Leica R Cine Conversion - aprox $8000 high quality 7 lens prime set in Canon EF

[IanK]

This is perfect! Thanks Jeff.


Ian

 

[Greg M]

Thanks, Greg! Looks beautiful, just what I was hoping for.

Quick question: I get that the housings for the R mount are better than the housings for the M mount, but is the glass itself better? Because it looks FAR easier to put together a decent set of lenses with the M mount, and Spacecam has an M mount for the Epic available to buy now, for about $1500.

The R housing is no better than the M housing. The difference is the R lenses are larger and more suitable for a motion camera. The M lenses are tiny and most don't work on the M Mount. Virtually all the R lenses will work on the Canon mount.
I don't know what you mean by "easier", but M lenses are going to be more expensive as M bodies are sill in production. For example a 35mm Summilux M lens is selling for $6000 used (they retail new for $4995)...sadly this lens won't even work on the M mount

 

[Erich Ocean]

The R housing is no better than the M housing. The difference is the R lenses are larger and more suitable for a motion camera. The M lenses are tiny and most don't work on the M Mount. Virtually all the R lenses will work on the Canon mount.
I don't know what you mean by "easier", but M lenses are going to be more expensive as M bodies are sill in production. For example a 35mm Summilux M lens is selling for $6000 used (they retail new for $4995)...sadly this lens won't even work on the M mount

Okay, so M mount isn't really an option. Dang.

By "easier", I simply meant I could write a check and have new-in-box M-mount glass here in a few days, unlike the R-mount stuff which is exceedingly difficult to find.

 

[Nick Morrison]

The 80-200 is ok, but not in the same league as the 70-180 which is a true Leica. The 80-200 is made by Kyocera for Leica.

Has anyone tried the Minolta MD 70-210 F4? If we're talking budget Leica, I believe this was one of several lenses MADE & DESIGNED by Minolta, for Leica. I'm not sure how widely known that is.

Here is a sample, on the macro end:

http://flic.kr/p/8sc517

FWIW, this lens goes for about $75-100 on ebay. The challenge is getting into onto your Scarlet. The MD mount is a pain.

 

[Dave Blackham]

Has anyone tried the Minolta MD 70-210 F4? If we're talking budget Leica, I believe this was one of several lenses MADE & DESIGNED by Minolta, for Leica. I'm not sure how widely known that is.

Here is a sample, on the macro end:

http://flic.kr/p/8sc517

FWIW, this lens goes for about $75-100 on ebay. The challenge is getting into onto your Scarlet. The MD mount is a pain.

Even the 'Minolta' Leica Lenses are very good. Leica thought them good enough to put their name on them, the lenses went through Leica QC which is legendary it self and any poor examples weeded out so Id just accept them for what they are which is a very good lens. I think if there is a Minolta version then the Leica version would win out and the Leica designed lenses are generally thought to be better. What has been taught to me is every lens is an individual, the more I learn the more true I find this is, but Leica lenses that I have found so far are all consistently good between the examples of lenses I've seen.

 

[Matt Uhry]

Here are some very simple "home movies" shot with Leica R lenses (50mm Summilux and 19mm Elmarit all wide open). I think this shows what the lenses are capable of. I'll try to post some real production footage soon:

wow. exactly the point. Nice shots.

You'll see none of the sensor flares like what you got on the interior shotsonce you put in an light mask - I wish Red would offer an official one. I made mine out of 2mm foam from a fly tying shop - works fine but I'd prefer a professionally done solution to a hack.

Matt Uhry
www.mattuhry.com

 

[Greg M]

wow. exactly the point. Nice shots.

You'll see none of the sensor flares like what you got on the interior shotsonce you put in an light mask - I wish Red would offer an official one. I made mine out of 2mm foam from a fly tying shop - works fine but I'd prefer a professionally done solution to a hack.

Matt Uhry
www.mattuhry.com

Thanks. This was a basic setup- Epic-X, side handle, redvolt, 5" LCD and lens. No top mounts, etc and no matte box...so the flares are the result of a naked lens...but personally I like them. Its something I could never get with the Red One.
I was really just trying to show how sharp the lenses are wide open.

BTW- Red has announced a solution, both permanent and temp for the flare issue.

 

[Nick Morrison]

What has been taught to me is every lens is an individual.

I love that you said this Dave, couldn't agree with you more. I feel like each lens has it's own "personality". I've been collecting older manual focus still lenses for a while now, and am looking forward to using them on the scarlet. Don't have any Leica glass, though unfortunately.

My father is a huge Leica fan (rangefinder glass), and because of the Minolta connection he has quite a few of those as well.

