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lomo : which mount modification ? and prices

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laurent couturier

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Hi everyone :)

I've got a lot of questions about lomo lenses . I'm been looking for ekran/lomo lenses to put on my arri 35 BL4 . But i can't decide if i have to modify the lenses in PL mount to fit directly the arri camera, and my xtr prod camera, or change the OCT19 mount into a BNCR, then find a BNCR adapter to fit the PL mount of the camera .

Nick Gardner wrote " not all Lomo lenses can be converted to PL mount, specially there is a problem with the high speed lenses "

So i don't know what to do :(

Does anyone have already use the PL adapter ( 280usd ) from the Serguey Kravchenko ? ( which is by the way very friendly, he helped me a lot . thank you if you read this post )

I've bought my first lense from this ebay seller anatol53803 ( Anatoly Pleshko ), very friendly so far . He's waiting for my answer to change or not the mount . Should i ask him to change the mount, or wait and ask Les Bosher, or Van diemen or someone else in US to change the mount BNCR or PL . Or buy the adpater from Serguey ?

Many say that the russian lense mount conversion is not reliable . So any help would be very NICE about this topic :)

I have this list of lenses i wish to buy, could someone give me a fair price for each ? most of the time i see these lenses around 1200 each Thank you VERY MUCH

And what do you think about this list ? Does anyone have a list of Ekran high speed lenses from the 90's ?

OKS-6-10-1 10 mm F2.8

OKS-3-14-1 14 mm F1.5 ( is it a fish eye ? )

OKS-7-18-1 18 mm F1.4

OKS-5-22-1 22 mm F1.4

OKS-15-35-1 35 mm f1.2

OKS-10-28-1 28 mm F1.2

OKS-11-50-1 50 mm f1.2

OKS-12-100-1 100mm F2

OKS-10-150-1 150mm F2.5 ( is it good ? )

OKS-1-200-1 200mm F2.8 ( is it good ? )

OKS-6-250-1 250mm F2.5 ( is it good ? )

OKS-1-300-1 300mm F3.5 ( is it good ? )

OKS-9-500-1 500mm F5.3 ( is it good ? )

Thank you very much . Any offer would be great too :) 600 euros each would be terrific, but i think it will be difficult :) lol

Thank you

laurent
 
BNCR mount on camera?

BNCR mount on camera?

If you can find a BNCR mount for the ARRI you may be able to MOD it rather than the lenses.

OCT-19 is BNC-sky mount, it seems they had some Mitchell BNC after WWII and rounded the backfocus down to metric values so the backfocus is about half a mm shorter.

I have adjusted some older russian lenses that seem made FOR BNC so they focus on a Konvas OCT-19, its just a small ammount of metal that needs to come off.

Most lenses clear the mirror by maybe enough, but some may get closer to the mirror than you would like, so be very carfull about mounting them, and also some russian lenses focus PAST INF like Mitchell BNC lenses, and if you turn them too far past INF you could hit the spinning mirror and "ping" you have to send the camera to be fixed $$$.

They changed the index hole to a slot, probably because its harder to get the hole and pin in the right place, a slot is easer to do, and you can file it to the right width, so your index pin might need to be adjusted or replaced to mate with the OCT-19 slot.

Another option would be to shim the mount ring on the lenses back to BNC back focus, or to just move the index mark on the lens with some tape and a pen, since some lenses focus past inf and quite close you can move the mark enough to get inf to 6feet probably on some of them.
 
Hi Dan :)
Thank you for this helpful reply :) Yes that's what i thought about these lomo lenses, a camera modification would be the easiest solution . The thing is :) i'm based in Paris, France, and here, all the rental houses have PL mount lenses ! So basically if i change the lense mount on my arri BL4 ( and i'm not thinking about my xtr prod ) i couldn't rent any other lenses :)

Well the idea to buy lomo lenses is because i like the render, like the angenieux zoom . I've got a 20-120 one . I know many of you who read and write on this forum prefer Cooke S4, and Zeiss MK3, i'm agree that they are NICE . But i like the old lenses :) Even old primes zeiss are nice :)

Well the idea to get lomo lenses is to have another option in my work . So if i have to change the mount to use them, well it can be difficult because i couldn't shoot all works with lomo lenses, i know it . It depends on the job .

The other idea is to buy later another camera :) a kinor 35h in pl mount :) So i can shoot in 2 cameras :)

But this issue with the rear element of the lomo lenses upsets me .

I hope the future post will help me to find a solution .
 
