Anamorphic Chop Shop – Century Optics Bayonet to 52mm
July 18, 2015
A very quick guide showing how to replace the bayonet mount on the Century Optics 16:9 adapters with 52mm filter threads so it can be used with regular lenses.
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I’m Tito Ferradans and this is Anamorphic Chop Shop. Today I’ll go over modding the Century Optics adapter from bayonet mount to 52mm threads.
First off, you’ll need the adapter, a 52-67mm step up ring, a phillips screwdriver, #00, #0 or #1, any of these will work. You’ll also need cutting pliers if your Century has a Canon bayonet.
The version I have here is the Sony bayonet, for the VX2000, which is VERY easy to mod. First remove the screw on the side, then unscrew the lock off.
The Canon bayonet (for the GL1, GL2) has a stopper inside, while the Sony doesn’t. You’ll need to use the pliers to cut a slice in the step ring to fit the stopper, otherwise it won’t be possible to reassemble the lens. Luckily for us, this Sony version just needs you to sandwich the step ring between the main body of the lens and the lock. The 52mm thread side of the ring will fit snuggly around the rear element.
Now just screw back the lock and put the little screw back into it’s spot. Tighten it well so neither the bayonet lock rotates nor the step ring inside it, messing with the anamorphic’s alignment.
As explained in the Century review, you can use an 82-72 or 77-72mm step down ring with electrical tape to create front threads, and voila, now you have a production ready adapter!
Special thanks to Matt Leaf for lending me the lens for this video.
[…] not as great, but its compactness brings the advantage of being easily modified to hold diopters. Some of the older Centuries come in non-standard mounts, so you need to do some modding, but that’s also easy. It still goes very wide, at 35mm for Full Frame and has awesome blue […]
[…] not as great, but its compactness brings the advantage of being easily modified to hold diopters. Some of the older Centuries come in non-standard mounts, so you need to do some modding, but that’s also easy. It still goes very wide, at 35mm for Full Frame and has awesome blue […]