Browsing Category C-Mount Primes

There are a number of C-Mount lenses that can be used with the m4/3 system. We’ll take a look at a variety of prime c-mount lenses for use in still photography as well as film.

Kaitlin and Ng - indiSYSTEM indiGO-JIB - GH2 and Navitar 6mm lens

indiSYSTEM indiGO-JIB will soon be an essential part of the indy music video

Tim Ovel is at it again. First he democratized the follow focus with the indiFOCUS by creating a high quality independent-built follow focus unit that could be used on camera stock lenses without the need for gearing. Next he changed the slider scene with the indiSLIDERpro allowing you to purchase a slider that does not bend or flex for the price that you would have once paid for renting one. Now, Tim has changed the jib crane landscape forever with his new indiSYSTEM indiGO-JIB.

The indiSYSTEM indiGO-JIB is practically a jib arm in a bag. It's a portable jib arm that folds down to 38" which is about the size of an average tripod and when fully extended you have a little over an 8' height extension with the camera plate attached. Most jibs are out of the price range of the average indy filmmaker. They are traditionally bulky and heavy and a super pain to set up and transport.

The indiGO-JIB is quite the opposite. In fact, you can mount the jib arm on an inexpensive Manfrotto 503 fluid head. You can balance out the your 10 pound camera in just a few minutes and counter weight your camera with either standard plate weights or purchase the 4 liter water containers that you can fill with water or dirt.

Imagine being able to take a jib with you to the wilderness and beyond. The sky's the limit with the indiGO-JIB and for $349 it's a jaw dropping incredible price. Simply put you can not be with out the indiGO-JIB on your next film. Seriously, this jib is designed so well with adjustments to give you the proper counterweight and the ability to get some creative shots that you would not be able to do with your average jib arm. I have a feeling this little guy will be snatched up by folks from the indy filmmaker on a tight budget to the heavy hitter industry DP.

I had a chance to use the indiGO-JIB for a high profile music video. The director asked me to not show the footage until the MV comes out in May so I thought I'd share some footage of our pre-shoot. I had a team of youth and young adults work with me on the shoot. They are a part of the Tech Apprenticeship program at the Asian Arts Initiative which I run every Sunday to train students in theater and film production work. They are a little green but they did a stellar job and it goes to show you don't need to be an expert to use one.

The 8' indiGO-JIB with my Gitzo sticks extends the arm to a reach of 12'. I needed to get even higher so I placed my sticks and jib on top of a few cafe tables which gave me an additional extension giving me a total height of 14.5'. What jib arm do you know that can easily be placed on top of a cafe table and still be rock steady?

We used the Panasonic GH2 in ETC mode with the Navitar 6mm f/1.4 c-mount lens. This is such an ideal combo on the indiSYSTEM indiGO-JIB because it is so small and lightweight.

In normal creative film mode the Navitar 6mm 1/2 c-mount lens is quite small and you get a very large peep hole effect when you look through your viewfinder but in ETC mode it fits the frame perfectly with only a little vignetting and a slight soft edge. Because this is a flat field lens you can get incredible sharpness when moving the jib from a very tight extreme close up on your subject to that of a very wide establishing shot.

I had forgotten to bring a field monitor so I merely stopped down to f/4 and used a ladder to check focus at 14.5' high and then brought the jib arm down to 2' off the ground and our subjects were in focus as we moved the jib from ground to ceiling. It's an incredible lens on the GH2 and combined with the indiGO-JIB is perfect for doing music video work because it gives you incredible range. With the indiGO-JIB you have fluid movement and wonderful shots to discover as you use it from extreme close up to long shot.

I've had the wonderful opportunity to test out the prototype version of the indiSYSTEM indiGO-JIB for a little over two months now and it has been nothing short of amazing. I know it will crack a smile from the big boys because is can do so much in this little frame. I'm sure we'll see it being used on reality tv sets, narrative films and even more music videos. I mean why not? We've dreamed of doing these shots since we started watching movies.

Well here it is folks the democratization of the jib starts today. Damn it Tim! You did did again! Filmmaking is supposed to be expensive and unattainable. LOL! No really, kudos Tim Ovel for making another wall crumble.

Now people go out and make your dream films a reality!

Pre-Shoot test for Music Video
Filmed by Youth from the Tech Apprenticeship Program at the Asian Arts Initiative

Camera: Panasonic GH2 in ETC mode

Lens: Navitar 6mm f/1.4 c-mount
Rig: indiSYSTEM indiGO-JIB

Crew: Ty Givens, Uyen Le, Mary Seng, Kaitlin Dugan, Johnathan Bennet

With Music:
"I Got My"
Magnetic North / Taiyo Na

Steve Calvarese - Why Do We Suffer - Spoken Word

indiSYSTEM indiGO-JIB – Steve Calvarese

a gary san angel film test

Why Do We Suffer
Written and Performed by Steve Calvarese

Rig: indiSYSTEM indiGO-JIB prototype
Lens: Navitar 6mm f/1.4 c-mount lens
Camera: Panasonic GH2 Extended Tele Conversion (ETC) Mode

This Winter I have been training a group of teens and young adults in both technical theater and filmmaking at the Asian Arts Initiative in Philadelphia. What makes the process unique is that I invite local artists in the community to perform in our classes. The tech team designs lights, works the camera and shoots a short live video for each participating artist. At the end of the day, the trainees get a real world tech experience and each artist gets a filmed version of their live performance.

