using 2/3 Cannon or Fujion eng lens on Scarlet

[DDahlquist]

I have 2/3 eng lenses and would like to know if they will work and if any of the functions will work. like start / stop, Servo zoom, etc...
All my lenses were top of the line broadcast models.
Thanks
Dave.

 

[M. Reilly]

I'm still dying to know the answer to this question.

Did you find an answer anywhere else?

 

[David Rasberry]

To B4 or not to B4?

With adapter cables it should be possible to power the servo zoom off the camera power bus and provide record start and stop through the GPIO interface. Other lens functions, like auto iris, will not be supported.

 

[M. Reilly]

That's too bad.

To B4 or not to B4?

As practical as a new HD ENG lens mounted to a Scarlet sounds, without the full controls, I'm not sure I can justify the investment.

 

[Aaron Newsome]

I have a 2/3 Canon ENG lens. Interesting question. It's an SD lens though so I'm not sure how it would hold up.

 

[David Rasberry]

That's too bad.



As practical as a new HD ENG lens mounted to a Scarlet sounds, without the full controls, I'm not sure I can justify the investment.

Canon is building a new HD lens with built in auto-focus. I think the main issue would be auto-iris functions, which are not supported. Maybe with the new line and the 2/3" model Canon or Fuji will make a Red specific series that does implement full controls

I hope someone will make a good wide range servo zoom specifically for 2/3" Scarlet. The added prism to match B4 optical standards isn't really necessary for single chip focal plane sensors so something like Canon's super 16mm zooms is a better choice. Nothing matches the wide zoom range, speed, compact size and weight of good B4 glass at present though.

 

[Shane Kelly]

I used to use a B4 lens on my Aaton. Start/stop and zoom were fully operational through the use of a cable. It should be exactly the same for Scarlet. I've tried HD zooms on my red with a B4 to PL adapter and they look great.

 

[Paul Hazlett]

I have a 2/3 Canon ENG lens. Interesting question. It's an SD lens though so I'm not sure how it would hold up.

some say modern SD lenses are as good as 16mm cine lenses. I have a fuji
16x6.3 HD lens with the Red b4 adapter. and it does a good job at the 2k slow mo work. I had a cable made to power the zoom and record button and I am
pretty sure this will carry over too.

No reason why the lens would not work with the right adapter

 

[DDahlquist]

It all depends if Red makes a direct mount B-4 adaptor plate with corrective optics for the scarlet.
I have found several B-4 to PL adaptors they start around $2,500 and go up.
I am not fond of having the Scarlet set up for a PL mount then adding a B-4 to PL adaptor on top of that.
Not having auto iris would not be a big loss to me because I only use it to get me close when I am shooting fast paced action but I always take over for the final exposure.

 

[Aaron Newsome]

It all depends if Red makes a direct mount B-4 adaptor plate with corrective optics for the scarlet.
I have found several B-4 to PL adaptors they start around $2,500 and go up.
I am not fond of having the Scarlet set up for a PL mount then adding a B-4 to PL adaptor on top of that.
Not having auto iris would not be a big loss to me because I only use it to get me close when I am shooting fast paced action but I always take over for the final exposure.

$2500 for a B4 to PL. That is a real test. I've seen some adapters up close. I studied them. I've taken some shop class in high school years ago. We ran some automated programs with a lathes and CNC machines, even cutting from solid block aluminum. The prices that they get for some of these adapters amazes me.

If I was in high school again, I'd probably try and make some myself.

 

[David Rasberry]

SD lenses are comparable to vintage 16mm lenses 20 years or more old.
Current S16 lenses are comparable to premium HD B4 lenses.

B4 mount will have to have an optical block to correct the chroma back focus to match the standard for 3-chip prism blocks. Otherwise you get significant chroma aberrations. That is why they are so expensive. B4 lenses are not designed to back focus through air like a film camera lens.

A direct B4 mount will be one of the modular mount options for Scarlet. No adapter needed. I am sure it will be more expensive than the film lens mounts. People seem to have a hard time grasping the concept of interchangeable lens mounts on the new red camera system. It is similar in some respects to the interchangeable lens boards used on view cameras.

 

[DDahlquist]

$2500 for a B4 to PL. That is a real test. I've seen some adapters up close. I studied them. I've taken some shop class in high school years ago. We ran some automated programs with a lathes and CNC machines, even cutting from solid block aluminum. The prices that they get for some of these adapters amazes me.

If I was in high school again, I'd probably try and make some myself.

It's not the metal part of the adaptor that runs up the cost it's the glass.
The standard B-4 lens is set up to project its focused image on an optical prism that is part of the image block in the 3 ccd camera body. A certain amount of high quality $$$ optics will be needed to correct the image to focus on a single chip camera. Yes, eng lenses have back focus but it will take more than a back focus adjustment to get the B-4 eng/efp lens to work.
If you want a good example of the replaceable lens mounts take a look at an old eclair 16 mm camera.

If you read the Scarlet part of the Red web sight it says that plates will be available for Cannon, Nikon,C-mount, Red and PL. A B-4 mount is not mentioned. That is why I said the scarlet would have to be set up for PL and then a B-4 to PL optical adapter will be needed.

A direct B4 modular mount option for Scarlet would be great. It will still be more expensive to make than the film lens mounts because it will still need some corrective glass.