PL adapter without lens support

Erik Naso

Erik Naso

Veteran
I want to buy a PL adapter without a lens support mainly for the Zeiss CP.2 lenses. I will still want to be able to easily change lenses with other adapters. Mainly Nikon and some Lumix.
I have a lens support that sits under the lens as opposed to attaching to the mount its self. Is that OK? I can use that if I use a lens that weighs more than 1 kg. for the AF-100. I'm using the Zacuto universal base plate with rails and that cost me plenty, so getting another base plate would not make me very happy.
Suggestions?
 
I think you'll be fine with the CPs and the support you have (or no support). With the FS-100, I was comfortable using the Red 18-50 PL zoom without support, but anything larger than that and I would have supported it.

And if I remember correctly, on "A Verse…" we used the CPs with the AF-100 and no lens support. (Though my memory is a bit fuzzy. :D)
 
The base plate and lens support you mention should be just fine, and is arguably overkill for CP.2s (though I'd use that exact same setup if I had CP.2s).
 
Thanks guys. I guess I should have also asked for some suggestions on PL adapter brands. The price varies a lot just like most adapters do. The Hot Rod are popular and I'm sure very good however I cant find them as a stand alone item only in the kit.
 
I have a Hot Rod. I find it a little sloppy for my taste and at the price they charge I would expect more.
 
The weight limit on the mount is 2.5 lbs. And I would recommend the Vocas PL, beautifully engineered and constructed. The baseplate and rails are elegant and light but again well engineered. And you can take the PL mount off the camera without dismantling everything.

Best,

Jan
 
A friend has one, but is waiting to get his PLs back from Clairmont Camera before testing. Seems well built, & robust.

If I remember correctly Mark Smith is using this Letus with the AF100.
 
I've used many of them; a prototype of the Letus, I've got a Ciecio7 and a Vocas, I've seen the Hot Rod and the Solid and the Atomic and several others.

I'd say the Vocas is the slickest, sweetest, and my favorite of them all. I love how it's basically a "docking station" that you can undock the camera from without having to dismantle your entire rig. The Atomic shares this same design idea, and is a lot less expensive, but the Vocas build quality seems a notch or two or three above it. Then again, it is more expensive. I like the "thumbscrew" mount on the Atomic better than the Vocas though, the Atomic has a big huge wheel whereas the Vocas has a little thumbscrew that's not as convenient to access.

The Letus has the hook that hangs off the mount, which is a clever idea, and lets you support the lens without needing anything underneath (i.e., no need for rails etc). But the backfocus is something that will likely cause more trouble for a newbie than it's worth. Something like a Vocas or Hot Rod will be pre-shimmed from the factory to the perfect distance and should never need any manner of adjustment. You're not supposed to go chasing backfocus on the mount, that's something that should be set once and then never change.

If you don't need absolutely accurate focus distance marks, the little $300 Ciecio7 is not bad at all. I use it with the GH2, and when using it with the AF100 the little support foot is exactly the right height so that a long camera tripod plate fits right under it and provides just that extra bit of support so that I'm comfortable with my CP's on it. But, the flange distance isn't perfectly collimated and the focus marks are all off. Okay for handheld and eyeballing focus, not good for measuring distances. But then again, it's 1/4th the price of anything else...
 
Bern Caughey said:
A friend has one, but is waiting to get his PLs back from Clairmont Camera before testing. Seems well built, & robust.If I remember correctly Mark Smith is using this Letus with the AF100.
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Yep I have two letus ... Des that mean I have letii? Anyway I like these guys a lot BEACUSE they have a dial in type back focus adjustment instead of shims . I also the their ease of mounting and dismounting from the camera.Price wise they are a decent deal. I use these mounts when shooting with my zeiss classic primes or my Cooke 20-100 . I have not experienced any mount related problems in either use scenario so I'm happy. I have the flange focal dialed in with both mounts so the focus marks on my pl lenses are pretty darned accurate and that process only took me about ten minutes to accomplish with a high degree of conficdence that I had it dialed in correctly.
 
Barry_Green said:
That lens is huge and heavy. Gonna need a fully-supported rails mount adapter for that.
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I use my letus mount with the Cooke zoom .briefly , I mount the camera on a zacuto base plate with about a 52 mm height. That camera and baseplate get mounted to an ARRI sliding baseplate with 15 mm rods . I mount the Cooke to the camera with the camera facing Up for good centering and then connect the front lens support and tighten all connections and I am good to go. I haven't had any problems even with the Cooke mounted in this way.I also have an O'Connor universal baseplate and if friggin O'Connor ever gets around to making the 52 mm rods to adjust baseplate height properly , I'll use the O'Connor plate with the Cooke lens .
 
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