A Cutting-edge Camera With a 102-Year-Old Lens [Cameras]

Timur Civan was not content with the lens offerings for his Canon 5DmkII, so he outfitted it with a Wollensak 35mm F5.0 Cine-Velostigmat lens from 1908. That’s over a hundred years of photography history in one camera. And it works!

Works beautifully, I should say.

Civan posted in regards to the unlikely pairing over on Cinema5D:

I have an upcoming photography project that needs a vintage look. Initially i was going to shoot it on 4×5 large format film, but found the equipment and processing cost prohibitive. My friend, a Russian lens technician, who loves nothing more than to frankenstein equipment, was assisting me in building the 4×5 camera. When we abandoned the 4×5 solution, i put the project on back burner. This morning he called me into his store on NYC. He has something for me…. He found in a box of random parts, hidden inside anther lens this gem. A circa 1908 ( possibly earlier) 35mm lens. Still functioning, mostly brass, and not nearly as much dust or fungus as one would think after sitting in a box for over a hundred years. This lens is a bit of motion picture history, and at this point rare beyond words. So i say to him, ” Wow… what do you may have in mind?” he smiles, and says, ( inside the thickest russian accent you could imagine) ” I will be able to make this fit EF you know…” my eye twinkled, and then 6 nail biting hours later,he had it finished. My Russian Lens technician is a mad scientist and he took what appeared like an angle grinder to the lens to make its clear the flange distance and the mirror……. This lens’ value is unclear. its style of on loan. It’s the best lens of its kind on a 5D… or any digital for that matter.

Its funny while i was shooting these, EVERY photographer i saw stopped and asked me concerning the lens… it just looks so goofy on there.

Check out the Cinema5D thread for some more great shots with this antique kit. [ Cinema5d ]

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This post is tagged: hundred years, motion picture history, photography history, photography project, russian accent