Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 18-90mm F2 for BMPCC

Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 18-90mm F2 for BMPCC

I finally made a decision to by the Blackmagic Pocket Camera, because I can no longer resist the urge to test loads amazing of vintage c-mount lenses that will only work with this camera thanks to its unusual Super16 size sensor.

About 5 months ago before anyone even received their first pocket cam, I’ve made a guide of potential c-mount/super16 lenses that should work with the pocket camera. One of the lenses featured was the Schneider 18-90mm f/2 which sounded like a great lens along with some other options, but no one could tell for sure how well it would work with the pocket cam until someone actually try it.

Today I came across a new post from an Internet friend, fellow vintage lens fan, a talented filmmaker & blogger Peter Prevec how has tested this lens on the actual camera, so I couldn’t resist and had to feature his video here along with some of his thought about this lens.

Here’s what Peter has to say about this lens:

The Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon with a range from 18 to 90mm on a Pocket Camera with a 3x crop factor equals to 54-270mm zoom. The Schneider is f/2 lens and as such perfect for walking around. It could be a bit wider but that is another story. I really love the flare on this lens as you can see. There are lots of it due to the big from element of the lens. It has a not standard front filter diameter of 74mm so I had to add 74 to 77mm step up ring. The use of variable ND is paramount on this camera. Its smaller sensor means smaller depth of fields so you need to be wide open to get as much depth of filed as possible. The lens is old so it is advisable to stop down a bit to get more sharpness. You still get enough DOF as the lens is f/2 and closing it a bit doesn’t hurt much.

Flare

I know that Peter has had this lens for a while now and was very eager to test it out himself. When he bought his together with Beaulieu R16 16mm film camera, he got himself quite a deal, but since then the prices on this lens really jumped up and will probably keep rising.  After all, Schneider is no average, unknown brand, but a legendary company, which still produces high-end cine lenses to this day, so these lenses definitely deserve their price.

To read more about how the video above was shot and edited check out Peter’s blog where you’ll also find many other useful and informative posts.

I try my best to make this website a great resource for people interested in vintage lenses for video use, so I hope you’ve enjoyed this & other posts. I sure hope they will help you save some money on your future lens investments too. I’ve joined the ebay affiliate program to help me run this website, fund my tests & lens giveaways, so if you find this content useful and would like to help me produce more similar content, please use the links in this post if you’re planning to buy one of these lenses or bookmark and/or use this link if you want to buy anything else on eBay.com or this link if you shop on eBay.co.uk. You will not be spending a penny more using these links, while still helping as eBay will pay out a small percentage from any purchase or successful bid, which in turn will support new content on www.vintagelensesforvideo.com. Thank you.

 

8 Responses to Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 18-90mm F2 for BMPCC

  1. Great review — I bought this lens in anticipation of the BMPCC about 8 months ago and am loving the image so far. Can I ask what adapter you’re using? How are your results for infinity focus? I’ve been using a Hawk’s Factory adapter, which has a little bit of play in the mount but fits the lens the best of the adapters I have on hand. I get infinity focus or a bit past starting at 25mm, but wider than that it doesn’t quite focus to infinity — so my copy at least is not quite parfocal. How does that compare to your results? Do you know if I can fix this by slightly increasing the FFD with the collimating screws on the mount? Thanks for the info and for sharing your results!

  2. Hello. Thanks for that nice review. Your site in general changed my opionion on vintage lenses. So I just bought a Schneider Kreuznach 16-80 together with an old Beaulieu Camera. What do you think of that lens? Anybody tried it out yet on a BMPCC?

  3. I have a new Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 18-90mm F2 for BMPCC and I want to sell.If some is interesting
    write a comment via e-mail

  4. Hi, I have the following lens in a subsea low light camera and would like to know if it could be adapted to a standard camera.

    Camera with 3 way remote adjustment
    Lens low light
    Schneider kreuznach
    Variogon 2/18-90
    Obj type VGN 2.0/18-90-0224
    Ausfuhrung (Model) CP 123 VF B
    Art Nr 37957
    Serial Nr 14023202-0001

    Thanks for any advice offered.
    Paul

  5. hi !
    does anybody know if there are different versions of this lens out there? cause someone is selling one of this and is claiming that its made for 8mm.

    love
    jakob

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