frerichs

Additional information from Balazer on the Black Magic forum regarding this lens... The "ICH" mark: "Effective September 1. 1967, ICHIZUKA OPTICAL CO., LTD. changes its name to COSMICAR OPTICAL CO., LTD." It was a unit of Asahi Optical Co. I've seen Cosmicar-branded lenses carrying the ICH mark, and print advertising from Cosmicar with the ICH mark as late as 1969, so I'm not sure when the ICH mark was abandoned. Your lens looks older than any Cosmicar-branded lenses I've seen, though, so I'd bet it's from earlier than 1967. It looks like the Cosmicar name may have been used as early as 1961 or 1962, but I'm not sure I've ever seen any of those lenses. Ichizuka goes back at least as far as 1957; maybe 1951.

Thyl over on the Digital Bolex forum tracked down the mark and it appears as if this lens was made by Asahi Pentax.

All, I recently picked up a 12.5mm f/1.9 c-mount lens that I haven't run across before. It was made for the United States Projector & Electronics Corporation, probably late 50s early 60s. It was made in Japan and the red logo/service mark on the barrel probably identifies the manufacturer. It appears as if the USP&EC had up to 19 subsidiaries including 99 Developments Corporation, University Sound Films, Inc., United Marketing Corp., Riley Finance Corp., and Builders of Communities. From what I can tell, the listed subsidiaries above sold to Keystone Cameras & Pixalogs or Silver Star Cameras (1960). This lens was attached to a Keystone K56 Executive magazine camera. Link to photo of the lens is at '' target='_blank'>> Thanks in advance for any help. Kenny

First test using the May 28 GregoryOfManhattan build.   Location is Pigeon Point Lighthouse off of the Pacific Coast highway.   Shot with the Moller Bolex 8/19/1.5x anamorphic lens using a Zeiss Biometar 80mm f/2.8 taking lens and Lexar 64gb 1000x card.   https://vimeo.com/67965891

Using the May 28 build and the settings recommended throughout this post, I did a test run and posted the video on Vimeo.  I have a Lexar 64Gb 1000X card and was able to record at 16:9 at 57mbps without filling the buffer but had issues at 3:2 at 71mbps and couldn't achieve more than 450 frames before stopping. I used an external SmallHD monitor via HDMI and had weird intermittent frame garbage.  Happened in both 16:9 and 3:2. Workflow was RAW>raw2dng>Photoshop RAW>TIFF>Quicktime>FinalCut 7.   Shot with a Moller Bolex 1.5x anamorphic lens and Zeiss 80mm f/2.8. www.vimeo.com/67965891

Looking more closely at the construction of the B&H projection lens, the back element is not flat and slightly curved at the ends.     It appears as if the unit should not be disassembled, as the back element is probably needed in concert with the head to achieve the anamorphic result?   The entire unit measures 4.34 inches long, solid, and somewhat narrow.  The markings show 2.5, 12.5, 35, 50, 120 and infinity.  I can pull focus about 5 feet away without any issues.  Using a .4 close-up lens, maybe 3 feet and stacking a +1 I can get pretty close.

It works similar to my baby ISCO 1.5x--you set the taking lens to infinity and pull focus from the B&H.  The only drawback is that it can take multiple complete rotations to pull focus.  Depends on what you are shooting depth wise.   It's slightly softer than my Singer 16D, but comparable to my ISCO in look and feel, and sharp edge-to-edge.     Flares nicely, and for $100, and the fact that pulling focus only requires one lens (other than the requirement to do multiple turns to dial in focus), it's actually a nice option.

I've also tested the B&H with a Canon FD 50mm f/1/4 and Helios 55mm f/2.0, both vignette, so the optimal taking lens is 80mm.  It's a slight vignette and you could crop the ends, as it's 2x.   I picked up the Zeiss Biometer 80mm f/2.8 for $100 (zebra single coat) and the m43 mount ran $40 on Amazon.  Works well and really flares nicely with all of my anamorphic lenses.

No problem.  The B&H is a single unit and there are two tiny screws on the side (where the name is etched) that you could probably undo and detach the front from the rear, but I haven't tried that yet.  It's an experimental lens, so I'll give that a shot and let you know the results.   For the test I attached the clamp to the B&H, then attached the B&H to the Zeiss.      

I was curious about the B&H projection lens (as pictured above) so I bought one for $100.  I had to sand down the silver adapter a bit such that it would fit in a VidAtlantic clamp which works well (still too wide for my Redstan clamps) and used a 80mm taking lens (Zeiss Pentacon six 80mm f/2.8).     You set the taking lens to infinity and pull focus from the projection lens.  It's a long pull, similar to what you would experience using a projector) but works well.   The one I have can focus as close as 5 feet to infinity.  Works well with Tokina and Schneider close-up/dipoters too.   Here's a quick test using an AF100 without any close-up lenses.  Nothing special and I did skew the lens a bit in the end because I wasn't paying attention (just testing.)   https://vimeo.com/64689744

Quick follow up...the guy I bought it from offered to give me a refund after I sent it back.   Apparently the lens was "simply assembled with one optic 90 degrees out of registration with the other optic."   It probably works now (assuming he's going to relist on E-Bay) but as it was coming from New Zealand, and I didn't want to take a chance on the "fix."   http://stores.ebay.com/bigalscamerashop   Thanks, Kenny

After reading Andrew's post on The Forgotten Anamorphic, and purchasing his helpful guide, I bought a Proskar 16-A.   I'm relatively new to anamorphic and have a Sankor 16D and DO 16F.  Using the Redstan clamps and recommended taking lenses, I've had good success with those two so far.   However, the Proskar I received seems more like a magnification lens than projection adapter.  I can't pull any focus and knew there was something "different" when I looked through the adapter vs. my other anamorphics.   I've attached two pictures as a reference.  I basically have to be right on top of the quarter to see that it's a quarter when looking through the Proskar.  No problem identifying the quarter at larger distances using the DO or Sankor.   I've tried the Helios 44m-4 and Jupiter-9 taking lenses, which work fine with the Sankor and DO.     I saw that Andrew used a Canon FD 50mm Macro lens and wanted to investigate further before adding another lens to the mix (I would have to buy this.)   I'm thinking the adapter may be bad?  I haven't ruled out operator error, but...   Any thoughts, suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance.   [attachment=456:DO16F.jpg]  [attachment=457:Proskar16A.jpg]