The ingenuity shown by so many individuals associated with cinematography has always been something to marvel at. This Angenieux zoom lens modification is merely one example. A creation of the mid-’60’s, it was designed for use with the reigning camera of the day, the Mitchell BNC, which at that time was seen as hobbled by its rackover, non-reflex viewing system.
I used one of these conversions on a couple of student film shoots very early in my career, usually attached to a 16mm Bolex or antique Auricon. I don’t recall it being that much of a revelation, but even so, the ability to see precisely what the lens was taking was a great improvement over an offset viewfinder. The image it delivered to the camera operator passed through many layers of glass and thus was somewhat dim, but since it originated in front of the mount there was no additional light loss due to the spinning of the shutter. Though it might not seem so extraordinary to our modern eyes, a great deal of engineering went into building this device. With its demand for fine positioning of elements and prisms, it’s amazing that it was achieved without the use of computers.
I’ll have to ask my favorite rental houses if they might have one buried deep within their catacombs. Given how obsessed everyone is over lenses today, it would be fun to see it up close and compare it to some of our most popular wonder optics.
There was also an Angenieux 12×120 with through the lens viewing for 16mm cameras such as the CP16 & the much maligned Auricon.