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Nikon AL Mount - Glare Issue

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Ryan Lightbourn

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Hey guys, I have an issue with a brand new DSMC Nikon AL Mount.

See this video for reference:

https://vimeo.com/64082435
password: scarlet

I swap the mount for a non-Red, non-electronic (Long Valley) Nikon mount with the same lenses and the nasty glare/reflection (whatever it is) goes away. This was only a 60 watt Edison ...my halogens (with or without barn door control) are much, much worse. With sunlight I occasionally get a huge white beam down (or across) the entire image, rendering the footage useless.

Anyone have suggestions other than sending it back to Red? Anyone seen this before?
 
Yeah i have the same problem. Not sure what we can do about it though... Hadn't considered it being the mount itself but that makes sense. Sometimes it actually looks pretty nice, but other times it really isn't helping the image, just an added distraction. Would also love to hear if anyone else is noticing this and/or has a solution.
 
This is very well documented. Are you getting this on a scarlet or an early epic?

If it is an early epic it may not have had the flare guard upgrade.
Have you done the free flare guard upgrade from red?

the Red mount should nod add extra flares, but maybe some side flags on you MB will help.

david
 
Yeah I honestly rolled with it for the shoot I had last night. It looked cool in some shots...others not so much. I'd prefer to avoid it if possible, just to be safe. Sometimes it puts a really nasty/distracting beam down the entire image (if the light is directly out of frame above the subject).

I have a shoot tomorrow in broad daylight & I'm a little nervous about using it. The Long Valley mount feels less sturdy, and the aperture control is so loose I have to use gaff tape to keep it in place. Wish I could get the best of both worlds in a mount!
 
David Battistella said:
the Red mount should nod add extra flares, but maybe some side flags on you MB will help.

david
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip David.

It's on a Scarlet. I purchased used, so maybe it didn't have the flare guard update.

EDIT: Not sure about flare guard update actually, since the Long Valley mount is not affected by this issue
 
I think all the Scarlets came with it as a factory install.

Its virtually gone on the epic, but these top and side flares can be curbed with top and side flags. These lust a specific angle with light sources in the frame that can get distraction.

Its an easy install if your camera needs it.

David
 
It's the Nikon mount, not the flare guard issue. Same symptoms, different cause. Red are aware, but I've not heard much since discussing it with them in detail a few weeks back.
 
John Marchant said:
It's the Nikon mount, not the flare guard issue. Same symptoms, different cause. Red are aware, but I've not heard much since discussing it with them in detail a few weeks back.
Click to expand...

Crap! Thanks for the confirmation. It's unfortunate that a $800 mount from Red acts up like this & the $300 Long Valley mount works fine.
 
Anyone else occasionally get that nasty pink line down the left side of the image when switching resolutions, or going from playback to record mode? The camera crashes if I hit record when that happens (error message says to report to Red & forces shutdown). Never saw it with the Long Valley Mount...seems to be an electronic issue.
 
Ryan Lightbourn said:
Anyone else occasionally get that nasty pink line down the left side of the image when switching resolutions, or going from playback to record mode? The camera crashes if I hit record when that happens (error message says to report to Red & forces shutdown). Never saw it with the Long Valley Mount...seems to be an electronic issue.
Click to expand...

Those dialogs usually only appear if we have detected something wrong that really should be looked at. If you haven't already, please report this and send in your log file (as the dialog suggests).
 
Ryan

1) If the Long Valley iris is loose, just send it to me and I will tighten it, no charge of course.

2) if you are getting this glare with the Red Cine Nikon mount, perhaps the inside of the mount is shiny? If so, just cover the inside of the mount with matte black tape, or paint it with flat black paint. Maybe this sounds like a funky fix, but if you could see all the movie cameras that I have seen over the last 30 years, you would know that no two are the same- they've all been modified by their owners to get the job done.
 
Ryan Lightbourn said:
Hey guys, I have an issue with a brand new DSMC Nikon AL Mount.

See this video for reference:

https://vimeo.com/64082435
password: scarlet

I swap the mount for a non-Red, non-electronic (Long Valley) Nikon mount with the same lenses and the nasty glare/reflection (whatever it is) goes away. This was only a 60 watt Edison ...my halogens (with or without barn door control) are much, much worse. With sunlight I occasionally get a huge white beam down (or across) the entire image, rendering the footage useless.

