interesting doubt: user interchangeable lens mounts

Nick_Shaw said:
Sorry if this is repeating stuff that's already been said, or if I've misunderstood. There seems to be some confusion between changing lens mounts (which needs screws) and changing lenses (which doesn't).

Surely there woluld be very few projects for which you would use a selection of lenses all with different mounts. If you were doing an ENG style shoot, all your lenses might be B4, but for a cine style shoot you might have a set of PL mount primes. Therefore you would attach the approprate mount at the start of the shoot, not on location.
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the idea is to add possibilities and can change not just between lenses but also between different mounts on location too!

read what jim said on the subject:

Jannard said:
Very easy. The Trick is to have the base to intermediate mount distance set at the factory and leave enough room for all possible mounts. More details pretty soon.

jim
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imo, avoiding (if possible, for sure.. i'm not engineer..) the screw-mount system would be gold.. if not, it won't be suitable on location, i'm afraid..
 
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I posted a suggestion for a protective glass cover over the sensor a few months ago. In mobile production I'm constantly changing the lenses on my cameras, and dust specs on the sensor are a constant risk/problem.

For my mobile EFP/ENG-style projects the shooting style is a mix of cine-style and EFP/ENG-style, thus the need to change not only lenses on location, but also to change lens mounts a few times a day. The production values of the edited shows have cine-style in-bumps, out-bumps, and creative montages in each segment, with more EFP/ENG-style content being the core of the shows. The lens needs (cine, still photo, B4), fps, and DOF vary widely depending on the style of shot and it's intended use in the show. Bottom line is that a quick way to change lens mounts would minimize the risk of dust to the sensor, if there is no glass cover for it, and would help keep the crew move fast in a mobile shooting environment.

In my productions that are 100% cine-style there will still be the need to change lens mounts quickly from PL to Nikon or canon. Shooters that do many different genres and sub-genres of production will need to change mounts with relative speed.

Gibby
RED #8
www.cut4.tv
www.4umat.com
 
filmmaker1977 said:
imo, avoiding (if possible, for sure.. i'm not engineer..) the screw-mount system would be gold.. if not, it won't be suitable on location, i'm afraid..
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Lets not go too far and say it wont be suitable on location.. Okay, lets say It takes about 10 seconds per nut to unscrew with a mini keychain torque wrench. Thats just over a minute in total to unscrew. You then screw the new mount on, thats another minute and a bit. Lets say 2 minutes to make sure everythings nice and tight. Screw on the new Lens, 10 seconds.

Thats just under 4 minutes to perform a pretty major operation with a standard miniture torque wrench. Gee, You might even spend more time setting up a tripod.

I dont know about how you work, but I would be very happy to perform this operation when needed on location.
 
I do think that the number of shoots that require lens mount changes on the run will be a rather small subset of all shoots and those will just have to take care while doing it. I’ll probably have the PL mount and the Nikon mount but I’ll try and plan for using one or the other on any given day. But you know what they say, the best laid plans of mice and Clint...

The aerosol based canned spray is completely unsuitable for cleaning inside the Red One but a compressed CO2 system like the one that American Recorder makes would be safe as long as you use their cartridges and not the ones sold for pellet guns since they have trace amounts of lubricant.

For those who don’t want even the small worry of CO2 then a good bulb like the Giotto Rocket Air Blaster should move enough air to do the job. Hmmmm... thinking on how much I’ll have invested in Red351... yeah, I’ll be going with the Rocket even though the compressed CO2 would be fine 99.99% of the time.

It’s that final 0.01% that’ll turn around and bite you on the butt.
 
Most sensors are sealed. The problem is that sometimes the distance between the protective material and the chip are so small that slight pressure on the protective material can warp the protective material so that it makes contact with the chip, causing damage. Also, if the protective material is not replaceable, then any scratches to the protective material will become a permanent problem.

