focus ring near the middle or on the front of the lens. I have to do my taxes so I may not be able to post footage yet but here are the lenses that I have tested and work very well so far:

Ektar II 25mm f/1.4 (collar size approx 35.85mm)

(collar size for Ektar primes approx 49.29mm)
Ektar 25mm f/1.4
Ektar 25mm f/1.9
Ektar 40mm f/1.6
Ektar 63mm f/2

Angenieux Type L2/L3 1:2.2/17-68 (collar size approx 53.67mm)

Computar 25mm F/1.3 (collar size approx 48.25mm)

(collar size for Schneider primes approx 38.75mm)
Schneider-Kreuznach Cinegon 10mm f/1.8
Schneider-Kreuznach Xenon 25mm f/1.4
Schneider-Kreuznach Xenon 50mm f/2

Lenses like Wollensaks do not work with the SNAP! collar except if you use it on a GF1 because the focal ring is at the rear of the lens.
 
Well I guess with the new Panasonic AG-AF100 around the corner, I'm very glad to have collected a good many lenses and this SNAP! Gear collar setup may be very interesting and a reality for those who will venture into the c-mount world. These are exciting times!
 


Okay, just a quick demo to show the SNAP! Gear and Collar fitting into a Kodak Cine Ektar II 25mm lens. I'll have footage to post shortly using the SNAP! gear and collar with this Ektar II c-mount and other lenses.
 


Finally was able to post some basic test footy pulling focus with this little ektar II 25mm lens with the SNAP! Gear and Collar.
 


Hi all!

Just some recent test footage with another small c-mount lens, this time with a Computar 25mm f/1.3.

For kicks, I recently purchased a Raynox HD-5050LE .5x wide angle converter and attached it to the Computar lens. Not a bad wide angle converter. Slight light fall off and softness at edges and flaring but much better than I expected. I'll have to do more testing with some footage in the day.

In terms of pulling focus, the SNAP! Gear and Collar was much better to use on the Computar 25mm than with the ektar II 25mm. The Computar lens was smoother and had a shorter distance between close focus and infinity.
 
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am i getting my info mixed up: do c mount lenses on the gh1 have a 0.5 crop factor? so the 25mm has a 12.5mm fov? or is it still 2x?
 
d1rockwild said:
am i getting my info mixed up: do c mount lenses on the gh1 have a 0.5 crop factor? so the 25mm has a 12.5mm fov? or is it still 2x?
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Sorry you might have gotten confused. I tried to clear it up here:

I added the Raynox HD-5050PRO-LE .5x wide angle converter to the Computar 25mm lens which would make the focal length of the Computar 25mm lens a 12.5mm lens with the addition of the .5x Raynox converter. Now in order to know what focal length that would be equivalent to on a Full Frame camera we would multiply 12.5mm by 2x and we would have an equivalent field of view of a 25mm lens.

Okay... so when is Tim gonna have the collars available on his site?
<------- wants.
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I'm been trying to reach Tim these last couple weeks with no luck but I'm sure he and his crew are just super busy getting orders out the door after NAB. He has a few collar sizes already set from the ones he created for me. I'd contact him with your front lens diameter and see if you can get a specific collar size ordered by phone.
 
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