3inch Lens Test

[Alwyn Adkins]

For some time, I've wondered whether a 3 inch lens would be even better than a 2 inch lens for direct-shooting. I have a lot of trouble getting everything lined up so that there is no edging in the frame with the 2inch, and I wondered whether a 3inch would provide a bigger image to shoot. So I recently bit the bullet and bought a second-hand Simpson Optical Somco 3 inch 16mm lens.

I also bought the RPI 2inch lens and while it's great quality, it too was very hard to set up with my GS-300.

The 3inch has worked out pretty well. The image is really easy to set up with my Panasonic GS-300 (although I can't quite get full screen) and it's nice and bright and clear. The video quality isn't bad at all.

Here's a sample. Capture is using a GS-300 Composite to a GV-USB2 digitiser, AmarecTV/UT video codec AVI. On the left is the raw capture, flipped. On the right is the works: AVISynth QTGMC Deint, SRestore, RIFE to 50fps, cropped and denoised with Neat Video. RIFE creates the occasional wobble but overall it smooths the motion out nicely. That black "hair" is on the film! I used half a can of compressed air trying to get rid of it, to no avail, before I realised.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10BV...ew?usp=sharing

[Stan Jelavic]

Sharp video and great colors. Nice work Alwyn.

[Alwyn Adkins]

Thanks Stan, another advanatge advantage is that, on my projector, the longer lens protrudes out forward of the projector body so I can get right up close to it. With the shorter Pi lens (and the 2inch 16mm Simpson) I was bumping the camera on the corner of the projector.

[Stan Jelavic]

Yes, one of the main issues with this type of setup is that the projector does not allow you to get to the gate close enough. But once you overcome that hurdle the image quality is excellent.