Anyone have suggestions other than sending it back to Red? Anyone seen this before?
Click to expand...


I checked out your example and it's weird, I had the same thing happen to me but I just assumed it was from the lens, not the mount. Here's a teaser I shot with the Nikon mount, it happens at :32;

https://vimeo.com/61873599

I had a mattebox on it as well but maybe the light still got in... I dunno... it was weird but it's flaring exactly like yours.
 
Douglas Underdahl said:
Ryan

1) If the Long Valley iris is loose, just send it to me and I will tighten it, no charge of course.

2) if you are getting this glare with the Red Cine Nikon mount, perhaps the inside of the mount is shiny? If so, just cover the inside of the mount with matte black tape, or paint it with flat black paint. Maybe this sounds like a funky fix, but if you could see all the movie cameras that I have seen over the last 30 years, you would know that no two are the same- they've all been modified by their owners to get the job done.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info Doug. Can you PM me an address? I'd greatly appreciate that.

Best,
Ryan
 
Jason Honeycutt said:
I checked out your example and it's weird, I had the same thing happen to me but I just assumed it was from the lens, not the mount. Here's a teaser I shot with the Nikon mount, it happens at :32;

https://vimeo.com/61873599

I had a mattebox on it as well but maybe the light still got in... I dunno... it was weird but it's flaring exactly like yours.
Click to expand...

Ouch...luckily you can pretend like it's stylistic/retro light leak with a WW2 project! When it covers subjects and shows up super bright, it becomes a major issue for me.

Trent Lillehaugen said:
Those dialogs usually only appear if we have detected something wrong that really should be looked at. If you haven't already, please report this and send in your log file (as the dialog suggests).
Click to expand...

Will do if I see it again...I've been using the Long Valley since, but I'll test the Red mount again to see if it shows up.
 
Ship Long Valley Nikon mount to

Long Valley Equipment
165 Fairview Ave
Long Valley, NJ07853

I pm'd you this address as well, Ryan

Keep in mind, everyone, that this problem looks similar to the flare issue that was cured by the mask that Red sent out. I had a temporary fix here (still using it):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6XSlvQvNAw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAlSvgHrHh0

The Nikon flare looks very similar to the camera flare, which is why I bet that some part of the inside of the Nikon mount is shiny and blacking it out will fix it.
 
Doug is correct re: the Red Nikon mount - there's a plastic surface at the rear of the mount perpendicular to the sensor plane with a different surface finish to the rest of the inside of the mount which is potentially to blame. There's not much room optically for tape etc shooting 5k. Lower res you can just flag front of lens to avoid it... The plastic isn't very conducive to paint adhering.
 
If someone sends me their Red Nikon mount for Scarlet/Epic, I'll see if I can find a simple solution.
 
Ryan Lightbourn said:
Ouch...luckily you can pretend like it's stylistic/retro light leak with a WW2 project! When it covers subjects and shows up super bright, it becomes a major issue for me.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you're definitely getting it a lot more than I did. This was the first time that I got this... didn't really notice it at the time either, maybe because I hopped out of the car with the wife and kids waiting, got a shot, hopped in, moved to the next thing. But yes, let's say mine was an old school flare :) I actually thought it did kinda work though... but it was surprising since I did have a mattebox on it, no flag though.

Also, though, the 'smart' mount makes it a pain with my favorite lens... it literally, randomly, will start "auto-irising" up and down a couple times if there's too much of a difference in light, even when the lens is turned to manual (on the lens itself). It seems like there's something in the mount that makes the Scarlet freak-out. It hasn't happened with the other Nikons I've used, but it does with the Tokina. Also, I have a 'dumb mount' for the PLs and nothing like that has happened. Of course, I'm still working off of 2.-something firmware as I bought my camera used... I'm about to finally do the transfer process so I can update my camera, I'm hoping the new firmware fixes that issue.
 
Last edited:
I tested this out last night and get this as well on our Nikon mount with ZFs, hesitant to try matte paint on the inside of the lens mount.

Hopefully Red will put out a fix for this.
 
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