EUMIG SUPROVAR f 1.0 18-28 MM: UN OBJETIVO GLORIOSO

Todos los superochistas reservamos en nuestro corazón un lugar especial para Austria, y ello es debido a la legendaria firma Eumig, que en su momento fue el mayor fabricante de proyectores de Súper-8 y la que, a finales de los años sesenta y principios de los setenta, puso, al menos en España, los proyectores de Súper-8 sonoros al alcance de muchas familias. 

Pero Eumig no sólo se preocupaba del Súper-8 para el mercado masivo sino que, también, invertía recursos en desarrollar productos especializados de la mas alta calidad, como el primer objetivo de proyección de focal variable (zoom) de luminosidad f 1.0: el glorioso Eumig Suprovar f 1-0 18-28 mm, orgullosamente diseñado y fabricado en Austria en 1967 cuando, con esta luminosidad, Kodak y Fujifilm sólo podían producir objetivos de focal fija.

Suprovar 1.0 18-28 mm de producción limitada, en su estuche de cuero y terciopelo

En su día publiqué, en esta bitácora, un análisis de objetivos luminosos de alta calidad (LEANLO AQUÍ), con la conclusión que que el Suprovar, aunque es el mejor construido (mecánicamente), se encontraba superado, en cuando a contraste, por el muy posterior Isco Cinelux f 1.1 11-30 mm (con técnicas de revestimiento óptico mas avanzadas).

Meses después de su publicación, Alberto Vangelisti, de Movie Magnetic, me escribió diciendo que Marco Emiliani, del laboratorio Onda Radio, había encontrado un  zoom Eumig Suprovar de rendimiento muy superior a los otros cuatro que poseía. 

Perplejo, comencé a indagar en mi colección de revistas británicas especializas de la época y, tras las pesquisas, conseguí saber que este zoom, aparte de venir de serie con un modelo de aquella época, se ofrecía como costosa opción,  suministrada en un estuche de cuero, forrado en su interior con terciopelo, y letras grabadas en oro. Los objetivos Suprovar f 1.0 18-28 mm distribuidos de esta forma, vendidos a un precio notablemente caro (posiblemente para el limitado mercado de los cine clubs), eran chequeados en fábrica uno a uno por una austriaca con ojos de águila: sólo las mejores unidades se apartaban para los estuches de cuero; el resto, se colocaban de serie en un modelo de producción. 

Tengo la inmensa fortuna de que un amigo austriaco me acaba de enviar, para la VIII edición del SELLIER FILM FESTIVAL, uno de estos Suprovar de supervisión personalizada y venta limitada. ¡Sí, amigos, Alberto Vangelisti y Marco Emiliani tienen razón! La calidad es absolutamente comparable, sino mejor, al Isco Cinelux f 1.1, con la ventaja adicional de un barrilete mas hermoso, totalmente metálico, en perfecta sintonía con los proyectores de cine italianos Fumeo: ¡absolutamente épico! 

No deje de sumergirse en la web de la VIII edición del Sellier Film Festival en el siguiente vínculo:  www.SellierFilmFestival.org

Épico, el Suprovar f 1.0 en los Fumeo: tal para cual

• EN SÚPER-8, ¿CÓMO ES POSIBLE? ¿DÓNDE COMPRAR ARTÍCULOS DE SÚPER-8? 

Siempre recomiendo la misma tienda que usa Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee o J.J. Abrams, entre otras luminarias:  Pro 8 mm, de Hollywood. 
Los propietarios, Rhonda y Phil, son los creadores del formato Max-8, que proporciona con óptica normal un formato casi de 1.85, en lugar del tradicional académico.
Atienden en español e inglés, en el siguiente enlace, ¡y el envio a Europa demora sólo 3 días!:  
https://www.pro8mm.com?sca_ref=221762.t1gzXnwJIC

WHICH IS THE BEST ZOOM LENS FOR SUPER-8 PROJECTION?

When a Super-8 image comes from a very sharp film, if projected with professional projectors (CLICK HERE TO READ MORE), they will fill screens up to 6 or 7 meters wide with an atonishing quality, especially considering that the frame measures only 5.79 mm wide by 4:01 mm high.

On such large screens, to best projection quality, is required not only a powerful light source (xenon or HTI) , but also a first class steadiness and, above all, a good lens.

This test analizes the performance of the best lenses ever made for Super-8, using a Fumeo 9145 Xenon 500 Stereo projector with a micrometrical focussing system. 

Fumeo 9145 Xenon 500

Fumeo 9119

BEFORE THE TEST.

The Fumeo projectors have their lens holder valid for the European standard caliber, but they were mainly designed to be used with the Isco / Schneider range, so the lens holder had to be slightly modified by my friend José Manuel so that the micrometric focus had a range longer.

EUMIG SUPROVAR f 1.0 12-5-25 MM

This zoom lens, designed and built by "the Wizards of Vienna" (as Eumig was called by the beloved and late Ivan Watson,  columnist for the British magazine MOVIE MAKER), is absolutely historic: it´s the first f 1.0 zoom ever produced in the World, with a design finished in 1967, and which was available the following year.

