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What is a Rodenstock TV-Heligon....

apicius9

New member
... and can I use it on a G1?

I had auctioned a pack of 'c-mount TV lenses' at this auction in Oregon a few weeks back, and they came in today - only 2 of them turned out to be c-mounts and one of them in useless shape. The others are all very strange, and the ones catching my attention were two Rodenstocks. I will post pictures later when I get home, but one of them is the same as this one here, only in better shape:

http://cgi.ebay.com/RODENSTOCK-TV-H...=66:4|65:13|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:200


The second one is a very nice and heavy looking 64/0.95. Both have fixed focus and fixed aperture and seem to have different mounts that I don't know. As I said, I'll post pictures in case anybody knows more about the mounts but thought I'd start asking to see if anybody knows anything about them.

Thanks,

Stefan
 
V

Vivek

Guest
Two words I have to describe them- Utter Crap.

(I have a few and have shot with them on film and DSLRs)

They are usually >1 kg in weight, fixed focus, fixed aperture (no diaphram) and have tons of many aberrations. To make it more useless the back focus at infinity is only a few mm.

They were made as collimating lenses for X-Ray machines (they would record the green phosphor screens illuminated by X-ray) and directly focused on a tapered fiber glass end that sat on a sensor.

Mount these on any 4/3rds or 4/3rds and you are in for a shock. These are the anti thesis of what a telecentric lens is.

Have "fun"! :ROTFL:
 

apicius9

New member
Thanks for the info Vivek, that almost sounds like you have an opinion on them ;) I found a few things through google about them, and they really seem to be of 'limited use', to say it conservatively... This post here shows a few pics, almost a bit artsy:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1030&message=31562241&q=rodenstock+heligon&qf=m

For mounting, the gentleman just glued on an Nikon adapter - that is about the amount of work and money I would be willing to invest to play around with it, but I don't have a Nikon to m4/3 adapter and so it sounds like it may not be worth it if I have to get that one first. I have all other lens formats I need covered and for these 'special' pictures alone I wouldn't want to spend too much. Unless someone has other ideas or experiences?

- Here is another collection of pictures I found, taken with the 50/0.75, same concept I guess.

http://www.aletan.com/p972322920


Oh, and heavy they are! The 64mm one has a diameter of an estimated 70mm and should weigh close to a kg.

Stefan
 
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Vivek

Guest
Stefan, Just hold them in front of your G1 and make a few snaps. If you are not satisfied, sell them off (unless you are like me- an accumulator)!
 

pentacon6

New member
I also have a similar lens which is Kowa 50mm f1 which is almost the same character as Rodenstock. I apeture the iris can be adjust of sticking a small piece of paper with hole.

The aperture is large to keep the image sharp. 1/3 small in diameter may help.
 

apicius9

New member
Interesting, think I have to play more with them. Just checked the 42/0.75 but it really needs a good cleaning first, as it is I can't say what is a smudge and what is an effect...

This pic is just a piece of Hawaiian koa wood taken with the 64/0.95 lens on a wooden cutting board. I like the way the colors came out (jpg, straight from the camera) but this is free hand and if I want any chance on getting anything sharp I have to get out the tripod. Mmmhh, maybe I do need one of these rail thingies after all :)

More experiments this weekend, I hope.

Stefan
 
M

milapse

Guest
Gives and interesting effect... I kind of like it! If your looking for that soft mysterious feel this lens definitely does the trick.
 
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