For this session, I was fortunate to have Philly based Spoken Word artist Steve Calvarese perform a new monologue he was working on called “Why Do We Suffer”. In this piece Steve brings home some insight on the plight of the homeless. I wanted the camera to represent the POV of someone who is scared to look in the eye of a homeless person. For this shoot, I wanted to test out the new indiSYSTEM indiGO-JIB which is a portable light weight jib arm perfect to use for a small DSLR camera.

I wanted to see if we could use the indiGO-JIB in more of a steadicam fashion which would allow me the ability to have quick lateral camera movement as well as varied low to high fluid camera angles perfect for what we needed to make Steve's piece work.

I wanted to also pair the indiGO-JIB arm with the Panasonic GH2 and the Navitar 6mm f/1.4 c-mount lens in Extended Tele Conversion (ETC) Mode. The Navitar 6mm c-mount lens in ETC mode fills the frame with no vignetting and is a flat field lens so you have edge to edge sharpness from lanscape to macro. It is one of the smallest lenses I've used on the GH2 and one of the widest and sharpest. I'll be posting a follow up post on both the indiSYSTEM indiGO-JIB and Navitar 6mm c-mount lens very soon. In the mean time, you can at least see a little bit of the jib arm and lens in action here.

Artists Notes:

“When writing “Why Do We Suffer”, I wanted to address the sociological phenomenon “invisible minority”. What the mass media projects as “experimental reality” leaves the viewer to question if these people exist. A lot of times, the answer is no. We ignore these people on our daily encounters. They are kept hidden because they are perceived as deviants in society. As a result, we become complacent with this being the new norm. I also wanted to gear away toward minority being strictly a race issue. In doing so, I break the story into three different parts: homelessness, being Muslim, and someone living in jail.

In the video, I embody a homeless person who is telling his/her story of how he/she is perceived as a bum. Because of this label, certain stereotypes are evoked. One of the more common ones is a person having a mental disorder, such as schizophrenia. Since this stigma is implanted into our minds, we keep our distances. I think partly because we are fearful of not knowing what might happen if we approach him/her. We then marginalize these people by blaming it on culture. As an artist and an individual who encounters homeless people almost everyday, I wanted to unmask this preexisting stereotype and others alike by telling a story about a person who is just like us. Regardless if the person is homeless, he/she has a story that needs to be told. I am hoping that our views will shift and that we see homelessness not as a disease, rather a lifestyle resulting from poverty.”– Steve Calvarese

Why Do We Suffer

Written and Performed by Steve Calvarese

Part I

Can someone give me a sign please?
if they could mind read
and if the blind can see
then possibly, they’ll see
my Sharpie
isn’t dark enough to write
the words
What’s the meaning of life, uh?
trying to be heard
but they’re not bold enough to free me, from the hurt
my net worth,
a piece of cardboard
telling my thoughts from the core
of my stomach
I can barely stomach
these infinite minutes
counting like seconds
to breathe
out of poverty
just another target, trying to pass go but this isn’t monopoly
everyday of the week
I suffer from this weak
economy
please, before I finish
I want you to listen
for a small fraction of a second
a victim, from the world promises
falls in fractions, of my image
isn’t what the world sees
my hands, bleed
from praying,
saying the cause is public housing
minimum wage
traps us in chains
displacement, misplaces our names
from our face, facing
race and racist comments
for being homeless
like the cause for property value going down
I just close my eyes lids
I’m invisible, as it is
to begin with, the physical
we are out of it
another swallow of oxytocin, some klonopin
to ease their pain, but we are the ones who are sufferin’
it’s all a hustle isn’t it
musclin’ until life drags us in
under the system, wonderin’
if they’ll ever wake out of it
© 2010

[Lumix GH1 and Computar 25mm test] Sidewalk Notes (Prototype)

When you're walking around on the sidewalk, you always see messages people write in the cement before it dries. When I was walking back home from school one day, I noticed that there were these messages engraved into the cement sidewalks. I knew they there, I just never really looked at them. Luckily I had my Lumix GH1 with me so I decided to record these messages on video. It was evening, so it was a little dark, but the computar lens is so great that I can take images in the dark at a faster shutter speed. But as I stated before, it was still early evening. Unfortunately I did not have a tripod with me, so the video turns out to be a little shaky.

It's a short video, but all the messages recorded were found within a 30 yard range. What's so important that the person just had to make their mark onto the cement and show it to the whole word? Spontaneous impulse? Pride? Love. Some were easier to decipher than others such as the greek letters, who I can only assume it was a student who expressing their pride as a member of a specific fraternity. The one at the end looks to be a heart with possibly initials on it in a similar fashion to the heart border and initials carved in the tree that we see in movies and books.

I'm thinking of going out into the city (Washington, DC) when I have time and try to record as many messages I can engraved into the sidewalk. If anyone is up to it, please try to do it within your city/town/neighborhood. See what you find. You might find something interesting.

Kodak Cine Ektar II 25mm

I had a rare lull during my lunch break today so I thought it would be a good opportunity to take out my GH1 and to test out how the indiSYSTEM SNAP! Gear and Collar work using the Kodak Ektar II 25mm f/1.4 c-mount lens. It's a very small cine c-mount and with the new SNAP! Gear and Collar you can even pull focus on this little lens.

The footage is basic street scenes near my work in Center City Philadelphia. I wanted to basically test wide open at f/1.4 just to see the lens sharpness and light fall off as well as how well you can pull focus with this system.

