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Canon Aluminum vs. Titanium Mount

P

Paul Schneider

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I have a Scarlet with both an Aluminum Canon mount and the Ti PL mount.
I've noticed that there is quite a bit of flex in the AL mount when focusing on more substantial manual lenses. In my case it's a set of modified Contax Zeiss, however I would assume its the same with current Zeiss, older Leica's etc. For tight shots, the flex is enough to cause movement in the beginning of the focus, even when moving the focus ring by hand.

My question is how much stiffer and more substantial is the Ti Mount? Anyone compared both. My Ti Pl is a beast, but a different beast all together given the size and scale of the mounts on the lenses themselves.
 
I don't own those lenses, but a Canon Ti mount. I can see some minor movement when focusing Canon lenses by hand, and since the mount is really perfect, I blame the lenses. They are not built like cine primes…
 
The mount on 5D's and 1DX seems to be perfectly ok, that's not to say it can't be improved. I do like the Ti mount but not the price. I use an Ai mount recentl and it seemed perfectly Ok. I'd be more worried about the lens build quality though.
 
Flexing, there's always some breathing anyway. AFAIK, lenses for AF need to be built to looser tolerances so it's not too hard for the tiny motors to control them.
 
Uli Plank said:
I don't own those lenses, but a Canon Ti mount. I can see some minor movement when focusing Canon lenses by hand, and since the mount is really perfect, I blame the lenses. They are not built like cine primes…
Click to expand...

I agree the canon mounts on stills lenses aren't built as robust as the cine versions. That said, I was just wondering if the Ti Mount would alleviate any of the flex vs. the Aluminum one? The mounts on my contax lenses are screwed on, and are essentially the same strength as any canon lens... for better or worse.
 
What does "breathing" look like?

Uli Plank said:
Flexing, there's always some breathing anyway. AFAIK, lenses for AF need to be built to looser tolerances so it's not too hard for the tiny motors to control them.
Click to expand...
 
I don't know about the aluminum Canon mount, however the Ti Canon mount has a locking ring which is snugged up after the lens clicks in to the detent. Turning the ring clockwise as seen from the front of the camera seats the lens and denies any axial rotation of the lens. Rotate the ring ccw and press the "lens lock button" and the lens can be removed. If the ring is not snugged, the lens can rotate a small amount due to the clearance between the locking pin and slot in the lens flange. The Ti mount is a thing of beauty in both design and finish. Hope it helps.
 
Vance Colvig said:
I don't know about the aluminum Canon mount, however the Ti Canon mount has a locking ring which is snugged up after the lens clicks in to the detent. Turning the ring clockwise as seen from the front of the camera seats the lens and denies any axial rotation of the lens. Rotate the ring ccw and press the "lens lock button" and the lens can be removed. If the ring is not snugged, the lens can rotate a small amount due to the clearance between the locking pin and slot in the lens flange. The Ti mount is a thing of beauty in both design and finish. Hope it helps.
Click to expand...

The Aluminum mount has the same locking ring feature, tho very stiff I presume its not as robust as the Ti Mount. I also own a Ti PL and its very stiff, which is essentially why I'm asking in the first place.

For the foks asking about breathing or flex...I'm talking flex here...at the mounting point. Not a lot, but you don't red a lot at the beginning of aa telephoto shot to making it discouraging.
 
I think this is a relevant question for this thread...does anyone know if it's safe to mount a Canon 70-200 and Scarlet to a tripod via the "lens support ring" instead of the camera?

Thank you!
 
I accept no liability for yours, but My Ti mount held it just yesterday with no problems, but we had minimal accessories mounted. I have seen worse.

If you are balanced properly using the lens support ring then the problem isn't the weight of the lens (That is fully supported.) but weight of the camera.

Also the Ti mount is both more rigid and better secured than the lens mount. If you encounter a failure it will likely be the lens that breaks. (But then the camera hits the ground too.) Odds are this will happen not from the weight of the Epic or Scarlet alone, but from combined weight with accessories or an external force exerted upon the camera.
 
Last weekend, we mounted a 400mm Canon lens on the tripod and "hung" the Scarlet off the back BUT (!) we rigged a support with the tripod handle so as not to put the weight of the camera on the mount. I don't think I would have done it without the extra support, however kludgy it was.

EDIT: Oh yeah, forgot to mention it was an aluminum Canon mount.
 
Red verified the canon al mount can handle the 70-200 without support.
 
Not necessarily the best examples yet, but I have had the Canon 100mm Macro L lens and the Zeiss 85mm ZE lens on my Al Canon mount, and with both I had no flex. I love the extra locking ring. I will post as soon as I do bigger.
 
That's right I spoze...what weight the canon ring & mount can hold is really the question if using the support ring. Thing is with minimal rigging, the balance point of the 70-200 support ring is much better balanced & closer to center than mounting from the Scarlet itself...anyone know Canons position on this?
 
PC Greene said:
That's right I spoze...what weight the canon ring & mount can hold is really the question if using the support ring. Thing is with minimal rigging, the balance point of the 70-200 support ring is much better balanced & closer to center than mounting from the Scarlet itself...anyone know Canons position on this?
Click to expand...

I doubt they have one, and I don't know if they publish how much force the mounts can withstand. You have to use some common sense. For the most part the force exerted on the mount will be spread across three tiny and short screws. The closer the balance point is to the mount, and the further the force is from the mount the less it will be able to take. If ther is ANY doubt in your mind that you can keep your system safely operating, use support.
 
PC Greene said:
I think this is a relevant question for this thread...does anyone know if it's safe to mount a Canon 70-200 and Scarlet to a tripod via the "lens support ring" instead of the camera?

Thank you!
Click to expand...

Define safe... :-) Much better to get a lens support thing for your rails (Redrock sells one for about $200) , mount the camera on the rails, then put the support thing on your rails to help support the lens. Otherwise I would worry about too much pressure on the lens ring and eventual bending/breaking.
 
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