Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Removing PL Mount Pin

R

Robin Leveille

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 5, 2013
Messages
111
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Vancouver BC Canada
Has anyone removed the lens alignment pin on the RED PL mount before? I need to rotate an anamorphic lens 90 degrees but the lens only has one machined alignment hole.

Please let me know how it's done. Thank you.

Robin Leveille
robin_leveille@me.com
 
Just curious.. is your lens mount 90 degrees out of alignment? if so, it would be wiser to have a lens tech move the mount to proper orientation.

Or, are you trying to create an vertical letterbox anamorphic effect for a specialty shot?
 
Can you look to remove the key on the mount? Some of those depending on which mount you have are removable.

I'd love to see how this turns out, are you looking to vertically desqueeze and shoot full frame?
 
Is it necessary to pass lens data? if not, then you should be able to mount the lens 90 degrees (or 180 or 270 degrees) on a PL mount just by rotating the lens and then inserting it into the mount.
 
If you do still need to do this, and can't touch the lens, you'll need to do the following:

Remove the eight torx head machine screws from the front of the mount, remove the locking sleeve
Remove the six torx head machine screws that are revealed.
Remove the four black machine screws from the rear of the mount.
Carefully withdraw the centre section, PCB and /i data loom.

Now the part is bare, so you stand less chance of damaging something fragile.

Find a good set of smooth faced locking grips - don't use rough faced pliers, cutters etc, you'll damage the pin - the ratcheting kind of crimp tool you'd use for making up BNC cables would work.

Grip the pin carefully and rotate the casing by hand. Watch the pin end and make sure you're applying enough grip to just hold it stationary. Wiggle it back and forth a few times and the pin will slide right out.

Obviously this is for skilled hands and grown-ups. Be sensible, and don't cry to me if you damage the pin with your rusty tools ;)
 
I have mounted lenses sideways and upside down simply by inserting them into the PL mount the wrong way. You can't pass lens data, but it works. i thought this was one of the benefits of PL mount--the ability to mount the lens 4 different ways.
 
Ahhh... I see. Adding the holes on the wings would be an easy job even for a small machine shop. That's probably a bit more work than what the OP asked for, but man... I really like being able to mount my lenses sideways or backwards. It comes in handy for odd setups where the camera is upside down or at 90-degrees. It doesn't sound like removing the alignment pin from the lens mount is super easy either.
 
Jason Comparetto said:
Ahhh... I see. Adding the holes on the wings would be an easy job even for a small machine shop. That's probably a bit more work than what the OP asked for, but man... I really like being able to mount my lenses sideways or backwards. It comes in handy for odd setups where the camera is upside down or at 90-degrees. It doesn't sound like removing the alignment pin from the lens mount is super easy either.
Click to expand...

Well I couched it in a bunch of caution as you never know what people's skill level is, but I pulled the pin out of one of my mounts while I ate my lunch, just to see how as it piqued my interest. Not a big deal if you're good with your hands, - what usually concerns me is that if you're competent to do this sort of thing you'd probably just fire away and do it hehe.
 
Thank you so much John, I will try this tonight. Much appreciated!


Yes the goal was to vertically de-squeeze on FF with a 1.3x lens

and yes to other people asking why I can't physically just insert the lens sideways is because the flange of the lens only has one slot on the upper right. I'll remove the pin and see how it goes
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top