I had a 52mm homemade B+W variable ND filter which I was able to use on the lens with a step up ring to help control my exposure.

For those who want to play with this Ektar II 25mm you'll definitely need a 30mm step up ring for this lens

I literally tried several filters to find the right size and after several months and several returns later I lucked out and found out that 30mm is the filter size for this Ektar II 25mm lens. There's no info. on the web at all on this so I had to figure this out on my own. I'll soon post a listing of filters sizes for the c-mount lenses that I currently own to help those who want to try this similar setup with their own c-mount lenses.

I'm very pleased and surprised that you can even pull focus with this little lens. Once you set it up properly the SNAP! Gear and Collar is fairly secure and it really allows you far more control allowing you to achieve repeatable focus pulls. One thing that I noticed is that it takes about one to two full rotations to actually go from close focus to infinity depending of course where your subject matter is so that's something to consider when using this particular ektar lens. I'd also recommend that you tighten the camera down to whatever plate you are using in order to prevent the camera from moving and your SNAP! Gear from slipping from the follow focus gears.

In general, the Ektar II 25mm has a unique character to it. Sure it has your usual light fall off and c-mount vignetting but it does give you the old school feel. It's corner sharpness is rather so so to me but for those who are looking to use this lens to invoke the nostaligic past that may not be so bad. Again, I was shooting everything completely wide open so that would change of course by stopping down.

I do want to do a few more tests with this lens just to see if the step ring and ND filter is creating that extra light fall off. For a first test I'm really impressed that this could even be a possibiloity. It's not bad. And really, it's so lowprofile and lightweight that it makes it fun to shoot. The fact that we have something like the SNAP! gear and collar to be able to do this fairly economicaly is also quite attractive. You can buy a 70mm SNAP gear and then have a number of SNAP! Collars depending on the lens you are using. I look forward to more c-mount movie makers in m4/3!

NEW indiSYSTEM SNAP! Gear & Collar Demo

I'm wanted to post this quick demo using the new indiSYSTEM SNAP! Gear and Collar on a Kodak Cine Ektar II 25mm f/1.4 c-mount lens. I've been talking with Tim Ovel from indiSYSTEM about creating a geared solution for cine c-mount lenses and the SNAP! collar was a very simple addition to the SNAP! Gear and will work with most c-mount lenses. I gave Tim the front lens diameter of some of my lenses and he constructed a SNAP! collar that would essentially fit into the SNAP! Gear. With the help of some "squish" between the lens and the collar, the setup works very nicely and gives a nice secure geared fit.

This is just a simple demo that I did very late at night so please forgive the uncleaned lens of the footage but I wanted to show folks how the SNAP! Gear and Collar fit on the lens and it's use with a follow focus. Actual footage is currently being edited and will follow shortly.

Overall, pulling focus is very smooth with this system and here are a few key points to consider to use this with your lenses.

Key points for a successful SNAP! Gear and Collar setup:

The space between the SNAP! Collar and your lens should not be more than 7mm. Anything larger does not give you a secure fit. I've done a number of tests and it seems the ideal is to have 2-3mm of space but no larger than 7mm. Again, this space is pre-squish material.
C-mounts with focal rings at the front or middle of the lens work best. Though I have tested a Cine Nikkor 10mm where the focal ring is at the rear of the lens but you have to turn the gear at an angle in order to make it work. Surprisingly it still works well. I'll be doing more testing to see if this technique works on other lenses where the focal ring is at the rear of the lens. Again, this is more for clearance of the gear and the camera.
Take the time to test out the "squish". The best technique is to place "squish" between the lens and the collar first and then compress the SNAP! gear and collar together with the lens. There should not be any play with the lens, if there is some play then you may even need to place a tiny bit of "squish" between the collar and the actual SNAP! gear itself.
Once the SNAP! Gear and Collar is secured to the lens, rotate the SNAP! Gear back and forth making sure that the gear does not slip. You should be able to firmly spin that gear from close focus (MFD) to infinity and back again with no problem.
Make sure you choose lenses that have a smooth focus ring, you may need to find a lens repair guy to overhaul your lens and use a light grease on your focusing helicoid. Lenses with rough focus will force the gear to work harder and with the added torque the lens will unscrew itself from the mount.

I'll be posting some sample footage later this week to show real world usage of the SNAP! Gear and Collar on c-mount lenses. It has been extremely fun to use and with the new Panasonic AG-AF100 micro 4/3 camera just around the corner I think the reality of using c-mount legacy lenses and these SNAP! Gear and Collars will be extraordinary and a must. The exciting thing is that we don't need to wait for that camera we can use it now with the Panasonic GH1. The reality of a digital 16mm world using old school beautiful c-mount lenses is a dream come true.

indiSYSTEM SNAP! Gear Collar

Yes! It's true people. I couldn't believe it until I tried it out myself. We have a pretty remarkable solution for pulling focus on a good number of cine c-mount lenses and so far the results have been very solid with the new indiSYSTEM SNAP! Collar. Not for your dog, for your smaller lenses! It's a beautiful thing.

For many c-mount lens users using the m4/3 system can be rewarding but a little challenging. The issues of the smaller image circle for m4/3 use and vignetting make it not ideal by many but there's a lot to be said about the character of these lenses. I think they are still worthy of being used especially for still photography but also for movie making. One of the hurdles of using these lenses to make movies with a camera like the GH1 is that it is so difficult to pull focus because the lenses are small making it impossible for subtle focus changes. When you have a smaller c-mount lens on this camera any slight movement focusing your lens will show up on screen and effect your image in a very big way.

