Redrock Micro's M2: Mount 35mm Lenses on Your DV Camera

By Todd Sali

With most of today's affordable HD cameras employing 1/3-in. chips and fixed lenses, any user's inner artist may feel confined. As a videographer, I strive to draw viewers deep into the tale at hand, but without selective focus, macro and fisheye capabilities, that goal is often compromised, resulting in a mere "video" feel. Yet by allowing one to mount 35mm still-camera lenses—or even high-end Cooke or ARRI optics—on these same cameras, the M2 Cinema Lens Adapter from Redrock Microsystems (www.redrockmicro.com) plays the role of artistic liberator.

Collaborating with an unnamed major film company, the Redrock's engineers emulate the tools that the big boys rent, using those same high standards to create implements of similar quality for indie customers. And on the Redrock online forum, you'll find the consistently helpful presence of representative Brian Valente (whose informative Podcasts can be found at www.redrockmicro.com/podcasts.html.)

By employing the breadth of 35mm lenses—with their high-quality glass and fine optical design—truly cinematic images can emerge. Instead of a flat, "everything in focus" look, even an extremely shallow depth of field is obtainable, helping one guide the viewer's eye.

It should be noted that there are other lens adapters available for this use, including the P+S Technik Mini35 Digital Adapter (reviewed in DV August 2006), the Cinevate Brevis35 and a new offering coming from Zacuto.

Carrying more gear adds time in personal education, maintenance and increased load on the back or in checked luggage—especially relevant for run-and-gun scenarios. With that in mind, I choose whether or not to bring the full Redrock M2 kit based on each shoot. But the joy of shooting is in the available creative options—the "expanded universe" if you will—so I generally take the entire kit. I miss the glory days of my XL1s and their removable lenses, but being able shoot decent HD on a similar budget is remarkable. In a production of a three-part series on biodiversity for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County—though we had pitched and budgeted SD—we gambled on HD and cinematic techniques, hoping the combination of the Redrock M2 system and a Panasonic HVX-200 might surpass expectations. That decision translated into greater job satisfaction, making the days feel shorter and my life brighter. But I digress. The use of the M2 demands some important considerations.

The M2's 2/3-stop light loss favors the use of more expensive, fast lenses, and can increase lighting needs or diminish potential locations and times of day. Add to that the HVX-200's poor low-light performance and lighting strategy becomes key. While a shallow depth of field is glorious for many occasions, it's not always desired. Shooting with a small light kit often required an f/2.8 or f/4 aperture—not always within a lens' sweet spot, nor always rendering the desired look. Overcranking eats more light still. But instead of supplementing existing light, which can allow fine results and quick setups, I recommend having even more light available than you might think, which can add setup time and gear purchase/rental.

Adding a complete M2 package (starting at $2,205; packages include the M2 along with Redrock's custom accessories, such as a rod support system, microMatteBox, microFollowFocus, microWhips and wireless microRemote follow focus) may suddenly double the size of your camera kit. But when imagery is integral to story, the M2 lets you shoot lovely material. For run-and-gun or low-profile shoots, you can leave it at home or easily dismantle in the field.

Images coming into the camera through a 35mm lens are viewed and recorded flip-flopped. Some units offer an internal flip adjustment, but not the HVX-200. However, numerous solutions are possible. One is the Redrock microX, a recently announced optional flip accessory due out this summer that uprights the image before it enters your camera. The light cost, however, is another fraction of a stop.

A more down-and-dirty solution is the use of an external LCD that either has a built-in flip or is hung upside down. LCD options have been lacking to date: there’s the excellent (but expensive) Panasonic BT-LH80W, or the acceptable (yet bulky and heavy) Marshall V-R70P-HDA. New options are emerging, including the Varizoom Swit, a promising new Nebtek, and the Ikan V8000HD, which seems like a winner.

Another solution is Scopebox, by Divergent Media, a software-based field monitor that has wonderful scopes, meters, flip and direct-to-disc recording. Running on a laptop, Scopebox can eliminate the external monitor among other benefits. Redrock bundles a free "lite" monitor-only version of Scopebox that includes the flip function.

In Final Cut Pro, the flip solution is painless: drop all clips into a timeline, add the real-time flip filter to one, select both horizontal and vertical, copy clip, and paste attributes to all others. Drag those clips to a new bin and don’t look back. To evaluate quality on a studio HD monitor, I used an Aja Kona3 on a Mac Pro (loaned by Promax), using an ATTO 44ES Fibre Card and a G-Speed RAID array from G-Technology. The Kona3 has elegant setups for DVCPROHD, making it a breeze to color correct in an uncompressed HD world if needed.

Proper initial setup and calibration of the M2 adapter is critical for consistent edge-to-edge focus. Calibration should be done in a controlled studio setting; I recommend four or five run-throughs to fully grasp the concepts involved. Then, if calibration appears off in the field, a quick readjust won't grind production to its knees. Redrock also provides a comprehensive step-by-step DVD with the M2. Plan to spend a day getting acquainted with the gear and shooting test footage. You may also want to bone up on lens types, as well optical principals. This may sound like a lot of homework, but it can be fun—and it certainly will make you a better DP.

Lens selection is a vast subject that I will just skim the surface of. Look for manual-focus primes that are f/2.8 or faster. Zoom lenses can breathe, causing the image to change in size during a focus pull. Prime lenses also tend to be sharper. Unfortunately the Canon EOS lenses and newer Nikons have electronic apertures and lack a physical aperture ring—diminishing control, since stopping down should be done on the lens, not the camera. Many still photographers have moved to autofocus lenses, so look for deals on eBay and other auction sites.

Manual Nikon and Canon FD/FL lenses are great and also have a mechanical aperture ring. If you want to try the finest, the new Zeiss F-mount lenses are outstanding. These fast, fully manual lenses have solid and fluid feel and tremendous optics—and they're color-matched—but they're a tad pricey. I've tried all the above with great results, though I'm particularly enamored with Zeiss' line, and I can't wait until their macro lenses start shipping.

Using the M2 adapter on an HVX-200 for our Natural History Museum HD project, we hoped to gain a more pleasing shallow depth of field for interviews, using wide angles for scenics and interiors, and employing a macro perspective to capture the world's finer details.

Thanks to the M2 system, Zeiss T2.8 25mm and T1.4 85mm lenses and a Nikon F2.8 105mm Macro served as my standard optics throughout the shoot. I captured the images of my desire without spending more than the cost of the camera, as is the case with some other solutions. Even with a small crew, we were able to get what we wanted. Handheld work was difficult, though, and our small lighting package presented challenges beyond the already light-challenged HVX-200.

Prepping for the shoot was more time-consuming with the M2 along, and the gear gave my Petrol backpack a good workout. But since I also served as the editor on this project, I gained a second perspective: without a doubt, having access to more cinematic, expressive footage freed me to edit more elegantly, to experiment more with storytelling, and ultimately deliver messages with greater impact.

While use of the Redrock M2 Adapter will add cost, complication, maintenance and setup time to a production, the artist in you will be grateful for taking the trouble. After this test experience, I'd be loathe to work without one.

View sample footage of the Redrock M2 Adapter at http://www.redrockmicro.com/footage/HVX200/HVX_with_without_adapter_comparison.mov and www.redrockmicro.com/samples.html.

Todd Sali is the founder of thesandbox, a solar-powered production and post boutique in Venice, Calif. When not editing or producing, he is out in the wide world shooting HD time-lapse, which can be seen at www.sandboxla.com.