Purchased really cool, interesting lens; vintage chinese cine zoom. Best way to rig?

[Jim Rogers]

Hi everyone.

I'm new to larger gear requiring mounting solutions etc.

I just purchased this interesting piece of glass...
"Great Wall" Chinese JS35 cinema zoom, 18-180mm.

I will be using it with, errrr...a lightweight mirrorless camera, so i would think i could just put a PL adapter onto the lens's arriflex mount, and hang the (more or less naked) mirrorless cam off the back of it?

Then...what would i need to use to adapt the support bracket/mount pictured on the lens, for use on my tripod head? could just mount follow focus, monitor, etc right on the lens bracket's rods?

T.I.A. for help (again, im newer to pro gear, so you'll have to go easy on me)...

I hope everyone digs the lens, looks to be a mishmash of design features from Cooke and Angenieux tending more towards Cooke? Really eager to get it in my hands, get it set up, and get some test footage.

Would love to know what Kung Fu classics this thing has shot in its day, although I doubt anyone knows much about it, at least here in the West.

Can't find any information on it anywhere. Only thing I could find on vintage chinese cine lenses generally is this page:
http://www.novacon.com.br/odditycameras/chinese 009.htm

 

[Jim Rogers]

Here's a bit of extra info on the lens, someone found in an old catalogue from the optics factory that made them:

"kievuser wrote:

An image of a Great Wall brand lens by Nr,608 factory, a zoom 18-180mm F3.2 for 35mm movie camera. It is so rare that even the image is rarely seen. It cost 50,000 yuan RMB when new. A Leica M3, or a Contax IIA was only 2-3000 yuan then. I have never seen this one in person."

 

[Clint Lealos]

Hey James, cool find!

You could probably slap a PL adapter on the back without any issues. I wonder if that lens is actually a universal mount like so many of the Cooke and Angenieux lenses of that era. Its hard to tell with that custom bracket on there. If it is universal mount, it will simply screw off and you can replace it with a Universal to PL mount. Duclos Lenses sells a really nice one that I use on my Angeniex 25-250.

The tripod plate seems to be a problem. Unless the bottom of that bracket is shaped like a dovetail? Not sure what the design was for that rig, but you may be missing a piece of the original system? You can likely remove the whole bracket and use a modern lens support system, but that thing does look extra solid which is cool. You could also mount a cheese plate to the bottom, but you'll need to drill some holes and tap them. I gotta think there is something we are missing though. The system is too well thought out to not have an easy mounting option.

What's the white thing on top of the base plate?

 

[Jim Rogers]

Hey James, cool find!

You could probably slap a PL adapter on the back without any issues. I wonder if that lens is actually a universal mount like so many of the Cooke and Angenieux lenses of that era. Its hard to tell with that custom bracket on there. If it is universal mount, it will simply screw off and you can replace it with a Universal to PL mount. Duclos Lenses sells a really nice one that I use on my Angeniex 25-250...

What's the white thing on top of the base plate?

Was trying to figure out the white thing myself...looks like it might be a mount plate and rail attachment for a camera, but for some reason its been mounted under the lens...

I'll be able to figure more out when I actually get the lens in my hands, coming in from Austria.

Yes, was hoping that that rear bit is going to be a (T2?) universal mount as used on the old angenieux zooms, that would make things so much easier.

I may end up sprucing this thing up and starting a small-time rental business with it, I imagine something unique and rare like this, especially in the West, would be a good way to do so.

Hoping performance is up to snuff, by the few accounts out there this factory's lenses are superb.

Here is one last bit of info on this thing I just found.

 

[Jim Rogers]

Lens is now at Optitek getting a mount, gears, and a cleaning etc.

Looking forward to hearing what observations @Jacek Zacowicz has while going through this thing, i.e. what designs they took from.

The story is they (State-owned Chinese factory) looked at both English and German cine lenses in the process of designing their lenses.

 

[Nicholas Hine]

Hey did you find out much more about these lens? I’m interested in a couple of their primes?

 

[Ivan Sarenas]

Following...

 

[Jim Rogers]

Got it back some time ago from Optitek...PL mounted, FIZ gears, and standard front.

I also, after nearly a year of searching, got a full set of vintage primes made by the same factory (20, 28, 35, 40, 50, 85, all F2.0 except for the 50 which is F1.8)...same coatings so everything matches great.

Flares out of the zoom are just extraordinary...gorgeous.

 

[Phil Holland]

Jim, as a fellow lens nut, I have to say you have something rather interesting here. It's a rare day to see glass I know nothing about. Those primes look fascinating.

 

[Jim Rogers]

Jim, as a fellow lens nut, I have to say you have something rather interesting here. It's a rare day to see glass I know nothing about. Those primes look fascinating.

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They really are. It's next to impossible to find any information about them, even from chinese language sources...As soon as I found out they existed I knew i was on to something cool since they're essentially completely unknown in the west. They're all pretty clearly unique designs too, NOT copies of western manufacturers...and they perform great. They were obviously very low production items and the Chinese state of the day seems to have put serious effort into them.

I have all sorts of interesting obscure stuff now; the Chinese zoom started an addiction to rare glass.

These aren't the only vintage chinese cine primes, either...there were at least 2 other factories that also produced their own sets. I have an 18mm and a 28mm from one of these other factories.

I'l be getting the complete set rehoused by someone eventually: Zero Optik expressed interest, along with Van Diemen and Mirrorscope. Will have to wait at least a year or so as some other projects are taking priority...I have a vintage Vistavision Cooke set that comes first that will be heading to TLS in the next 6 months, and a 65/70 format Lomo set I'd really like to get done too...

Here's my instagram, ive posted there about some of the other interesting finds ive made the past couple years:
https://www.instagram.com/ChronoScopefilm/

 

[Phil Holland]

That's awesome to hear they are unique. They don't look like anything I've seen before either. I'd be curious about the type of glass and even coatings in there.

I can 100% vouch for TLS and Zero Optik when it comes to rehousing.

I have a fair bit of odd ducks myself, one offs and even custom made stuff. But your set is a rare combination of pretty much unknown and vintage. That's pretty crazy in 2021 to have such a thing.

 

[Zack Birlew]

This reminds me of the Seagull brand Minolta mount lens I stumbled upon at a thrift store, very nice 24mm 2.8 lens, cheap, and only sold in China so someone brought one over and it found its way through the thrift store system to me! As far as I can tell it's supposedly a straight copy of the Minolta 24mm 2.8 but I don't mind it being a copy as it delivers in the end.

Now, these look pretty interesting, are they similar to some other lenses like the Russian Helios/Industar/etc. lenses? Images of the flares? Soft/sharp?

 

[Jim Rogers]

This reminds me of the Seagull brand Minolta mount lens I stumbled upon at a thrift store, very nice 24mm 2.8 lens, cheap, and only sold in China so someone brought one over and it found its way through the thrift store system to me! As far as I can tell it's supposedly a straight copy of the Minolta 24mm 2.8 but I don't mind it being a copy as it delivers in the end.

Now, these look pretty interesting, are they similar to some other lenses like the Russian Helios/Industar/etc. lenses? Images of the flares? Soft/sharp?

The Chinese went the extra mile with these compared to their civilian Seagull / Great Wall photo lenses...they were very low production. Perform great. They are quite sharp, especially the 35mm and 40mm...all have great center sharpness; the wides fall off in sharpness towards the edges/corners but a vit of stopping down takes care of it. Still it's more than acceptable wide open.

Flares are beautiful especially on the zoom...coatings match on all the lenses, zoom included.

I'll get around to getting some decent test footage and I'll post it over in Lens Tests soon.