SNAP! Gear with Collar and GH1

That's why currently the main folks who use c-mount lenses with the m4/3 system are still photography folks because they can live with the focusing annoyances while still getting some pretty amazing images out of these little lenses. But most of these c-mount lenses were made to shoot moving images and I'm happy to say we may be breathing a bit of movie life into these old film lenses once again.

Tim Ovel from indiSYSTEM has come up with a pretty darn good solution for those who want to pull focus with a gear and a follow focus using cine c-mount lenses with his new SNAP! Gear Collar. The piece fits on the lens like a collar and is slipped on and secured to a 70mm SNAP! gear. It's that simple. Once SNAP! gear snaps together, It's not going anywhere. The magnets are super strong. I tested this several times by rotating the gear back and forth by hand pretty strongly and the gear stays on nice and strong.

Part of this solution came out of some tests that I was doing with the SNAP! gear. Over all, I've been pretty impressed with the SNAP! gears and I was brainstorming with Tim on how the SNAP! gear can be modified to accept smaller lenses. Ideally, it would be great to get some smaller SNAP! gear sizes from the 35mm to 50mm range but it would be fairly expensive so Tim came up with a few alternative solutions. In our first test, Tim sent me some very sturdy foam and I tried to cut out and create an insert between the 70mm gear and the lenses but it did not work. The foam did not have any center support and the lens would basically slip out from the gear whenever I pulled focus. Then Tim had a great idea of creating smaller diameter slips or collars that would essential fit snugly between a SNAP! 70mm gear and the lens being used. He created a few samples in the shop and sent a few out to me. I tried it and was really blown away. It securely slipped into the 70mm SNAP! and like a dog collar securely fit around the lens with a very snug secure fit. We had ourselves a winner!

SNAP opened showing collar interior with GH1

Side View SNAP! Gear and Collar with GH1

SNAP! Gear half on GH1

The pictures in this post demonstrate the use of the collar with Kodak Cine Ektar lenses. Theses are older 16mm lenses that were made by Kodak and used on their Cine-Kodak Special II between 1948 and 1961. From talking to folks like Steve Serota and others who grew up with these lenses, the Cine Ektars were some of the best c-mount lenses made in the U.S. for 16mm film cameras. These lenses have more recently been growing in popularity with the m4/3 system because they are one of the best lenses to focus with for still camera use. Also, on the Ektar 25mm 1.4 and even smaller Ektar II 25mm 1.4 the focus ring is on the very front of the lens which is ideal for using the SNAP! collar.

SNAP! Gear & Collar with Ektar 25 to 15mm converter Closeup of SNAP! magnet and squish SNAP! Gear with Ektar 25mm with 15mm converter

Here's some brief tips using the SNAP! Collar with the 70mm SNAP! Gear

Ektar 15mm converter on SNAP! Gear SNAP! Close up of Ektar 15mm converter

1) Make sure you chose a collar that allows no more than 7mm of space between the collar and the lens you intend to use. To fill the gap between the lens and the collar Tim provides you with 5mm and 1mm "squish" which is like a spongy tape with sticky adhesive on one side. The squish fits on the inside collar to hold your lens in place. In my tests, a space between 7mm and smaller gives the best secure feel for your lens. You can place two strips of 5mm squish on top of each other but from my tests it's much better if you don't.

SNAP! and collar with "squish"

2) Place a 1mm strip of squish on the inside of the 70mm gear where the collar slips into the SNAP! gear if you find the collar more snug. When you snap the gear together the collar should feel a tiny bit larger and when you squish the gear together you'll see the magnets engage and the squish will compress and tighten the collar and your lens.

SNAP! and Collar layout

3) This is all based on trail and error depending on your lens and the collar size. Always start placing the squish on the inside collar first and place the collar over the lens and see if it fits your lens properly then slip the collar into the 70mm gear. If it's loose then put some 1mm squish on the inside of the 70mm gear. If it's too tight you can trim the squish down with a fine pair of scissors.

Twist Test SNAP gear and Ektar 25mm 1.4

4) When you have the SNAP! gear and collar on your c-mount lens before you place it on your camera make sure that you do the twist test. Turn the gear firmly back and forth to make sure the gear is aligned properly and is nice and snug and secure. You should do it fairly firm and fast holding the lens in your hand and rotating the gear. If it is secure then that gear will not move. It should not slip or move from your lens. If you do see a problem that then you need a little extra squish.

Ektar 25mm 1.4 with GH1 Ektar 24mm 1.4 with SNAP! Gear and Collar on GH1

The ideal lenses to use are lenses that have a focus ring on the front of the lens because the SNAP! gear must clear the GH1 body but there are some lenses that will still work where the focal ring rests on the middle of the lens. So far the Kodak Cine Ektars are a great fit but some other lenses work very well too including the Computar 25mm f/1.3 and Yvar 75mm f/2.5 lens. One zoom lens that works perfectly that I was not expecting to work was the Angenieux Zoom Type L2 and Type L3 1:2.2/17-68. I wasn't expecting this lens to work because the lens rotates far forward but the extra width of the SNAP! gear give enough room togo from MFT to infinity. Iit was made for this lens and works beautifully.

I'll be posting footage and a demo soon. My computer was out of commission this weekend so I am a bit delayed but for now enjoy these pics. Trust me it works.

