3k Canon 28 70 F2 8A
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3k Canon 28 70 F2 8B
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3k Canon 28 70 F2 8C
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4k_Canon 28 70F5 6
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Canon24 70F5 6
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Canon24 70F5 6B
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Canon Birger Mount Info
The Canon EOS Birger Mount is basically a 'smart' mount that attaches to the front of the RED One after removing the PL mount. This is an easy 10 minute process and what this enables you to do is utilize virtually any Canon EOS compatible lens on your RED One. Since the apertures on EOS lenses are controlled electronically by the camera, a 'dumb' version that simply physically attaches the lenses to the camera wouldn't be of much use. The Birger mount allows aperture control on the mount with focus control that maps the entire focus range to approximately 300 degrees of travel on a wired or wireless follow focus unit. This eliminates the basic shortcoming of still lenses in this category which is the short focus travel and lack of focus gears. The mount is still remaining to be shipped in volume but there are many other features, options and exciting possibilities that this mount enables. Here is some other info about the history of the Birger mount:
Birger’s lens mount & the future of glass
Posted December 9th, 2007 @ 06:32 PM by Chris Kenny
I’ve discussed some of the tradeoffs with cine vs. photo lenses before. So, why have we decided to go in this direction? Well, largely it’s just a cost/benefit analysis. We can’t afford a $100K Cooke S4 set. Nor do we want to rent all the time; one of the major attractions of Red, for us, is that we can own a complete package. We can afford Red’s glass, so that’s what we’re putting up against the SLR option.
With SLR lenses, for the price of just a Red 18-50mm zoom, we can get the Birger mount, plus several primes and zooms. For the price of the 18-50mm zoom + the price of the 50-150 zoom, we can buy practically every current-model EOS lens we can ever imagine wanting to shoot with. The SLR route just provides much more flexibility. For instance, buying the two Red lenses, we’d be stuck at f/2.8.
The Birger guys have managed to come up with some pretty neat stuff. Their mount will be able to feed lens metadata into the camera, once Red enables this feature, for instance, just like Red’s lenses (or other lenses with /i technology) can. This will solve the problem of figuring out what your aperture is set to on EOS lenses (which have no physical aperture controls or indicators). The camera will simply tell you.
Perhaps more interesting, the Birger mount can control focus as well as aperture, using the built-in focusing motors of EOS lenses. And this is were we get what I think might be a little glimpse of the future. If you read my previous post (linked above) about the benefits of real cine glass, you’ll see that a lot of them are related to the mechanics of focus pulling. If electronic focus pulling turns out to work smoothly, a lot of that goes right out the window. Lenses won’t need perfectly calibrated physical focus markings, because a bit of testing will produce an electronic table mapping specific physical distances to specific electronic settings. Lenses won’t need extended focus scales either, of course, because they can be moved with electronic precision regardless of how close together their focus marks are physically. This opens the door up to achieving great results with very low-cost mass-produced glass.
Electronic focus control has boarder implications than just eliminating the need for some costly precision mechanical engineering, though. It also opens the door to all sorts of new capabilities. Birger’s system will be controllable via Bluetooth. Imagine figuring out your focus marks using Red’s “magic focus assist”, and then programing them into a laptop and cueing them at the appropriate times with a couple of key presses. Or imagine a “smart” autofocus system based around range-finding equipment, which could rack focus to track an object through space far better than any human focus puller.
Given all of this, it seems like EOS lenses with the Birger mount are shaping up to be the indie option of choice for Red.
Will it have autofocus?
No autofocus. Not yet at least. We have a future module planned that will communicate with the lens mount and watch the video tap on the camera to effect auto-focus, and more importantly for cinema applications, an auto-interactive focus, which will overcome some of the problems with a traditional auto-focus. The system will not simply be based on the two dimensional image from the camera sensor. It will also be based on a three dimensional understanding of the dynamic scene. This is based on something we are working on for a homeland security application. I will not be releasing any more details about this until we are ready to demonstrate the technology. This will probably be 2Q08.
Is the Birger Mount Upgradeable?
It is a system based concept. All modules are software upgradeable for the life of the system. The auto-interactive-focus module, will simply be a plug in accessory.
Will it have image stabilization support for EFS?
All mounts support IS, VR, etc...
Will it have breathing compensation?
