Angenieux 12- 120 mm with viewfinder

Post by **marc** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 3:51 am

Does anyone have any experience with this lens? And if so, what are your impressions of it?

Post by **studiocarter** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 6:39 pm

Use a lens shade / hood

Post by **marc** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 11:49 pm

Have you used this lens before?

Post by **David M. Leugers** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 6:23 am

Yes. The critical thing with this setup is the mounting. Lots of pressure for that little "C" mount ring to hold that big heavy lens... An out-of-focus lens will absolutely ruin your day, and burn up a lot of money so be sure the lens focuses the image on the film plane accurately especially at the wider angle (short focal length - 12mm). Either an Auricon or B+H film gate focusing device is real handy to check your lens with before loading the camera with film. The lens itself was a very good lens in its day and was widely used. A large rubber lens hood is a must.

David M. Leugers

Post by **marc** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 7:12 am

David M. Leugers wrote:Yes. The critical thing with this setup is the mounting. Lots of pressure for that little "C" mount ring to hold that big heavy lens... An out-of-focus lens will absolutely ruin your day, and burn up a lot of money so be sure the lens focuses the image on the film plane accurately especially at the wider angle (short focal length - 12mm). Either an Auricon or B+H film gate focusing device is real handy to check your lens with before loading the camera with film. The lens itself was a very good lens in its day and was widely used. A large rubber lens hood is a must.

David M. Leugers

Thanks. Are you saying that the weight of the lens will cause a lot of problems with most cameras? Or does the weight eventually off set the mount itself on the lens?

Post by **studiocarter** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 2:43 pm

marc wrote:Have you used this lens before?

Yes, and a 9.5 - 95mm one that is even larger and still C mount.

Mine, each is different, have a metal flange thing that fits over the end. It is the thing that holds the C mount threaded ring. I suppose the flange supports the lens more. However, the lens(s) are so heavy they pull the lens turrett off the camera. Be sure to use a turrett locking plug on a Bolex. Locked like that I was able to hand hold it and shoot in the park.

Michael Carter

Post by **studiocarter** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 2:47 pm

David M. Leugers wrote:Either an Auricon or B+H film gate focusing device is real handy to check your lens with before loading the camera with film. David M. Leugers

Saaaay, I'd really like to have a Auricon film gate focusing device for my Pro600. :roll: I use a piece of frosted film in the gate, film that was rubbed with sandpaper and cleaned off well, and a old eyelevel focus tube off an old Bolex to look at it. Will a Bolex gate focus viewer fit in the Auricon?

Post by **marc** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:25 pm

studiocarter wrote:
marc wrote:Have you used this lens before?
Yes, and a 9.5 - 95mm one that is even larger and still C mount.

Mine, each is different, have a metal flange thing that fits over the end. It is the thing that holds the C mount threaded ring. I suppose the flange supports the lens more. However, the lens(s) are so heavy they pull the lens turrett off the camera. Be sure to use a turrett locking plug on a Bolex. Locked like that I was able to hand hold it and shoot in the park.

Michael Carter

I'll be using it on a B&H 70 DR and I don't think that they designed the turrett on this camera to lock. Do you think that it will be a problem? I assume that the turrett on this camera is more robust than the one on the Bolex. But since it won't lock, I figure that I will counter ballance the turrett by putting heavy primes on the other two bays to keep it from swinging in one direction or the other.

Post by **studiocarter** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 5:15 pm

Well, as long as you hold the lens instead of the camera or both at the same time it should be all right. You could see if it pulls away from the camera body any anyway; if it does then hold it so it doesn't.

Post by **David M. Leugers** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 7:16 pm

Will a Bolex gate focus viewer fit in the Auricon?

Sadly, no it won't. The design is such that it can not be inserted into the gate of the Auricon. The Auricon device is simply a prism with ground glass on the side to be inserted into the gate inplace of film and a small magnifying glass to view an enlarged view of what the gate sees. Birns and Sawyer made a device that works with both the B+H Filmo and Auricon cameras. These were popular with TV news crews since both Filmos and Auricons were common tools.

David M. Leugers

Post by **marc** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 2:59 am

I got a little "brace" gadget with this lens. It seems like it is intended to align the c mount cup that the lens came with to make sure that the viewfinder on the lens sees what the film gate sees. Does anyone know if this lens is only intended to be used with the Bolex turrett model? The brace looks like it is supposed to attatch to another lens bay in the turrett. If this is the case, then I am missing one more crucial part: the " c screw gadget" that attatches to the "brace gadget" in the neighboring turrett bay.

Post by **svabo** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:28 am

I think it's easier for you to get answer on Forum http://www.cinematography.com 16mm,
there exists knowledges on this question.

Post by **El Jeffe** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 5:43 pm

I have this lens mounted on my bolex h16 m5. I purchased it dirt cheap from ebay because the lens was too heavy and busted the c-mount. I sent in the camera and lens to sanford camera repair and they put a mounting mod on it to support the weight of the lens. Work came out great.

Post by **marc** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 2:20 am

So they adjusted it so that the viefinder frame sees exactly what the film gate sees? Because if it is not aligned just right, it might not be reflex after all. Do you think that they could do this for an H16M1? Could you possibly show a closer view of the mount modification?
Thanks,
Marc

Post by **El Jeffe** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 10:43 pm

I havent had a chance to test this thing out yet. I have a roll of film I will probably shoot it in the next week. I had them align the lens and do the support. The focus appears to hold but I am not sure about the framing yet.

Here is a closer look at the new mount system