Lucian

Low/no budget filmmaking. We have shot them on everything from GH2, to Red depending how much money there is. I've never shot 5d RAW so I can't attest to it's stability and i'm not suggesting you shoot an event with it, but the IQ is pretty great. On a short film it might be a feasible trade off though, IQ will trump stability within reason. That was my point, event shooting and filmmaking are different applications with different priorities. Bread and butter I work staff on studio films in vfx, I've worked budgets from 0 to 180 million. It's not necessarily kiddie stuff just because there is no money being made and its not a wedding video.

  I'd be curious to know also

I guess anyone who is looking to drop 5k on a lens would probably be a "serious" user and to that end would likely understand the value added by the mod. Just means they'd need to pony up 6k instead :P   I've put mine through some rough shoots and it's pretty stressful. I actually had a cheap part snap on my rig causing the whole camera to fall, luckily I caught it but I pretty much needed a change of pants afterwards.   The lens would ready for cine-environments once modded. Wouldn't mind matching mine with digital bolex 4:3, crop sensor, 1080p raw, off ya go :)

I really want to get mine re-housed to protect it and so it can be used with follow focus.   only two things stopping me, the price, and I have heard it vignettes a little earlier after the mod. Anyone know if thats true?    

  Sorry but i gotta disagree. I owned and used a B&H kowa for over a year and got about as good as you can really get with a dual focus system, but the fact is it takes additional time and adds additional margin for error, not acceptable on set. Great adapter for personal stuff, beautiful images, but not practical for any sort shoot where you have crew involved. Look at the above shots, most of them have messed up focus. Look at all the kowa stuff online, half of it is out of focus. If you have plenty of time and are filming your mates/kids/trees etc it's no worries. But a couple of soft shots can really screw you up on a film shoot.   In any case, take your time deciding which adapter to get. There is a ton of info on this site and in Andrews guide which is impartial.   Good luck!

  Exactly, if someone is watching my content on their phone, chances are I don't give a shit what they think  :)

go to personal view, in the "favorite settings" section there are a ton of hacks. Look for one with a more economical bit rate/file size.

What are the issues with blackmagic cams? (i'm not shit stirring, legitimately interested)   From what I can gather they are ergonomically a bit funky, menus are not great and you need some skill to be able to grade it back to reality.   Are there any other issues? for the price, the cinema camera seems like a steal, but I must be missing something because it seems like very few people are shooting on them.        

I didn't originally comment, but I was inspired to buy some of these off ebay to experiment with for use in music video shoots.

Hi All,   Looking for a cheap, sturdy 15mm rail system with baseplate + lens support recommendation.   The higher end stuff is way to expensive for me to justify for it's function. Any suggestions appreciated.    Thanks!

  To summarize, you are saying the pentacon 29mm is the best isco compatible wide lens you have found that mixes with the Russians?   Also, the EOSHD guide states the iscorama 36 can be used as wide as 25mm on m43rd sensor. Never tried anything wider than a 35mm myself, can anyone confirm if the guide is correct?

Thanks for the input rich. indeed I'm not all about sharpness, quite like the creamy russians. I have a 35mm already and correct me if I'm wrong but the isco can get down to 25mm without vignetting on m/43rd right?   The distagon or olympus might be worth a look though thanks!   Don't want to invest in a speedbooster just yet as I'm still hanging onto the GH2 and will probably make the jump to a new cam in the not to distant future ( likely digital bolex or bmpcc).   Cheers!

Tough decision, no doubt the nikkors are superior lenses, but I am concerned about matching it with my russian glass   As Bioskip said though, the f 3.5 of the MIR10 might be dicey with an iscorama,    How is the aesthetic of the Nikkors? bdo they have the soft vintage feel of lenses like helios and mir24?   Thanks!

Great suggestions, thanks guys. I might look at a Nikon or the Mir10A.    I have heard bad things about using the nikons on m42/43 mount such as not being able to focus infinite despite the claims of all the adapters. Has any had experience using them on the GH2?   Cheers

Hey Rob,   I would think the nikon 24mm would vignette with an isco even on a m43rds sensor? you planning to just crop?   There are plenty of them available on ebay, i'm wondering how seamlessly they would mix with the aesthetic of old Russian glass....

Cool, did not know of that lens.   Here is the Mir10a (28mm) http://forum.mflenses.com/viewtopic.php?t=57532

Hi Guys,   I'm shooting with russian primes (helios 58mm, mir24n 35mm, tair 85 etc) I'm looking for something wider than 35mm that will stay consistent with this aesthetic.   My gh2 will vignette using the isco at any wider than 25mm, so that is around what i'm looking for.   Any suggestions? I'm current looking at the MIR10a (28mm), downsides are its star bokeh looks  a bit odd and its f3.5.   Thanks!        

Just because I don't feel the need to post 1000 word jerk off doesn't make the content any less valid mate. And I'm not really too late to the party, I already own a 36 so I'm not planning on buying a toy version any time soon :)

It's not really a rebuttal when you are just desperately trying to disparage anyone who differs. we've heard your opinion over and over. Your'e kinda just douching out the thread after every other post at this point.   SLR magic are gonna have to trawl through a page of your ranting for every page of public opinion on what people want from their product.

Not sure what, or with whom you are trying to argue at this point. We get it, your'e very interested in this 1.3x adapter, some of us are not and we are entitled to our opinion.    There is no need to desperately defend some product you've never used, it's okay for people to differ in their preferences. Enjoy the product when it comes out!

I gotta agree with everyone else, I wouldn't bother with 1.3, too mild.  But 1.5 would be nice for a decent amount of anamorphic effect in the bokeh. With camera resolutions going the way they are, even a 2x would be fine as you can just crop. Not to mention 4:3 sensors probably won't be that far away.

Ahaa, thats what I was missing, the alignment is different to the kowa, having a button is MUCH nicer. On the kowa you have to attach and then undo the clamp screws, align and re screw. Seems like you could just use a chunky step ring (or a couple clumped together) to protect the rear element as long as you have it on rails and supported. I'll try Tony but it seems like redstan are no longer selling them. Thanks for the info!

Bioskip. Thanks for th info. I don't beleive the redstan clamps are available any more. Anyone know another way to mount? Would your kowa clams work in any capacity? ( i have some of those) I think the front thread of the kowa is 72mm and the read of the isco 54 is 77mm so probably not. As I mentioned above I see some pics where people are stepping down the rear element from 77 to 67 presumably so they can use one of the readily available clamps like vid atlantics, but i assume this would degrade the iq. This is the only thing holding me back from pulling the trigger on a 54, its not much good if i cant mount and align it easily.

Hey guys, Hoping for some 54 users to chime in. I'm about to upgrade from a kowa to a 54. I was wondering what I need to mount it to m43 lenses. I currently use redstan clamps for the kowa but i assume this size wont work with the 54 as it is much larger at the rear. Would i be screwed for easy mounting/adjusting options? The pics I've seen it looks. Like people are stepping down the rear thread from 77m but I would have thought this would cause extra softness because it would make too much distance between the isco and the taking lens. Also am I crazy going with a 54 over a 36? i'm all about narrative film so the weight/size thing probably wont be an issue, I like the character of the footage I have seen and also the idea of having a little extra room for wider lenses than the 36. But I am bugged by the talk of softness, I don't see it in the test footage Any advice appreciated! Thanks

Hopefully once the move to streaming has shaken out, some alternative models for marketing lower budget films will come about.