DIY Telecine: My experience

Royalbox · Post by **Royalbox** » Tue May 18, 2004 9:46 pm

Hello sigr, I've just realized who you are. We swapped workprinter experiences last year. I think we agreed then that our camera's were very similar.

I have actually gone ahead and ordered the CM-3500 and expect to receive it within a week. I will let you know how things work out.

I'm looking forward to reading how you get on.

Post by **MovieStuff** » Wed May 19, 2004 4:20 am

Royalbox wrote:I'm not even sure the lens would fit my TRV-740 camcorder anyway, that's even if I could get the lenses in the UK. A link on Raynox's site takes you to Jessops here in the UK as the supplier, but they don't seem to stock it. I'd like to hear Roger's thought's on this idea if he's reading this though.

Hi, all!

I looked into the Raynox lens set a long time back. It can work very, very well.....on certain cameras. But incompatibility and (as you've just found) limited supply of these lenses makes them too "iffy" for me to work with on a regular basis. Again, the quality can be quite good and the convenience of bypassing the condenser lens is nice but, ultimately, the condenser lens is more universal due to its size and the fact that a standard tripod can be man-handled to align the camera. Also, if one wants to use a broadcast grade camera, then the Raynox lenses just won't fit the bill.

Quality-wise, I have found that if the condenser lens is aligned properly and you are using a decent camera, the end results are virtually indistinguishable from using a camera with a macro lens to view the gate directly like the Raynox. If using a broadcast grade camera with the condenser lens, results will easily surpass that achieved with the Raynox unit.

That said, I think it's great when people experiment with their units. I would not advise cutting into the aluminum chassis of the WorkPrinters, though, unless you are a machinist and really know what you are doing. These are cast and can crack very easily if you machine them wrong or if a milling tool happens to catch the metal and stick. Nasty business, that.

But the Raynox lenses are well made and do work like a charm on some cameras.

Roger

Royalbox · Post by **Royalbox** » Wed May 19, 2004 11:45 am

Thank's very much Roger. For me, the idea of filming directly from the gate was more about convenience really. I don't have an area to leave a tripod and camera set up permanently and also am working on floorboards with carpet which makes alignment difficult especially when having to take into account that the alignment will change slightly as I move onto different floorboards. (I'm only about 9 stone something before anyone says anything!). There's no way I'll hack away at the workprinter though, I know I'll end up ruining it.
Thanks again for your help.

Post by **sigr** » Wed May 19, 2004 10:13 pm

Hi Roger,

Just wanted to add a few words of thanks for your comments and advice. I was also looking at the Raynox for convenience and to facilitate making my setup more permanent. However, I am in no way prepared to start cutting into the body of the WorkPrinter, so it sounds like this idea won't work. Actually, I have another reason for purchasing the Raynox lens set and figured it would be a bonus if I could use it with the WorkPrinter as well.

Royalbox · Post by **Royalbox** » Wed May 19, 2004 10:53 pm

@sigr
I'm clinging on to hope here, but I'm not sure whether the problem was with the width of the lens, or the width of the camera. I'm wondering if our cameras may be slimmer and that perhaps it might just work. Anyway, if you wouldn't mind posting a definate "no, it doesn't fit" when you get them, at least I can get the idea out of my head and stop wondering about it.
All the best,
Barry.