You should talk to Bérenger Brillante who is on this forum. He has a large collection of Lomo lenses and I just sold him a 20-120 a couple of months ago.He is in Vincennes, on the edge of Paris and can probably tell you what you need to know.
The Lomos used to be real bargains if you were willing to put in the work to find them and get them serviced, ( which they always need ). The Pl conversions done in Russia always need a little more help from a lens technician like Matt Duclos. He cleaned and collimated all of mine after they were converted.They do have a great look when they are brought up to spec.
I'm sure he'll chime in here with his opinion on the Lomos.
Sergey's lenses should be fine, although he can be slow to reply. Best of luck with Anatoly.
I've also had good luck with Serhij piskunov and ebay seller grizzly33bear.
For all Lomo lens info go to:http://www.geocities.com/kinor35/lenses/lens.htm
 
If it were me, I would look for a set that has the mount work already completed, and has been overhauled by a qualified lens tech.
There are plenty of good sets that come up for sale quite often. More than not, any of these lenses you buy will be tight as a drum with 30 year old grease, even the newer ones are really old when you think about it. And by the time you throw $15K into that list of lenses plus the purchase price, you could have bought a really nice set that is ready to shoot.
Good Luck!
 
Thank you very much for your wise replies . Yes a full set in pl mount would be better than buying all these lenses one after the other . But Not easy to find THE SET :)
I've already sent an email to Mat Duclos about the servicing the lomo lenses, but they don't change the OCT 19 into PL :( I didn't get more informations about it and prices :( Do you know how much they charge for your lomo lenses, thank you ?

I'm waiting for more informations about Bruce Taylor who runs Indi35, and knows well where to service Lomo lenses and the rates . I think it might be 600usd each lense .
Yes basically I've got the idea to put around 10 000usd into this set, then i'll add the overhaul cost .

Probably sounds crazy to spend so much for old russian lenses, but as i said, here in France movie equipement is difficult to rent and expensive . More you don't have a lot of choice, and i like the render of Lomo lenses, i've been certainely watching too much good old russian movies ;)

And YES, a 20-120 lomo lense would be likely appreciate later ! Even if i already got an angenieux zoom which covers the same range :p

Yes the website of Oleg is a fine reference for lomo lenses . So does anyone have already use long tele lomo lenses, above the 150mm ?
 
600 sounds about right.
Sergey puts some good sets together from time to time, He's probably the person to go to. Also his lenses are usually PL.
Viktor at spbsale.com has converted all of my lenses to pl for around $250 each but doesn't service them.
The fast lenses are hard to find - I never could find a fast 18mm but do have a CKBK 10-18-1 which is 2.3. and matches well with the 'speeds.
I don't have anything over 100mm so can't comment on the longer lenses.
 
Hi Shane :)

Thank you very much that was a HELPFUL post . 600usd that's what i thought, because the hour is normally charged around 80usd . I've seen the website, nice work !

So now i know where to send the lenses for modification . So the pl mount more the cost of the overhaul will be = 900 usd ( shipping cost included :) !!!!! welcome to the LOMO land !!!! :) :) :D :D
 
Unless you have direct recommendations from others and a degree of certainty about the the quality of the work or materials used, I would not have the ebay seller you are dealing with do the conversion. I have bought Russian lenses from a variety of sellers and quality has been generally good, but there is definite risk. If you are planning to buy 10 lenses, budget for 12 or more since some won't be worth using, let alone getting converted and serviced.

My only real Lemon was from an ebay seller from the Ukraine named Anatoly and not only was the lens bad (fungus) but the PL mount was badly installed amd of poor quality. That seller was kicked off ebay due to a lot of complaints, but who knows if he has come back under a new user name so you may want to be careful with the current lens you are buying. In my case, even if the lens was good, a new PL mount would have had to be installed with the very real chance that the first attempt may have ruined something else about the lens.

Outside of that one experience, the Russian lenses I got were in reasonable condition and give images that range from good to excellent all for very reasonable prices. Most of my better lenses came from Sergey - but there were some long waits for delivery and a few challenges in communication. I think the PL mounts done by Sergey and a few others are reasonable but can still use a tune up and check. And of course you should always plan on having them serviced by a reputable lens tech.

If it was me, I would only buy lenses that were already converted and get them from the few sellers who seem reputable. I will be selling our lomos (we've moved on to the Canon/Birger combo for lenses) sometime soon, but will definitely miss them. They can be great lenses.

Good luck in your search.

Walter

laurent couturier said:
Hi everyone :)

I've got a lot of questions about lomo lenses . I'm been looking for ekran/lomo lenses to put on my arri 35 BL4 . But i can't decide if i have to modify the lenses in PL mount to fit directly the arri camera, and my xtr prod camera, or change the OCT19 mount into a BNCR, then find a BNCR adapter to fit the PL mount of the camera .