- Nick

 

[Sanjin Jukic]

Here are some very simple "home movies" shot with Leica R lenses (50mm Summilux and 19mm Elmarit all wide open). I think this shows what the lenses are capable of. I'll try to post some real production footage soon:

Very nice!!!

 

[A. Clint Litton]

Just finished shooting a feature on Epic using Leica R via A-Mount.

Two months of shooting and very few complaints for use in a narrative environment. Some lenses have slight breathing, but I rarely found it distracting enough to matter. Focus smoothness can vary a little, some lenses are less buttery than others, so if you're coming from the world of S4's and ultras, you may not be as impressed. But when I look at how small these lenses are, how inexpensive they are relative to any major players in the PL world, I have to say I'm very happy with my decision to build this set. It was a tiny film, all on the go, all handheld...can't imagine doing it with larger camera setups.

My set:

19mm version II (f/2.8)
24mm (f/2.8)
28mm (f/2.8) - not Super Angulon
35mm Summicron (f/2)
50mm Summilux II (f/1.4)
100mm Apo Macro (f/2.8)
180mm (f2.8)

My budget was limited for the first push in building this set, so ideally I'd like to trade the 35mm 'Cron for a Summilux and add the 80mm Lux to the mix.

I was originally hoping that I could go with the canon mount so I could keep these lenses available for use on my 5D when not playing with Epic, but the canon mount was a distant hope at that point, so I went with A-mount. I have to say, it's a pretty awesome solution.The advantages of this mount will be even better known as I switch between Leica, PL, BNCR, etc without changing the camera mount, but even when staying within the R lens environment, the robustness and feel and application of the mount is very imressive when comparing to the PL standard.

As for mods, I went with Duclos and am very pleased with their work and service. 80mm fronts with 77mm thread meant I could use screw in filters (which I normally would not care to do, but again, being essentially a one man band and trying to keep the camera as small and discete as possible made this an aspect worth mentioning (it also doesn't hurt if you already own a bunch of filters for L glass that's 77mm)...

I'll try to put up some stills when I get a free moment. In the meantime, maybe we can start some kind of support group for this rare but infections "red dot disease."

Cheers,
Clint

 

[Erich Ocean]

Just finished shooting a feature on Epic using Leica R via A-Mount.

Hey Clint, did you pull your own focus?

How much difficulty did you have with buzzing shots, and what aperture were you typically lighting to?

 

[Dave Blackham]

Just finished shooting a feature on Epic using Leica R via A-Mount.

Two months of shooting and very few complaints for use in a narrative environment. Some lenses have slight breathing, but I rarely found it distracting enough to matter. Focus smoothness can vary a little, some lenses are less buttery than others, so if you're coming from the world of S4's and ultras, you may not be as impressed. But when I look at how small these lenses are, how inexpensive they are relative to any major players in the PL world, I have to say I'm very happy with my decision to build this set. It was a tiny film, all on the go, all handheld...can't imagine doing it with larger camera setups.

My set:

19mm version II (f/2.8)
24mm (f/2.8)
28mm (f/2.8) - not Super Angulon
35mm Summicron (f/2)
50mm Summilux II (f/1.4)
100mm Apo Macro (f/2.8)
180mm (f2.8)

My budget was limited for the first push in building this set, so ideally I'd like to trade the 35mm 'Cron for a Summilux and add the 80mm Lux to the mix.

I was originally hoping that I could go with the canon mount so I could keep these lenses available for use on my 5D when not playing with Epic, but the canon mount was a distant hope at that point, so I went with A-mount. I have to say, it's a pretty awesome solution.The advantages of this mount will be even better known as I switch between Leica, PL, BNCR, etc without changing the camera mount, but even when staying within the R lens environment, the robustness and feel and application of the mount is very imressive when comparing to the PL standard.

As for mods, I went with Duclos and am very pleased with their work and service. 80mm fronts with 77mm thread meant I could use screw in filters (which I normally would not care to do, but again, being essentially a one man band and trying to keep the camera as small and discete as possible made this an aspect worth mentioning (it also doesn't hurt if you already own a bunch of filters for L glass that's 77mm)...

I'll try to put up some stills when I get a free moment. In the meantime, maybe we can start some kind of support group for this rare but infections "red dot disease."

Cheers,
Clint

Im really pleased to hear about this project and look forward to seeing it.


A support group would be great. Could we add it to Epic M users on Face book or start another group on there or here or else where. whats the consensus ?

 

[Sanjin Jukic]

Just finished shooting a feature on Epic using Leica R via A-Mount.

