Adapted Cine Lens Club
Quote from James Warner on March 10, 2022, 1:19 am
Is the trick to these to find the cameras that had c/d mount lenses, and search for those on eBay? I briefly did this, and it seems cheaper to buy an old broken camera with the lens unlisted because the seller doesn't know to add the keyword "C mount" into the title 😉 Or where else are you finding these?
I go straight for the lens I want, although I often wait for auctions to get the best price. (I just got 2 nice d-mounts for $25.) The iPhone app Baywatch works to give instant notification of new listings, and I use really loose terminology to hopefully find the best deals!
I'd rather pay a bit more to get a clean, working copy — or one that at least claimed to be, so I could return it. Just don't have the energy to mess about with bulky camera bodies I don't want and which won't sell and yet which I'll feel too guilty to dispose of, and potentially moldy or hazy or broken lenses.
One thing to remember is a lot of these lenses are much older than the ones you usually go for, from the 40s-60s. The older they are, the more likely they are to have problems.
Quote from Estelon_Agarwaen on March 10, 2022, 11:12 ami have a nikon 1 j2 that i got on ebay for like 40 bucks, but my one nikon 1 lens is broken. thinking about getting an adapter and a cheap cctv lens (or maybe an inexpensive c mount lens) possibly any tips for something available (on german ebay) in the like 50mm to 85mm range? or maybe, if cheaply available, even wider? needs to have the ~18mm flage tho
The Fujinon CF25B f/1.4 — note the B — is a 25mm some people swear by. I have one on order.
Quote from Estelon_Agarwaen on March 10, 2022, 11:12 ami have a nikon 1 j2 that i got on ebay for like 40 bucks, but my one nikon 1 lens is broken. thinking about getting an adapter and a cheap cctv lens (or maybe an inexpensive c mount lens) possibly any tips for something available (on german ebay) in the like 50mm to 85mm range? or maybe, if cheaply available, even wider? needs to have the ~18mm flage tho
Did you ever find out? I got laid up and ended up needing surgery so was thinking about your question but never got a chance to reply until now. I know there are people adapting C lenses to the Nikon 1. C lenses are definitely more expensive than D lenses, though. The Kodak Cine Ektars and so on have 63mm+ lenses which are really beautiful, but not C-mount natively, they require adapters, and aren't exactly cheap ($100ish+).
The biggest problem I have with the N1 system usage with adapted lenses is the lack of focus peaking. I shoot mostly street and that's the fastest way I found to manual focus these lenses. I do own a J4 and have used some lenses on it, but the combination of no focus-peaking and no EVF is probably why I usually grab a M4/3 body for adapted Cine lenses.