These are definitely exciting times to see these old lenses being used in this way. I think the indiSYSTEM SNAP! gear and collar can be exciting for filmmakers who want to use c-mounts and other small lenses and I think for still photographers may also think about using the SNAP! gear and collar by itself because it is far easier to focus with the larger wheel than off the lens. There's a little more torque and you have much more control over focusing just using the gear as without a follow focus. It really works well and helps make focusing smooth and easy with these c-mount lenses for the very first time.

Nothing is Right – Wayne Hsu

It is always an honor to work with Wayne Hsu. He is an amazing artist and is not only a gifted singer songwriter but also has an excellent ear as a studio engineer. The three of us won a trailer contest for the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival with Wayne scoring the music for our little 60 second animated film.

Last March, I gave a call to Wayne Hsu late one evening and said, "Hey, do you want to shoot a Music Video tonight?" Hey said, "Yeah, sure. You want to do it now?"

It was already 10pm at night and I said, "No, I'm thinking at about 1am in Chinatown in front of the arch." It was a very chilly night but he enthusiastically agreed since it was just around the corner from where he lived. I was itching to do a few tests with some c-mount lenses a newer industrial lens, a Computar 25mm f/1.3 and an older Kodak Cine Ektar 25mm f/1.4. I wanted to compare these lenses and see how well they work with just street lights and the light of the traffic driving by at night.

The concept was simple. I had Wayne sit on top of my Subaru Forester and we parked far enough so that he would be elevated above the traffic and we could see the Chinatown Arch in the distance. One of the challenges is that in order to shoot him I needed a rig that I could hold steadily on the back bumber of the car. A tripod would not do since the bumber was about six inches wide. To make this work I used the indiSYSTEM indiRAILSpro MP which is part monopod, part camera rig, and part follow focus. It fit very nicely with me standing on the back bumper of the car.

Rather than do a MV where we were syncing to the studio recording of the song I wanted to keep the real elements alive on the streets of Chinatown and just show the beauty and simplicity of his playing. I wanted Wayne Hsu to play live acoustic. Wayne is so good playing live. And in the "LIVE" I wanted to keep the environment a part of the piece so whatever happens in the moment happens. If we have a truck barreling down the road or loud late night pedestrian traffic so be it.

The results were very beautiful. This year the Chinatown Arch dawned new lights .So from the distance as Wayne played, the Arch was brilliantly lit as a a backdrop to his playing. Both c-mount lenses really gave this piece character. The Cine Ektar 25mm was a touch sharper and had this unusual crescent shaped lens flare from the street lamp right above. The Computar 25mm lens being the faster lens was able to do very well in street lighting soft and low contrast working very well on the evening city streets. One stupid mistake I made was that I taped the lav to Wayne's shirt and you could hear the rustle of the shirt brushing up against the mic. It's less noticeable as the song progresses but it is very pronounced at the beginning of the song. Next time proper, lav clip or vampire clip is a must. Other than that issue, we are really happy by the way the footage turned out.

Please visit Wayne Hsu's site. His new album will be coming out very soon:

waynehsu.com

Filming Details:

Panasonic GH1

Computar 25mm f/1.3 lens

indiSYSTEM SNAP! Gear

indiRAILSpro MP

Kodak Cine Ektar 25mm f/1.4

Sound Devices 552 Mixer/Recorder

Director: Gary San Angel

Assistant Director: Serena Perrone

Camera Operator: Rocky Kev

You Said – Wayne Hsu

This MV is the companion piece to Nothing is Right. This song is a nice little ballad and I pretty much kept it a simple two camera shoot capturing Wayne's great singing and playing with the streets sounds all around.

When I asked Wayne to do an adhoc music video at 1am in the morning in the middle of March I didn't think he would say yes at first but I'm really glad he did. What we attempted to do was a live street recording with two contrasting pieces. "Nothing is Right" being more upbeat would be the more polished MV. The limited b-roll I had by went to "Nothing is Right". So "You Said" became really a documentation of a live street performance. For both of these two songs I really wanted to stay away form the polish of the studio recorded version. I just wanted to show some of the rough edges. Some of which was unfortunately a little more rough in the audio. My Sanken COS-11x which I had taped to Wayne's shirt was not a good idea and we encountered a lot of handling noise. That's one of the elements that I'll learn from for the next time around.

I stuck with c-mount lenses on this shoot to experiment and see the kind of character they give to the natural street light. I'd say the Computar 25mm f/1.3 is a lens that really lends itself to the nightlife and low light street scenes. The Kodak Ektar 25mm f/1.4 also has that retro character with nice contrast and sharpness and interesting lens flares which we decided to just keep and use because it was halo-like and had a cool effect. Because most of the shots were static we only used the SNAP! Gear for b-roll and the opening shot. But it's been really great to be able to pull focus with such small lenses using this gear. The SNAP! Gear and SNAP! Collar help in that regard giving the possibility of pulling focus on c-mount lenses. The combo of c-mount and SNAP! Gear is really so amazingly light weight it's a blast to shoot with.

Please visit Wayne Hsu's site. His new album will be coming out very soon:

waynehsu.com

You Said
Wayne Hsu
WorldPop

Director: Gary San Angel
Assistant Director: Serena Perrone
Camera Operator: Rocky Kev

Filming Details:

Panasonic GH1
Computar 25mm f/1.3 lens
indiSYSTEM SNAP! Gear
indiRAILSpro MP

Panasonic GH1
Kodak Cine Ektar 25mm f/1.4

Sound Devices 552 Mixer/Recorder
Sanken COS-11x

Wherever there is Water Parade Pink Martini MV Contest

3 for Pink Martini

A few months ago my sister called me pretty excited and said, "Check out Pink Martini's website. They are having a music video competition!"

