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Angenieux LB1 (1968) zoom 35-140mm (cine) lens . for a buck
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PostPosted: Sat May 24, 2014 4:38 pm    Post subject: Angenieux LB1 (1968) zoom 35-140mm (cine) lens . for a buck Reply with quote
Here is the auction:

Click here to see on Ebay then click "see original listing"

What I'm expecting following my research:

*A very large, heavy lens

*A lens with only limited aperture control, or none at all

*A lens which will be difficult to mount on a still camera without special adaptation. I'm hoping for any kind of thread at the rear.

*A lens of high optical quality

*A lens easily able to fill an APS-C sensor. I think this lens might actually be able to fill a FF 35mm.

The only reference I could locate to the LB1 series was from China (HK), and I am unable to read Chinese:

http://www.oldlensclub.hk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=313 then see third post

Anyway, a bit of an adventure. How often these days can you find an Angenieux lens for a buck! Very Happy

Last edited by guardian on Fri May 30, 2014 11:58 pm; edited 3 times in total


PostPosted: Sat May 24, 2014 4:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
If the seller has not posted the lens, I would suggest you delete this thread until you get the lens.


PostPosted: Sat May 24, 2014 4:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
calvin83 wrote:
If the seller has not posted the lens, I would suggest you delete this thread until you get the lens.


Are you suggesting, calvin83, that the lens might be worth more than I paid? Wink

Last edited by guardian on Sat May 24, 2014 10:11 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Sat May 24, 2014 6:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
calvin83 wrote:
If the seller has not posted the lens, I would suggest you delete this thread until you get the lens.

+1
I did this mistake and never got my one-of-a-kind Mamiya 50mm/1.4 lens


PostPosted: Sat May 24, 2014 9:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
OK, you guys. I have followed your advice as best I could. Thanks

There was no way for me to delete this thread. So I copied and saved the original title and the OP to my own computer, then I inserted a phony title and post.

If all goes well I will put everything back once the lens has shipped . . . . if it ships.

One thing, though:

Here in America this coming Monday is a holiday - Memorial Day. American post offices are closed now (Saturday afternoon), and will not reopen until this coming Tuesday. So it will be a slight delay before my seller can ship. I will keep this updated as matters progress . . if they progress. Thanks again.

Note to mods:

If this is not OK, and if you want to delete this entire thread right now, it's fine with me no problem. If you delete I will re-post everything once the lens has shipped . . . . . if it ships.


PostPosted: Sat May 24, 2014 10:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Cool


PostPosted: Sat May 24, 2014 11:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Lloydy wrote:
Cool


Ha! Ha! Well, Lloydy, not as cool as I'd like. You see:

I've been researching the lens further on Google. While doing so, I discovered they picked up my original, unedited, title, within only a couple of hours. Google is right now making that original title available for all to see!! Shocked

Here on the net there's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide! Laughing


PostPosted: Sun May 25, 2014 6:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
You could tell us what lens it is....
It would give this thread some much needed purpose. Smile


PostPosted: Sun May 25, 2014 1:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I think the purpose is don't post about your lens until it has arrived...I did it once and what a drama that was. Laughing


PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2014 4:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The lens arrived today. Please bear in mind as you read these remarks I am very much a student of lenses, not a pro. As such, I'm a bit overwhelmed:

Here are my expectations one at a time, copied from the OP, followed by reality:

*A very large, heavy lens

Yes, right. The lens weighs roughly 3.8kg (a little less than 7.5 pounds). It measures roughly 129mm (about 5 inches) at its widest point. The front element is roughly 83mm (about 3.25 inches) across. The rear element is roughly 40mm (a little more than 1.5 inches) in diameter. At minimum the lens is roughly 228mm (about 9 inches) long. At maximum extension the lens is roughly 242mm (a little more than 9.5 inches) long. All of the above are rough measurements.


*A lens with only limited aperture control, or none at all

Completely and totally wrong! The lens has a beautiful, built-in, 10 leaf aperture, which is fully, continuously, and smoothly adjustable from f2.2 down to f22. While there are markings for f2.2, f2.8, f4, f5.6, f8, f11, f16, and f22, there are no detents (no clicks).


*A lens which will be difficult to mount on a still camera without special adaptation. I'm hoping for any kind of thread at the rear.

Partially right. The lens will not mount onto any still camera I own. Instead, the camera will mount onto the lens! And I got my thread at the rear, which makes me very happy. However, it's a 50mm thread and I don't know the registration distance of this lens. So special adaptation will surely be needed.


*A lens of high optical quality

The lens is marked "Made in France" and "P. Angenieux Paris". Enough said. Wink


*A lens easily able to fill an APS-C sensor. I think this lens might actually be able to fill a FF 35mm.

