Duclos Canon cinema zoom multi-mount conversion

Cameras

Multi-Mount

Late last year Canon released the 30-105mm cinema zoom to provide a compact alternative to the 30-300mm and the 14.5-60mm.  The $44,000 30-300mm had a great range but came in at over 12lbs which is pretty heavy.  It also ramped aperture which to some was an issue.  The 14.5-60 weighed a little over 9lbs at around $42K.  So I was glad to hear that Canon would be releasing compact cinema zooms that were half the price.  The Canon 15.5-47mm and the 30-105mm.  Both T2.8 and both 4.8lbs.  At that weight and the coverage between the two, the pair instantly had appeal.  Both were almost the same zoom range and spec as their Angenieux competitors the 15-40mm and the 40-120mm.  They are also about half the cost at $23,275 each.   The only problem was that Cannon was only offering these great new compact zooms in PL or EF only.  The were not interchangeable mounts which I felt was a huge problem if you planned on sharing the lens between several mixed bodies.  What always bothered me about this is that I knew you could laser cut park of the PL mount which would allow for use of a PL to EF adapter.  Instead Canon extended the metal portion of the PL to prevent the adapters use.  So the flange distance was there to work with but it looked like Canon was more interested in selling two different versions of the lens.  At NAB Canon announced that finally after huge demand they were going to offer EF or PL users the ability to swap mounts.  I was happy to hear this until I learned that you had to send in the lens to get the mount swapped and the cost was over $400 per swap.  Also they had to do the swap or your warranty was voided.  They were not going to send you both mounts without you first paying a $1200 fee.  I felt this was so crazy and that clearly they did not understand what their clients needed.  We just wanted both mounts and a shim kit so if we wanted to swap mounts we could.

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One day I noticed Matt Duclos mentioned a multi-mount which instantly perked my interest.  I remember Cooke zooms having a universal mount that would allow mount swaps from PL to BNCR or Panavision.  I reached out to Matt and put down money to be one of the first to get the conversion.  At this point I did not care about Canon warranty as Matt knows what he is doing and the benefit of a quick mount swap far outweighed any risk.  The lens conversion took a few days and then was sent back to me.  I got the PL and EF mount options which was all I really needed for my work and in the rental market. The conversion with both mounts came out to $2,300 which is worth every penny considering the cost of Canon’s service (which is not field switchable).  image-3

The other great thing about the Duclos conversion is that it is reversible.  If you want to go back to the stock mount you can.  The simplicity of Matt’s design is great.  You simple unscrew the mounting ring, remove the mount, mount the sub-mount (which is keyed for alignment) and screw it tight.  Its that easy.  Duclos also offers Panavision, Nikon F on top of PL and EF so you get the most value out of your lens.

I was just informed from Matt that Canon is keeping the warranty intact if you go forward with the conversion which is great news.

Be sure to check out Matt’s site Duclos Lenses

You can rent the Canon / Duclose 30-105mm Multi-Mount from Lens Pro To Go

Michael Sutton

Twitter: @MNS1974

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Jared Abrams is a cinematographer based in Hollywood, California. After many years as a professional camera assistant he switched over to still photography. About two years ago a new Canon camera changed the way the world sees both motion and still photography. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time.