Nick Gardner wrote " not all Lomo lenses can be converted to PL mount, specially there is a problem with the high speed lenses "

So i don't know what to do :(

Does anyone have already use the PL adapter ( 280usd ) from the Serguey Kravchenko ? ( which is by the way very friendly, he helped me a lot . thank you if you read this post )

I've bought my first lense from this ebay seller anatol53803 ( Anatoly Pleshko ), very friendly so far . He's waiting for my answer to change or not the mount . Should i ask him to change the mount, or wait and ask Les Bosher, or Van diemen or someone else in US to change the mount BNCR or PL . Or buy the adpater from Serguey ?

Many say that the russian lense mount conversion is not reliable . So any help would be very NICE about this topic :)

I have this list of lenses i wish to buy, could someone give me a fair price for each ? most of the time i see these lenses around 1200 each Thank you VERY MUCH

And what do you think about this list ? Does anyone have a list of Ekran high speed lenses from the 90's ?

OKS-6-10-1 10 mm F2.8

OKS-3-14-1 14 mm F1.5 ( is it a fish eye ? )

OKS-7-18-1 18 mm F1.4

OKS-5-22-1 22 mm F1.4

OKS-15-35-1 35 mm f1.2

OKS-10-28-1 28 mm F1.2

OKS-11-50-1 50 mm f1.2

OKS-12-100-1 100mm F2

OKS-10-150-1 150mm F2.5 ( is it good ? )

OKS-1-200-1 200mm F2.8 ( is it good ? )

OKS-6-250-1 250mm F2.5 ( is it good ? )

OKS-1-300-1 300mm F3.5 ( is it good ? )

OKS-9-500-1 500mm F5.3 ( is it good ? )

Thank you very much . Any offer would be great too :) 600 euros each would be terrific, but i think it will be difficult :) lol

Thank you

laurent
Click to expand...
 
Hi Walter :)

Thank you for the post . Well too bad, because i've paid 1200 usd for a 75mm 1.4, so i'll see if i'll get it in good shape, i'll put a feedback on the forum to let people know . If it's the same Anatoly, is ebay name is anatol53803 . I 've got good hope it'll work fine :)

I've got confidence with Serguey, because Bruce Taylor from Indi35 adviced me to contact him to get lomo lenses . By the way Bruce is a GREAT FRIENDLY GUY :)

I've just got an email from Les Bosher, i suppose everyone knows who he is, he's based in UK .

http://www.lesbosher.co.uk/default.htm

He takes 350pounds to change the mount into PL + an overhaul . For the ones who live in Europe can be an alternative to Duclos, i think both are equal in the quality, don't you think ?

What would be the prices of your set :) :) Yes basically 10/12 lenses is the plan . As i only can work in two years, i've got time to pay back my morgage :) lol :) :D

Thank you again for all these answers
 
Bonjour Laurent, Hi Shane

Lomo are the way to go if you need s35 cheap, with this particular soft look

Though Sergey is the best seller along with Russian_Market on ebay.
Not every lens he sell are pristine. I got an extra 150mm he sended me last year that was completly unusable. Sand in the focus ring, no caps, iris too tight, glass not usable at all. I still got this lens. It was supposed to be "mint", like the second one I received after yelli,g a bit. My point is don't be afraid to yell kindly a little when it's not what you paid for, you can trust sergey, in the end, you got your lens. grizzly33bear. is cool, stay away from Anatoly on ebay, he doesn't know what he's selling and make the prices higher and higher i hate that.

I got the 200 and 300mm and they rocks. But they are different mechanically. The Optical block and the focus ring strangly fits on each others. You can break your barrel easily, so beware with your AC when you'll get yours. I had to service them several times after AC turned them not as they were supposed to...

Don't try to find the 14mm F1.4. i've seen it one time, in a package with a konvas, at 10 000usd. In the end, the sellers got rid of the camera and sold the lens only, for 4000$ ouch...
Same for the 22 F1.4, never saw it except for the kinor 70's version.
I've never saw the 100mm F2, though the 100 F2.8 shows up regulary.

If you plan to get the latest highspped Ekran 91-92, good luck, it's hard. And the look is not the same, To my mind, it's nicer, color rendition is different, and lens is sharper.
 
Hi Bérenger :)

Well that's what i call a post :) from France !

Alright then, well too bad about Anatoly, because as i've said, i've already bought a 75mm 1.4 . Just have to wait and pray now :) For information the lense was sold for 1200usd oct19 mount ...

I've just received an email from Serguey . Very nice . But i'm still upset about the pl mount and would prefer to make it perform in western Europe . No offense for our friends in the East .