"Are you serious?" I said calmly. Though I have to admit inside I was pretty excited.

Pink Martini is a 12-member "little orchestra" based in Portland, Oregon whose work I've been following since they first began in the mid 90s. I first listened to their music on KCRW in Santa Monica, CA while I was driving in traffic as is often the case in L.A. and then later saw them live in small venues in New York when I moved to the East Coast. I have seen them a number of times live and each time has always been unique and amazing. Their albums are always on my iTunes playlist for the days when you need that extra pick me up. Over the years I have been so impressed with their ability to deepen their craft and to explore their own special mark that has made them who they are. They are a group that is classical and contemporary, cinematic and very intimate, historical and experimental, and one of the few groups that cross cultures and language in a manner that honors and celebrates the world we live in.

Their music has always been a huge inspiration to me and has been profoundly influential to my own connection to my own family. I can remember when my sister and I would play Pink Martini's first album Sympathique for our Filipino family celebrations. We would often have impromptu dancing after our huge Filipino meal of pancit noodles and lumpia spring rolls.

My Uncle Buddy and Uncle Chic who were dance instructors in the Philippines would put on their best dressed dance shoes and suits. They looked like they were part of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack. Then they would request for a CD player and put in a really bad 80s Karaoke sounding ballroom dance CD. Both my sister and I hated when they played that CD. They would play it for Thanksgiving and then for X-mas and all our family gatherings. This one time my sister ejected the 80s ballroom dance CD and put in Pink Martini's Sympathique. She rolled Track 1 Amado Mio. The catchy dreamy Latin beat started to play and China Forbes and her beautiful voice pierced the din of the party conversations and within minutes our whole clan literally jumped out of their seat and started dancing.

"Who is this CD?," my Uncle Buddy would say in a thick Filipino accent still dancing, "Pink Martini? Who is this Pink Martini? I like this Pink Martini! Play that fast one again. I like that one!" And he would swing my Aunty around and show off his cha cha and tango steps and everyone would hold their plate full of pancit noodles and laugh.

Pink Martini closed the gap connecting our generations and brought our family closer. That is their music to me it is a celebration of life and a reminder that we are all connected in some small way to each other.

3 for Pink Martini are 3 music videos in a short film style format created for the Pink Martini Music Video Contest that honor my personal connection to their music as it relates to family and community and the themes of love and loss.

Animation artist Rocky Kev from the KoAloha Ukulele Story teamed up with me once more to create something that is out of the box and very personal exploring our connections to Où Est Ma Tête?, Ohayoo Ohio (Hello Ohio), and Over the Valley from their new album Splendor in the Grass.

We did something unique with this process since we were able to present more than one music video. We each created a music video in our own disciplines on our own and then collaborated on one final music video together (Over the Valley). I hope the films can explore the multiple layers of Pink Martini in a manner that you have not seen before and hopefully captures the spirit of what Pink Martini's musical message has always represented to me.

I'll end with one final personal story related to why these music videos have special meaning to me. After Sympathique, the group did not put out another album for several years and I thought perhaps they disbanded. I was randomly searching for new music to catch at the new World Cafe Live! music venue in Philadelphia. World Cafe Live! was just finding it's voice as a venue and at the time it was a strange cross between a House of Blues venue and a dinner theater. I saw Pink Martini was listed as performing for one night only. It would be their first and only show in Philadelphia. I went online and immediately purchased tickets thinking the show would be sold out but it surprisingly was not. The front row "dinner theater" style tables were totally open and available so I bought a whole table and called up my Philadelphia music loving friends and I said you have to see this group. Just like my Uncle, they had no idea who they were but went along for the ride just to humor me. At the beginning of the concert, I could hear the clatter of silverware on plates and I could tell looking at the bands reactions it was like, "Are we playing at a wedding?" But over the course of the evening, Pink Martini worked their magic and one by one people began to pop out of their chairs and started dancing. Old people. Young people. I never saw anything like it.

At the end of the show, I remember talking to an older couple who drove to every Pink Martini show on the east coast and they were on their way to catch the next show in D.C the next day. They were like teenagers again. I told my friend who sat next to me, "You know, this is really something. I mean look at all those young people and old people dancing to the same music. I've never been to a concert like this before. Somebody should do a film about this group and the people who follow their music."

So he says, "You should do it! Ask them!" As we waited after the show outside the venue I tried to rehearse what I'd say in my head but after a few minutes I immediately got cold feet and walked away.

In a very strange and special way, this music video contest has given me a chance to do something I've always wanted to do for a very long time and that is to create a film about a group that continues to inspire and bring people together across generations and across all boundaries.

To Thomas M Lauderdale, China Forbes, and the talented core artists of Pink Martini I raise a martini glass to you and say, "Salud!"

I hope these films are a small personal thank you for the music you've given me.

With every good wish,

Gary San Angel

Director

Wherever There Is Water Parade – Fleisher Art Memorial

Artist in Residence George Ferrandi led a beautiful community based art making project and parade involving stories, sculpture, paper mache, and LED lights at the Fleisher Art Memorial in South Philadelphia. Inspired by Catholic Saint processions, "Wherever There Is Water" was a unique community parade led by Huberta one of the main characters of the story and surrounded with her are a sea of paper mache LED lanterns and animals. I got to to the event as the parade was returning back to Fleisher but I was still able to capture part of the celebratory atmosphere and community spirit of the event.