Two months of shooting and very few complaints for use in a narrative environment. Some lenses have slight breathing, but I rarely found it distracting enough to matter. Focus smoothness can vary a little, some lenses are less buttery than others, so if you're coming from the world of S4's and ultras, you may not be as impressed. But when I look at how small these lenses are, how inexpensive they are relative to any major players in the PL world, I have to say I'm very happy with my decision to build this set. It was a tiny film, all on the go, all handheld...can't imagine doing it with larger camera setups.

My set:

19mm version II (f/2.8)
24mm (f/2.8)
28mm (f/2.8) - not Super Angulon
35mm Summicron (f/2)
50mm Summilux II (f/1.4)
100mm Apo Macro (f/2.8)
180mm (f2.8)

My budget was limited for the first push in building this set, so ideally I'd like to trade the 35mm 'Cron for a Summilux and add the 80mm Lux to the mix.

I was originally hoping that I could go with the canon mount so I could keep these lenses available for use on my 5D when not playing with Epic, but the canon mount was a distant hope at that point, so I went with A-mount. I have to say, it's a pretty awesome solution.The advantages of this mount will be even better known as I switch between Leica, PL, BNCR, etc without changing the camera mount, but even when staying within the R lens environment, the robustness and feel and application of the mount is very imressive when comparing to the PL standard.

As for mods, I went with Duclos and am very pleased with their work and service. 80mm fronts with 77mm thread meant I could use screw in filters (which I normally would not care to do, but again, being essentially a one man band and trying to keep the camera as small and discete as possible made this an aspect worth mentioning (it also doesn't hurt if you already own a bunch of filters for L glass that's 77mm)...

I'll try to put up some stills when I get a free moment. In the meantime, maybe we can start some kind of support group for this rare but infections "red dot disease."

Cheers,
Clint

Thanks Clint.

Great post.

Totally agree.

Leica rocks all the time!!!!!

 

[Lliam Worthington]

[h=1][/h]Hi everybody, fantastic thread.

Really apprecite anyones thoughts on the

Leica 28-90mm f2.8-4.5 ASPH Vario Elmarit R

...for my new Scarlet.

Thanks.

Best Wishes
Lliam[h=1][/h][h=1][/h][h=1][/h]

 

[Sanjin Jukic]

[h=1][/h]Hi everybody, fantastic thread.

Really apprecite anyones thoughts on the

Leica 28-90mm f2.8-4.5 ASPH Vario Elmarit R

...for my new Scarlet.

Thanks.

Best Wishes
Lliam[h=1][/h][h=1][/h][h=1][/h]

Amazing zoom lens even though its barrel extends as it zooms...

Shot on 7D with Leica Vario Elmarit R 28-90mm f/2.8-4.5.

Shot on 7D with Leica Vario Elmarit R 28-90mm f/2.8-4.5 (Above is a 100% enlargement cropped from original 7D 4K+ still RAW file).

 

[Lliam Worthington]

Thank you very much Sanjin. Beautiful. Nay, gorgeous really.
So maybe problematic for a mattebox. Duclos modded, with the Tiffen 77mm ND IR screw ins perhaps I could do.
Besides the speed, may I ask how would you compare it with the [h=1]Leica R 1:4/35-70 ROM Vario-Elmar-R E60 MACRO[/h]Thanks for your time Sanjin

Best Wishes

Lliam

 

[Sanjin Jukic]

Thank you very much Sanjin. Beautiful. Nay, gorgeous really.
So maybe problematic for a mattebox. Duclos modded, with the Tiffen 77mm ND IR screw ins perhaps I could do.
Besides the speed, may I ask how would you compare it with the [h=1]Leica R 1:4/35-70 ROM Vario-Elmar-R E60 MACRO[/h]Thanks for your time Sanjin

Best Wishes

Lliam

Lliam,

Leica R 1:4/35-70 ROM Vario-Elmar-R E60 MACRO is a quite good player but Leica Vario Elmarit R 28-90mm f/2.8-4.5 is one of the latest Leica R zoom designs

that means it's slightly better (also more expensive) because its design consists one or two aspherical elements that help to reduce the lens lateral aberrations (CA, distortion, etc,...).

 

[Lliam Worthington]

Thank you Sanjin.

 

[Nick Morrison]

Lliam,

Leica R 1:4/35-70 ROM Vario-Elmar-R E60 MACRO is a quite good player

I believe the 35-70 has its origins in a Minolta design, like the 70-210, no? There are several Leica lenses that were made/designed by Minolta back in the day, which I think says more about Minolta, than anything else. Leica's are always amazing

 

[Greg M]

I believe the 35-70 has its origins in a Minolta design, like the 70-210, no? There are several Leica lenses that were made/designed by Minolta back in the day, which I think says more about Minolta, than anything else. Leica's are always amazing

actually Kyocera, who if I'm not mistaken also made many of the Contax lenses