If you have ever wondered why cine lenses are so expensive, well, then this post won’t answer that question (more complex configuration, better built, etc.). This post is actually to show how easy it is to convert a manual vintage lens for cine use by adding cinegears and de-clicking the aperture. These vintage lenses can be had from Pentax or any other manufacturer, and the process of de-clicking is similar on all of them. What makes this a great value proposition is that these lenses often offer great image quality, but can be had for around $100 (some are more, some are less). Is this ideal? No, cine lenses are much better to work with, especially if you have the budget to own or rent them, but if you don’t, converting older manual lenses for cine use is the next best thing, and it is very affordable.
It probably hasn’t escaped your attention, but a few days ago a new “gadget” called tetherboost was introduced. The claims are that this device will provide power to your connected camera when tethering, thus reducing the power requirements for your computer and your camera. The result should be longer battery life when tethered, and a more stable and presumably faster connection. So what is this thing then?
Well, it is nothing more than a powered usb 3.0 hub with a power bank attached to it (or AC if you work in a studio). Instead of paying well over $100 for an entire thetherbooster set, you can make your own. I have been using a similar setup for years now, and if anything, it reduces the power requirements on both the laptop and the camera. You are therefore not eating through batteries as quickly, especially when you are shooting on location. My setup has a few advantages:
it is more affordable than the tetherbooster
it adds a flashlight, so makes it more versatile on location
items are readily available on amazon, so if you break them, you can easily replace them
the battery pack has higher power outputs, thus allowing you to tether longer, as well as charge your phone or other devices via a secondary high power (2.1A) usb port.
The battery pack also has twice the rated capacity of the other solution
Let’s Make Our TetherBooster
You can substitute with whatever else you feel is working for you, however, the items I list below are those that work for me with both usb 3.0 and usb 2.0 tethered connections:
USB 3.0 portable powered hub (includes AC adapter) on AMAZON
USB POWER BANK with LED and 2 outputs (10000 mAh) on AMAZON
USB to DC cable (connects the hub to the power bank) on AMAZON
As of this writing, you will spend less than $40 on all of these. All you really have to do is to connect the USB hub to your computer (with the cable that comes with the hub), connect your camera via USB to the hub, and make sure that you either power the hub with the AC adapter, or your power bank. Use the 1A connector on the power bank and leave the 2.1A output for your tablet or other devices (in case you need a charge on location). That’s it. You just made yourself a tether booster for less than half the cost of the other solution, while also getting a better power bank (with built-in flashlight and 10,000 mAh rated capacity).
If you haven’t tried CaptureFix yet to get your Pentax 645Z images imported into Capture One, you will find out once you do, that PhaseOne not only deliberately blocked 645Z images from importing, but they also no longer assign an ICC color profile that allows you to get a true representation of the colors when you took that image. As I am always using a color calibration target in my workflow, I have gotten used to the quirky way of managing color in C1, but others probably never saw the need for it. I received many requests from CaptureFix users as to how they can adjust the color, or if I could provide my ICC profiles to them. Although I have a base profile, I usually shoot a target and make adjustments where necessary. As this is really no rocket science I felt the need to make a quick video showing how you can easily make those adjustments yourself going forward. I will also include my basic color profile and settings in this post, free for you to download and use. Keep in mind that these are “close enough” starting points. They are not meant to be perfect, but they will get you close to where you probably would want to start or be at with your adjustments. The below video was made using C1 8.1.1 and files modified with CaptureFix.
645Z CaptureFix for Capture one (8.1.1) and ICC/Color calibration
As you probably noticed, there are several ways to apply the color correction you made. You can apply it as a default ICC profile for the 645Z (in the ICC tab) once saved as an ICC profile, or you can simply apply it upon import to each file as a user color preset. I think the ICC approach may be easier, if you want to use your (or my) profile as a base from where you will make additional adjustments as needed. On OSX make sure to put the ICC profile into ~/Library/colorsync/profiles/ so that C1 is able to find it. As always, this is provided free and as is. Make sure to reach out and let me know if you have other issues or found the perfect ICC you would like to share with me. Enjoy!
