Any help from an experienced eye?

[Caesar]

Someone has offered me this lens but I am a little bit worried granted my lack of experience with cine glass.

From this picture: it looks as though there's something on the glass or is it just a simple refllection?

 

[Fredrik Callinggard]

Looks like a reflection to me. Ask him to open it up completely and shoot a pic through it holding it up to a light. that way you can see through it.

fred

 

[Jens Jakob Thorsen]

Reflection. You could also ask him to take a picture that is not blurred as in: in focus.
He cant be a DP whit that crappy picture ;-)

 

[Jens Jakob Thorsen]

Russian lens?

 

[Caesar]

Yes. But don't you think that (those) there are too much reflections?...

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Can't tell much from this picture. It's out of focus and we don't know what's going on with the lights around it, if the pic was taken with a flash or what. Any way you can see the lens personally before buying? Where is the lens located? Perhaps the seller could give it to a recognized lens technician who could evaluate the lens for you?

 

[Caesar]

Here are new pics directly from the seller:







On the 3rd one, it looks as though there are some marks there... Any thoughts?

 

[Ed Watkins]

On the 3rd one, it looks as though there are some marks there... Any thoughts?

They might be finger prints/ grease, although one hopes that the owner doesn't handle his lenses like that. Can't really tell from that image. Glass looks scratch free though.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Where is the lens located?

How much does the guy want for it?

Overall, it looks very clean and scratch free. In the third picture, I can't tell if I'm seeing reflections or some minor gunk on the lens or both. I would have the seller give the lens to an independent lens technician for an evaluation (could cost $100 or so). Depending on the price of the lens, that may or may not be worth it.

Will the seller give you any kind of guaranty or option to return the lens?

 

[Fredrik Callinggard]

Hi,

It's hard to say but it looks quite fine to me. It seems to be dust free. Can't see any fungus, but that's really difficult to tell. Doesn't look like there's any scratches. Lens looks to be in good condition.

fred

 

[Nick Gardner]

That looks like an Ekran 50mm speed. If it is the former USSR, use caution. It will probably need to be lubed. It's worth about a grand in PL mount (thats what they are going for now adays). Ask about oil on the iris blades. DO NOT BUY FROM A GUY NAMED Anatoli.

Cheers,
Nick

 

[Fredrik Callinggard]

That looks like an Ekran 50mm speed. If it is the former USSR, use caution. It will probably need to be lubed. It's worth about a grand in PL mount (thats what they are going for now adays). Ask about oil on the iris blades. DO NOT BUY FROM A GUY NAMED Anatoli.

Cheers,
Nick

I also have to say that all of you should stay away from Anatoliy. It's not that he necessarily tries to rip you off - he just don't understand or care about what he's selling. Everything is as new in his eye.

I've one of the fools that lost $4000 in total to him - you would be shocked if you saw pics of the state those lenses were in.

Bare in mind that it's russian roulette when it comes to their PL mounts. Sometimes they're ok, some times they worth nothing. I've yet to see a lens were the PL mount is what we would call western standard. So be prepared to maybe do some changes and fixes when the lens arrives. Other then that this lenses have really nice glass and performs nicely.

fred

 

[Nick Gardner]

Yeah, thankfully he didn't take that much money from me, but the lens he sent me was by no means, "full good and working condition". I had some pl mounts made in Russia, for the most part they worked. I had to put one on a lathe and spin it round, (was a few thousandths out of round) and some of the others needed a little loving touch with a file here and there. They are great lenses though.

Nick

 

[Jorge Díaz-Amador]

A PL mount a few THOUSANDTHS out of round? LOL! Thats a country mile!

When I make PL mounts (I made the ones that go on the camera), my tolerance was 0.01mm total. So a better way to express it was +/- 0.005mm or +/- 0.0002 in. I used to grind the inside bores because it was the only way to get them perfectly round and just the right size. My God, a FEW thousandths? Those PL mounts must have been made on one of those lathes from Harbor Freight!

Guys, I can't stress this enough, you have freakin' 4K cameras!! That's the highest res ever offered in digital and competes with the best you can get from Super 35 film. Why are you expecting to put old beat-up glass and dodgy PL mounts on the camera and still get good results?

OK I feel better now...

BTW, it takes a LOT of experience to be able to look at lens elements and tell coating scratches from glass scratches from glass flaws. At least wit the Zeiss lenses I can get new elements if the existing ones are damaged.

 

[Steve Sanacore]

On the subject of used cine lenses, where is the best place to find them? Are there any major dealers that are reliable with a good selection? Or is it just hit and miss on ebay?

 

[Jorge Díaz-Amador]

Seven Questions to Ask Before Buying Used Cine Lenses:

Seven Questions to Ask Before Buying Used Cine Lenses:

Mmmmm..... OK obviously no one is going to expect me to be unbiased about this, but I'll try to be as objective as possible. I'll try no to be too blatant about advertising myself.

