Lens mounts

[Daniel Stilling]

Hi all,

Since the influx of people new to RED with the 4K for 4K, I wanted to share about lens mount solutions.
I purchased an A mount for my Scarlet, and will be getting one for my RED One as well.
For those who don't know how it works, the A mount creates a sorta "mini PL mount" on your camera body which is about half the flange distance of a regular PL mount.
That way you can place a series of adapters for PL, OCT19, BNCR, where the lens goes right on the mount.
You can also place A mount adapters on your Nikon, M42 or Contax lenses and mount them on your A mount equipped camera body. The advantages are that you can swap all those different kind of lenses without having to screw in different mounts on the camera. Makes for a very speedy lens change.
Another advantage is that your still lenses, now with the adapters on, have a PL like mating to the camera, much more precise and solid.
I highly recommend, and no, I don't work for Allstar, just a very happy costumer...

http://allstar-cine.myweb.hinet.net/html/red_accessories/A_Mr.htm

 

[Tom Greenberg]

A huge +1000 for the Allstar A-mount. We absolutely love ours...it makes changing between PL and Nikon glass a matter of seconds, with no tools involved. The cost is pretty minimal when you consider how much time and effort you save. There is a wide variety of different lens adapters available, and as Daniel points out, it is a much heavier duty and more secure mounting system for still lenses.

Here is a thread with some pix of the A-mount in use on our R1MX: http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?81756-The-Allstar-A-Mount-Rocks!

 

[Samir Patel]

If I had 3 Nikon lenses to work with would I need 3 different adapters to mount to each of them? Is it practical to just use one and swap between all 3 lenses?

 

[Daniel Stilling]

You do need to have an adapter on the lens you mount on the camera. You could in theory swap the lens adapter between lenses, but it would negate the time savings. I have an adapter for each of my Nikon lenses. It does offer a ring to control the iris on Nikon G lenses...

 

[Samir Patel]

It is definitely an interesting mount. Thanks for the insight Daniel.

 

[Jacek Zakowicz]

If you only use Nikon lenses just get Nikon mount for the camera.
I find it unusual that DPs would want to switch between different brand lenses during the shoot. Usually the DP has a favorite brand he knows and feels confident about the results with. Lenses are like paint brushes- use what you know and like. And most DPs I know do that to get consistent results. Otherwise it's a mess, color rendition wise, bokeh, etc.
For tests swapping different brands is good to learn but for paid jobs most DPs stick with their favorite set..

 

[CocoBermudez]

I know Jacek is too modest to say...but OptiTek's RED One Nikon ProLock rocks HARD.

I use it with my SIGMA's 18-50 and 50-150 (which rumor has it are the same lenses used in the original rehoused RED ONE PL zoom lenses).

The mount is solid as can be and pretty inexpensive...solid solution from an equally solid company....

 

[Jean Bernard]

Like paint brush you may want to change brush types, density, size, etc... its all subjective really. May not change lens brands in one scene, but for sure just like lighting looks I would mix my many lenses that I like to acquire the desired mood. Dream sequence may require a shapeless vintage look, where an action chase scene can use a razor sharp glass. AllStar gives you the flexibility with their universal mount. My Leica R has them so does my Nikons and I even have their PL adapter and snap right on when I use PL lenses and about to get my newly acquired R1 an Allstar-A mount so I can use all lenses across any cameras I own including the Sony F3. I wish they had an Allstar Mount for my D800 and I would be a happy camper.

If you only gona use nikon lenses & then by all means get the Nikon mount... they are going for $200 on here it looks, OptiTek sales theirs for $750. But if you are planing on using several lenses including PL... then get the AllStar system. Be prepared to pay about $180 per lens adapter though. and the R1 all-star mount is $350!

 

[Jacek Zakowicz]

It sounds very romantic but do you really want to deal with different color, bokeh, distortion , etc. Just see how bad it looks when the color and sharpness don't match from cut to cut. You go from warm wide FD to cool face close up on Zeiss and color shift is just too distracting. And very hard to correct in post...
For dreamy sequence you just use heavy diffusion (on lens or in post) -it looks much better.
Or a lens baby if you want to go extreme...
But don't mess with different color rendition unless yo are sure you can correct it with a LUT or something...

 

[Eric R.]

Jacek, Does the Red One Nikon mount let you adjust the iris on Nikon G lenses?

If you only use Nikon lenses just get Nikon mount for the camera.
I find it unusual that DPs would want to switch between different brand lenses during the shoot. Usually the DP has a favorite brand he knows and feels confident about the results with. Lenses are like paint brushes- use what you know and like. And most DPs I know do that to get consistent results. Otherwise it's a mess, color rendition wise, bokeh, etc.
For tests swapping different brands is good to learn but for paid jobs most DPs stick with their favorite set..

 

[Jacek Zakowicz]

Jacek, Does the Red One Nikon mount let you adjust the iris on Nikon G lenses?

Yes it does
Here is the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrMFOQBOYlc
It's a positive lock mount much like PL and the lenses untouched- all controls/mounting provisions are in the mount.