Gutted lens as an adjustable tube?

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ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

A way round that is to use a split rail, or support each standard separately on an 11" Magic arm. You can put then where you like, then. PB-4 only tilts one way at one end...
I tried it with a cheap BPM set because they're also very skinny and one version of those goes down to very little.
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Jan Steinman
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Post by Jan Steinman »

ChrisR wrote:A way round that is to… support each standard separately on an 11" Magic arm. You can put then where you like, then. PB-4 only tilts one way at one end...
Darn you! Now I have to go spend more money... the Chinese Magic Arm clones appear to be very cheap.

I have a two foot Magic Arm that I use for studio strobes, but that's probably more trouble than it's worth for a special purpose bellows.
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ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

If I remember correctly, your Vivitar standards will both have "tripod" holes in their bases.
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dickb
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Re: Extending

Post by dickb »

Jan Steinman wrote:
dickb wrote:Another option, if you are into gutting things is the Vivitar 2x macro focusing teleconverter.
Have you actually done this surgery?

I have one of these sitting on my desk right now (Olympus OM mount), staring at be accusingly for ignoring it. I scored it on evilBay for $10.

The difficulty I see is in adapting the camera mount. Of course, if you get one with the mounts you want, you're laughin'. Bust most likely, you'll want to do more than simply remove the optics, which are atrocious. (I did look through the thing, and concluded I'd be better off smearing Vasoline™ on a filter, if I want "soft focus." :D)

Any Day Now, I intend to remove the optics and replace the rear mount with a µ4/3rds one.
I have done this surgery several times on different mounts. The process varies considerably per mount, as they have aperture linkages in different places. Just removing the optics leaves an opening that may be a bit too narrow for some purposes - I gutted a C/Y version for use with my S-Planar 100/4, but had to remove the aperture linkage also to create enough room for its large protruding rear element. If you do that, you need to install flocking.

I strongly disagree with your assessment that the optics in the teleconverter are poor. They may be in yours, but the ones I used I rank among the best teleconverters I've tried.

Jan Steinman
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Re: Extending

Post by Jan Steinman »

dickb wrote:I strongly disagree with your assessment that the optics in the teleconverter are poor. They may be in yours, but the ones I used I rank among the best teleconverters I've tried.
Thanks for that assessment. I'll give it another look. Perhaps I've been too harsh on it.
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Jan Steinman
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Post by Jan Steinman »

ChrisR wrote:If I remember correctly, your Vivitar standards will both have "tripod" holes in their bases.
Ooohhh... great call! You're absolutely right.

Just had a serious brain-freeze, based on your suggestion of a Magic Arm... how about cannibalizing a broken 3D printer, and using the 3D positioning mechanism to control the rear bellows standard?

Then one could do robotic focus bracketing in 3D space.

(NO! NO! NO! MUST... SIT... ON... HANDS... TOO... MANY... PROJECTS... DO... NOT... TYPE... eBay.com... :D )
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ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

Or just program a drone to move in little steps? \:D/
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Jan Steinman
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Post by Jan Steinman »

ChrisR wrote:Or just program a drone to move in little steps? \:D/
This board really needs a "Like" button. :)
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DesolateMirror
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Post by DesolateMirror »

This turned out to be a wealth of information, thanks for all the replies. I've got a couple of random old cheap zoom lenses coming from ebay and will post the results when I can get time to mess with them.

MarkSturtevant wrote:Ironically I have just built a super macro lens with the vivitar 2X macroteleconverter. I will be posting on it later, once I get a chance to test it out.
It was very easy to de-glass, but flocking up the insides was a chore.
That would be very interesting, thanks.

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