First of all: eBay. Cheap - yes. Quality - "you pays your money and you takes your chances". There are NO guarantees on eBay. I once got sold a Zeiss 10-100 T2 Mk.2 zoom with deep scratches on the front element that the seller never told me about and managed to hide in the photo (the Zeiss sales guy from South Africa). Make sure you've got a good lens tech backing you up if you want to go the eBay route.

What you should look for in a vendor of used Cine lenses:

• How long has this person/company been in business?
• What level of experience do they have with the product?
• Are they equipped with a good collimator and lens projector to verify the condition and accuracy of calibration of the lenses they are selling?
• Are they capable of servicing the lenses themselves? Is the technician in-house, or is it someone they "know" who's "really good". I would suggest avoiding vendors who insist they have a technician but refuse to tell you who that is.
• Has their technician been trained by the manufacturer of the lenses they sell?
• Does the vendor offer a return privilege so you can get a refund if the lens does not meet your expectations?
• What sort of warranty will they offer with the lenses they sell?

***

I'll answer my own questions myself to give you an example of what you should be looking for:

#1: Since 1994 exclusively in the motion picture business, since Jan 2000 as a camera/lens technician.
#2: 14 years total experience, worked as a camera assistant and DoP, and 7 years as a camera/lens technician.
#3: I have a Möeller-Wedel Collimator (similar to Chrosziel), A Richter Collimator (my portable setup) and a Century Precision Lens Test Projector, plus a lot of specialized tools, including depth gages and certified gage blocks to calibrate the above instruments, and small high precision machine tools for when you just have to make a repair or modification to the metalwork.
#4: I'm the lens tech (obviously)
#5: I trained at Carl Zeiss in Oberkochen, Germany and Cooke Optics Ltd. In Leicester, England, plus my rental house experince.
#6: I offer five business days to test the lens.
#7: I offer 180 days, labor only (since I cannot predict how high prices of spare parts might go, or how low the US Dollar might go), but I never end up doing warranty work, because I make sure it's right before it goes out the door.

Hope this helps, and I hope you will all forgive me for the "Advertorial".

 

[Matthew Duclos]

A photograph will never show all the flaws (if any) on glass. Nor will it expose internal contamination such as dust, fungus, or oil. ALWAYS ask for a trial period before purchasing. There is no reason a seller shouldn't offer a period of time for the buyer to have the lens checked.

Jorge, I believe we have met before. If I recall, you came to my shop about a year ago. Very smart. You definitely know what you are doing.

I wont say anything about Anatoli......

As for Russian optics, In the past 6 years, I have seen very few lenses that are mechanically well. Glass can be dodgy at times too. A close inspection of the element coating is crucial. A lot of people will tell you that re-polishing a lens is a cure for coating scratches and blemishes. NEVER re-polish optical elements. It doesn't benefit anyone except for the polisher.

All in all. Have any and all equipment checked as often as possible.

 

[Matthew Duclos]

Here is an example of how a lens sold on ebay might be spun.
Taking photographs of glass is a very "shady" practice.

Example: The lens below is a Lomo zoom lens and it looks as if the glass is flawless. Even in bright light.

This is the exact same lens! When the angle, lighting, and exposure are changed, the lenses flaws are obvious and it is clear that this lens should not be sold...

 

[Matthew Duclos]

Just to clarify:
This lens was not for sale at all. I've had a couple people ask me who sold this lens so that they can avoid that person.
This lens came to us as a repair.
It had been exposed to humid, moist climate and because of that the lubrication softened and spread to many of the inner elements a well as the iris blades. I'm glad to say that this lens was completely restored and is working again.

 

[Alberto Caprioglio]

is it in focus? I have no idea

is it in focus? I have no idea

Bare in mind that it's russian roulette when it comes to their PL mounts. Sometimes they're ok, some times they worth nothing.

the most dangerous roulette I know of is focusing on the Red camera with any lens.
Is anyone able to focus with no problem with it's display, which has 1/10 the resolution of the pictures that are actually recorded?
(I am not talking about focusing frozen objects meters away, of course, where also a tape could be considered accurate enough, IF the focusing marks on lenses are well laid. I am talking about closeups and short distance photography, portraits with at least a full perture 50mm lens, where a 1 inch error is really really unacceptable. I can't guess if the eyes are in focus.)
It's even even a russian roulette to focus optically with a manual lens on a DSRL if it hasn't the appropriate focusing screen for manual lenses: you can magine on a small monitor with a couple of pixels....
Sometimes I can't believe they did not made a good solution, or I must have missed some news.

I've yet to see a lens were the PL mount is what we would call western standard.

I don't know, I can't see where the focus is wrong, at 1/10 resolution.
Anyone can help me please? is there on the market any portable display that offers something comparable to a computer display, something like 2MP, like 1920x1200?
I hope the fabulous western standard of mechanical precision is not going to be mined by electronic monitoring with inadequate, 960x720 (is it?) LCDs...?