I'm still doing some more testing with c-mount lenses on the GH1 using indiSYSTEM's SNAP! Gear and Collar this time with a Computar 25mm f/1.3 lens. This is a fairly fast lens and a very small lens. Because this was a night time shoot I thought this lens would be good to bring out of the bag. I also wanted to add something interesting to the mix on this shoot by adding a Raynox HD-5050PRO-LE .5x wide angle converter to the Computar 25mm lens which would make the focal length of the Computar 25mm lens a 12.5mm lens with the addition of the .5x Raynox converter. Now in order to know what focal length that would be equivalent to on a Full Frame camera we would multiply 12.5mm by 2x and we would have an equivalent field of view of a 25mm lens.

A few folks have been exploring wide angle converters simply because one of the challenges with this format is finding a good fast wide angle lens. I looked around and saw the Raynox wide angle converter which interested me because of its low image distortion as well as being very small and light weight. And with the rear thread size of the Raynox being only 37mm, I could easily attach it to the front of many of my c-mount lenses including my fast Computar 25mm f/1.3 lens. Using a 40.5mm to 37mm step down ring, I was able to attach the HD-5050PRO-LE to the front of my Computar 25mm lens with the combined weight of the lens and adapter being less than my Canon FD 50mm lens.

The Computar 25mm f/1.3 is an industrial lens that is rather fast and is one of the few c-mount 25mm lenses that I've tested that almost fills the image sensor of the GH1. Many m4/3 still photography users have picked up this lens and have had really good results but I wanted to use it in a film context and see how well it does in an evening shoot and I thought the "Wherever There is Water" Parade would be perfect to test and see how all these combination works together.

I was really astonished by how well the Raynox wide angle converter worked with the Computar 25mm c-mount lens. There was really minimal distortion and light lose and compared to other wide angle adapters that I have tried before including a Century wide angle adapter, the 5050PRO-LE can really trick your eye to think that you are shooting without a converter. Upon close inspection, I can see the light fall off and softer focus around the edges but it is much less pronounced than what I've used with other wide angle adapters and this is really quite exciting to see. I'd like to shoot with this same setup in the day just to see how well the Raynox adapter works with the Computar lens. One down side is that the wide angle lens does flare a lot and you can see that in the test footage where the street lamp light shines into the lens. It's a cool effect but it is something to be aware about.

The indiSYSTEM SNAP! Gear and Collar worked quite nicely allowing me to pull focus much better than with my Ektar II 25mm lens that I had tested previously. There's a shorter distance that you have to go from close focus to infinity and that gives you greater control. I am continually blown away by the ability to pull focus with small c-mounts lenses. There's a freedom in a way that I find so much fun. Just a few years ago, I was shooting with my back breaking my HVX or EX1 rig with 35mm adapter. And this is night and day to be able to scale down your setup and achieve similar results.

Overall, this was a fun unexpected test to see some real nice results with this combination of fast prime c-mount lens, wide angle adapter, and follow focus system in an all in one run and gun setup.

Many thanks to George Ferrandi, Fleisher Art Memorial and the Philly community for sharing their beautiful creations. Hope this captures just a small taste of this wonderful community celebration.

Featuring music by PINK MARTINI – Ou Est Ma Tete? from their new album Splendor in the Grass. (My favorite band!)

For more information on the "Wherever There is Water" Parade please visit:

fleisher.org/exhibitions/water.php

If you liked the music please buy Pink Martini's new album:

pinkmartini.com/

(Possible submission for PINK MARTINI Video Contest)

This was shot with the Panasonic GH1 1080/24P and a Computar 25mm f/1.3 c-mount lens with Raynox HD 5050PRO-LE Wide Angle Adapter.

The indiSYSTEM SNAP! Gear and Collar was also used to test pulling focus with this smaller c-mount lens.

In Memory of Steve Serota

Steve Serota, owner of Classic Camera Workshop outside of Philadelphia recently passed away.

Steve used to run a camera shop near Chinatown, Philadelphia on between 9th and Arch Street called Camera Care. When cameras starting going digital he had to sell his shop and later retired from the business. But he never left. Instead, Steve ran his camera shop from his home largely focusing on repairs and calling his online shop the Classic Camera Workshop.

I only knew him just this past year but he was one of the few guys around who had the history, know how, and love of old cameras and lenses. He had the gift of restoring and bringing them back to life.

Though I only knew him for a short time from my own need to get some old c-mount lenses repaired, I definitely felt a connection to his love and passion for classic cameras and lenses and learned a lot from him. His knowledge in the field and his persistence to tackle any problem was really amazing and he had a gift for doing what he loved to do.

Steve never charged you hourly for his services. He was one of the few camera repair guys who gave one price and stuck by it. No matter how long it took he’d get it done and repair that lens with all the tools he knew in his trade. He took a hell of a long time with your lenses though because he got them to his strict standards of perfection. Most would wait and give nudging e-mails or phone calls but then months later when you least expect it you’d be rewarded with an amazing lens that was overhauled and restored with care.

He never did get paid for what he truly deserved. He just loved doing it. He had the unique history to know how to work on so many cameras and lenses before digital came into being. Ironically, his knowledge is needed now when most people are investing to have old lenses repaired and restored to be used with DSLR cameras.

