I have had many discussions about the different lens options other than Zeiss ZE’s and Canon’s that mount to the Canon cameras. Zeiss took it to the next level with their Canon mount CP2’s and their new Zooms that come out this summer. I support your creative vision; not what someone tells you is right for the camera or the fact that it has a Canon mount. Test for yourself, push the envelope, think out of the lens box.
Kowa 200mm Prim Lens 2.8
Kowa 100mm Prime Lens
One of Herb Ritts favorite Medium Format Lenses Mamiya z180mm
Using Lomo anamorphics, I think is very interesting. http://members.optusnet.com.au/~smort1/lomos/lomos.
Putting the Kowa’s on the camera will blow your mind with their contrast and flaring abilities. http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Kowa_lenses_for_other_cameras. Leica’s deliver everything that the price tag dictates. Using the medium format lenses. I remember when I was working side by side with Herb Ritts, he loved the way Mamiya lenses delivered contrast and a creamy quality which was one of the unique qualities of Herb’s photographs.
1980 Lomo Anamorphic Round Front Lenses
Mid 70's-80's Lomo Square Front Anamorphic Lenses
Lenses are a very personal choice for both a photographer and cinematographer. They can create a mood and give a certain style to a film that another lens would not. So I ask all of you to experiment with your creativity, to fly and use what makes you shine.
This path requires some altering to your lens of choice which will assist you in delivering images that will work visually and also technically. Duclos Lenses in Canoga Park, CA is doing just that. http://www.ducloslenses.com They have a very intimate, customer service oriented lens altering, cleaning and calibrating. You name it they will do it to your lens company. Most importantly, from a DSLR shooter’s perspective they do three very essential things. They de-click all of your f-stop rings, which is absolutely essential with the HD platform. Most of the still lenses that are set on 1/2 stop click increments. By de-clicking the lenses, you can be more exact with your exposures. A 1/3 of a stop increment could be the difference of whether you can hold that beautiful big puffy cloud in the sky and their backlit faces in the frame.
Duclos Lenses Cine-Mod//applies 32 pitch Delrin gear rings
Duclos Lenses Cine-Mod de-clicks your aperture ring
Delrin black 32 pitch gear rings
The other essential thing that they do is put black Delrin, perfectly machined standard 32 pitch gauge gear rings on your lenses that are stable and secure, yet you will have the ability to remove if needed. Almost any lens can be outfitted with gears for the zoom, focus or iris. Duclos rings increase the diameter of the lens to give you more of a cinematic throw of focus.
Panavision Primo Cinema Style Lens w/ footage markings on the side of the barrel, notice that the markings go around the whole barrel, this is what gives you that cinema style focus throw, not just 2 -3 inches like most still lenses
Cinema lenses have markings that are inscribed on the lens barrel from minimum focus to infinity and they are spaced out in a way that a focus puller can see them and when you rack focus from 5 feet to infinity it is not an 1/8 of an inch away on your focus wheel or remote follow focus handset.
This is great for a still photographer because the auto focus does not have to travel a long distance which makes it fast to grab focus on what you are lensing. But when making movies you need more distance between footage marks. This is so important when it comes to understanding motion. Your focus is an extension of your creative vision. It can misdirect the audience and assist in showing the viewer where the director wants them to look or bring attention to an emotion, etc. So when you mount a larger diameter ring on a still lens you expand the distance between 5 feet and infinity, which then gives the lens more of a cinematic feel. When you rack focus from someone in the background to a object or person in the foreground it has a smooth focus throw, done with the speed that you prefer. If it is a horror film and you want to build suspense maybe the rack to the F.G. is slow and builds tension, or if you want to use it for a scare tactic the rack can be incredibly fast to reveal.
Duclos 80mm Rings that they affix to the front of your lens which will except 77mm screw-in filters
The third thing that Duclos does is to install a 80mm front ring, which will accept an inside 77mm thread. Now all lenses have the same front size ring. This is a must for speed when you are shooting. With still lenses, you have all diameters and sizes, this keeps it all one size. Which means you only have to buy one ND filtration size. This saves money, and time.
Paul at Duclos has put these 3 essential modifications to your lens in a pkg., called the Cine Mod for a discounted price.
Dream, create and think out of the box. Take lenses that no one would think of using and experiment. What about plastic lenses? I want to see that!
Tags: Cinematography, Lenses, still photography
Shane 
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on Monday, May 10th, 2010 at 12:53 am and is filed under Cinematography, Lenses, Photography.
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Shane,
This is a fantastic entry. I consistently find your posts to not only be highly informative, but half the time have my mind blown.
Thanks so much for mentioning Paul & his work. This is really phenomenal stuff.
Some quick questions…
When you mention “de-clicking” the f-stop ring… does it literally become a smooth transition between stops? or does it just take it to smaller increments (1/3 as opposed to 1/2)? I’m a bit hazy on what you’re referring to here…
Second (and I’ll check their website as well) do you happen to know off hand if Duclos will work on a lens that’s shipped to them? (I don’t see why they wouldn’t… just curious)
Third… I know you’ve mentioned it before, but as far as adapters for non-Canon lenses… what are you using to match the mount?
