Bolex - Lens Test (Modern Anamorphic v Vintage Glass)

A simple lens test of various lenses on a Bolex H16 EBM (Super 16) camera.
Stock is Kodak Vision3 250D 7207.
Commentary / Audio:
I've included my commentary / rambling observations as audio track, which may, or may not, ad value to you -- if you prefer to make your own observations, I recommend you make good use of the mute button :) Let me hear your thoughts and observations in the comments.
Lenses tested include:
Viltrox EPIC T2 1.33x Full-Frame Anamorphics -- 35mm, 50mm and 75mm.
Kern Switar RX lenses - 10mm, 16mm, 25mm, 50mm and 17-85mm
Nikon NIKKOR Ai 35mm photography lenses
and other lenses
Mounts: Bolex Bayonet to PL Mount, C-Mount and Nikon F-Mount
Equipment provided by www.kamara.shop
On-screen actor: Michel De Beer
#Bolex #16mm #16mmfilm #super16 #shootfilm #shotonfilm #kodak #Vision3 #viltrox #anamorphic

[@montyl]

Thanks for showing varied focal length lenses. I learned something with your video. I have an EL III and starting to learn how to use it . I will soon film a documentary.

[@ryan_wiik]

Fabulous! Thanks for stopping by to leave a word. Love the EL, and we use Mk I and II also. Look forward to seeing your doc

[@paulcotto]

Thanks! I enjoyed this very much and it shows the RX lens advantage in sharpness. I have been testing a SIRUI 1.25 anamorphic adapter on my standard 16 Bolex EL also with my Rex 3 and 4 cameras. I see it as a good alternative to having the Super-16 modifications.

[@ryan_wiik]

Glad you enjoyed. That is a good solution indeed. Aspect ratios are an interesting predicament, now more than ever... !

[@grizzuh]

fantastic. thank you

[@ryan_wiik]

Glad you liked it!

[@BenEricson]

Thank you for the tests. The RX lenses do so well. The 10mm 1.6 is such a great lens. The 26mm 1.1 is one of the best lenses ever. For any system. Truly so beautiful. The focus markings are also perfect on the Kerns... The Nanomorph 27mm 1.5x is the widest modern anamorphic for S16 I believe. Due to the prism, any non RX lens will become soft after F2.8... this includes Super Speeds whatever, apparently less so on the longer end.

[@ryan_wiik]

Thanks for insight. Just got ahold of the 26mm 1.1, and a 75mm 1.9. Will try them soon. Been looking at the Nanomorphs, but the tests I’ve seen have quite a lot of chromatic aberration and distortion. There is another lens on the market now with 2x but that get extremely wide. The DZOFilm PAVO’s I’d like to try them out

[@BenEricson]

@@ryan_wiik Yeah, but even the widest lens, the 27mm is still so long on S16. I didn't see much CA or Distortion. I don't think there is a better lens than the 26mm 1.1 for the Bolex. You will be blown away.

[@thesonofavich]

@@BenEricson Love your work…what makes the 26mm different or special? Do you think the 12.5-100 kern zoom with ashperon is any good?

[@BenEricson]

@@thesonofavich 26mm covers S16 perfectly, beautiful even opened up to f1.1. Contrast, color, and contrast are all beautiful. If you shoot something with it, the image just pops. Not sure about the 12.5... I've never used it. Likely does not cover S16 through the entire range.

[@audiovisionable]

Interesting lens test. I am not familiar with the film 250D. I was surprised, the film is very sharp and rich in detail.

[@ryan_wiik]

Normally shoot with 50D in daylight, but 250D gives couple of more stops, so it's good to have in the cooler. I did look at the sharpening programs but have yet to try it on motion picture film. Thanks for stopping by !

[@rothellecooke7425]

Just curious on the AR lens, did you have to do any 2/3 stop for the lost of light or you just shot as box speed? I have a Bolex Non Rex and a Rex 1 and would like to use my non rex lens. Thanks and great video...

[@ryan_wiik]

Hi, it sounds correct that you should be making an adjustment on AR over RX. I've seen comments about that in the Bolex community, but I primarily shoot RX lenses. In general I like to overexpose, with 2/3 to one stop, as it seems to give the best results. I have found a lot of leniency in correcting overexposed shots, on the contrary, very little can be done with underexposure on film. I recommend that you look at the Bolex User Community on Facebook (group), as they will be able to give the right answer to your question. They discuss the topic of AR v RX frequently. Best Ryan

[@EJNakamura]

Viltrox very clean!

[@ryan_wiik]

I agree. We saw strong results there

[@stormcrow3642]

Great test, thank you for your efforts. Was there any post sharpening?

[@ryan_wiik]

Thanks. No post sharpening, this is how it was in-camera.

[@lenhister]

Hi there, thanks for the video. I'm new to this. What would be the crop factor for the Nikon NIKKOR lenses?

[@ryan_wiik]

Hi! That's great. I'm going to ask the DP or First Assistant Camera operator to make sure I'm giving you the right answer when I speak to them tomorrow. But in simpler terms, the 20mm Nikkor lens, is the equivalent to the lens characteristics of a 10mm Switar lens. 50mm Nikkor to the 25mm Switar lens etc. Think of 16mm film as micro-four-thirds, in terms of sensor size, and the lenses are made to cover that size format. While 35mm (photography lenses) cover the same as a "full-frame sensor". Perhaps someone here can explain this better than I am doing just now...