I never met him in person. Never even saw a picture of him or any pictures that he took until after he passed away. I only talked to him by phone and through e-mail. Camera lenses is why I came to him but through the process of repair and restoration he shared his life, his love of cars, taking care of his wife and mother-in-law, and his love for his son who recently just got married.

When his wife Barbara called me and told me he had passed and that she had my camera and lenses to return, my heart sank. I wanted to pay my respects in person. I drove out to his beautiful home just outside of Philadelphia and met his wife and she shared a picture of when they first got married and her own stories too, the good memories as well as the times of struggle, his health challenges and how the life of a camera repair guy was always a struggle but it's what he loved to do.

Before I left their home, she took me down to the basement where he did all his repair work. It was as if he never left. Piles of old cameras on the floor, his beat down chair bent and slightly swiveled waiting for his return and a few tools and hardware strewed on his desk as if Steve was right in the middle of a repair.

It was truly a mess but I could see some semblance of structure. There were scribbled tags in plastic bins identifying someone’s lenses or camera body. Some bins were in the middle of repair and he needed a part or two while others were not touched at all. All were just waiting to be fixed. He was the camera doctor and this was really his labor of love. In all it's chaos it was his sanctuary. His home.

In all this organized clutter of old cameras and lenses this is what he loved to do. Being able to restore a bad lens and get it back up and running to its full potential was something that he took pride in especially the ones that were impossible to repair. I remember he repaired an old cine Nikkor 10mm c-mount lens that was impossible to repair. I told him if you can't do it just let it go. He stayed up all night and gives me a proud call on the phone 8:30am the next day explaining how he could not sleep and was able to get the helicoids unfrozen. That was the kind of dedication he had to his craft.

His wife jokingly said to me, “Steve knew how to repair cameras but he could never take a good picture.” And that was not far from the truth.

When I picked up my plastic bin containing my last set of lenses from him, I imagined him telling a long story of why he was delayed with my lenses saying he was at the hospital and had meant to send them to me sooner. He would then say, “I didn’t forget about you. I got your lenses and camera right here.” And there I was holding the last of the lenses repaired by his hands. In the bin was also my GH1 camera which he used to test out all my lenses. When I turned on the camera, I saw his test pictures that he took shooting his shop and backyard using my c-mount lenses. Most pictures were really bad but it was a nice gift. They were little snap shot memories documenting a brief moment of his day to day repairs.

One was the nicest pictures was this test from his backyard using what I think was the Cine Nikkor 10mm c-mount lens.

On my way back home I decided to take a last minute stop where his shop used to be near the Chinatown Arch in Philadelphia, one of the beautiful landmarks of Philly. It was cold that night and no one was around except the few cars that passed by. I looked up and noticed there were new lights on the arch. It looked beautiful. It was a classic camera moment. I took out the plastic bin and I pulled out one of Steve’s lenses and placed it on my camera and looking through the viewfinder said, “Here’s to you Steve.” And I started shooting.

These shots were taken with a Yvar 75mm f/2.8 c-mount lens restored by his gifted hands.

Though he could not take very good pictures, he sure knew how to restore classic cameras and lenses. These pics prove his worth in gold. He was a humble master allowing his art and spirit to live on through the people who he touched and through the lenses that he restored.

Every time I use any of his lenses I'll always think of Steve Serota.

I will be creating special shorts with each of the lenses that he has restored for me.

For those who have had their lenses repaired by Steve, I invite you to send me your stories, pictures or films. I will add it to this post.

And for those who may still be anxiously waiting for your lenses and camera. His family asks for your patience at this time and are in the process of contacting all his clients.

Please feel free to contact them at Steve's e-mail at repair@camera-care.com

[Lumix GH1 and Computar 25mm test] My Personal Christmas Tradition

Yes, I know. I'm a month late with the whole Christmas holidays with this, but it's finally here. I decided to focus on something simple, but very important to me. Every year for the holidays, my family and I go to a close family friend's house to celebrate the holidays. My father always makes seafood rice soup for everyone to eat. He has done this pretty much ever year for possibly over 20 years I think sometime after his arrive in the United States. My dad is awesome, his soup is delicious and it is personally important to me, so I thought this was something that was worth recording.

While I've used other cameras before, this was my first time (first time as in during Christmas Day 2010) using the Panasonic Lumix GH1 with a 25mm computar lens. While I'm familiar with using DSLR cameras prior, I do not use it often. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the camera; it is very light, but packs quite a punch.

I was often on-the-go when I was shooting my father while he was cooking (with some assistance from my close family friend/grandmother; some of the footage is shakier than I thought. The lens I used is not made for movement, so you can see I was often adjusting the focus of the lens. Other times, I accidentally changed the f-stop rather than the focus (seen at the end). If the lighting was good, the image appeared to be quite sharp. But as I said, I was quickly trying to follow my father's moment and encountered different lighting situations: the sink near the window, the light under the stove and the dining room where it was fairly dark. I wasn't even thinking of changing the f-stop as I moved from one place to another at times as you can see with the footage of my uncle in the video. In turn, the image wasn't as crisp as I would like it to be.

Nonetheless, this is my first real attempt as using the camera. Hopefully things will get better as I learn more about it and have a better grasp on it.

MUSIC
"We WIsh You a Merry Christmas" & "Jingle Bells" by Kevin MacLeod
from incompetech.com, used under the Creative Commons license.

FILMED WITH
Panasonic GH1
Computar 25mm

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