It depends on the thickness of the wax. If it's thin enough, you can get a very bright image. I just recently got a really thin layered wax adapter, but I want to do another and shoot for a completely bubble-free version. If I succeed, I will post some uncompressed framegrabs comparing it and my AO5 glass adapter.

ground glass test
 

I think this is a shot made with the opto sigma 1500

http://www.liisikoikson.com/ftp/noise_redux_ex.jpg


this also contains the chris rubin workflow
which looks to remove whats left of the grain in a static adapter

Richard,

that is not optosigma, but a 600 grit sandblasted glass. Optosigma gg grain is much finer and not really visible on a fine-detail image of that particular size.

Chris

So, there would be hardly any grain from a 1500 GG? I wonder, what is the difference between grinding your own glass, and buying one premade? Does it work out alot more cost effective D-I-Y, or do you get a better image with a bought glass?

ground glass
 

chris your first image ,did look like more grain then I am seeing
with the 1500 ,. and maybe a good indicator of what the royln 500 grit will look like.


and for all my efforts hand grinding, I was never able to make a piece of glass as good as the one I am using now.

the next idea is to see if we could get the company to cement the ground glass to the plcx in a dust free room .

dust is my biggest problem now

static adapter
 

chris I may be adding a second plcx to the adapter.
I just tested the system on a tv chart and I am seeing a slight barrel distortion. I think a matching plcx on the opposite side will correct this . this is a link to a german patent for the movie tube
it has a wax diffuser in between two plcx . If we could get opto sigma to make this as one piece we would be set .
I don,t think we have to worry about patent infringment
because we are mearly buying off the shelf lenses and arranging them in a specific order in the tube and sharing the order

http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=E...QPN=DE10240076

Richard, do you have any idea if OptoSigma take international orders? I had a look at their international page, but it was more for a laser optics firm that stocked OS equiptment related to lasers. If not, have you seen any optics sites that may ship the UK?

Steve,

The Optosigma dealer in the UK is:

http://www.laser2000.co.uk/

Richard, I use this in my adapter:

http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/l2030.html

No barrel distortion, but difficult to position inside the adapter because it has no flat surfaces. I'm still working on it, but I'm sure I'll get it done.

Chris, thanks for the link, the trouble is it seems they don't stockground glasses there, just the laser side of OptoSigma. Now, I may be wrong, but I'll give them an e-mail to see if they do the ground glasses. Also, what camera were you using in your test, Chris?

Steve,

that was XL1 with stock lens

Richard Mellor-
Increase the distance between your GG and video camera a few inches and zoom in a bit more to reframe again.

You shouldnt have any more barrel distortion problems.

i got barrel distortion with my adapter.
condenser as GG and macro only.
Then i add a lens (looks like a huge contact lens) between the macro and the GG-condenser.
moving back and forth vary the barrel effect (positively and negatively) but a finally found a position where barrel disappear.
The best of all it is that it gives me the brightest picture i ever dream and totally remove the vignetting.

Giroud, you say your adaptor gives a bright image, could you perhaps divulge any more information about the type of lenses your using, ect?

static adapter
 

brett :I added a1/2 inch tube to the system as per your advice. and your right the barrel distortion is gone.

as many builder, i unfortunately work with refurbished elements wit very few (if none) data about them.
My GG is a lense 55mm diam very thin (1mm in the border and 6 mm in the center).
It has been taken off of a TV camera lense (Fujinon-TV Z 1:1.7/10-140), one of the front lens.
The macro is a 52mm achromat from surplus shed, but except diameter , i have no information (works well with my VX2000)
the "contact lens like) is another lens from the fujinon.
For the GG i used AL. oxyde 1000.
I is very fast to obtain the proper result (when the lens is flat!), because almost every lens i tested until now, is never really flat, so the first stage is to use abrasive paper (starting with 200 then 600 ) to make it flat.
fortunately, the result is almost perfect, with no grain visible in normal light. Low light with iris closed increase the grain visibility, but having filmed at night, i can say it still workable.
The real secret is to have a 35mm lens with big output.
Most of lenses have a rear lens with diam. ranging from 15mm to 20mm. So you get a small bright output just behing the GG.
So when the camera see the GG, if it is not really opaque, you can see the bright spot.
I use now a Nikkor 1:1.4 that has a 30mm rear lens.
if you compare to the diameter of the GG picture (about 47mm)
you can imagine that really make a difference.
additionally the angle of incoming light on the GG is a lot better.