This is a Nikon B4-mount ENG lens.

While this may be an "SD" lens, I put it head to head against my Micro-4/3 (M43) still photography glass and this lens more than holds it's own.

This is because the M43 lenses are corrected in camera.

This Nikon is just purely great.

You can shoot HD with this lens.

I'm already shooting 4K with this lens on my Panasonic GH4 in full Digital Cinema mode and there's no vignetting.

If you use the full M43 sensor (for HD) then you see a little vignetting in the corners. But the 4K modes use a slightly smaller crop area and this removes any vignetting. The same can be said for the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera's Super 16mm sized sensor area. You would have no vignetting there either.

This lens is PARFOCAL- which means that, once you set the backfocus to your camera/sensor, you can zoom in, get your focus, and zoom out. It's always in focus.

This lens is VERY WIDE. Most B4 lenses start around 8mm. This starts at 5.5mm. In M43 terms, it's like using a 7mm lens to shoot DCI 4K video.

It goes down to an f1.7. And it's a flat 1.7 across the entire zoom range. Like any very low aperature lens, the image qualty steps up once you get to f2.8 or so, but when you need those extra stops, this lens has them.

It has an internal "DOUBLER." But this one is not a full 2x, it's a 1.7x which means there's more light hitting the active image area of your sensor because the "doubler" doesn't spread it out as far as a full 2x doubler.

It has a MOTORIZED SERVO ZOOM. This means you can provide the lens 12v power (adapters are readily available on e-bay) gently push the zoom rocker, and the lens will gently creep through the zoom range- without the lens adjusting the iris in the middle of your shot like it does with still lenses. The motor can be disengaged and the lens used completely manually too.

This lens focuses down to 1-FOOT. You read that right. 1-foot. The other B4 lenses I see all have a minimum distance of several feet. But this lens you can zoom in to a very small item just 1 foot from the front of the lens and you can focus on it without even using the lens' macro.

It has a MACRO. Which means you can pull the focus even closer. And unlike other B4 lenses I've used that lock the Macro out, the Macro on this Nikon lens can be used even with the doubler engaged.

OMG! There has got to be SOMETHING wrong with it.

Well, yes, there is. When it got shipped to me from Europe, the manual/servo rocker arm got banged. It's a bit more wobbly than it should be. It still engages and disengages the motor, but you may have to wiggle it a bit. The servo motor still works, but sometimes, if it's not engaged fully, the connection between the motor and the teeth on the lens can be intermittent. If you want to open up the lens and see if you can adjust this to make it better, it's just four screws away. You could also remove the servo grip entirely and the lens would work perfectly as a fully manual zoom with teeth ready for any follow focus system you'd like to add. Personally, I like the grip because it's in the middle of the lens and it balances very nicely in my hand, even with the big Panasonic GH4 on the back of it.

I see there's actually another Nikon B4 lens for sale on e-bay right now and the grip surface around the lens is peeling away. That lens is banged up. That lens has clearly seen many years of service.

THIS lens, on the other hand, looks and feels new (except for the manual/servo switch).

It's VERY clean.

The grip is in GREAT shape, though the leather part of the hand strap does show some wear, it's perfectly functional.

The focus, zoom and iris are SMOOTH.

The doubler pops in and out beautifully.

The optics are CLEAN. Surprisingly clean.

It has a rear lens cap.

It has a front lens hood with protector glass integrated into it.

There is no front cap.

Look at the pictures.

Watch the video.

This thing is amazing and whomever wins this auction will be capturing stunning images with this lens for a long time to come.

1/2-inch format ENG lenses are made for 3-CCD cameras. The standard specifies an amount of glass behind the lens for the prism and color filters. It also specifies slightly different flange focal distances for green than for red and for blue. Since the GH2 has no prism and has its color sensors all in the same plane, these lenses are not perfectly matched for the GH2. In my testing, at wide aperture settings the image becomes hazy due to some focus aberration - I'm guessing mostly because of the absence of glass behind the lens. Stopping down to f/4 or so mostly fixes the haziness. In theory, the lack of glass behind the lens could be corrected with nothing more than a flat block of glass between the lens and the sensor. It would take more complicated optics to correct for the differences in the flange focal distances of the different colors, but I don't expect the longitudinal chromatic aberration to be very bad if this weren't corrected.

There are two 1/2-inch mounts: standard, and Sony. Most 1/2-inch lens models were made in both mounts. About two thirds of the used lenses for sale are in standard mount, and one third in Sony mount. I have attached sample images of the different mounts. The standard mount has a flange focal distance of 35.74 mm. The Sony mount has a flange focal distance of 38 mm.

ciecio7 on eBay makes a 1/2-inch Sony mount to Micro Four Thirds adapter: http://en.foto-akcesoria.com.pl/index.php/shop/product?idproduct=321&productname=1-2-quot-38-mount-mft

He also had a 1/2-inch standard mount to Micro Four Thirds adapter listed for sale, but I ordered the adapter and it was wrong. I'm sending my adapter back, but I'm sure someone could work with him to get him the proper specifications for a 1/2-inch standard mount adapter. The 1/2-inch standard mount is quite similar to the 2/3-inch B4 mount, except with a different flange focal distance. He already makes 2/3-inch B4 mount adapters.

