In my previous post, I extolled the virtues of the Micro 4/3 system, and my experience thus far with my Olympus Pen E-PL1 camera. Since then, I have been using the 25mm f/1.4 CCTV lens with the c-mount adapter A LOT. The images that I am getting from it have been fun, amazing, and have given me a creative spark that's been a bit lackluster over the past few months. One of the oddities about this c-mount lens is that it exhibits a central spot of flare when wide open, and only when the light is in front of the camera. Second, it doesn't exactly close focus as much as I would like. The solution is to use a lens hood to help with the flare, and diopters to magnify the image, resulting in close-ups. Hmmm. How to attach those things to an odd-sized lens? Solution...I looked into my drawers of
Series filters and adapters and ended up finding EXACTLY what I needed. A Kodak Series VI ring with a 31.5mm diam. push-on adapter. No screwing-onto the lens, this adapter just slips right over the outside of it with a fit that is perfect.
A series system consists of a retaining ring, a non-threaded filter, and the adapter. Different types of Series filters can be used with just one pair of adapter and retaining ring, or you can have various adapters for different lenses, and still just use the one set of filters.
The assembled filter. A yellow filter is great for improving the contrast of B&W images under certain conditions, even with a digital camera. Make sure that you set the image capture to Monochrome!
Of course, the diopters and the lens hood are also used with the adapter, and the lens hood simply screws onto the adapter without using the retaining ring.
I am pretty sure many of the series adapters were used with cine lenses in the past. I even have a Series VI gel-holder, which is quite interesting. I could cut colored gels to fit in and achieve all kinds of interesting results. For now, though, the few things I use most are all that I need for the CCTV lens. That is the beauty of using Series filters. A few different filters and the adapters are all you need to use with different camera or lenses. You can also buy Series adapters that fit 49mm and 52mm screw threads, etc., as well as Series VI to VII or V to VI adapters. It's quite old-school, and almost all of these items were made before the 1980s, and almost all in the USA.
Now that I have assembled a kit to go with my CCTV lens, I realized that I have many extras in the boxes of accessories in my basement. After some sorting, I have enough parts to put together 4 sets of Series VI adapters + a set of diopters (+1, +2, +3), and a yellow filter.
Here's the kit.
I am offering these kits for $25.00, which includes USA shipping. The adapter is specifically a 31.5 mm diameter push-on for a CCTV lens like the one pictured. I cannot modify the kit for any other size. Payment can be made via Paypal. You can contact me at mfobrien[at]gmail.com. Unfortunately, I have only one other lens hood like the one pictured, so it's not for sale.
No diopter, here, just the lens hood. That 25mm lens is just awesome!