CaptureFix C1 645Z ICC/Color Profile
This package includes both the color profile, as well as the ICC profile for using 645z images in Capture One
There are many reasons for how we pick our cameras: sensor resolution, max ISO, image quality, max. shutter speed, handling, weight, and so on. The list is probably just as long as the number of different models available today. Some reasoning is rational, some pure emotion. I have shot with pretty much any manufacturer over the years, and to what it comes down for me, is how the camera feels, when I use it. I believe that no camera is able to replace creativity and an artist’s vision, no matter how spec’d out it is. You can create amazing images with your iPhone, or any other camera for that matter, so for me, it has always been about the experience: the camera needs to become a natural extension of my creative vision.
Shooting with the Pentax 645Z Medium Format Camera
That said, there are many cameras that can do that, but none of them offers the resolution and pixel sharpness I get from my 645Z. I shot with Hasselblad, I shot with PhaseOne, and the handling on the 645Z is very close to a DSLR, which cannot be said for any model made by the other medium format guys. Autofocus is quick, and works well. 3fps is nothing to call home about when compared to a DSLR, but then again, this is not your average DSLR. For a medium format camera, 3FPS is very impressive, and it allows me to have a workflow similar to what I would have with a full frame DSLR.
The 645Z is not perfect. There are a bunch of things I wish they would have done differently, but there is hope. RICOH has been very responsive to feedback, and I believe that they are genuinely interested in turning the medium format market upside-down. The 645z is an almost perfect start, and with the exciting things happening around the 645 system now and in the future, for me, this is the system I can trust and enjoy working with. Your opinion and workflow may be different, and that’s OK. The 645Z is not for everyone, and it doesn’t pretend to be. But if you know its strength, this is definitely the most powerful medium format tool out there today. And yes, tethering is right around the corner
Some of you are probably curious to find out whether the 28-45mm ED AW SR is able to replace the 25mm f/4.0 at 28mm. 3mm focal length reduction isn’t really a lot, especially if you consider that you gain a total of 20mm zoom range, making this a much more versatile wide to ultra-wide lens for the Pentax 645 system. Image quality wise (non scientific just by looking at the crops), the 28-45mm offers greater center sharpness (and resolution) at 28mm, whereas the 25mm seems to have a slight advantage as you go look further towards the edges of the frame. YMMV.
This is taken with the 25mm at f/9, 125th/sec.
This is taken with the 28-45 at f/9, 125th/sec.
Both images were shot from the same position on a tripod (SR disabled on the 28-45mm). To really get an idea what you will gain (or lose) when shooting with the 25mm or 28-45mm I decided to overlay both images. They are not a perfect fit (because of different distortions), but I am sure you get the idea.
Shake Reduction aside, both are heavy lenses, but I feel that at a similar price point, the 28-45mm ED AW SR is a more versatile choice, which also happens to offer better center sharpness. All images shot on a 645z.
I am excited to share a first look at the brand new RICOH PENTAX DA 645 28-45mm f/4.5 ED AW SR Lens with you.
HD PENTAX DA 645 28-45mm F4.5 ED AW SR Lens Review
I only had the chance to spend a little time with the lens so far, but I can tell you that it is
massive!
super sharp
fast (as in focusing speed)
has nice bokeh (for a wide angle lens that is)
optically stabilized (SR)
has nano coating (reduces glare)
has less distortion than the 25mm f/4
accepts standard filters (82mm)
well built
weather sealed
works really well with the 645Z
has a great workable zoom-range for a wide-angle lens
I actually prefer this over the 25mm f/4, because it is a much more versatile lens at a similar price point
has virtually silent autofocus (in case you want to shoot video with it, this would matter)
has a nice feel to it, and balances well
In case you wonder: this is not a walkaround lens by any means. While it handles really well, it requires some serious commitment when you shoot with it. If you shoot on a tripod, this won’t matter, but handheld is quite intense (as is with any heavy lens). As I said, I was only able to use the lens for a short period of time, and right before its official announcement, but I already took it out and shot some active lifestyle images with it.
