Micro35 (original thread)

Matt Champagne · January 26th, 2005, 05:59 PM

I'm sort of curious about the lens mount myself. Not that it matters a whole lot to me...the only lens I have is a mostly broken 35-75 autofocus zoom....so I'll be starting from scratch buying lenses anyways....but it would be helpful to know if it works with nikon lens mount...those seem to be the cheapest lenses.

James Hurd · January 26th, 2005, 07:09 PM

Yes, it will work with Nikon. It should work with all standard 35mm still camera lenses.

Ari Shomair · January 26th, 2005, 07:24 PM

more specifically, in the price you quote for the adapter, what lens mount comes on it, or does one have to be added?

Leo Mandy · January 26th, 2005, 08:27 PM

Hey James,

Would using some old Binocular lens and stacking them be close to the idea of a macro lens?

Joshua Provost · January 26th, 2005, 10:39 PM

James, please explain "standard" 35mm lenses. As far as I know, there are twenty to thirty "standard" types of lenses, every manufacturer has at least a handful of different mount types. Are we assuming certain types of adapters will be readily available?

James Hurd · January 27th, 2005, 09:06 AM

Ari,
The guide tells you how to make the mount. Everyone that purchases assembled units will get a mount from me. As a matter of fact, my mounts from canon arrived today.

Mandy, don't think so. You need an achromat.

The mount type isn't the issue, it's the distance from the lens to the gg. I'll just say, Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Minolta, etc.

James Hurd · January 28th, 2005, 12:34 AM

I got the new GGs in today. I also got the new Canon mounts in as well. It should be a interesting weekend!

I updated the www.micro35.com site.

Matt Champagne · January 28th, 2005, 07:24 AM

Here is an interesting quesiton. You have said that the adaptor is pretty much modifiable to any camera. But is this a permenant modification? In other words, if I build my adaptor for a dvx100 can I pop it off and put it on an XL with not much problems (say just changing the macro and a step up or something)...or even maybe a consumer camera. This is fairly important to me because over the next few weeks I am going to be using alot of different cameras.

I've preordered the guide...can't wait for it to come in!

Matt

James Hurd · January 28th, 2005, 09:16 AM

Hey Matt,
Yea, that should be fine. It will just require step up rings.

james

Leo Mandy · January 28th, 2005, 10:16 AM

Ok, so if I went to a glass-smith and said 'I want an Achromat', would they have any idea what I was talking about? I know you said in your guide that you would show how to get a macro lens for under $10 - I am assuming it is using someone similiar to a Glass-smith to create it, right?

James Hurd · January 28th, 2005, 10:55 AM

Mandy,
I've never contacted a "Glass-Smith" so I don't know if they can help you. If you're going to "go somewhere" you should look for an optical facility. But... They'll be very expensive. The problem is the larger diameter achromats are hard to find especially with the size of the diopter you'll need. AND Expensive.

I can't stress enough how important the Achromat is. It is the key for making "ANY" device work. The Ground glass part is the easiest peice. But it's the Macro that will make or break a design (Whether its a high priced precision design, or a low cost home built design). Both designs yeild the same results, but if one doesn't have a good macro, it won't do you any good. (Unless you mount a two foot tube on your setup. This is very camera specific BTW.)

The Macro peice is probably where I spent the most money trying to solve my issues and I know it has consumed the most time. Just the macro information in the guide will pay for itself.

Obin Olson · January 28th, 2005, 02:08 PM

James what is your ship date of the Manual? and your selling all the parts for it right? what would it cost me to jsut buy your unit built? for the dvx100 what would it cost for the book and parts? when will the parts ship? I have a project coming up very soon that I would like to use your device on..how long will it take to build?

thx for any and all info

Josh Barker · January 28th, 2005, 02:37 PM

First of all, I am very interested in this project. I am excited and can't wait for the manual to be shipped!

I have a couple things. The first one is, how many pages is your guide? Because I have an idea. If you have a large amount of pages 40+, you could goto cafepress.com and upload your pdf and create a book. Of course a small cut would be given to cafepress.com, but I would find it personally much more useful if you offered it in a book. You could also just leave some pages blank if it is too small (towards the end) for notes. You could also make stickers that have the "Micro35" logo-- I personally would buy one and add it on my setup.

Another thing is the price for the parts via you, whether it be assembled or not. $445 or $245, that is steep price, especially since you claim to buy the parts for $40. I understand it is labor, but I think it would be more realistic if you were to lower both by $100. I would almost certainely would buy the guide with the disassembled parts for $145 (leaving you with a $105 profit).

These are just kind suggestions, please don't take offense or feel obligated to anything. These are just my initial thoughts.

Kindest Regards,
Josh

James Hurd · January 28th, 2005, 02:57 PM

Obin,
We're hoping to start shipping manuals early next week. We're spending this weekend build units to the guide to make sure we're not missing anything. There are three options:
1. Guide ($45)
2. Kit ($250) parts and cutting
3. Pre-Assembled ($500) This comes with the new GG and the new mounts.

Two to four weeks on the Kits and Pre-Assembled units.
If you're building the unit, it takes about two days.

Josh,
I'd like to release it as a .pdf, but everyone on the net would have a copy in hours.

I'm thinking about the stickers. I've got a silkscreen setup for the Kits and Pre-Assembled units (yeah!)

Steep Pricing: Two days to build... The $105 wouldn't be much of a profit after 16 hours of work. ($6.50 per hour).... Sorry! I wish I could!!!

Build it yourself!!! It's the cheapest way to go!!!

Thanks for the response guys!!!!

James

Craig Bellaire · January 28th, 2005, 03:22 PM

Ok we need T-Shirts.. OK

An incentive would be to give a slight discount to the people who “Pre-Order” due to you not having the final Product finished and No video posted with the new GG. Maybe $199.99 for manual and parts? or $30.00 for the manual that is not yet published? So as of now we are expected to buy a manual to a product that seems to still be in BETA testing... Please don’t take this wrong… But there are a bunch of us who really want this but we can’t see the final product yet…Did you jump the gun a bit on taking orders VS selling the product that is still in development? Well I can’t realty say. Does it seem that you have made a very large investment for research and even inventory in hopes to sell and also help a large video community with a product at a decent price at the same time? YES…. But it does seem to warrant a bit more on the “proof of the product” before having to dish out several hundred dollars… thanks again for the hard work…

PS: don’t you have a regular job other then responding to this board all day? Just wondered...

January 28th, 2005, 03:22 PM	#135
Craig Bellaire Major Player Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 422	T-Shirts & An incentive Ok we need T-Shirts.. OK An incentive would be to give a slight discount to the people who “Pre-Order” due to you not having the final Product finished and No video posted with the new GG. Maybe $199.99 for manual and parts? or $30.00 for the manual that is not yet published? So as of now we are expected to buy a manual to a product that seems to still be in BETA testing... Please don’t take this wrong… But there are a bunch of us who really want this but we can’t see the final product yet…Did you jump the gun a bit on taking orders VS selling the product that is still in development? Well I can’t realty say. Does it seem that you have made a very large investment for research and even inventory in hopes to sell and also help a large video community with a product at a decent price at the same time? YES…. But it does seem to warrant a bit more on the “proof of the product” before having to dish out several hundred dollars… thanks again for the hard work… PS: don’t you have a regular job other then responding to this board all day? Just wondered... __________________ Craig Bellaire www.VerticalVideoSolutions.com

January 26th, 2005, 05:59 PM	#121
Matt Champagne Major Player Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: New Iberia, LA Posts: 229	I'm sort of curious about the lens mount myself. Not that it matters a whole lot to me...the only lens I have is a mostly broken 35-75 autofocus zoom....so I'll be starting from scratch buying lenses anyways....but it would be helpful to know if it works with nikon lens mount...those seem to be the cheapest lenses.

January 26th, 2005, 07:09 PM	#122
James Hurd Micro35 Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Texas Posts: 221	Yes, it will work with Nikon. It should work with all standard 35mm still camera lenses.

January 26th, 2005, 07:24 PM	#123
Ari Shomair Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: LA, California, USA Posts: 224	more specifically, in the price you quote for the adapter, what lens mount comes on it, or does one have to be added?

January 26th, 2005, 08:27 PM	#124
Leo Mandy Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 749	Hey James, Would using some old Binocular lens and stacking them be close to the idea of a macro lens?

January 26th, 2005, 10:39 PM	#125
Joshua Provost Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 493	James, please explain "standard" 35mm lenses. As far as I know, there are twenty to thirty "standard" types of lenses, every manufacturer has at least a handful of different mount types. Are we assuming certain types of adapters will be readily available?

January 27th, 2005, 09:06 AM	#126
James Hurd Micro35 Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Texas Posts: 221	Ari, The guide tells you how to make the mount. Everyone that purchases assembled units will get a mount from me. As a matter of fact, my mounts from canon arrived today. Mandy, don't think so. You need an achromat. The mount type isn't the issue, it's the distance from the lens to the gg. I'll just say, Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Minolta, etc.