It is one of many features on a list for later. Once we either release our own zoom motor, or have integrated with the RED motor, we will look at implementing this. The real issue is the production of the calibration data. We have ways to do this automagically... but that will require our auto-interactive focus module that we will not be announcing for some time...The other request that comes quite often is aperture comensation on variable aperture zooms. Because of the quarter stop steps of the Canon iris mechanism, this feature may not be that interesting without some intervention in post. THis also requires a zoom motor
Will you always have the same full control range on the slider/ff knob?
Range of motion is the same across lenses. But the resolution of that motion may be different. The knob will always have the same 4000 steps. But the lenses vary from a few hundred steps, to many thousand.
Is there any time delay or lag in the focus knob?
Minimal. The knob poisiton is measured, and then the result is communicated to mount, which then commands the lens to update its position. This measurement happens at a fixed interval, which has in testing been on the order of 25 to more than 60 times per second. We will probably want to synchronize this to the frame rate of the camera. The lag is on the order of one time interval, plus the motor response time. If the knob is moved faster than the lens is capable of moving, the lens will eventually catch up. If memory serves, an iris move takes about 50mS.
On power off then on, does your focus and fstop return to previous values?
No, but we certainly could make this a software feature. The iris stays in the same phsical position when powered up, but its absolute position is not known (unless of course we store it in the mount). The focus position can be measured on power up and moved back to the same location. Regardless of operating mode, when powering up, a homing operation is required on both axes.zz
How is the iris set?
The iris is set through a second knob, a bluetooth enabled PDA or computer, our wireless remote control, some third party bluetooth device... or a menu in the RED camera or using the RED superGrip... if and when this makes RED's priority list.
Erik, how many steps for the Canon 24-70 f2.8L and Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS?
Only have the data readily available for a few lenses:
LENS NAME: #STEPS
CANON LENS EF 50mm 1:1.4 USM: 660
CANON ZOOM LENS EF-S 10-22mm 1:3.5-4.5 USM: 1185
CANON LENS EF 14mm 1:2.8L USM: 1398
CANON ZOOM LENS 16-35mm 1:2.8L USM: 1566
CANON LENS EF 100mm 1:2 USM: 1687
CANON LENS EF 28mm 1:1.8 USM: 1800
CANON ZOOM LENS EF 28-105mm 1:3.5-4.5 USM: 1900
CANON LENS EF 200mm 1:2.8L USM: 2098
CANON ZOOM LENS EF 28-135mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS USM: 2276
CANON ZOOM LENS EF 70-200mm 1:2.8L IS USM: 2512
CANON LENS EF 35mm 1:1.4L USM: 2517
CANON LENS EF 24mm 1:1.4L USM: 2521
CANON MACRO LENS EF 100mm 1:2.8 USM: 2535
CANON MACRO LENS EF-S 60mm 1:2.8 USM: 3298
CANON LENS EF 200mm 1:1.8L USM: 3706
CANON LENS EF 85mm 1:1.2L USM: 4212
Birger’s lens mount & the future of glass
Posted December 9th, 2007 @ 06:32 PM by Chris Kenny
I’ve discussed some of the tradeoffs with cine vs. photo lenses before. So, why have we decided to go in this direction? Well, largely it’s just a cost/benefit analysis. We can’t afford a $100K Cooke S4 set. Nor do we want to rent all the time; one of the major attractions of Red, for us, is that we can own a complete package. We can afford Red’s glass, so that’s what we’re putting up against the SLR option.
With SLR lenses, for the price of just a Red 18-50mm zoom, we can get the Birger mount, plus several primes and zooms. For the price of the 18-50mm zoom + the price of the 50-150 zoom, we can buy practically every current-model EOS lens we can ever imagine wanting to shoot with. The SLR route just provides much more flexibility. For instance, buying the two Red lenses, we’d be stuck at f/2.8.
The Birger guys have managed to come up with some pretty neat stuff. Their mount will be able to feed lens metadata into the camera, once Red enables this feature, for instance, just like Red’s lenses (or other lenses with /i technology) can. This will solve the problem of figuring out what your aperture is set to on EOS lenses (which have no physical aperture controls or indicators). The camera will simply tell you.
Perhaps more interesting, the Birger mount can control focus as well as aperture, using the built-in focusing motors of EOS lenses. And this is were we get what I think might be a little glimpse of the future. If you read my previous post (linked above) about the benefits of real cine glass, you’ll see that a lot of them are related to the mechanics of focus pulling. If electronic focus pulling turns out to work smoothly, a lot of that goes right out the window. Lenses won’t need perfectly calibrated physical focus markings, because a bit of testing will produce an electronic table mapping specific physical distances to specific electronic settings. Lenses won’t need extended focus scales either, of course, because they can be moved with electronic precision regardless of how close together their focus marks are physically. This opens the door up to achieving great results with very low-cost mass-produced glass.
