johnwe

I have one of the focar close up diopters - trouble is they tend to cause vignetting. sort of a pain to use too. So here's a unusual fact. I believe the previous owner had the lens serviced in NY. The front ring with the serial number has a small hole drilled into it. After using the lens for a bit the focal ring started to sort of slip. What I finally figured out what that that ring had become loose and I was turning the lens outer ring without it turning the internal focussing heliod. or something like that. eventually it got out of whack and I lost infinity focus. But I gained close focus. I eventually used a lens wrench to loosen the front ring, align stuff and get it tightened up. But what I learned is that the lens has plenty or "rack" to focus close, but it does not appear to hold the ability to do infinity focus at the same time. Hope this makes some sense. This made me think there might be a fairly simple way- maybe not exactly like the pre-36 way- but some sort of way to modify the lens for close focus.

Does anyone know how to do an iscorama 54 close focus modification? Has anyone every heard of such a thing?

thanks I will give that a try.

I have done some quick trials with RAW with 5d mark II. I have used raw2dng to create the dng sequence from the raw footage. I then modify the raw sequence with photoshop Cs6. This works well. When I go to import the sequence into AfterEffects I get the raw window popping up- here's where I am stumped. This raw editing window that comes up is an older version of raw editor, older than the one I modified the sequence with in PS. And, the footage looks way darker- like 2 stops or more under- so I am always tempted to tweak it again. It often looks over processed/corrected and grainy then, once it's in AE. When I just import it as is with no correction in the raw editor during the AE import it ends up looking better, but still too dark. How do I update the raw editor in After Effects (CS5) to match the photoshop raw editor? Am I having a color space issue or something like it? Why does the footage that looks good in PS not look good in AE? the movie file that raw2dng creates from the raw file is also very dark. thanks for any help you can offer. opening a dng file from the sequence in PS- the images look good and the exposure seems pretty right on.

Looks good. What sort of device are you using when moving the camera along with a moving subject (steadycam of some sort?).

Can someone explain or link to "mbox donut" - I get the concept I am just trying to understand if you are referring to a product that exists.

Shoot something round straight on and then stretch it to keep it round.

Thanks for sharing this info. Would love to see some footage or images when you find the time.

what size are the diopters? (mms)

I'd prefer to see an anamorphic adapter that works with wider focal lengths. If it had to work with 3 I would pick 35mm, ~55mm, 85mm Price depends on flexibility and how it compares to others coming on the market. I prefer that it works with full frame. Would be great if it had nice flares and a good way to attach hood to prevent flare in bright sun when you want less flare. (ie make front filter standard size) Close focus without diopter would be ideal. How soon can you have it done? :) How can I help? Would love to learn more about lens construction.

A couple more. Red Sox at Fenway. pre-36 iscorama with original 50mm http://bit.ly/19CUueA Cape Cod beach- this one has the full size image- same lens setup- canon 5d markii http://bit.ly/1e1BUZA

pre-36 iscorama. I think this is paired with the original 50mm that came with it. I have had good luck with 58mm Helios 44m, a variety of Nikons (though the Nikon 50mm's I have tend to create vignette) and the Rikenon 55mm F/1.8 still photo shot with 5d Mark II raw photo capture http://bit.ly/1m9xgwU

does anyone have one? i'd love to see a large still image to see how sharp it is edge to edge.

I am interested if one is for sale.

Sounds interesting. Can you post photos from the lens and shots of the lens?