Nothing new here. I continue to believe this lens is from a 35mm cine situation and I'm not expecting vignetting trouble.


Focus demarcations on the lens go from a minimum of 2.5, thence to 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 20, and finally infinity. But I don't know whether the reference is to feet, meters, yards, or what. It does not say.

The zoom demarcations on the lens read: 35, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 100, 120, and 140

This lens is presumably circa 46 years old. For anything of that age it's in great condition. I would buy this lens again for a buck in a nanosecond. This is the only P. Angenieux lens I own, and it most likely will be the only one I ever get to own. The lens is amazing, great fun, and I'm feeling extraordinarily fortunate to have found it and to own it!! Very Happy Very Happy

Last edited by guardian on Fri May 30, 2014 5:16 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2014 5:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I am curious if you can use this lens without a tripod. My Angenieux 2.5/35 Type R1 is much more practical. Wink


PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2014 5:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I hate you,

Hell we all hate you

LOL


PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2014 5:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
calvin83 wrote:
I am curious if you can use this lens without a tripod. My Angenieux 2.5/35 Type R1 is much more practical. Wink


Arnold Schwarzenegger could easily use this lens freehand. I'm not Arnold. For me a tripod, or some other means to steady the lens, will almost surely be a necessity. Laughing


PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2014 6:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
So still some good deals on ebay, but they have become so rare.


PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2014 10:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Winner ! Cool Get a mount sorted, we need to see some results. Wink


PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2014 11:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Excellent,take your time and do it right...any image from this lens will be interesting to see.


PostPosted: Thu Mar 30, 2017 12:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
This thread is nearly three years old as you can see. I'm only just now getting 'round to finding a way to mount this lens. This post is for informational purposes only. Do not spend money based on what you read here without first doing your own research. Still, I'm going to lay out here what I have learned so far with the hope it might be of help to others:

First a photo of the lens itself. This is NOT my lens. This is another Angenieux LB1 lens currently being offered for sale on eBay. My lens is slightly different and is in better shape than the one in this photo, but importantly the mount of my lens is identical:



You see on the right the (roughly) 50mm thread to which I had referred earlier in this thread. I today learned the mount of my lens is called an Angenieux universal mount. It is not unlike a T2 mount in that adapters exist allowing the lens to be used with a variety of camera bodies. For example, adapters exist for Arri standard, Arri PL, Mitchell, BNCR, Aaton, and so forth.

But there is a nasty wrinkle with the so-called Angenieux universal mount, one we do not have to confront with T2 lenses. The Angenieux universal mount is NOT universal!! Or, said another way, there are at least two different Angenieux universal mounts. Specific reference is made to this wrinkle here:

Click here to see on Ebay

Copying and pasting the salient passage from that auction ad we find:

**-please notice that this is European Version of UNIVERSAL mount (the same as You can buy from MTF Service for example); there's also US UNIVERSAL mount (i think it was dane by Optex), but it covers maybe 6-8% of all UNIVERSAL lens market; adapter we sell covers over 90% of all UNIVERSAL mounted lenses (it has around 57.00-58.00mm ring screw diameter; US version has around 50.00mm screw diameter and there's few other diameters on the market).

My own lens was purchased in the USA and I have the 50.00mm screw diameter. But the "standard" is actually different in Europe, and other diameters exist as well. This variation is not at all helpful when one wishes to purchase adapters for this Angenieux "universal" mount.

That is all I have right now. Oh, there is one more thing. Here is an auction featuring my lens already adapted for
the Canon EOS:

Click here to see on Ebay

Even though that auction does not reference the LB1, I'm pretty sure that is an LB1 being auctioned, and I have contacted the seller to verify.


PostPosted: Thu Mar 30, 2017 12:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
A yes, GOKEVIN. Prices at this site are generally on the order of 3 times normal value.


PostPosted: Thu Mar 30, 2017 7:33 am    Post subject: Angenieux LB1 Reply with quote
The expert on photo equipment made in France, Patrice-Hervé Pont wrote in his Angenieux book ( ISBN 2-912848-22-9) that there is exceptionally little info on their optics for 35mm cinema film.

He states that a prototype of the 35-140 was used for the film "Julie la Rousse" in 1959.That may have been a f.3,5 "LA2" marketed in 1960. In his table of A-zooms he lists the f 2,2 LB1 as marketed from 1968 with the lowest number recorded 1213592. No info on its internals (as opposed to most of the optics he describes).

p.


PostPosted: Thu Mar 30, 2017 10:03 am    Post subject: Re: Angenieux LB1 Reply with quote
paulhofseth wrote:
The expert on photo equipment made in France, Patrice-Hervé Pont wrote in his Angenieux book ( ISBN 2-912848-22-9) that there is exceptionally little info on their optics for 35mm cinema film.