[@Garritspeiss]

Love the Nikon 20mm

[@ryan_wiik]

Yes, I agree. The whole nikon range is very useful. Including the 300mm with x2 converter.

[@thesonofavich]

Awesome test….were the anamorphs softer wide open then they would be on digital cam? Were they calibrated for bayonet PL mount and was the PL the Les Bosher one?

[@ryan_wiik]

Glad you like it. We only shot with a consistent 5.6 for this, so I am not able to say. We shoot the exact same lenses and settings on a digital camera, but that was for another reason. Yes, the PL mount was Les Bosher, but the lenses were straight off of a red camera they normally work on. We pulled focus off of the HD monitor from the Bolex, which matched perfectly with the lens markings.

[@thesonofavich]

@@ryan_wiikthank you Ryan….I appreciate all the info

[@3dsmaxrocks699]

Used in the movie Blow Out. Cool camera

[@ryan_wiik]

Haven’t seen it, but looks very interesting

[@ryan_wiik]

Yes I have seen it ! It’s rather good that one. You mean they filmed with this camera or it appears in the film 🎥?

[@3dsmaxrocks699]

@@ryan_wiik It appears in the film when he's taking snapshots of a magazine that had a movie filmstrip. It's a great movie. Very Hitchcock-like. Brian De Palma made it.

[@sentergus]

Awesome stuff! When using anamorphic, did you have video tap to desqueeze?

[@ryan_wiik]

Yes we did. The tap was made by Old Fast Glass and we used an Atomos Ninja V

[@sentergus]

Awesome, thanks for the info. Did you purchase the bolex super 16 or did you have it converted? Also, have you ever recorded audio to sync with the bolex? Curious about what I can get on a budget and have usable audio to go along with it taking into account motor noise.

[@luciano16mm]

Thanks Ryan, a really interesting test. The sharpness of the Switar and Nikon "prime lenses" is excellent... A question: I was struck by the great stability of the images: Was the footage digitally stabilized?

[@ryan_wiik]

Great to hear. No, this is straight out of the camera. Shot with EBM.

[@luciano16mm]

@@ryan_wiik Thank you Ryan, this is truly outstanding. The lab that converted your EBM to S16 did an excellent job. Can you tell me which is this lab that converted your Bolex? I also have a Bolex (H16EL) and can't wait to convert it to S16😀

[@ryan_wiik]

@@luciano16mm the service tech who did the conversion on this EBM to s16 was Les Bosher. The camera is also upgraded with HD video tap by Old Fast Glass. The lab who did film development and scan is Cinelab in Romania. They are excellent. EL is fantastic, we use them too. Congrats on securing one

[@luciano16mm]

@@ryan_wiik Thank you very much Ryan, I ask you one last thing: do you know if Lesh Bosher also offers technical assistance on Bolex, or can you tell me who else does it, possibly in Europe? Since Bolex ceased all activity in Switzerland, I don't know who to turn to in case I need qualified technical assistance...

[@ryan_wiik]

@@luciano16mm you should reach out to Microdelta in Palma de Mallorca. He is very capable - granted that he has the capacity.

[@redrick7735]

I am a Bolex EBM H16 Electric User. Where could i find adapter for PL, EF or any other kind of lenses? Thanks

[@ryan_wiik]

Hi! Sorry I didn’t see this before. The PL mount is made and sold by Les Bosher, but also sold by Bolfix in Switzerland and Duall Camera in New York. The C mount to Nikon lens adapter I found new on eBay for a song, and same should be available for EF etc

[@Energyboy83]

Where would be the best website to purchase the lens adapter mounts from?

[@ryan_wiik]

PL Lens adapter or the Nikon one mentioned ?

[@Energyboy83]

@@ryan_wiik I'm guessing both? I have a Super16 EBM and want to use Anamorphic or/prime lenses like you have. I'm new to the Bolex game and would love to put some modern Anamorphic or even Vintage lenses onto the camera to shoot.

[@ryan_wiik]

@@Energyboy83congrats, sure is a great camera. If you are based in the US, best place might be Du-All camera in New York. They carry the same PL mount adapter we used here (it’s made by Les Bosher in the UK, where you can buy it directly). If not Bolfix in Switzerland also carry it. For nikon lenses make sure you get the original Nikon F - C mount adapter. Got this one on eBay for a song 🎵

[@anthonyjanssen4141]

Hi@@ryan_wiik thank you for all of this great info. I'm re-visiting this video and learning about the Nikon f - c mount adapter and it's ability to have a quick preview with the aperture open - that sounds like an absolute game-changer when wanting to make sure you're in focus in a quick, run and gun scenario (I have a Bolex S16 EBM as well). I currently have kern switar lenses, but am almost considering selling them and investing in Nikon glass for that functionality alone. As I'm looking at the adapter you're talking about to take advantage of that functionality... I'm not finding any info on the one's I'm seeing and if it has that specific function. Do you have any more info on them? Really appreciate your time.

[@ryan_wiik]

@@anthonyjanssen4141 great to hear. The Nikon lenses are very good indeed and user friendly, and I always take some with in my kit. So there is a pin that sticks out, and when you push that, it fully opens the aperture blades on any Nikon AI lens regardless of what aperture you have set it to, then when you release the pin, the lens returns to your set position. I’ll try to post a picture of the original Nikon adapter that does this here