Your favorite adapted projection lenses

Until relatively recently, I wasn't the worlds biggest fan of adapting projection lenses. Firstly, because the ones that I had tried were neither particularly unique, nor exceptionally sharp, secondly because of the missing diaphragm and finally because they usually don't feature any mounting thread and therefore need some attention when being adapted.

However after having some talks with a fellow manual lens fan about the benefits of some projection lenses and seeing some spectacular images by a couple of talented people I decided that it might be worth it to give those optics another try and see if there's something that fits my needs as well.

I absolutely found a couple of lenses - both from slide as well as cine projectors - and had a lot of fun trying them.

So I'm very curious to know where other adapted lens people stand on the topic:

Have you adapted any projection lens? And if so, which one did you like best and why?

I'll start with one I haven't seen mentioned a lot, the Braun Ultralit PL 90 mm f/2.4, an interesting 4 elements Sonnar design.

Ultralit grass by simple.joy, on Flickr

Cut-the-pillars by simple.joy, on Flickr

Feeling punny today? by simple.joy, on Flickr

I love the rendering of that lens and it provides enough sharpness and detail to work well for a wide variety of applications. I've also used it as a portrait lens - works great for that as well.

My favorite is the first I tried, a russian PO-109-1A 50mm f/1.2
Projector lens 1 by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr
My initial mounting for it (above) proved to have poor focus control (a c### helicoid) so I ended up remounting it into a helicoid brought for the job
Mounted 50mm/1.2 projector lens by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr

50mm/1.2 projector lens test shot wide open by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr

The very fast aperture has meant on many occasions it was too bright for the camera, so I sometime add a bokeh mask (cut from black paper)
jaguar in the flowers by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr

Great shots and creative use! I assume this particular sample was meant for a smaller format than 35 mm? (Super-16 perhaps?) I think I have a 100 mm f/2 version of that series but not adapted it yet... it's quite heavy and has no mounting thread unfortunately.

Here's a recent favorite of mine, the Meyer Kinon Superior 5 cm f/1.8. My sample certainly won't impress in terms of sharpness, but the rendering is quite worth the drawback in my opinion:

Leaning towards chaos by simple.joy, on Flickr

We‘ll leave and try a second time… by simple.joy, on Flickr

Happy Mothers Day by simple.joy, on Flickr

Nature needs no open letters… by simple.joy, on Flickr

That is fun. Makes me think I should re-try some that didn't look good on my first quick test. Close up type shots with long focal length projectors might be a bit awkward, extension was becoming clumberson ever focusing to infinity with the Kodak 300mm projector I have

Thanks!
You're right, definitely a smaller format - at infinity it only just covers MFT. It also needs to sit rather close to the sensor I felt it needed a bit of metal trimmed from rear overhangs to prevent it hitting the sensor stack. There was no mounting thread but a step in the outside diameter made the perfect spot to locate a glued on stepping ring - even after trimming the rear it still sticks out the back of the helicoid(IIRC I used one that's 36-90mm 52mm wide at the front & m42 at the back) at it's shortest length (ie. infinity focus) Several of my other projectors can be fitted via the same helicoid :)

This is a very nice cine projection lens, the Isco-Optic Ultrastar HD Plus 75 mm f/2.1

Cookies - and all worries are melting away... by simple.joy, on Flickr

Robin redbreast? Its story is nuts… by ]simple.joy, on Flickr

Time to get in shape for Christmas! by ]simple.joy, on Flickr

Fur what it‘s worth, I‘m trying to hide by ]simple.joy, on Flickr

It's quite sharp and rendering is very smooth. Looks wise it's also one of the most interesting lenses to put in front of your camera, with its shiny red metal. 😅

Because I've seen some great stereoscopic shots by @BosunHiggs I thought I should try with some old captures I took with my next (and penultimate) projection lens, a Schneider Kreuznach Vario-Xenotar 70-120 mm f/3.5 Not sure if it works for you, but it was fun trying it. For me it works best at a distance of around 80 cm to the screen:

Slide and seek by simple.joy, on Flickr

Here are two regular shots:

New life branching out by simple.joy, on Flickr

Call of color by simple.joy, on Flickr

I feel like this one is quite sharp for a projection lens with variable aperture and of course more versatile.

Because I've experimented a bit more with projection lenses recently, I also have to mention this one: The Schneider Kreuznach AV-Xenotar 90 mm HFT f/2.4-8 (another slide projection lens with variable aperture). It doesn't have the smoothest rendering at all distances (quite a few Schneider lenses seem to have that problem), but it's quite sharp and versatile and when it works it's great:

Freedom to grow. Freedom to express yourself. by simple.joy, on Flickr

Under-watering by simple.joy, on Flickr

Eye know, you see? by simple.joy, on Flickr

I have found the revised version of the Leitz Colorplan to be commendably sharp used on the camera (via Heinchens samtfocus device) but it lives on the projector where I prefer it to the Zeiss P-Planar and is usually left there.

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Very interesting - thanks for the response! Some of the Colorplans are highly recommended indeed, particularly the Super-Colorplan P2s. Have you tried the P-Planar on a camera as well? I‘ve always wondered about those.

The revised version i mentioned is the one called Supercolorplan P2, while I have not tried the P-Planar on the samtfocus tubes, if time allows I will.

I finally found the smaller brother of one of my favorites, the Braun Ultralit 55 mm f/2.8 and while it's perhaps a bit lacking in terms of sharpness, I found the colors it produced quite impressive. Here's a SOOC shot:

Red it where credit is due... by simple.joy, on Flickr

I've been playing with a couple of lenses that I think are from rear projection TVs. These have much better coverage than my slide projector lenses, both manage an image circle over 6", making them suitable for my 5x4 monorail (except for the lack of a shutter).
One is roughly a 150mm f/1.2 that has no manufacturers name or model
A challenging lens by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr
The other is a 'Delta 77' which gives a FOV of around 120 degrees - It needs to be mounted within the bellows to focus
delta 77 - deluxe & GG by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr

I'm not sure I could get the Delta 77 close enough to any of my digital bodies to shoot directly, parts of the lens are well within 1" of the ground glass at infinity focus.
The monorail might make a good optical bench for checking out more conventional projector lenses, quite a few of them can just be wedged into a 2" pipe lens board :)

That's a big hunk of glass. Doubt it would work on one of those light weight wooden field cameras. Good thing you have a sturdy monorail. Looking forward to some images from this combo.
Thanks for sharing,
barondla