Cheers & Very Best!
- Brandon
Hi Shane, you amaze me!You bounce stuff out of nowhere. Who else would mention Kowa lenses? For us older still guys Kowa cameras were a rather clunky version of the blad back in the 70’s?. And where are all those Nikon ai lenses that I used through the 70s and 80’s now when I need them?
Love your work!
Rod Hardinge Albury Australia
Ooops forgot!! those mamiya lenses from the same period did produce beautiful images. Cheers rod
I just gave Mamiya 645 lenses a try and bought five from ebay: 35mm, 45mm, 55mm, 80mm and 150mm along with a Zork Mamiya to EOS adaptor. There were a few problems with going this route, a couple of the lenses didn’t quite focus to infinity and a couple had very stiff focus action, so much so that when I tried to rack focus with my FF, the resistance caused the whole camera to be displaced off axis 180 degrees away from the point where the FF gear/lens meshed. Very disconcerting.
I usually use my Canon L series 17-35mm for the majority of my shooting and the fact that a Mamiya 35mm was still about the same as a 35mm in Canon, it didn’t give me any other real advantage except for the focus end stops and manual aperture control.
These lenses are now back on ebay and I’m probably going to just bite the bullet and buy a set of Zeiss’ from Redrock.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jeffrey Levine, Vision Wrangler. Vision Wrangler said: Shane Hurlbut has a piece up on "Altering Lenses For Peak Performance" http://bit.ly/brOa3J [...]
Way ahead of you, Shane. Paul is an excellent lens-master and I’ve been in contact with him regarding his cine-mods.
I’m going to send him my Zeiss ZF collection for iris declicking and ring attachment. As you mentioned in your blog, this will make life easier for still lens owners like me to use these lenses in a “cinematic” fashion.
I was going to go with his focus gear ring mod, but I wanted something more robust than delrin. I found Jerry at JBK Cinequipt (http://www.jbkcinequipt.com/) who makes gear rings out of billet aluminum. His work is also excellent but his website sucks…lol.
Great blog, as always!
Brandon Cummins, first, you are very welcome and thank you for your kind words and support. Now onto the creative stuff. De-clicking will make your transition iris pulls perfectly smooth. Second, Yes they will work on whatever and where ever they come from. Third, Novoflex or Fotodiox.
Eric Diosay, thank you so much. Paul rocks.
Norbert von der Heidt, I am not a big fan of any Canon zooms, they do not resolve well. You have to go with Novoflex or Fotodiox, true focus. The other mounts are not machined well and infinity will never come into focus. You can send those lenses to Paul at Duclos and he can make it so that they are not so tight. Just a thought. I hate to see you put those lenses up on E-bay.
rod Hardinge, yeah baby!!!
rod Hardinge, Thank you so much for those kind words and your undying support. You rock. I am shooting my next spot on the Kowa’s. They rock. Scarf up those Nikon AI’s, they are the best Nikon has to offer.
Shane,
Do you have any experience with the old Zeiss Flektogon or Pancolar m42 lenses? I just bought a Pancolar 50mm 1.8 for a buck fifty in mint condition on ebay. I figured it was worth checking out at that price.
Great post! Def gonna look into de-clicking apertures on my old Nikon & Vivitar lenses! Those lomo-anamorphic lenses look amazing (based on that one popular Vimeo vid at least), seem pretty pricy tho
unless I’m looking in the wrong places!
“I am not a big fan of any Canon zooms, they do not resolve well.”
Really? have you tried the new 70-200 2.8L IS II? They have really broken the resolution barrier with this lens (clearly better than the old version). looking at the resolution chart, it seems to compare very favorably to the Zeiss 85mm. Would like to get your opinion on that lens. Thanks as always
So much for “you learn something new every day…” cause I just learned about 2 dozen things from this article. Thank you Shane, for putting it together. Gonna take a few more reads to really sink in.
Nathaniel
Great post! I’ve been wanting an anamorphic adapter for a long time for my 7D, but haven’t been able to even find them anywhere.
Jerry, I bought 2 and they are not bad. The best out of all the zooms. You are welcome.
Mike Andrade, I will check those out. Thank you so much.
Shane
Have you experimented with the Leica R series lenses? I know they have a +/-260 degree rotation which would be better than most other 35mm lenses.
Regards
Clint Muller
(South Africa)
Shane-
Thanks for sharing your knowledge. This blogs has been very helpful and has saved me a great deal of time by finding lots of useful information.
Have you experimented with any of the Hasselblad medium format lenses?
Chris
Hi,
What do you think about the fact that the H.264 license limitations require that the Canon DSLR cameras should not be used for commercial purposes? http://dylanreeve.com/videotv/2010/the-mpeg-and-h-264-problem.html
Jobs is shoving HTML5 down our throats. If H.264 becomes the official codec then we could be in for trouble. MEG-LA says we can use it on the Internet for free, until 2015, but only for personal use. http://my.opera.com/haavard/blog/2010/02/04/h264-trickery
I just bought a Canon T2i with the intention of using it commercially. Since I’m small potatoes I’m sure it won’t affect me, but still … it rankles me. Patents and copyrights are stifling innovation, not promoting it.