Canon 1/2-inch ENG lens models:

• KH: portable high def
• H: portable
• PH: studio/field

• YH: portable pro standard def and pre-HD (semi-pro)

• SX or SY in the servo unit model number indicates a Sony interface. IX, HX, or BX indicates a standard interface.

Fujinon 1/2-inch ENG lens models:

• HS: premiere series high def, standard mount
• HSs: premiere series high def, Sony mount
• ZS: high def, standard mount
• XS: high def, Sony mount

• S: standard def and pre-HD

• -38, -D38, -18, or -D18 suffix in the servo unit model number indicates a Sony interfaces. Suffixes with other numbers usually indicate a standard interface.

Standard definition lenses in most cases are more than capable of delivering HD resolutions, though not necessarily across the entire frame and at all focal lengths and aperture settings. HD lenses are made to a higher standard, and they cost a lot more.

References:

http://www.cinematography.net/edited-pages/HDLensesOnFilmCameras.htm

http://tech.ebu.ch/docs/tech/tech3294.pdf

http://www.usa.canon.com/CUSA/assets/app/pdf/whitepaper/bctv/2.3InTriImager08.pdf

http://www.usa.canon.com/CUSA/assets/app/pdf/bctv/CanonMarch06WhitePaper.pdf

http://www.usa.canon.com/CUSA/assets/app/pdf/bctv/Whitepaper_Revised.pdf

Everything is in great working order, and good to great cosmetically. The lens covers the equivalent of 31mm-438mm, a 14x range! This lens is a legend and a workhorse, not clinically sharp, but still holds great detail, especially in the center... a great match to the super sharp GH2. Comes with hand mount and the power zoom should work fine if hooked up to a 12v power source.

I'd prefer to sell as a set, but would be willing to part it out if the lens were to sell first. Asking $885

I'll get pics up tomorrow, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thanks.

Having had the original Cinema Camera EF for about a year now (since before its public release), I’ve had the opportunity to use the camera in countless situations; jibs, dollies, cranes, sliders, glidecams, various interior/exterior car mounts, and of course, handheld and shoulder mount. The latter has been a little tricky to develop, but with a little ingenuity, a few components, and a drill, I have what I feel is a very capable ENG style rig for the Cinema Camera.

Using this rig I built for shooting our BMW documentary film is incredibly functional. I’m able to combine the powerful image quality the Cinema Camera delivers (12-bit RAW, ProRes HQ, and DNxHD), along with the flexibility an ENG camera provides.

http://www.onerivermedia.com/blog/?p=984

I want to power also the zoom to get this ENG-stile of shooting. If possible I want to start and stop recording via the trigger at the zoom handle, but I might skip that, because I might loose the ability to use the mic-port for an external mic. I doubt that both is possible at once... Anyone experiences using a Y-splitter?

As a premixer I thinking of a Rolls MX 54s Audio, or a juicedLink CX231 Audio Mixer. I planing to use a Varavon Screen Loupe EX GH1/GH2... The only thing I can tell at the moment - the hack worked great. I´m using a SanDisk extreme pro 64 GB and started with the "no adverse settings". But with 42 mb/s no constant recording ( at least one hour in AVC 1080/50i) was possible. So I altered the settings. I will use for narrative film making a FSH preset with 42 mb/s and for events a FH preset with 32 mb/s. This works so far... Quality wise I tested my gh2 vs. my old JVC GY HD 200B (1440x1080 50i). I recorded the same motive at the same time and I have to admit the JVC can´t compete against the gh2´s resolution… and that´s the reason I´m doing all that here.

The camcorder is 15 months old and still within its 3 year warranty. The camera is in perfect condition, no scratches or damage whatsoever. Fully functional and has been a perfect performer for quite a few jobs now. Original box and all cables / manuals

Individual Items as follows :- (subject to additional shipping costs)

• AC160 = £2300

All items are based in Peterhead, Scotland, UK and will ship to most countries

If you are interested in any or all of these items then please PM me. Please note PAYPAL will be required for transaction and items can only be sent once payment has been received.

The reason i am selling these items is that we wish to downsize our operations into micro four thirds format for all our cameras and the sale of the AC160 is to generate enough money to purchase another GH3 with lenses.

If you are wanting an excellent performing camcorder for ENG work that is capable of producing stunning images then this should be a serious consideration to save some money.

Thanks,

• During news coverage of Australia's 2009 bushfires, ENG crews needed small CMOS cameras they could pack away, run with, and if necessary lose to the flames;
• Journalists to trouble-spots choose easily-concealed cameras which until now have been either too expensive or which sacrifice image quality to conceal-ability;
• We have already seen how the GH2 is an affordable, high-quality choice for hexacopters. Not only is the GH2 light enough and the image good enough, but in case of an accident the camera can be crashed and damaged, but, like the copter itself, the footage can be valuable enough to make the calculated risk worthwhile.
• A feature film shot on RED or Alexa might need footage from a crash-camera which still cuts-in with the HD footage

DSLR in a Crash Cam Box Made out of a Pelican 1300 Case

For most of us, our GH2 is a precious, one-off acquisition. But, if a camera has to be crashed, it's best to protect it. One rental company http://revolutioncinemarentals.com/pelican-1300-crash-cam-case/ has a DSLR crash-cam case easy enough to build from a Pelican case, some rods and T-receivers:

Read more at

http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2012/03/crash-cam-filmmaking-inside-the-box/

for 120€ + shippment