He states that a prototype of the 35-140 was used for the film "Julie la Rousse" in 1959.That may have been a f.3,5 "LA2" marketed in 1960. In his table of A-zooms he lists the f 2,2 LB1 as marketed from 1968 with the lowest number recorded 1213592. No info on its internals (as opposed to most of the optics he describes).

p.


Thank you for this, Paul. You are most kind to have posted.

Yes, information for the LB1 is very difficult to obtain on the internet. I found the 1968 date on a Chinese website for which I needed to use Google translate. There was a copy available for sale there, in China, several years ago. Now there is the copy being offered for sale in India, here:

Click here to see on Ebay

In addition:

I have heard from the Hong Kong seller, Kevin, that his lens, adapted for Canon EOS, is indeed an LB1 as I had thought might be the case.

I appreciate your mention of the LA2. Angenieux makes, or made, another 35-140mm zoom which should not be confused with the LB1. The Angenieux LA2 lens, at f3.5, is a slower lens. There is at present a copy for sale (in Bucharest) in Arri standard mount.

Click here to see on Ebay

I have not researched this lens, but it is interesting to learn of its use in a movie shoot.

In terms of adaptation of my LB1, I am at least for now shooting for Angenieux "universal" to Arri standard. This is because I already own an adapter which goes from Arri standard to m4/3. Adapters for these lenses are expensive. In the present instance, if I'm able even to locate an adapter, it will surely cost many times what I paid for my LB1 lens. Wink


PostPosted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 6:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I can write a bit about this lens from my own experiences years ago.
Was able to get a nice copy for little money and I had it adapted profesionally to Exakta by using a Sonnar mount with tripod mount, something that is really needed for this heavy beast as you simply can't work seriously with it free-hand!
It vignetted on fullframe 24x36. So a APS sensor might do.
Overall it is an exotic lens and therefor interesting for a collector of strange lenses. From the results, you can get from it, it makes no real sense to jump onto that train! Except when offered for very little money, I'd propose to pass it.
Was lucky to sell it for a very nice price to a lens seller, who will have sold it to China, or so.


PostPosted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 7:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Well I have an Angenieux and have no idea what to do with it, it probably was for a tv camera.


PostPosted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 11:39 am    Post subject: Re: Angenieux LB1 Reply with quote
paulhofseth wrote:
The expert on photo equipment made in France, Patrice-Hervé Pont wrote in his Angenieux book ( ISBN 2-912848-22-9) that there is exceptionally little info on their optics for 35mm cinema film.

He states that a prototype of the 35-140 was used for the film "Julie la Rousse" in 1959.That may have been a f.3,5 "LA2" marketed in 1960. In his table of A-zooms he lists the f 2,2 LB1 as marketed from 1968 with the lowest number recorded 1213592. No info on its internals (as opposed to most of the optics he describes).

p.


Yes, the Angenieux LA2 appears to be the junior, slower, version of the Angenieux LB1, which is the subject of this thread. However, both lenses are so rare that it's noteworthy when either surfaces. An Angenieux LA2 has, indeed, come to light and is currently for sale in St. Petersburg, Russia. The opening bid on this lens is over $1000, but it seems to be in very nice condition, and it is a rare lens, so such a bid is understandable:

Click here to see on Ebay

I do not know what mount that is, and the seller also does not know. My best guess would be that it is the European (58mm) version of the Angenieux "universal" mount mentioned up thread.


PostPosted: Fri May 26, 2017 11:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
guardian wrote:

First a photo of the lens itself. This is NOT my lens. This is another Angenieux LB1 lens currently being offered for sale on eBay. My lens is slightly different and is in better shape than the one in this photo, but importantly the mount of my lens is identical:





I posted that photo up thread. It is what I would label a "junker" lens, though it is not at all my intent to be nasty or uncharitable. Still, clearly a lens that was "rode hard and put up wet".

Anyway, since I own a copy of this LB1 lens I was following that auction. This morning was completely nonplussed to discover that "junker" lens sold for over $2500 with shipping!! Here is the auction:

Click here to see on Ebay then click see original listing

Gratefully, there was no extra cost for the haze, fungus, scratches, or cleaning marks!!

I recently saw one of these lenses, in good condition, listed for $30,000. That's insane, asking prices mean nothing, and I LOL:

Click here to see on Ebay

I'm still laughing this morning, but not quite so loudly as prior.

What makes these old LB1 lenses so valuable? Why are they located in such faraway places as northern Russia, India, Cambodia, China? I honestly have no clue, but I wish I did understand.

Regardless, at this rate I'm gonna have to add my $1 lens to my home insurance policy! I'm just an average person. I don't have other single items that valuable in my home!
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