PL Mount Users Can Shoot Using This Adapter on Kickstarter

Cinematographer Clifton Stommel is a PL mount guy.  But what's a guy to do when you have a Blackmagic URSA Mini and need options for shooting on EF mount lenses?  Stommel says that he tried every single EF-PL mount "snap-in" adapter, and found that they are both limited in their flange depth (causing an 8mm difference in focal length). So he decided to design his own, and the result was the Bezamod. Now, with the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K hitting the market, he's adapted his design to work with Blackmagic's latest Pocket marvel. And he's running a Kickstarter campaign to bring it to market.

Stommel is no stranger to modifying his fear for Blackmagic. He created an SSD recording option for the URSA Mini, and also marketed his Bezamod with some success. And like the previous design, Stommel's new Bezamod P6K is designed to turn the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K into a camera without a fixed lens mount.

The protruding nose design of the Pocket 6K would mean that if users wanted to shift between EF and PL mount lenses, they'd normally out of luck since it's a fixed mount camera. Or they'd have to cope with the uneasy compromises that EF-PL mount snap in adapters afford.

Even if Blackmagic decides to create a PL mount version, it would have the same drawback, and cinematographers would have to buy a second BMPCC6K. Sure, at under $2500, that's a "happy problem" with an affordable workaround, but until then, why not use the camera you have now with a simple turn of a few screws?

Credit: Clifton Stommel

When the only option to purchase an URSA Mini was EF or PL, I used this modification to switch between EF and PL lenses on numerous professional commercial and narrative film sets.

Stommel's Bezamod worked so well with the URSA Mini, that he began to sell them to his fellow cinematographers looking for the same kind of flexibility on their URSA rigs. This was before Blackmagic put out the URSA Mini Pro to provide a PL mount option. Once that happened, Stommel closed down his online store. 

Credit: Clifton Stommel

Now, with the BMPCC6K hitting the market, Stommel sees the opportunity to make the Bezamod available again for Pocket Cinema users wanting to add PL mount flexibility to their camera kits. And he's taken to Kickstarter to offer it. 

Stommel warns, though, that the Bezanid P6K is a modification kit, and that means users will have to remove their native EF mount and install the Bezamod. But Stommel says he's designed the mod to avoid breaking or removing any warranty stickers, so it shouldn't affect the camera warranty itself, at least by the letter of the law. And it's also a user-friendly mod, that enables shooters to completely reverse back to the EF mount as needed. 

Stommel also has a list of compatible lenses for the Bezamod P6K. It's extensive, but not absolute. Check it out below:

Compatible lenses:

Arri/Zeiss Master Primes (Tested, Verified: 16mm, 21mm)
      ∟Untested, Expected Compatible: 12mm, 14mm, 18mm, 25mm, 27mm, 32mm, 35mm, 40mm, 50mm, 65mm, 75mm, 100mm, 100mm                  macro, 150mm

      • Arri/Zeiss Master Anamorphics (Tested, Verified: 60mm)
      ∟Untested, Expected Compatible: 35mm, 40mm, 50mm, 75mm, 100mm, 135mm
• Cooke 5/i Primes
      ∟Untested, Expected Compatible: 18mm, 25mm, 32mm, 40mm, 50mm, 65mm, 75mm, 100mm, 135mm
• Cooke Zoom (Tested, Verified: 25-250mm T3.9 Mk II - Lens Tested May have had aftermarket mount)
• Canon Zoom (30-105mm T2.8)
• Angenieux Optimo Sphericals (45-120mm)
      ∟Untested, Expected Compatible: 15-40mm, 28-76mm, 28-340mm, 24-290mm, 19.5-94mm
•Angenieux Optimo Anamorphic
      ∟Untested, Expected Compatible: 44-440mm, 30-72mm, 56-152mm
•Angenieux Optimo Style Spherical(Tested, Verified: 16-40mm, 36-76mm)
      ∟Untested, Expected Compatible: 25-250mm
• Angenieux Rear Anamorphic (56-152mm)
• Zeiss Compact Primes CP.2(Tested, Verified: 18mm, 25mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 135mm)
      ∟Untested, Expected Compatible: 15mm, 21mm, 28mm, 50mm Macro, 100mm
• Zeiss Compact Zoom (Tested, Verified: 28-80mm, 70-200mm)
• Rokinon Xeens ( Tested, Verified: 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm)
      ∟Untested, Expected Compatible: 14mm, 135mm
• Super Baltar - Focus Optics (Tested, Verified: 20mm, 25mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm, 100mm)
• Ruby Series - Focus Optics (Tested, Verified: 14-24mm T2.8 Rehoused Nikon Lens)
• Sony CineAlta
      ∟Untested, Expected Compatible: 20mm, 25mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 135mm
• Cineovision Anamorphic (Tested, Verified: 35mm, 85mm)
• Lomo Anamorphic (Tested, Verified: Square Front 35mm, round Front 50mm, Round Front 75mm)
• GL Optics (Tested, Verified: Sigma 11-20mm T3.0)
      Compatible Individual Lenses (See "Expected Incompatible" Below):
• Cooke S4/i Primes(Tested, Verified: 32mm, 50mm, 75mm, 100mm)
      ∟Untested, Expected Compatible: 35mm, 40mm, 65mm, 180mm, 300mm
• Cooke MiniS4/i Primes (Tested, Verified: 50mm)
      ∟Untested, Expected Compatible: 65mm, 75mm, 100mm, 135mm
• Canon K35 Primes: 85mm f/1.4
•Zeiss Super Speed Mk III (Tested, Verified 85mm)
• Arri/Zeiss Ultra Primes (Tested, Verified: 50mm, 85mm)

Source: Cinema 5D