I got a phone call from my friend Neil who is still enrolled at NYFA who needed to find some way to use 35mm lenses with Panasonic’s HVX200. I had looked for something like this before for the DVX100 but never found anything. This time however I came across the Redrock Microsystems M2 35mm Cinema Lens Adapter for DV and HD cameras. If this thing can do what they claim it can do I am very excited. We just ordered a couple of Canon XH-A1s for our own purposes, and this adapter should be compatible with these cameras according to their website.
Here are the cameras that they have tested the adapter with:
- Panasonic AG-DVX100, DVX100A, DVX100B
- Canon XL1, XL1S, XL2, GL1, GL2, GM2, HV20
- Sony Z1, FX1, FX7, V1, A1, HC1, HC3
- JVC HD100, HD110, HD200, HD250, HD10, HD20
- Panasonic DVC30, DVC60
- Panasonic HVX-200
- Sony PD150, 170, PD100
- Sony PC9
- Canon XL-H1, XH-A1, XH-G1
Redrock Microsystems M2 35mm Cinema Lens Adapter
By using 35mm film lenses you should be able to vastly improve the quality of your productions. The major missing element with most things shot on DV or lower end HD is the inability to get shallow depth of field, which really helps to get that film look. Since you can shoot in 24 frames in a number of cameras now, this is really an important missing link.
On the Redrock Microsystems website they have their own section for M2 samples, but also I came across another website with a more in-depth review on the M2 adapter than here, as well as their own test footage.
