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Bell & Howell 51mm f/1.2 on A7R ...
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 10:39 am    Post subject: Bell & Howell 51mm f/1.2 on A7R ... Reply with quote

An old projector lens, fast, but flat in sense of contrast, color, CA, etc.
Needs a lot of PP ... but not bad for a $5 lens.




thanks for looking.


PostPosted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 2:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ironically, it's even better than bad copies of some famous fast lenses.
Very gorgeous shot, the thin DOF really works here.


PostPosted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Langstrum wrote:
Ironically, it's even better than bad copies of some famous fast lenses.


+1

Excellent shot.


PostPosted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 8:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Langstrum and JVG, thanks much for the comments !


PostPosted: Wed Sep 03, 2014 9:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

would you mind posting a pic of the lens, have a similar spec b&h lens but the registration distance is too short so I sorta gave up trying to convert it.

very nice result btw.


PostPosted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 6:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Layer-cake wrote:
would you mind posting a pic of the lens, have a similar spec b&h lens but the registration distance is too short so I sorta gave up trying to convert it.

very nice result btw.


thanks much !
sure, here you go:



PostPosted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 7:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very nice, congrats!


PostPosted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 8:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kds315* wrote:
Very nice, congrats!


many thanks Klaus !


PostPosted: Sun Sep 07, 2014 7:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Could you share some more detail on the adapter? Hit by a sudden impulse after your post (nice picture!), I bid and won one (now I have to understand what to do with it Smile ).
Thanks.

Igor wrote:
Layer-cake wrote:
would you mind posting a pic of the lens, have a similar spec b&h lens but the registration distance is too short so I sorta gave up trying to convert it.

very nice result btw.


thanks much !
sure, here you go:


PostPosted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 7:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I used the extension ring for NEX, it is slightly wider, so I used a few curls of wire to fix the lens into it. that's it.

enzodm wrote:
Could you share some more detail on the adapter? Hit by a sudden impulse after your post (nice picture!), I bid and won one (now I have to understand what to do with it Smile ).
Thanks.

Igor wrote:
Layer-cake wrote:
would you mind posting a pic of the lens, have a similar spec b&h lens but the registration distance is too short so I sorta gave up trying to convert it.

very nice result btw.


thanks much !
sure, here you go:


PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 2:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Igor wrote:
I used the extension ring for NEX, it is slightly wider, so I used a few curls of wire to fix the lens into it. that's it.



thank you. Received both lens and rings, a quick try (only converted to JPEG, nothing added). I see some vignetting but colors are vivid. I cannot focus more distant than this, the back lens hits the body, but maybe is the right distance for portraits (I have to wait my wife for testing - babies are too quick for manual focus at f/1.2 Smile ).






PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 5:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

looks great ! looking forward to your wife portraits!


PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 6:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I love these oldies, with proper care they are great tools, lovely shoot I like it a lot.


PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 6:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thanks Attila, these "ODDIES are great, they're timeless Smile


PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 8:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not yet the wife, but babies just after waking up (apologies for messy hairs Smile )
Pictures are straight from the camera (except conversion). The orange tint may be due to sunrise (windows on my right, East), I will check in some other time of the day. Bokeh is smooth. Natural vignetting is very nice; this is on Nex 3 (so less than on A7r). Also DoF is slightly less impressive in my pictures due to crop sensor.






The first picture after adding clarity and white balancing:



PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 8:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

great results ! #2 and 3 are very good ! looks like your lens is sharper than mine Smile


PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 9:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Igor wrote:
great results ! #2 and 3 are very good ! looks like your lens is sharper than mine Smile


well, if you had to add contrast and so, there is indeed some difference, because I don't think is needed with my copy. Maybe also interaction with full frame could be an issue?


PostPosted: Fri Sep 19, 2014 8:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ok, no strange tints Smile


PostPosted: Fri Sep 19, 2014 8:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

great bokeh !


PostPosted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 6:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Guys, I am confused. Received that projector lens (Bell & Howell 51mm f1.2) and can have an image in focus at a distance greater than 20cm if only touch the interior of my NEX-5N with the back glass of the lens. How did you manage to make your images, the great topic starter's portrait, those of children or of the rose, at a distance which seems to be 1.5 meter and more?

Here is a sample with a custom adapter, flange distance at around 30mm:



And here is a sample of the maximum protrusion into the NEX body when the lens barely touches the sensor, so the flange distance is around 3-5mm:



The magenta light "leak" comes from the hole which remains when you insert the lens directly to the body.

How could the flange distance be less than 5mm for a lens destined for 16mm film projection?

Otherwise the image delivered by the lens is a real pleasure.


PostPosted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 6:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Found another topic about the lens here in the forum: http://forum.mflenses.com/bell-and-howell-2-inch-1-2-projector-lens-t65738.html. But the images in the post must be lost in the last server crash. So your helpful explanations will be highly appreciated!


PostPosted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 7:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Alex, I don't remember exactly how far was the back element from the A7R sensor, but pretty close for sure. If memory serves me well the max focusing distance was about 1.5m ... that's all I can tell, ... sorry have no idea why your lens doesn't focus further.


PostPosted: Sun Jan 08, 2017 7:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I noticed a yellow tint to the front element. does anyone know if this lens is thorium coated and hence radioactive? (A good number of wide aperture lenses of the same period were quite radioactive). Thanks


PostPosted: Sun Jan 08, 2017 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

madtigerhide wrote:
I noticed a yellow tint to the front element. does anyone know if this lens is thorium coated and hence radioactive? (A good number of wide aperture lenses of the same period were quite radioactive). Thanks


"Thorium coated" does not exist, it was used as an add on to the glass mix to achieve a higher refaction index.


PostPosted: Sun Jan 08, 2017 8:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the technical clarification. Is it radioactive though? Thanks