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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

De-clicking your Iris Wheel - Nikon lenses

Someone privately asked me how Abel sets prices. Our Service department charges a one hour minimum on any job. But the Nikon ZF lenses would take far less than that to "de-click." The lens tech might be able to do all five in a set within an hour or close to it. Other Nikon mount lenses can vary, but we would only charge the time it takes to do the work.
 
Generally, we do not service (clean, lube, repair) still lenses. We do, however, design, produce, and install accessories such as focus/iris gears, 80mm adaptors, and a few other specialty modifications such as removing "click-stops". As for the servicing, the cost of a clean and lube can often rival the cost of still lenses themselves. We always have and always will specialize in service and repair of professional motion picture lenses such as Angenieux, Zeiss, Cooke, etc... As for the Nikon 28-70 I referred to, that was a personal project that I used my spare time to produce (faaar too much time). The conversion had been done by my father before so I had a good starting point, but I do not know who the original conversion was performed for.
 
As far as I know, RP lens puts 80mm fronts, and delrin gears on and thats it (plus the iris click removal).

I was looking into that option way back when, but I realized that I can do everything they do, and then I found other lens solutions.

Nick
 
Keep in mind, that if you are buying lenses from RP Lens, that Peter has picked ones that meet the "requirements", i.e. he is handpicking ones that are in really good condition and he goes through them thoroughly. I sent him a 50mm 1.4 and he found that the aperture had some problems and there was grease that had leaked. We decided to go with another lens. So, if you are sending lenses to them, I think it's fair to say they will check them over, make sure there are no issues, and then do the mods. Whether it is worth the money is up to each individual. It was for me.
 
Hey I'm not knocking them at all, I just happen to have a set up for cutting 32 pitch gears for lenses, and can make delrin fronts, so it didn't make sense for me to buy them from him. As far as 1 stop shopping, getting a nice set of lenses, ready to go, sounds good.

Nick
 
arrinick said:
Hey I'm not knocking them at all, I just happen to have a set up for cutting 32 pitch gears for lenses, and can make delrin fronts, so it didn't make sense for me to buy them from him. As far as 1 stop shopping, getting a nice set of lenses, ready to go, sounds good.

Nick
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong, there are many options for getting this accomplished. Someone asked whether he did anything else, so I figured I'd throw that in there that he checks the lenses. For me, it made sense to get the set as I was anxious to get going with the Nikon mount. I think it's great that we have all kinds of options right now for getting some glass in front of the Red.
 
RP de-clicks, dampens the iris blades, adds a focus/zoom ring & attatches an 80mm front hood.

Last time I talked with him, he was also working out a way to put hard stops in the focus ring of the 17-35 and 80-200.
 
I second that, very cool guy...also experienced DP for many years. I have decided to go with his set for quality control and convenience, I will report more when my Zeiss ZFs arrive, I think I will add the 17-35 with hard stops and rumor is Zeiss is adding a 15mm to the ZF family? time will tell.

cheers
 
Haskell said:
and rumor is Zeiss is adding a 15mm to the ZF family? time will tell.
Click to expand...

Am I the source of this rumor? :)

Zeiss photo dept. told me they were planning to release a wider lens in the ZF line. They said nothing about when, or what focal length.

I think I mentioned the 15mm as wishful thinking. The ZM 15/2.8 is a fantastic lens.

I have ordered a used Nikon 14/2.8 for use in the indefinate meantime.
 
with all this talk

with all this talk

You guys put a lot of emphasis on de-clicking the lens. I have to ask: Are you pulling aperture the way you pull focus during the shots?

I have never done this. Is this done often?

As for NIKON lenses, I would prefer to go that route, provided I can get acceptable images for theatrical distribution (the goal). The Birger unit is supposed to be an all in one follow focus, right?

Will Birger have its own controller, or would it need to be tied to a laptop?

Also, there is some kind of focus gear add-on for use with mechanical follow focus units. Does anyone know where to get this, or who installs this gearing ring around the lenses at a cheap price?

I have never had a problem with Nikon lenses for 35mm. They look fabulous, to me. With the audience becoming acclimated to Blair Witch, Cloverfield and other shaky vid-cam type imagery, not to mention all the reality TV, I don't think that tiny bit of extra quality (for $350,000 worth of glass) is going to make or break a project (an INDEPENDENT project, studios will always throw many millions of dollars at everything). Anyway, I believe acceptable imagery is within grasp with the Nikon lenses.

As for breathing, someone mentioned that a Zeiss cinema lens was breathing unacceptably, where it was hardly noticeable on a Nikon.

Is there some quantitative measurement of "breathing?" Is it related to the quality of the glass, the glass formula, the coating, or anything that can lead one to make a comparison from specifications?

What about the Red lenses? Are they breathing? How do they compare to Nikons, Canons and Cookes?

There should be a sticky that compares all the known working lenses in terms of breathing, color, clarity, price, etc. That would be useful.
 
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