-
Attaching a Close-up lens??
Hi gang…
I’m looking for a way to do something that is better than the (poor) way I have been doing it for years. I know there’s a “right” way, I just don’t know what it is.
Many years ago a friend gave me a close-up lens. It’s a very nice Tiffen +3 lens in a Series 9 holder. Sharp as a tack.
The problem is, I really have no “correct” way to attach it to my lenses. My 35mm primes (PL mount Leitz superspeeds rebarreled by Panavision) all have standard 80mm cine fronts which are, as would be the norm, not threaded.
So the obvious question is, how do I attach this close-up adapter to the front of my lenses?
I’ve been using this adapter for years, albeit in a half-assed way. The threads on the Series 9 holder will sorta fit in the barrel fronts, and if I kinda jam it in there (hate to say “jam” but that’s what I’m doing), I can use a couple of small strips of gaffer tape to keep it in place. The images look great, but obviously that’s sort of a clunky way of doing things and isn’t very handy if you want to remove and replace the lens a good bit, which I usually do.
So, what’s the “right” way to do this? Rick? John? Anyone?
Wisdom much appreciated,
T2
__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
-
6 Replies
-
I searched tiffen & B&H, but couldn’t find what I was looking for. I have a tiffen univeral mount that you are talking about. It’s an 82mm circular clamp with a thumbscrew that fits on the outer barrel of a lens and is the Series 9 holder for loose filters. Not sure if I want to sell it, but I can look at it tomorrow for a model number to help in the search.
Steve
-
Yeah Steve, I’ve searched for exactly such a thing and have been unable to find anything.
Lots of Googling will result in references to such a thing, people mentioning that Tiffen or other vendors make such a thing, but I’ve yet to find an actual source that sells it.
Grrrrrrr…
T2
__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
-
Todd, I believe you are looking for a “step-up ring” that goes from 80mm to series 9. AbelCine has a bunch of step-up rings, though I didn’t wade through them to find if they have what you need. Ditto B&H. If they don’t have one, maybe you could find a machinist to make one for you.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Thanks Rick, I will look.
I would normally think of a “step-up ring” in this size as something that would let you attach Series 9 to 80mm threaded… whereas I’m looking for something that will attach to the outside of a non-threaded 80mm cine barrel.
I’m a little befuddled that this is hard to find. I mean, there’s got to be countless thousands of cine lenses out working in the pro world, and they are typically not going to be threaded and will predominantly have 80mm fronts. It’s almost hard to believe that no one ever needs to attach anything to them. There are some things (like this close-up lens), that just can’t go in the matte box.
I’ll keep a-lookin’…
T2
__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
-
I think I may have found it…
Tiffen also claims to make one, but I can find no sign of anyone actually selling it.
Apparently for these outside-the-barrel adapters the key search word is a previously-unknown-to-me term, the acronym “SSLR”… which stands for Set-Screw-Lock Ring adapter.
Thanks to all for the guidance.
T2
__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
-
Neat! Another term to learn as well… ah, vocabulary.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up