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Best Clasic C Mount Lenses from the 16mm era
  • Interested in peoples opinions on classic C Mount lenses in the sub 50mm region.

    Currently looking at Zeiss, Kern, Berthiot

    If you have some experience to share why not put it down here?

    ...and also any zooms you particularly like.

  • 27 Replies sorted by
  • Hi Vitaly

    I saw that post but the emphasis is on cheap CCTV.

    Here the emphasis is on classic and best from the 16mm era

  • John, are you thinking about lens options for the new BlackMagic :) ?

  • Any lens that ends up in this thread is going to jump in value. ;-)

  • Yes, I would love a compact, bright, zoom lens for the super-16 sensor, even if it only resolved 2000 lines or so (LOL)

  • My interest is in purchasing now before the goldrush :)

    I keep having dreams about Benoist Berthiot lenses and the other ones LOL

  • I've been searching for days but can't find anything that's below $2000! :)

  • for that money the least they could do is throw in a free Bolex H16

    he he

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bolex-H16-/121093663622?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_101&hash=item1c31beab86

  • Do you recognize the lens on the Bolex, John?

  • Angenieux 12-120, or something similar. Such old 16 mm zoom lenses don't cover Super 16.

  • Right, only the 15 to 150 does, and that's still pricey.

  • Yes its Angenieux, probably the slow F3.5 version.

    THe Kern Switar are probably the ones to get, but at a great premium

  • For guys interested in zoom lenses:

    Another option is the Abakus B4-to-Super 16 converter, in C-mount or PL-mount. It has a block of glass that acts like the prism in a 3-CCD camera (I think), and also 1.32x magnification to enlarge the 2/3" image to cover Super 16. It costs $1500, but very good ENG-style B4 zoom lenses can be had for a few hundred dollars.

    http://www.abakus-scientific.com/Format_Converters.htm

  • I posted that in another thread:

    I found this and it seems that it is not that easy as it might have looked at the first sight http://eclair16.com/lenses/super-16-compatible-lenses/

  • Whilst it is true that lenses designed for 16mm are not guaranteeed to cover S16mm, there is a workround........

    If you shoot with a 2x scope in 16:9 and crop for 2.35:1 WHICH MEANS you discard 16% of the image left and right, then all 16mm lenses are perfectly useful under this workflow.

  • Curious if anyone has experience with the Zeiss 10-100 lens? If so, would you mind sharing your experience/opinion of the lens and how it compares to the better MFT lenses.

    Thank you kindly in advance.

    Cheers

  • Any infos on the angenieux 6-90mm f1,2? that would be a nice focal length but it will probably not cover the full sensor....

  • Google is your friend. The Angenieux 6-90 is a Super 8 lens.

  • Not sure if that comment was intended for me but I have googled and read the specs of that lens. I'm rather hoping that someone from this community who's actually put it to use might be able to provide some subjective feedback. PM would be fine also.

  • 16mm C Mount lens. Century Optics Night Hawk 1.9 50mm. Aside from stabilisations issues, thoughts on this sort of thing as a telephoto lens on the BMPC? Designed for 16mm not S16 and at 50mm so it will be 140mm equivalent-ish? Any one know the date of manufacture of this one?

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  • Don't know the date, but there's a good chance it will cover S-16 – most of the longer ones for 16mm do.

    But any S-8 lens will give you a nice pinhole only…

  • @spacewig: "Curious if anyone has experience with the Zeiss 10-100 lens?" I tested it on a S16 camera many, many years ago and it did vignette when wide open and on shorter focal length (you could see the vignetting in the viewfinder). I don't remember the exact values, but I would say it should cover S16 as of T 3.1 or 3.5 and beyond 20 mm... Apart from this annoying fact, it was a superb lens, much better than the Angenieux 12-120 or 9.5-57.

  • Any thoughts on this one?

    Angenieux-Zoom 1,2/6-90mm C-Mount

  • As explained already, the Angenieux 6-90 is a Super 8 lens, and a Super 8 lens on a Super 16 camera will produce a very small image circle that does not come even close to covering the frame. Super 8 has an image circle diameter of 7 millimeters. Super 16 has an image circle diameter of 14.5 millimeters. To use such a lens you need to crop by more than a factor of two in each dimension and lose more than 75 percent of your resolution. If you really want to use that lens, put it on your GH2 and use it in 720 ETC mode. It will more than cover the 720 ETC sensor area. Or use 1080 ETC mode and crop.

  • @Paddy What was your impression regarding sharpness, contrast, color rendition, etc? Also, do you think it would match well with the olympus 14-35, 35-100 zoom lenses?

    Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated.