Working DIY adapter

Bill Porter · December 17th, 2005, 03:21 PM

Thanks! It's a very nice looking image. :)

Ben Winter · December 17th, 2005, 03:42 PM

Just a reminder that instead of using the ground glass and condenser, you can buy the Nikon D Screen, which has less grain and a built-in condenser, from bhphotovideo.com and put it in this type of adapter by glueing it into a retaining ring--it fits perfectly:

http://www.astronautradiomusic.com/nikonscreen1.jpg

David Torcivia · December 18th, 2005, 03:35 PM

So that is the Nikon D screen glued into one of these? http://thorlabs.com/NewGroupPage9.cf...tGroup_ID=1535
Is that the tube for 2" optics?

I have a question for Jimmy, the gg and the convex lens are fit inside the tube? Or are they mounted on the outside? Would it be possible for your to post a closeup picture of the adapter by itself. I really enjoyed the videos from your site and would like to emulate the effect you have created. Any help would be appreciated.

Ben Winter · December 18th, 2005, 04:46 PM

To answer all of your questions, yes it's glued into one of those retaining rings for the 2" 52mm optics tube. The GG and convex lens are mounted inside the tube, sandwiched between two retaining rings.

Jimmy Herdberg · December 18th, 2005, 05:30 PM

Thanks Ben! I will try to take some photos when I start building my next version of the adapter. Maybe during the week...but I have to buy some christmas presents to!

David Torcivia · December 18th, 2005, 05:45 PM

That'd be wonderful. I would love to see some photos.

Thanks for the clarification. Another question, is there a forumla to determine the proper spacing between the gg, convex lens, and camera or is it simply guesswork?

I'm sorry if I seem probing but you just place the gg and convex lenses right next to each other within the optic tube, touching? I can wait until Jimmy posts his photos to find out but I'm trying to figure out exactly how to do this.

Jimmy Herdberg · December 20th, 2005, 01:45 AM

I have a retainingring between the gg and the planoconvex lens (about 2mm). I will try to move the plaoconvex lens about 2 cm from the gg, when I tried this by just holding the lenses I noticed this give me a straight picture over the whole gg. Thers is different distance between difrent planoconvex lenses. Mine have a focal length of 70mm, I don't know the relationship between focallength and the best distance from the gg, I think you have to use your eye to decide.

Wayne Kinney · December 20th, 2005, 05:55 AM

Jimmy,
You may want to read my thread here: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=50884

One thing about moving the PCX lens away from the GG is you start to get more chromatic aberation, as the 35mm frame is magnified and gets closer to the edge of the PCX lens.

Leo Mandy · December 20th, 2005, 06:49 AM

Ben,

What are you finding to be a better device - the Letus Mod, or the static adapter with the thorlabs that you created?

Ben Winter · December 20th, 2005, 08:06 AM

I'm finding that the Optosigma works fine, but only in very intense light situations: you'd be restricted to shooting outdoors or with good lighting inside. The Letus35 modified with more battery power works very, very well in all situations. When I had my optosigma static adapter based on Mellor's design, the PCXL was right up against the ground glass touching it with no space inbetween. It gave me some distortion around the edges, which was expected but easy to zoom away from. Chromatic abberation was minimal and there was zero vignetting, of course. Like I said, the only other hurdle is grain which can be eliminated with enough light, and if you so choose you should sandwich two of them together so it diffuses enough.

Wayne Kinney · December 20th, 2005, 08:19 AM

Please check my thread here for my results with my old optosigma static adapter:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=47625

Video at the bottom seems to have been taken off the server, sorry

Pete LeChuck · December 20th, 2005, 10:00 PM

Hi everyone !

I am new here , I've been following lots of threads and its been very exiting. Also it seems lots of people decided to buy ready made adapters , I am glad to see people enjoying designing homemade 35mm adapter.

Jimmy > Very nice design , Good footage too !
I am impressed with the quality you've got so far ,can't wait for the new version.

I am starting my kit soon hopefully and I've seen you're using the stackable lens tube, I am not sure how this work though... Do you have a standard length size for it ?
I understand you can setup the retaining rings inside so you can adjust the Flange Focal Length as desire but after you have the 'left over' of the tube to deal with :( if its too long it might create some problem no ?
Not sure I made my self clear so let me know ;)

BTW , I checked your website and Already knew lots of those sites, just didn't know it was you > Well done man ;)

DJ Lewis · December 24th, 2005, 02:33 AM

I think Jimmy is using the Thorlabs tube, but not sure of the length (he'll tell us once he finishes the new version of the adapter). A lot of people are building it based on the Richard Mellor design which uses a 2" tube.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost....23&postcount=1

The G35 adapter "tube" is 5" long. This means that the "left over" space isn't a problem. In fact, after quite some poking around on the forums, it seems that moving the gg further away from the camcorder lens helps with sharpness and barrel distortion.

Dmitriy Uchakin · December 24th, 2005, 06:52 PM

Great clips. My favorite was the second one. I noticed that you used a condenser with an FL of 70mm. Can you comment on why you chose that because some folks are recommending FL of 85mm and all the way to 160mm(Wayne Kinney)? Also, Andy Gordon mentions that "70 or 80 between the GG and SLR lens caused the edges of the image to blur".

And Ben, I am having hard time figuring out your stance on the Nikon D focusing screen. On the 17th, you posted that Nikon D has "less grain and a built-in condenser" then GG(Are you referring to Optosigma?). On the the 19th(In a different thread http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=56393), you said that you would only use Nikon D in the non-static solution. I am confused.

Ben Winter · December 24th, 2005, 07:18 PM

I was referring more to my personal situation, in that I own a Letus35 and if I had a Nikon D screen I'd just swap it out with the GG in the Letus since it's basically the same size. I also have gripes with the Nikon D screen getting major grain problems at high aperture settings. At 1.4 though, I think it beats out the Optosigma glass.

December 17th, 2005, 03:42 PM	#17
Ben Winter Trustee Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hollywood, CA Posts: 1,675 Images: 1	Just a reminder that instead of using the ground glass and condenser, you can buy the Nikon D Screen, which has less grain and a built-in condenser, from bhphotovideo.com and put it in this type of adapter by glueing it into a retaining ring--it fits perfectly: http://www.astronautradiomusic.com/nikonscreen1.jpg __________________ BenWinter.com

December 18th, 2005, 04:46 PM	#19
Ben Winter Trustee Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hollywood, CA Posts: 1,675 Images: 1	To answer all of your questions, yes it's glued into one of those retaining rings for the 2" 52mm optics tube. The GG and convex lens are mounted inside the tube, sandwiched between two retaining rings. __________________ BenWinter.com

December 20th, 2005, 05:55 AM	#23
Wayne Kinney Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Brighton, East Sussex, UK Posts: 938	Jimmy, You may want to read my thread here: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=50884 One thing about moving the PCX lens away from the GG is you start to get more chromatic aberation, as the 35mm frame is magnified and gets closer to the edge of the PCX lens. __________________ Thanks, Wayne.

December 20th, 2005, 08:06 AM	#25
Ben Winter Trustee Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hollywood, CA Posts: 1,675 Images: 1	I'm finding that the Optosigma works fine, but only in very intense light situations: you'd be restricted to shooting outdoors or with good lighting inside. The Letus35 modified with more battery power works very, very well in all situations. When I had my optosigma static adapter based on Mellor's design, the PCXL was right up against the ground glass touching it with no space inbetween. It gave me some distortion around the edges, which was expected but easy to zoom away from. Chromatic abberation was minimal and there was zero vignetting, of course. Like I said, the only other hurdle is grain which can be eliminated with enough light, and if you so choose you should sandwich two of them together so it diffuses enough. __________________ BenWinter.com

December 20th, 2005, 08:19 AM	#26
Wayne Kinney Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Brighton, East Sussex, UK Posts: 938	Please check my thread here for my results with my old optosigma static adapter: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=47625 Video at the bottom seems to have been taken off the server, sorry __________________ Thanks, Wayne.

December 17th, 2005, 03:21 PM	#16
Bill Porter Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ventura, California, USA Posts: 751	Thanks! It's a very nice looking image. :)

December 18th, 2005, 03:35 PM	#18
David Torcivia Tourist Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 3	So that is the Nikon D screen glued into one of these? http://thorlabs.com/NewGroupPage9.cf...tGroup_ID=1535 Is that the tube for 2" optics? I have a question for Jimmy, the gg and the convex lens are fit inside the tube? Or are they mounted on the outside? Would it be possible for your to post a closeup picture of the adapter by itself. I really enjoyed the videos from your site and would like to emulate the effect you have created. Any help would be appreciated.

December 18th, 2005, 05:30 PM	#20
Jimmy Herdberg New Boot Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 22	Thanks Ben! I will try to take some photos when I start building my next version of the adapter. Maybe during the week...but I have to buy some christmas presents to!

December 18th, 2005, 05:45 PM	#21
David Torcivia Tourist Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 3	That'd be wonderful. I would love to see some photos. Thanks for the clarification. Another question, is there a forumla to determine the proper spacing between the gg, convex lens, and camera or is it simply guesswork? I'm sorry if I seem probing but you just place the gg and convex lenses right next to each other within the optic tube, touching? I can wait until Jimmy posts his photos to find out but I'm trying to figure out exactly how to do this.

December 20th, 2005, 01:45 AM	#22
Jimmy Herdberg New Boot Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 22	I have a retainingring between the gg and the planoconvex lens (about 2mm). I will try to move the plaoconvex lens about 2 cm from the gg, when I tried this by just holding the lenses I noticed this give me a straight picture over the whole gg. Thers is different distance between difrent planoconvex lenses. Mine have a focal length of 70mm, I don't know the relationship between focallength and the best distance from the gg, I think you have to use your eye to decide.

December 20th, 2005, 06:49 AM	#24
Leo Mandy Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 749	Ben, What are you finding to be a better device - the Letus Mod, or the static adapter with the thorlabs that you created?

December 20th, 2005, 10:00 PM	#27
Pete LeChuck New Boot Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 8	Hi everyone ! I am new here , I've been following lots of threads and its been very exiting. Also it seems lots of people decided to buy ready made adapters , I am glad to see people enjoying designing homemade 35mm adapter. Jimmy > Very nice design , Good footage too ! I am impressed with the quality you've got so far ,can't wait for the new version. I am starting my kit soon hopefully and I've seen you're using the stackable lens tube, I am not sure how this work though... Do you have a standard length size for it ? I understand you can setup the retaining rings inside so you can adjust the Flange Focal Length as desire but after you have the 'left over' of the tube to deal with :( if its too long it might create some problem no ? Not sure I made my self clear so let me know ;) BTW , I checked your website and Already knew lots of those sites, just didn't know it was you > Well done man ;)

December 24th, 2005, 02:33 AM	#28
DJ Lewis Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 97	I think Jimmy is using the Thorlabs tube, but not sure of the length (he'll tell us once he finishes the new version of the adapter). A lot of people are building it based on the Richard Mellor design which uses a 2" tube. http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost....23&postcount=1 The G35 adapter "tube" is 5" long. This means that the "left over" space isn't a problem. In fact, after quite some poking around on the forums, it seems that moving the gg further away from the camcorder lens helps with sharpness and barrel distortion.

December 24th, 2005, 06:52 PM	#29
Dmitriy Uchakin Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 48	Great clips. My favorite was the second one. I noticed that you used a condenser with an FL of 70mm. Can you comment on why you chose that because some folks are recommending FL of 85mm and all the way to 160mm(Wayne Kinney)? Also, Andy Gordon mentions that "70 or 80 between the GG and SLR lens caused the edges of the image to blur". And Ben, I am having hard time figuring out your stance on the Nikon D focusing screen. On the 17th, you posted that Nikon D has "less grain and a built-in condenser" then GG(Are you referring to Optosigma?). On the the 19th(In a different thread http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=56393), you said that you would only use Nikon D in the non-static solution. I am confused.

December 24th, 2005, 07:18 PM	#30
Ben Winter Trustee Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hollywood, CA Posts: 1,675 Images: 1	I was referring more to my personal situation, in that I own a Letus35 and if I had a Nikon D screen I'd just swap it out with the GG in the Letus since it's basically the same size. I also have gripes with the Nikon D screen getting major grain problems at high aperture settings. At 1.4 though, I think it beats out the Optosigma glass. __________________ BenWinter.com