Well i'll see what i can find . I'm on a 5300 usd deal ..... so it has to be good :) I'm a bit unwise sometimes, but i've just got Les Bosher on the phone, and as i know is an outstanding TECHNICIAN :) i hope he can make my dream come true, even if it might begins like a total mess .

In Les Bosher I trust !

I've got a friend who lives in Ufa, it's not that far from Ekaterinburg, i'll ask if he can get some informations about Ekran lenses . Yes indeed so rare on sale ! 2000usd average price . maybe more now . Don't know if it would be better after to get Elite lenses ...

Yes i know it's X 4 the price of an Ekran, or a Serguey lomo High speed pl mount lense :) he sells hs lenses around 1800usd .

Alright, thank you very much again for this help, a lot of progress has been made so far in a day :)
 
Laurent
We have had generally good luck with Serguey and Victor, and got burned by Anatoly (though that is a common Russian name). I think the things to keep in mind with Lomos are:
1) Buy late model lenses (past 1990).
2) Buy from someone you can trust through referrals. You are not going to get your money back if you are unhappy, no matter what.
3) Russian PL conversions are ok, but they will need to be shimmed and tuned up locally. This is not terribly difficult, and its cost will depend upon who is doing the work.
4) They will need to be thoroughly cleaned, adjusted and re-lubricated. Duclos can do this, but they find LOMO's to be difficult to work on because of their basic design and materials and tend to charge a lot to work on them. Their work is great though.
5) When set up with the correct mount and refurbished, the lenses are generally very sharp and look great, but unless their original cost is low, they can end up as less of a bargain that one might think. And you have to figure (if you buy several of them) that you are going to get skunked on a one or two of them. This is another reason to make sure you buy them cheaply in the first place (around $400 or $500 per lens).
6) The big zoom lenses are problematic because they can self-destruct during shipping if not packed very carefully. Russian shipping cases are awful. The small 25-80 Ekran zoom, on the other hand, is a great lens and bargain if you can find them.
7) If you are buying from Russia or the Ukraine, keep in mind that you will be dealing with Russian shipping and Russian (or Ukrainian) customer service. This means that buying these lenses is going to be more of an adventure than you might want. On the other hand, if you buy carefully, you can end up with a very nice set of cine lenses for much less than you would spend for the next option up on the food chain.
Good luck.
 
Well put Rob.
I forgot to mention the shipping which can take a long time, most of the time in Russian customs.I've never had a lens go missing although it can take up to 5 weeks to get to you so an amount of trust is involved.
There is a point with these lenses that they are not worth the cost of mounting, fixing, etc, and it's up to you to decide what that point is. It can be an adventure, though.
Regards,
Shane.
 
Hi everyone :)

Thank you very much for these advices . I hope to receive my lomo soon . I'm more upset by the shipping process itself than the condition of the lenses !

I'll let people know how it goes when i'll have it in my hands, not in parts . Just have to pray now :)

So i've got my answers from Les and other members . PL mount in my case not BNCR, but make the modification in the West .

And right, buying lomo lenses is not that cheap . But cheaper than a set of Cooke or Zeiss :) But i think a full set, serviced and pl mounted, it can easily go up to 15 000 usd

So for the ones who wish to buy russian . Save money !!!

It's like the Kinor 35H, service, modified to rum kodak film + video assist + new reliable electronic it's not less than 12 000 usd . Then add the film stock cost and the lomo lenses :) :) Film or RED ONE CAMERA :)

So far, i've invested on film equipement, i just know it won't change in two years :) Not sure about the red, when you watch the store and the launch of new cameras . Bigger, wider, better, lighter, impressive the technology !!!!! Great revolution for creativity !

The good point, having lomo pl mounted allows to shoot with the .......... RED ONE or other digital camera :)

i might take the red one camera in two years just before starting to work, well when i'll get my life back . Now i just have to save money for servicing the lomo set, maybe buy other if i got robbed this time and just receive broken glass .

I'll tell you the name of the scammer in this case . And maybe i'll buy a set of Super Baltars later . Yes i'm a fan of old fashioned lenses .
Does anyone would know how much would it cost for a full set ? It's not for now, but it can give me an estimation for the future . These seem to be rare on used market , and i haven't found many informations about it .

Thank you very much for all your help, this forum is so instructive for someone so far from this world, working in a bar to finance all these ....... TOOLS . Equipement doesn't make the story, doesn't make an emotion, just captures it .

The essential is somewhere else . In the heart through an eye .

Living is making choices ... and face the responsability ...

Thank you everyone :) THANK YOU .
 
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