Electronic focus control has boarder implications than just eliminating the need for some costly precision mechanical engineering, though. It also opens the door to all sorts of new capabilities. Birger’s system will be controllable via Bluetooth. Imagine figuring out your focus marks using Red’s “magic focus assist”, and then programing them into a laptop and cueing them at the appropriate times with a couple of key presses. Or imagine a “smart” autofocus system based around range-finding equipment, which could rack focus to track an object through space far better than any human focus puller.
Given all of this, it seems like EOS lenses with the Birger mount are shaping up to be the indie option of choice for Red.
Will it have autofocus?
No autofocus. Not yet at least. We have a future module planned that will communicate with the lens mount and watch the video tap on the camera to effect auto-focus, and more importantly for cinema applications, an auto-interactive focus, which will overcome some of the problems with a traditional auto-focus. The system will not simply be based on the two dimensional image from the camera sensor. It will also be based on a three dimensional understanding of the dynamic scene. This is based on something we are working on for a homeland security application. I will not be releasing any more details about this until we are ready to demonstrate the technology. This will probably be 2Q08.
Is the Birger Mount Upgradeable?
It is a system based concept. All modules are software upgradeable for the life of the system. The auto-interactive-focus module, will simply be a plug in accessory.
Will it have image stabilization support for EFS?
All mounts support IS, VR, etc...
Will it have breathing compensation?
It is one of many features on a list for later. Once we either release our own zoom motor, or have integrated with the RED motor, we will look at implementing this. The real issue is the production of the calibration data. We have ways to do this automagically... but that will require our auto-interactive focus module that we will not be announcing for some time...The other request that comes quite often is aperture comensation on variable aperture zooms. Because of the quarter stop steps of the Canon iris mechanism, this feature may not be that interesting without some intervention in post. THis also requires a zoom motor
Will you always have the same full control range on the slider/ff knob?
Range of motion is the same across lenses. But the resolution of that motion may be different. The knob will always have the same 4000 steps. But the lenses vary from a few hundred steps, to many thousand.
Is there any time delay or lag in the focus knob?
Minimal. The knob poisiton is measured, and then the result is communicated to mount, which then commands the lens to update its position. This measurement happens at a fixed interval, which has in testing been on the order of 25 to more than 60 times per second. We will probably want to synchronize this to the frame rate of the camera. The lag is on the order of one time interval, plus the motor response time. If the knob is moved faster than the lens is capable of moving, the lens will eventually catch up. If memory serves, an iris move takes about 50mS.
On power off then on, does your focus and fstop return to previous values?
No, but we certainly could make this a software feature. The iris stays in the same phsical position when powered up, but its absolute position is not known (unless of course we store it in the mount). The focus position can be measured on power up and moved back to the same location. Regardless of operating mode, when powering up, a homing operation is required on both axes.zz
How is the iris set?
The iris is set through a second knob, a bluetooth enabled PDA or computer, our wireless remote control, some third party bluetooth device... or a menu in the RED camera or using the RED superGrip... if and when this makes RED's priority list.
Erik, how many steps for the Canon 24-70 f2.8L and Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS?
Only have the data readily available for a few lenses:
LENS NAME: #STEPS
CANON LENS EF 50mm 1:1.4 USM: 660
CANON ZOOM LENS EF-S 10-22mm 1:3.5-4.5 USM: 1185
CANON LENS EF 14mm 1:2.8L USM: 1398
CANON ZOOM LENS 16-35mm 1:2.8L USM: 1566
CANON LENS EF 100mm 1:2 USM: 1687
CANON LENS EF 28mm 1:1.8 USM: 1800
CANON ZOOM LENS EF 28-105mm 1:3.5-4.5 USM: 1900
CANON LENS EF 200mm 1:2.8L USM: 2098
CANON ZOOM LENS EF 28-135mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS USM: 2276
CANON ZOOM LENS EF 70-200mm 1:2.8L IS USM: 2512
CANON LENS EF 35mm 1:1.4L USM: 2517
CANON LENS EF 24mm 1:1.4L USM: 2521
CANON MACRO LENS EF 100mm 1:2.8 USM: 2535
CANON MACRO LENS EF-S 60mm 1:2.8 USM: 3298
CANON LENS EF 200mm 1:1.8L USM: 3706
CANON LENS EF 85mm 1:1.2L USM: 4212