January 28th, 2005, 12:34 AM	#127
James Hurd Micro35 Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Texas Posts: 221	I got the new GGs in today. I also got the new Canon mounts in as well. It should be a interesting weekend! I updated the www.micro35.com site.

January 28th, 2005, 07:24 AM	#128
Matt Champagne Major Player Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: New Iberia, LA Posts: 229	Here is an interesting quesiton. You have said that the adaptor is pretty much modifiable to any camera. But is this a permenant modification? In other words, if I build my adaptor for a dvx100 can I pop it off and put it on an XL with not much problems (say just changing the macro and a step up or something)...or even maybe a consumer camera. This is fairly important to me because over the next few weeks I am going to be using alot of different cameras. I've preordered the guide...can't wait for it to come in! Matt

January 28th, 2005, 09:16 AM	#129
James Hurd Micro35 Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Texas Posts: 221	Hey Matt, Yea, that should be fine. It will just require step up rings. james

January 28th, 2005, 10:16 AM	#130
Leo Mandy Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 749	Ok, so if I went to a glass-smith and said 'I want an Achromat', would they have any idea what I was talking about? I know you said in your guide that you would show how to get a macro lens for under $10 - I am assuming it is using someone similiar to a Glass-smith to create it, right?

January 28th, 2005, 10:55 AM	#131
James Hurd Micro35 Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Texas Posts: 221	Mandy, I've never contacted a "Glass-Smith" so I don't know if they can help you. If you're going to "go somewhere" you should look for an optical facility. But... They'll be very expensive. The problem is the larger diameter achromats are hard to find especially with the size of the diopter you'll need. AND Expensive. I can't stress enough how important the Achromat is. It is the key for making "ANY" device work. The Ground glass part is the easiest peice. But it's the Macro that will make or break a design (Whether its a high priced precision design, or a low cost home built design). Both designs yeild the same results, but if one doesn't have a good macro, it won't do you any good. (Unless you mount a two foot tube on your setup. This is very camera specific BTW.) The Macro peice is probably where I spent the most money trying to solve my issues and I know it has consumed the most time. Just the macro information in the guide will pay for itself.

January 28th, 2005, 02:08 PM	#132
Obin Olson Trustee Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wilmington NC Posts: 1,414	James what is your ship date of the Manual? and your selling all the parts for it right? what would it cost me to jsut buy your unit built? for the dvx100 what would it cost for the book and parts? when will the parts ship? I have a project coming up very soon that I would like to use your device on..how long will it take to build? thx for any and all info

January 28th, 2005, 02:37 PM	#133
Josh Barker New Boot Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 23	First of all, I am very interested in this project. I am excited and can't wait for the manual to be shipped! I have a couple things. The first one is, how many pages is your guide? Because I have an idea. If you have a large amount of pages 40+, you could goto cafepress.com and upload your pdf and create a book. Of course a small cut would be given to cafepress.com, but I would find it personally much more useful if you offered it in a book. You could also just leave some pages blank if it is too small (towards the end) for notes. You could also make stickers that have the "Micro35" logo-- I personally would buy one and add it on my setup. Another thing is the price for the parts via you, whether it be assembled or not. $445 or $245, that is steep price, especially since you claim to buy the parts for $40. I understand it is labor, but I think it would be more realistic if you were to lower both by $100. I would almost certainely would buy the guide with the disassembled parts for $145 (leaving you with a $105 profit). These are just kind suggestions, please don't take offense or feel obligated to anything. These are just my initial thoughts. Kindest Regards, Josh

January 28th, 2005, 02:57 PM	#134
James Hurd Micro35 Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Texas Posts: 221	Obin, We're hoping to start shipping manuals early next week. We're spending this weekend build units to the guide to make sure we're not missing anything. There are three options: 1. Guide ($45) 2. Kit ($250) parts and cutting 3. Pre-Assembled ($500) This comes with the new GG and the new mounts. Two to four weeks on the Kits and Pre-Assembled units. If you're building the unit, it takes about two days. Josh, I'd like to release it as a .pdf, but everyone on the net would have a copy in hours. I'm thinking about the stickers. I've got a silkscreen setup for the Kits and Pre-Assembled units (yeah!) Steep Pricing: Two days to build... The $105 wouldn't be much of a profit after 16 hours of work. ($6.50 per hour).... Sorry! I wish I could!!! Build it yourself!!! It's the cheapest way to go!!! Thanks for the response guys!!!! James