Manual Controls on the HV20

[prs986]

Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum and the HV20. Awesome camera I must say. So I was wondering, I've been reading up on this forum about these 35mm adapters that allow more manual control and shallower DOF. Now what I'm wondering is, is there a way to connect another lense on the camera that has a focus ring w/o using a 35mm adapter? Or is the 35mm adapter the only and best way to go? Thanks for your help.

[Erik Bien]

Hi prs, welcome to the forum!

If you tire of manual focus using the little bead gizmo on the HV20, you will need a 35mm adapter. If your adapter doesn't "flip" the image, you'll need to use a monitor, mount the HV20 inverted, or learn to love framing everything upside-down. And you'll need to start collecting 35mm still lenses to mount on your adapter.

[Terfyn]

You can connect any lens to the HV20 with converter rings, as long as you land up at 43mm. Whether they will work or not you will find by trial and error.
What are you trying to achieve? A shallow depth of field or easy focusing?

[prs986]

You can connect any lens to the HV20 with converter rings, as long as you land up at 43mm. Whether they will work or not you will find by trial and error.
What are you trying to achieve? A shallow depth of field or easy focusing?


Pretty much just easy focusing. But looking at all the video clips of 35mm adapters....the result is amazing! but they're so expensive! So lets say I bought a Canon FD lense off of ebay.....could I just use converter rings to connect it....or is there more involved?

[Worley]

I don't think you can as the focal point - the point at which the lens focuses - will be at a point other than the HV20's sensor.

The solution is to introduce a focusing screen onto which the external lens can focus, then focus the HV20 onto that.

And if you do that, you've made a 35mm adapter!

They are not that expensive. Extension tubes £10, focusing screen £20, static screen holder £15, step up rings £5. That's £50 excluding the lens. Not too expensive at all!

[prs986]

I don't think you can as the focal point - the point at which the lens focuses - will be at a point other than the HV20's sensor.

The solution is to introduce a focusing screen onto which the external lens can focus, then focus the HV20 onto that.

And if you do that, you've made a 35mm adapter!

They are not that expensive. Extension tubes £10, focusing screen £20, static screen holder £15, step up rings £5. That's £50 excluding the lens. Not too expensive at all!

Thanks for the info! Doesn't sound too bad! I'm here in the U.S. so I'm not sure what the price would be here. What's a good site that had easy to follow instructions and list of things needed?

[toxotis70]

If the elements to have a 35mm are so cheap, why are they cost so much ?
What do we need the "vibrator" ?
Do you have a cheap 35mm adapter under 200 $?

[Worley]

The vibration is not strictly required, but it helps disguise imperfections on the focussing screen - dust, small scratches, and the grain. A static adapter has no means of reducing this type of 'noise'.

If you use cheaper lenses than Nikon or Canon then the cost of the adapter can be considerably reduced. Tamron and Sigma lenses are alternatives, but I have no idea how good/bad they are. I would imagine that with optics, you really will get what you pay for.

I bought my lens on eBay from Germany at a very reasonable price.

If you choose carefully, and your timing is just right, you can pick up some great bargains, in which case you can certainly build an adapter for around $200.

[dr jones]

If the elements to have a 35mm are so cheap, why are they cost so much ?






labor.


high quality casing.

[tcindie]

Why do 35mm adapters cost so much? there is cost involved in producing them, and cost involved in doing research to further improve the design. As the people selling them are making that their business they are making a profit on these.

However, it's no different than paying over $100 for a light stand that you can build yourself for 1/3 of the cost.

The thing is there are many people who are either too lazy, or afraid, etc to try and build their own -- as a result, they pay more for the same result.

[mattias]

i guess you could build a 35mm adapter with a condenser lens instead of the ground glass. that would produce an aerial image which the built in zoom could focus on. a major problem would be that even a 20mm is a quite long tele on the 1/3" ccd. there's always the peleng 8mm, but even that only becomes a "normal" lens.

some anamorphic and wide angle adapters seem to have their own rings. a 1.33 a-lens would give you a 2.35:1 ratio as well, which would be cool. i'm gonna have to look into that myself. thanks. :-)

/matt