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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 :)

Birger Lens Mount Reservations

Yeah, it wasn't a shipping email. It was more of a "will ship" but pay up first, buddy. :)

I whipped out my credit card so fast, it melted a little.
 
Hey thats awesome. The faster people take care of their business of paying and saying yes send it now the simpler it is for Birger and the closer I get to getting my mount.

Yes I was born in the ME generation. But don't worry, I want everyone ahead of me to get there mounts too.:watsup: :biggrin: :whistling:
 
Ok ... a miracle happened ;-)

Ok ... a miracle happened ;-)

Well well ... the man from FedEx finally (!) arrived and Birger is on the RED and working ;-)

The adjustment screw (collimator) is all the way home (ie : had to apply no turns) and all lenses tested so far are very very close to the mark (one bang on and the other very slightly off) ... infinity can be reached fine; surprised I did not have to do ANY racking out of the mount.

So far tested :
- Canon 24/1.4
- Canon 100/2.8
- Canon 16-35/2.8 Mk2
- Canon 15/2.8
- Canon 70-200/2.8 IS

Next to test (outside) .... Canon 400/2.8 IS and will try the Canon x1.4 multiplier for good measure ;-)
Tokina 11-16/2.8 has not arrived yet ...

Looking forward to trying IS (and borrowing a 17-55/2.8 IS)

Press middle button : lens moves from min-to-max-to-min focus marks (and settles at min mark) ...
Press top-&-bottom marks together : lens opens to widest aperture
Press bottom button : aperture stops down (1/2 or 1/3 ?)
Press top button : aperture opens up (1/2 or 1/3 ?)
Unless I'm doing something wrong, one HAS to press middle button (focus calibration) and top+bottom buttons to calibrate aperture when swapping lenses.

What's the 'thingy' at the top of the mount ... Bluetooth antenna ? wireless ? to control what ? (aside from firmware updates)

So far sooooooooooooooooo gooooooooooooooooood ... leaving the mount to warm up and see if all is stable.

Cheers & thank you Erik & Birger team ... (focus knob and we are there)

EDIT : Oh and the lens mount is VERY solid ... much more positive than the old Nikon mount I had & WILL POST pictures ASAP and some frame grabs at week-end when I'll have spare time ;-)
 
awesome! you are out in the UK? I will be there Oct 21-28 to pitch our film for investors at the London Film Fest/Power to the Pixel. We will have a teaser.

PS photos?
 
Good, solid reports.

Looks like Erik is being "vindicated".

Focusing on doing it right in the first place and then sending out high quality mounts.

Awesome Erik.
 
Fabulous! David- Thanks for remembering all the losers who are still without mount.
 
Quick update...

Quick update...

We got about 50 mounts together today that will go through testing on friday. Should be a big shipping day.

I had the Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 and the Canon 85mm f/1.2 here for testing the past two days from Mark Crabtree at Apple Productions. Thanks.

The Tokina is really well built mechanically, iris works well. But there is some focus drift with the knobs. If you whip the lens back and forth it will drift a little. If you just do a simple rack focus, at a relatively low speed it doesn't drift. Recalibrating (middle button) periodically will account for this drift. I would bet we will get this working in a later software release. Just don't count on using this lens as an indication of how well the system works - just yet.

The 85 f/1.2 just plain rocks, BUT... the manual focus knob is not functional with the release software. The manual focus does work with a debug version, so it should be easy to get it back in with a few hours on the bench. This is actually the best behavior with a knob, as disabling the focus control on the lens ensures that the lens will track the knob without error. Full time manual focus isn't always a good thing...

I did not have this lens here when we froze the release, so please understand that you may not be able to use this until the knobs are available. I will post when this changes. Mark is letting me keep the lens for a couple of days, so I should have this out before the wedding. It works great with a knob. This is lens, all by itself justifies the system. Probably the same story with the 50mm f/1.0.

Oh, and just stay away from the Canon 28mm f/2.8. Many of the DC motor lenses work well with the knobs, and don't drift at all. This one just sucks. It was first marketed in 1987, and has not seen an update since. The same goes for the 50mm f/1.8 MkI. The updated lens (50mm f/1.8 MkII) on the other hand, tracks really well with the focus, you just won't want to use it as the lens breathes like crazy.
 
Specific lens info!!! Now this thread is getting really interesting and productive.

How about the 14mm L?

I've been thinking of picking that one up to complement my 24-70L and 70-200L.
 
Great news all round!

I too haven't got an email about shipping yet and I'm definitely one of the first orders from way back in November. Nothing in my spam folder either (other than spam!!).

I have faith though that it's purely an email/paperwork issue as my CC was debited back when they asked for it.

Cheers,

Paul
 
this birger thing rocks.. good luck for your honeymoon wonder couple ! not too much exercise though.. :love: :weight_lift:
 
Specific lens info!!! Now this thread is getting really interesting and productive.

I've asked Evin G to create a 'sticky' thread for something like a [Red / Birger Canon EF lens database] where we can post the various lens types, known issues, etc ... ie : REAL REFERENCE CONTENT and avoid the 'noise' found in the regular threads. Fingers crossed ...

Should also contain Birger firmware notes, know issues, etc ...
 
Yes David that is an excellent idea. As you all know my inner child loves numbers and lists. Must have been a mathematician in a former life.

I am doing research online on lenses all the time, but with real world tests with the Birger Mount, that would rock!
 
My hat off to Erik again!!
I just recieved my Canon L-Series Glass!!!
FYI all of the following lenses worked great with the Birger mount.
14mm f/2.8L
24mm f/1.4L
35mm f/1.4L
50mm f/1.2L
135mm f/2L

We also purchased the Canon 85mm f/1.2 but it did NOT function with Birger. However, Erik assured me Birger is aware of the problem and it will be fixed on the next software release.

An additional note: You will need to get a little creative with your matte box solutions with these Canon primes. Zucuto makes a great fabric/elastic reducer which works well with Crozeil boxes.

Erik just saved me a bunch of money on my prime lenses! Thanks Erik!

I should clarify, I have yet to do tests with Birger knobs, but the Birger mount is fully controlling the iris using the buttons on the side of the mount. The center button also moves the focus through its full range and then ends by centering the focus in the range. But, the focus is still manually adjusted using the lens itself. Manually focusing with the lens itself has its drawbacks, but it still works and we are up and running in the meantime.

We are now just keeping our fingers crossed and hope to see our knobs soon.
 
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