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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 :)

Dragon + Lomo Anamorphic Square Fronts - Initial Tests

I was thinking more in the lines of internal alignment/adjusting of the inner glass elements.

But if the rear glass element seems hazy, then it definitely needs to be checked, too.



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MichaelJQuill said:
Thanks Vadim! I didnt mess with colors as I was just trying to see what they look like naturally, but I love your grade. How did you achieve it? I can upload the r3ds if you or anyone else wants to try something out.
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That was just Adobe Camera RAW in Photoshop, one of VSCO film presets (Agfa Vista curve I think). Just a preset and contrast, nothing special, but with juicy R3D you can go pretty much anywhere in real grading, so much room. On the R3Ds I think it's the same preset with a bit of "clarity" slider. No grain added, enabled DEB on import. Cheers.

http://i.imgur.com/Ep4oTyZ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/XmRFUXP.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/sItDIt5.jpg
 
What year is your 35? It shouldn't need any special treatment to be as sharp and contrasty as the others. Focal Point Optics in Colorado will polish and recoat lens elements for a very reasonable fee.

Merry X-mas,

Nick
 
Nick Gardner said:
What year is your 35? It shouldn't need any special treatment to be as sharp and contrasty as the others. Focal Point Optics in Colorado will polish and recoat lens elements for a very reasonable fee.

Merry X-mas,

Nick
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The 35mm was made in 1979, which is more than 10 years newer than the 50 and 80. It's also in the best shape cosmetically. What I can't figure out is whether or not the flaring on the 35 is causing the lack of contrast or whether is the smudged up back element? You can see it in the density of the christmas tree.

I'll take a look at Focus Point Optics. Do they completely service Square Fronts or do they just specialize in polishing/recoating? If not, who would you recommend for servicing in the States? I've only used Bernie at Super 16 before. Dave Kruta also recommended Focus Optics and Jeff at Abel Cine.

Merry X-Mas!
 
I can really only speak for myself, but my 35 is much newer and better coated than my 50 and 80, and doesn't flare anymore than the rest. If your rear element seems funky, that's probably the culprit.

Focus optics is good, expensive take a long time.
Bernie works on them. Decent work, quick turn around.

Focal Point optics mainly does element recoating and cementing.

Post pictures of the 35 rear element.

Nick
 
Having owned three different 35s my gut tells me yours can be made sharper. The 35s all need the front element properly shimmed and that could have something to do with it.

Duclos now looks down their nose at anything Lomo and won't touch them anymore. Sad really.
 
Nick, Are you sure Focal Point can deal with anamorphic? I contacted them a couple of years ago and they had no way hold square elements securely for polishing. If that's changed I'll be a happy man.
 
Nick Gardner said:
I can really only speak for myself, but my 35 is much newer and better coated than my 50 and 80, and doesn't flare anymore than the rest. If your rear element seems funky, that's probably the culprit.

Focus optics is good, expensive take a long time.
Bernie works on them. Decent work, quick turn around.

Focal Point optics mainly does element recoating and cementing.

Post pictures of the 35 rear element.

Nick
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OK here are some photos of the 35's back element. Is it fungus? :banghead:
 

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MichaelJQuill said:
OK here are some photos of the 35's back element. Is it fungus? :banghead:
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That doesn't look like fungus based on image searches I did a while ago. When I was doing research on the standard Lomos I bought last year I was making sure the marks on the lenses I had weren't fungus. This is what fungus looks like, almost the same on all the images I came across. It has a spore like pattern:
003Nni-8436484.jpg
 
Zoinks. That looks like it started off as fungus and some one went nuts on it trying to clean it. I suspect that's where your problem is coming from. I'd contact Focal point about recoating the rear element. It's round so it shouldn't be a problem.

Nick
 
Olex Camera's website shows that the spherical 35mm part of the lens system is a typical Lomo F=35. I don't remember the part number but I do know you can get them on ebay very reasonably. If you had the back elements swapped you could get something back by reselling the 'as is' lens. Something I've been thinking about doing as I have a dinged back element on one of my square fronts that makes a soft spot in the picture.
 
Nick and Rick,

Great idea! The spherical lens in my SF is also an OKC 8-35-1. I'll do a price check on whether it makes more sense to swap out the back element or have the current back element polished/recoated.

Thanks much,
Mike
 
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One other thing to factor in: I had Ultra Flat in Canoga Park, CA strip and re-coat an element. They claimed no material was removed and the optical formula unchanged but I'm not so sure because the lens can no longer be collimated to the sharpness it had before they worked on the element.

If it was my lens I would be willing to pay a bit more for the swapped element after that experience - for what it's worth.
 
Rick LaLonde said:
One other thing to factor in: I had Ultra Flat in Canoga Park, CA strip and re-coat an element. They claimed no material was removed and the optical formula unchanged but I'm not so sure because the lens can no longer be collimated to the sharpness it had before they worked on the element.

If it was my lens I would be willing to pay a bit more for the swapped element after that experience - for what it's worth.
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That's a good point, Rick.
 
MichaelJQuill said:
Just bought a set of Lomo Anamorphic Square Fronts. Here's a nonscientific test I did. Tried to match exposure as best I could by adjusting ISO. The 50 is definitely the sharpest, then the 80. The 35 also flares a lot. Is this normal?Let me know if you have any thoughts/questions. Overall I'm super happy with how these are looking on Dragon at 6k!Thanks!Mike
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Michael you in Ma? 978 phone number lol didnt know there were many of us out here haha
 
MichaelJQuill said:
Per Nick's and Rick's recommendation, I mailed out the lens to Bernie today and he is going to swap out the worn rear element with this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/optical-bloc...item2a490567f0

Now I'll just play the waiting game. Thanks for all the great advice.
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I have to say watching from afar at how Nick and others stepped in to help you solve the 35mm...was a heartearming reminder (over the.holidays too) of how generous and productive RU can be. Made me very happy to see you get a solution so quickly.

PS Mike we must run in the same circles, as one of my clients compiled a list of up and coming production companies and we were both on it.
 
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Nick Morrison said:
I have to say watching from afar at how Nick and others stepped in to.help you solve the 35mm...was a heartearming reminder (over the.holidays too) of how generous and productive RU can be. Made me very happy to see you get a solution so quickly.

PS Mike we must run in the same circles, as one of my clients compiled a list of up wnd coming production companies and we were both on it.
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Not to mention the dozens of questions Nick has answered for me in private messages. He's one of the most helpful guys on this forum.

Oh, that's interesting we're both on 'a list,' haha. We need to link up in person in the new year! I'll be in touch.

Mike
 
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