Since you’re a professional, I thought you might want to blog on how you think it might affect other pros.
Man I’m getting a Scarlet as soon as they come out. I’m guessing that Red owns all the IP in it. But who knows.
Peace,
Rob:-]
I love the Medium Format Lenses that Mamiya, but is there anyone out there that has converted those lenses for canon adapters. Thanks for the help.
Chris Stevens, you are very welcome and yes I tested the Hasselblad lenses they resolved very much like the Zeiss ZE glass, and same colder color tones.
Clint Miller, I have not but I will look into it. Thank you so much for the tip. I love Leica lenses.
Hey Shane, thanks for keeping up the good with another interesting blog.
Do you plan to test the Medium Format Carl Zeiss Jena lenses and the Contax Zeiss lenses in the near future. I’m very interested to see how they would hold up on the big screen.
regards,
Jorn
Fantastic post shane. I love the way you do the things. I would like to ask you a few things. Have you test the ultra-micro-nikkors?, they have a fantastic reputation, I’m working with the micro nikkors (55mm, 105mm) and they have a incredible resolution. The last question is: Could I match footage from an Arri 21 with the 7D with succes? , I’m making the “behind scenes” of feature film and the director ask me to do some coverage with my 7D.
Thanks for your patience and support.
Ignacio, Thank you so much for your kind words and support, I have not tried those lenses but I have hired a lens researcher named Julien and he is in charge of searching all of your leads and what lenses you like at Julien@hurlbutvisuals.com. I will have him check it out. Yes I think you could pull of the 7D next to the D21. Your imagine will feel more organic and not so clean like his image, yours will have artifacting issues,moire issues, and rolling shutter issues, which seem much more apparent with the 7D then the 5D.
jorn, you are very welcome, I plan to research every lens that inspires all of you. I have hired Julien as the Hurlbut Visuals lens researcher, please feel free to email him all your select lenses that you like at julien@hurlbutvisuals.com.
I was looking into the large format lenses just last week, after seeing that Photdisk had the adapters. I am not yet plunging in on the glass but like the idea and price. Any more input on this topic would be helpfull. Shane thanks for sharing your insights!
andrew, We will be looking into all of this glass over the summer to give insight. Thank you for all of your support.
Hey Shane–
Awesome, awesome blog. You’re passion for cinema is incredible! And I have learned more technically from your blog, than from my 2 years (thus far) at NYU Film School (not an exaggeration).
Quick question — I am shooting a feature on a 7D in three weeks — everyone says that because HD’s frame size is only 2 megapixels, resolution is not that important (that is, cheaper glass like the Canon 50mm 1.8 is fine as mores expensive lenses are overkill).
What is your opinion about that? And what about the eventual image on a real Festival Movie screen? Do the cheaper lenses hold up?
Thanks again for everything!
Erik
Erik Wease, wow, thank you so much for those kind words. I am glad that you are getting great info. from this site. That is what Hurlbut Visuals is about to inspire and educate along with keeping a small footprint. I just shot “The LAst 3 Minutes” on Canon Glass. I have seen it on a 30′ screen and it is awesome. The reason I use Panavision glass is not only for the resolution but for the inherent qualities of the glass. It has a lens coating that is far superior to the still lenses in suppressing highlights and flares. This gives you more detail in your highlights that a Zeiss ZE would not or a Nikon. The other reason for using high end cinema lenses is because of the size of the glass. Most still lenses have a very small piece of glass which there light collecting abilities are limited because of that. The Canons have some of the biggest pieces of glass in the still lens selection, making them one of my first choices. But to say that because it is only 2 megapixels and you will not see the resolution is true in that aspect but not true in the fact that it is all about the glass.
Dear Shane, Hello, it is good reading your blog regarding the potential and experiences that you demonstrated. A big Bravo to what you have done. I just met with Robb Cox from Australia in an equipment show in Beijing, China. He introduced your name to me, so that I took the liberty of writing to you for help. We bought two cinelenses, one Zeiss 10mm and a Angenieux 17-102 thinking that it could fit with 5D mark ii, but we are wrong, it came out each of them with a huge black corner vigniette, could you and your lense expert provide with some solutions? Buy the way, we are about to kick off a feature production, we are desperate, could you give us some advices on all aspect of the 5D or 7D equipments and post, otherwise, we have to spend a lot money renting RED package. Many thanks and best regards,
Jin Ge
Writer/director/producer
The Shanghai Yan Bao Hang Public and Philanthropic Foundation
jin ge, thank you so much for your kind words, yes those lenses will only work on the 7D. The 5D and cinema lenses is a tricky thing, because each lens manufacturer vignettes at different millimeters. Here is what I know to be a fact. Ultra Primes 32mm, Cooke S4 Primes 65mm, Zeiss Master Primes 50mm, Zeiss super speeds 50mm. Dalsa 4K Primes 28mm, Panavision Primo’s 35mm. This gear conversation will require a phone conversation, not something I can write down. I need to know more about the project, the story and the style that you want to capture it in. You are very welcome.