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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

Well after a 1/2 hour of trying to get it off I was able to remove the lens.

So prior to putting another lens on I inspected the release button and there was a bur on the button not letting it release the locking pin. I only found this with magnification and a good light. I was able to cut the burr off and make sure nothing went into the sensor. Now working fine.
 
10-22 and 70-200 no problem for me.

10-22 and 70-200 no problem for me.

I have tried for the first time my Canon 10-22 on the Birger mount. It won't come off. The release button does not move and the lens does not want to come off. It went on the right way matching the white marks and clicked in place.

Any advice from people who have this lens and mount?

I have installed the 16-35 with no problems at all but this if the next lens I am trying.

I have not tried the 70-200 and the 24-105 but will when I get this bugger off.

Paul,

The Canon 70-200 2.8 and 10-22 goes on just fine here. On the 70-200 I used the RED Handle underneath as a temporary support for the longer lens but I'm looking into having a friend fabricate a lens support for the 70-200. The Birger mount stands up to holding the longer lens but don't want to put any stress on the lens or Birger mount.

Don't own the 24-105.

Frazier Nivens, Ocean Imaging
 
While waiting for some news from Birger/Curt..

I know some people are going to shout at me for my ignorance but I'll go anyway. My background is photography and I was thinking if there is a good lens comparison between Canon L prime series and Cooke, Angenieux and others. If the Impero works as well as I hope, the mechanical part of the L series should be closer to the PL lenses. Of course the L series would have maybe a bit more breathing, chromatic aberration and so on. But they cost so, SO MUCH less.

I mean, I thought one of the main benefits from using those PL lenses in motion pictures is that they have much better mechanical than still lenses. But in therms of quality of the image, photographers have been using still lenses with amazing results. i don't know any photographer that rehoused a PL into their Canon, so they can have better image quality.

It would be really interesting to see a side by side (charts and real life situations, extreme contrasts) and see if the color rendition and other aspects are that much better and specially noticeable by the majority of the viewers.

If anyone has a Red with Cookes or other good PL lenses (in or near NYC) that good be interested in doing this test, I could provide my Red with Birger mount and some Canon L Lenses. Though I think it would be better to wait until the knobs are shipping.

If we can get good Follow focus on our L lenses, I really don't know if it is worth buying or renting those super expensive lenses for any kind of work, at least for broadcast. I'm not saying they will be worse, but I want to see with my eyes, what is the difference and if it is worth that price.

My CANON 50mm L 1.2 is amazing. Still waiting for the 24mm 1.4 L II. It's been back ordered for 2 months! Even without knob is really nice to focus and almost no breathing. Of course I haven't done any critical pull focus, but wait until we get the Imperos ... and the mounts :wacko: Because we are getting them right?
 
I have tried for the first time my Canon 10-22 on the Birger mount. It won't come off. The release button does not move and the lens does not want to come off. It went on the right way matching the white marks and clicked in place.

Any advice from people who have this lens and mount?

I have installed the 16-35 with no problems at all but this if the next lens I am trying.

I have not tried the 70-200 and the 24-105 but will when I get this bugger off.

I had mine stick a few times on my older birger. Just had to press the button way in maybe with the tip of a screwdriver. 10-22 and 11-16 Seems to work fine on my newer proto birger.
 
Frazier and Michael it works fine now just that little burr in the button was stopping it from moving.

Now trying to do the back focus on the 10-22 with a nice Fiddlehead resolution chart the focus distance does not change in the LCD. I am set at 1 meter. Going into the settings and tried feet and meters and rebooting. Has anyone else had this problem?

edit:
The zoom changes and the iris changes but not the focal distance when I change focus to dial it in. If I hit the middle auto adjust button it changes but then it is not focused since this is a new lens.
 
Do you have it a Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 too? I don't see it at your signature. Which are you most like?

I have the tokina also, it seems very nice and I like the f2.8 but haven't done much side by side shooting.

Hope to do more in a few weeks.
 
While waiting for some news from Birger/Curt..

I know some people are going to shout at me for my ignorance but I'll go anyway. My background is photography and I was thinking if there is a good lens comparison between Canon L prime series and Cooke, Angenieux and others. If the Impero works as well as I hope, the mechanical part of the L series should be closer to the PL lenses. Of course the L series would have maybe a bit more breathing, chromatic aberration and so on. But they cost so, SO MUCH less.