I've had some luck with the Giotto Rocket, but there's always some sticky dust that doesn't come loose just by the act of blowing more air onto the sensor... requires a physical touch, sadly.

As for lens mounts, I know a lot of you are saying you can survive with screws, that you'll never lose them or can replace them if lost. You're also saying that you'll always have the dexterity necessary to quickly change the mount, which you'll probably never do anyway because you plan on only using one lens system when you're on a shoot. That's optimistic, but it could very well fit the reality of your shooting situations. The quick release mount though, if built properly, will not only work for your situation but also the less accomodating situations facing other shooters. So why make do with an old-style screw mount when creating a solid quick-mount system is easily within the realm of possibilities? Red certainly wouldn't make a weak quick-mount system... everything they've made so far has been industrial strength. Plus the quick-mount system wouldn't cost much more to manufacture, and it might even be cheaper in the long run because they wouldn't have to mess around with the distribution of replacement screws from now until forever.

Another thing to consider... ever tried screwing/unscrewing things in a really cold climate, or at night? Good luck!
 
Lowkus said:
Most sensors are sealed. The problem is that sometimes the distance between the protective material and the chip are so small that slight pressure on the protective material can warp the protective material so that it makes contact with the chip, causing damage. Also, if the protective material is not replaceable, then any scratches to the protective material will become a permanent problem.

I've had some luck with the Giotto Rocket, but there's always some sticky dust that doesn't come loose just by the act of blowing more air onto the sensor... requires a physical touch, sadly.

As for lens mounts, I know a lot of you are saying you can survive with screws, that you'll never lose them or can replace them if lost. You're also saying that you'll always have the dexterity necessary to quickly change the mount, which you'll probably never do anyway because you plan on only using one lens system when you're on a shoot. That's optimistic, but it could very well fit the reality of your shooting situations. The quick release mount though, if built properly, will not only work for your situation but also the less accomodating situations facing other shooters. So why make do with an old-style screw mount when creating a solid quick-mount system is easily within the realm of possibilities? Red certainly wouldn't make a weak quick-mount system... everything they've made so far has been industrial strength. Plus the quick-mount system wouldn't cost much more to manufacture, and it might even be cheaper in the long run because they wouldn't have to mess around with the distribution of replacement screws from now until forever.

Another thing to consider... ever tried screwing/unscrewing things in a really cold climate, or at night? Good luck!
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Minus forty-five Celsius in the middle of the night in the Coastal Range of British Columbia... and let me tell you, working on a diesel generator with gelling arctic grade fuel evaporating off you hands is no fun at all... but I’m guessing that freezing to death is less fun so what do you do?

The screws would be off the shelf items and a person should have a selection of replacements in your kit. A few dollars would cover it.

I’ve commented on making sure that the protective glass was a few millimeters away from the sensor and be easy to replace because it will be damaged and no matter how well sealed the camera is there will probably be the occasional need to (shudder) clean the actual sensor itself.
 
Why take 5 minutes when you can change it in 1 minute? Time is money, make it simple and easy or someone else will overseasl.

I'd like to see a universal RED MOUNT. Then you buy the mounts that you nee: NIKON, SUPER 16MM AND SUPER 35MM... all lock and load. I don't want to waste an hour a day spending 5 minutes changing lenses on 30+ set ups - run and gun style.

A universal RED mount to everything else should be standard. Be modular, we will buy the 'quick' mounts from RED that we want... and the slow 5 minutes is not a problem (as the sunsets) they can turn and burn... 5 minutes - Top Gun - style!


For the rest of us, let us pay to play and save money with fast, easy solutions - that save time and money in the long run.
 
Well I agree to a certain extent. If quick release baseplates on 100k cameras are secure enough to hold it firmly inplace, then it could prove to be the same with the lens mounts.

I just never thought changing lensmounts was such an offhanded casual thing. To me its a big deal. But I think the capability of changing a lensmount may turn it into something we will take merely for granted in the future so might as well make it as easy as possible.
 
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