I will have more images with detailed BTS from my next shoot, and a full review soon, but this is a strong contender for becoming my favorite lenses for the RICOH PENTAX 645 system.
It’s no secret, I love my Broncolor Move 1200L packs.
I love them so much, that I take them with me almost everwhere I go. They became part of my shotkit, and Broncolor does a good job providing a backpack/trolley when you get on eof their kits. It looks pretty good next to my other bag I often use, and I can attest that the backpack is working (although you may not necessarily want to haul this around on a hike, as the pack with two heads is heavy).
Gotta love the broncolor move 1200L
What I noticed though is that when you use the backpack as a trolley to bring the move packs and heads on set, they are quite bulky and not sturdy enough at all for a tough on-location life. What I mean is that they take up space in your car or truck in a less than most efficient way, while only providing little protection against rough handling. This issue becomes worse when you are forced, as I was recently, to check this backpack and hope it’ll all survice the lovely and careful handling by TSA and airport employees. One of my kits had an umbrella and softbox inside, and both were bent somewhat after the flight. The backpacks are also rather bulky to store. They don’t really fit into my shelves, and they take up quite some space on the ground. I am sure you movepack owners out there have experienced this as well. For me, there was only one solution: get rid of the backpacks (repurpose them), and create my own custom carry cases.
So when I started out with my design, I wanted to make sure that these cases can be locked, that they are air- and watertight, that they have solid and durable wheels, that they come in bright colors (much easier to spot on the conveyor belt), that they look unsuspicious from the outside, and that they can carry at least two move 1200L packs at any given time. While I initially wanted these cases to be carry-on’s, I soon abandoned this idea, because available cases were simply not able to caryy two packs and a few accessories reliably. I also wanted to focus on portability and versatility on the shoots that are more local to me, so I ended up settling for the smallest size possible (which is no longer a carry-on). Next up was to decide on how many packs I want to be able to fit into these cases, and whether I wanted to include the heads as well. I decided against putting the heads into the same case. Here’s why: I figured that I could design a case that would house 8 heads, or simply use an off-the-shelf case to keep lamp heads together. Getting heads into the same case with the packs would just have made it much heavier, and also much bigger. So this is what I ended up with:
move pack custom case
This is the smallest case I could find that was able to accomodate two Broncolor move 1200L packs, as well as some accessories. After thinking about it for a while, I also decided against adding room for spare batteries. I only twice ran out of battery power on a location shoot, and whenever I shoot near an outlet, I can always use the broncolor power adapter to charge the batteries while I am using the packs. It is that the 1200L packs are just so powerful, and I get so many flashes out of them, that it is unlikleyu that I will run out of power, even with only one battery per pack. The cutout of the foam looks like this:
move pack custom case
As you can see, the case allows to securely and safely carrry two broncolor move 1200L packs, as well as up to four RFS2.1 trasmitters. Although not designed for it, the cut outs will also fit some pocket wizards if that’s your poison. I prefer RFS 2.1, because it allows me to control the modeling linghts, as well as the output on each channel for several packs. This comes in handy if one or more of your lights are in remote or difficult to access locations, or simply if you work on your own, or with a lazy assistant As you can see, the packs fit nicely into the custom case:
move 1200L case
What I wanted to make sure when I designed the case is that the move packs would’nt move around when you toss the case, or even have to ship it somewhere. As you can see below, the packs slightly extend through the top of the base foam, which provides just enough pressure on them with the lid closed.
move pack custom case
That said, I love that new case. It provides a safe and secure way for shipping and carrying two move packs to almost anywhere. Next up? A case for four packs, my lampheads, and one to hold a para88 & para133 at the same time. Want one of these for yourself? Message me, and I can hook you up!
As you can see, the packs fit nicely into the custom case:
