newbie's questions
 

I'm just beginning to think about a 35mm adapter, and never used one, so my question is a very dumb one; please be patient with me and help understand the basics:

With a 35mm adapter, the camcorder is constantly focused on the image converter, so - once set up - I never change the camera focus; all focusing is done on the film lense, correct? But how about zooming? When using zoom film lenses, one can zoom with them - but when primes are used? Is the camcorder's zoom function ever being used to change the angle of view?

You are correct
 

Once you focus and zoom your camcorder's built-in lens on the adapter ground glass, you lock those settings in and don't change them. Same goes for the iris on the built-in lens.

All depends on your setting...
 

Hello,

All depends on your setting, for example we got a Mini35 with an XL-H1 so our setting is not based in a built in lens, the Mini35 goes attach to the body of the camera and the focus and the zoom we do it directly on the Film PL mount lens.
We preffer and trust the use the XL mount type of Mini35 setting, because having to many people in a set you never know if some one by mistake mite mess up your camera settings.

Check out my picture attached.

Take care and good luck,

Blessings...

Carlos Quinones
It's Written Productions, LLC.

www.itswrittenproductions.com
www.youtube.com/itswrittenproduction
www.myspace.com/itswrittenproductions

Yes Piotr, the camcorder is focused on the image inside the Mini35 adaptor. This is critical as it is the image that is recorded by the camcorder. In the case of a camera with a fixed lens, the setup consists as zooming in on the image. You will find that with most camcorders the lens has to be zoomed near the maximum telephoto end to get the edge of the ground glass to clear the image. The camcorder lens is then focused on the ground glass and set in manual position. The camcorder is now adjusted to the Mini35 and this should not be changed for the rest of its operation. The image angle of view is determined by the film lens you put in front of the adaptor. If you use prime lenses you need to change the lens to change the angle of view.

Chien, absolutely right, once the zoom and focus of the camcorder are set you need to lock them by engaging the manual mode and placing the hood that covers the front part of the lens in the proper position so you do not change the settings accidentally (that is, in the case of a fixed lens camcorder).
However, I need to address your last sentence: "Same goes for the iris on the built-in lens."
The iris of the camcorder lens can and should be used to control the light level. This iris works as an adjustable neutral density filter as it is the image created on the ground glass that preserves the depth of field created by the film lens. In the case of camcorders with removable lens, P+S Technik has built an iris in the relay mounted on the camcorder for that exact same purpose.