I mean, I thought one of the main benefits from using those PL lenses in motion pictures is that they have much better mechanical than still lenses. But in therms of quality of the image, photographers have been using still lenses with amazing results. i don't know any photographer that rehoused a PL into their Canon, so they can have better image quality.

It would be really interesting to see a side by side (charts and real life situations, extreme contrasts) and see if the color rendition and other aspects are that much better and specially noticeable by the majority of the viewers.

If anyone has a Red with Cookes or other good PL lenses (in or near NYC) that good be interested in doing this test, I could provide my Red with Birger mount and some Canon L Lenses. Though I think it would be better to wait until the knobs are shipping.

If we can get good Follow focus on our L lenses, I really don't know if it is worth buying or renting those super expensive lenses for any kind of work, at least for broadcast. I'm not saying they will be worse, but I want to see with my eyes, what is the difference and if it is worth that price.

My CANON 50mm L 1.2 is amazing. Still waiting for the 24mm 1.4 L II. It's been back ordered for 2 months! Even without knob is really nice to focus and almost no breathing. Of course I haven't done any critical pull focus, but wait until we get the Imperos ... and the mounts :wacko: Because we are getting them right?


muffinny I think you are thinking in the right direction. I am working with Jorge at Cinematechnic to get a birger mount on his projector so we can be more scientific about these tests.

I think the most recent canon lenses will hold up very well against any lens. They have the technology and the volume to give tremendous bang for the buck. Also you have to realize that for their L series they aren't just going for the best price. The 24-70 f2.8L zoom is $1200 but if they come out with a II series similar focal length (maybe with IS) they will sell to virtually all of the pros whether it is $1200 or $2200 or $3200.

With the dollars available plus modern computers and aspherics, Diffractive optics, subwavelength coatings, etc. it is hard to see how anyone could be substantially better than Canon can be - almost regardless of cost.
 
Hey Paul,

Are you getting any image shift on that 10-22mm when focusing back and forth near infinity? Both my 10-22mm and 17-40mm jump when I pull focus near the infinity mark. The effect is MUCH more distracting than just breathing. Hoping the remote helps to smooth this out.

-Jesse
 
I would agree with you except that it happens on my 17-40mm L as well. It doesn't happen on any of my other lenses of greater focal length so I think it might have something to do with being WIDE and a ZOOM. I should do some more testing to see if I can nail down the issue.

-Jes
 
muffinny I think you are thinking in the right direction. I am working with Jorge at Cinematechnic to get a birger mount on his projector so we can be more scientific about these tests.

Thanks,

I'll be very nice to see a side by side and ask people to guess which lens it is. aka Red style.. Remember the Mark II vs Red? :nerd:
 
Eric?

Jiminy cricket, share some love - I'm feeling lonely... I don't want to call or email, as I know it only slows you up, but please, post an update for those of us chomping at our nails.

My wife just laughs at me when she sees me looking up the Birger mount. She thinks its the funniest thing ever, and I keep telling her "its almost here". She says I'm driving a circular highway and at every corner everyone cheers "just around the next corner!" I can't say she's been wrong so far....

My credit card was charged for the balance a couple weeks ago... I think that is a good thing?

I still have all the faith in this thing that I've never seen (wife laughs in the background again) but please, give us an update. thanks Eric!
 
Isaac, and others, I will update at the end of the day. We are shipping more mounts today, and we will know exactly when the last from this batch will go out when we finish for the day. Lots more tracking numbers today.

I spoke to Curt a couple of times in the last few days. He has the whole antenna/radio situation under control. If you want to follow the saga look over in the VFS thread. Curt told me that he had the Impero/Birger combo working at a range of 30+ meters, during the antenna experiments, so I think this is all a good thing. I had been quoting 30 feet...

Rodney Charters, DP of 24, is demoing the Birger/ViewFactor combo on a RED at the HD Expo in LA today...
 
Erik,

Thank you! I'm eagerly looking forward to a tracking number. See'ing as how I was billed the full amount back in October, I'm hopeful mine will be in this batch...

I close my eyes, clench my fists, and rock on my heels... "I wish... I wish... I wish upon a Birger Mount..."
 
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