Pro35 Examples?

Here is an added question. I found A Pro35 here in Chicago fairly cheap but its PL mount only. I'd be using it with Nikon glass and was wondering how hard it would be for me to convert the mount to Nikon from PL? Would i need to find the actual Nikon mount made for the PRO35 or could I make my own and if so how could that be done?
 
I just bought a PRO35 and 2 PL Lenses (28mm and 80mm). Will post footage once it is all here. Thanks again for all your guys' help! Very excited!!! :)
 
Have fun with the new toy. Be sure to experiment with the proper settings for the aperture on the lens v. the rear exposure control aperture on the Pro35. You will find that due to scattering of light there is a huge difference to what "one stop" will do on the lens v. one the Pro35 aperture. Also, you can't stop down the lens too much or you will bring the Pro35 groundglass into focus. You pretty much don't want to stop down the lens more than about T4 or T4-5.6 split. You don't want to stop down much on the lens anyway because then you lose the shallow depth of field effect that you get from a Pro35 anyway.

Likewise you want to be sparing on the use of the rear aperture control of the Pro35 or it will add a "false sharpening" effect to your rephotographed image. Hard to describe but if you try it you'll see what I mean. I never used the rear aperture control for more than a stop of light. After that I would employ the camera's built in ND filters. It's a bit of a juggling act but not too difficult once you get used to it.

You MUST support the Pro35 using front rods on the camera. If your camera didn't come with a front rod base, Zacuto, Chrosziel and others made them. You need a model made specific for Panasonic 2/3" cameras such as the VariCam. Try eBay or calling around to rental houses to see if they have any old ones they'll sell you cheap. The black aluminum screws Panasonic uses on the camera are a fairly soft metal, so be very careful not to strip the heads when you remove them. We used to always replace them with countersink steel screws.

Once you have the support plate you'll need some short rods and a rod base "doggone" adapter to attach the Pro35. The rods only need to be 2 or 3 inches long (I forget) and I think most Pro35 kits included the rod mounts. If not you might need to cobble some parts, but it is vital to the health of your camera's lens mount that you have the Pro35 supported. Don't think that you can get away with it, because a repair will be very expensive.
 
Mitch - Thanks for the added bit of info. The PRO35 I bought does come with a rod support and i have a rod system installed on my varicam made by Cavision so all is set. Side comment, but, the only other thing i need to get besides a follow focus system are doughnut rings that fit my mattebox to shield out any unwanted light on these PL lenses. My Cavision 5x5 mattebox i believe is 110mm on the backend.. do you know where i could find a solution on the super cheap? I'll also be sure to post a pic of my rig in its new suit once everything has arrived :D
 
AbelCine makes some foam donuts that you can stretch over the lens to fit the matte box. If you don't need it to look pretty you could just get some cheap neoprene mousepads and cut some yourself.
 
Finally got the varicam outside for about an hour today. Here are some frames from the Pro35/Varicam F and 28mm Lens.

Screen Shot 2016-10-04 at 10.54.41 PM.jpgScreen Shot 2016-10-04 at 10.55.41 PM.jpgScreen Shot 2016-10-04 at 10.56.49 PM.jpgScreen Shot 2016-10-04 at 10.57.20 PM.jpgScreen Shot 2016-10-04 at 10.57.50 PM.jpgScreen Shot 2016-10-04 at 10.58.24 PM.jpg
 
Generally no. Most 16mm format lenses do not project a large enough image to cover the 35mm image area required by the Pro35. You will find the corners dark, perhaps even black. On many lenses it will result in a circle of image with blackness around the sides. Another issue is that the rear of some 16mm lenses extend quite far behind the mount. 16mm film cameras had very small mirrors so there was much more room for the lens to extend back. This helps the design of the lens, in particular for wide angle lenses. Unfortunately, this also means that the rear of the lens may actually hit the optics and/or mechanics of the Pro35. Some lenses will extend farther back as you adjust focus, so this should also be checked. At best it won't work, at worst it will damage both.
 
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