Definition: very sharp image. 

Contrast: Good,  but not excellent due to the glass old one-layer coating system (despite being first class during 60s).

Colours: good. 

Construction: excellent. The best of all lenses, with an all-metal barrel that it´s easy to disassemble for service.

ISCO CINELUX f 1.1 11-30 MM

It´s considered the non plus ultra of zoom lenses manufactured in Europe, with an enormous focal range. It is the final version of the well-known Schneider design, manufactured with Schott glass and with a multicoated system improved. It was the verylast zoom lens available, on Isco's price list until the beginning of this century.

Definition: very sharp image, fully flat field of border to border (very important for anamorphic presentations)

Contrast: Excellent, the best of all, thanks to its latest generation multicoated glass.

Colors: good but with a duller tone than others.

Construction: so so only. The barrel is made of poor quality plastic. Part of the optical group is glued with balm and is difficult, if not impossible, to separate.  

MEOPTA CORRIGON f 1.1 12.5 - 25 MM

The quality of this lens is surprising, the best zoom lens produced behind the Iron Curtain. Nobody knows why it was done. This unit was given to me by my Galician friend Pichi Pedrosa. He found it some years ago in a photographic store in London, where the dealers were unaware of its use. This zoom lens is much longer than any other, so in the Fumeo, you have to put aside anamorphic to swing open the prime lens holder.

Definition: Very sharp picture. 

Contrast: Very good.  

Colours: Excellent (crisp and bright) 

Construction: excellent. With an all-metal barrel that it´s easy to disassemble for service.

FUJINON f 1.2 21.5 - 43 MM

This lens was originally intended for long distance projection or for use in telecine machines. Its only drawback is that, at a certain focal length, it does not focus if the screen is less than three meters away.

Definition: Sharp image. 

Contrast: Good.  

Colours: Good (slightly cold)

Construction: excellent. With an all-metal barrel that it´s easy to disassemble for service.

EUMIG SUPROGON F 1.2 12.5 --25 MM

Sold too as Bolex brand. It´s the cheapest and easiest lens to find but full of virtues: nothing but good can be written about it. It was manufactured in two versions: the latter with multi-coated lenses to improve contrast.

Definition: Sharp image. 

Contrast: Good.  

Colours: Good.

Construction: Plastic barrel but of high quality and easy to repair. 

 

KERN f 1.1 23MM

In the early 1970s, Ivan Watson rated it as the sharpest projection lens ever made. Projection picture with this non-zoom lens is very sharp, fully flat field from edge to edge, but it only has one layer of optical coating, as was normal in the late sixties, so the contrast is not as good as in more recent lenses. Su luminosidad es realmente f 1.0

Definition: Very sharp image, flat field.

Contrast: Good.  

Colours: Excellent

Construction: Metallic barrel, easy to repair.

VERDICT.

With the Fumeo 9145 xenon 500, for anamorphic projections, I will use the zoom lens that comes from the factory: the Isco Cinelux f 1.1 11-30 mm, for its great quality... as long as the lens lasts, because, sooner or later, its plastic barrel ends up breaking. For flat projections, I will use the Meopta Corrigon f 1.1 12.5-25:  it provides a very sharp image and the best colour.  

For purely visual beauty considerations, I will use the Eumig Suprovar f 1.0 18-28mm exclusively with the Fumeo 9119 projector: it is also a very sharp zoom lens and its aesthetics are very much in line with that of the projector, especially using the French Hypergonar anamorphic.

Important note: 

1) Excellent Fujinon f 1.0 14-28 mm and Canon f 1.0 17-28 zoom lenses don´t focus in this projector.  

2) There are three Elmo lenses, manufactured by Kowa, of very good quality: the called "pair" zooms, 1.0, 1.2 and 1.4 

They cannot be checked in this test because the diameter of the barrel is larger than the European one. The 1.0, while sharp, doesn't provide a flat edge-to-edge picture, something that the long-distance 1.2 and 1.4 do. In my opinion, Elmo f 1.2  25-50 mm is perhaps the sharpest zoom lens for Super-8

FUMEO 9119 ADAPTED FOR THE EUMIG SUPROVAR 1.0 ZOOM

The super-8 film gauge was born with high speed lenses, f 1.0, in both Kodak and Fuji projectors. But they were with fixed focal. The first f 1.0 zoom was European, from the legendary Austrian projector factory Eumig, the famous Suprovar f 1.0 18-28mm. Its quality was exceptional, considering that it was calculated with pen and paper: at that time there were no computers.

Over the years, the Suprovar 1.0 zoom would be outperformed by other varifocal f 1.0 lenses from other manufacturers, such as Canon, Fuji, Sankyo and, above all, Elmo (designed and manufactured by Kowa).

But the Suprovar f 1.0 18-28mm  holds a special place in the world of Super-8 film. For this reason, our friend Luigi Petrin has adapted a Fumeo 9119 (the version with micrometrical focusing) so that it can accept this historical zoom lens: Italian and Austrian technology, hand in hand!, in search of excellence for the Super-8