Light Optical Bench

Bolex Product Code:- 263.750 SUTEL

Bolex H16 EL Camera with long lens on Light Optical BenchThe Bolex Light Optical Bench represents the middle ground between a Matte Box and a Super Titler. It allows you to attach the Bolex matte box to it to shade lenses and do all the other effects associated with the matte box.

It can also be used vertically as a bench to put specimens on for macro cinematography and for basic titling on location. The main reason people bought one though was as a lens support for long and heavy telephoto lenses.

There are lots of 'C' mount lenses, especially telephoto lenses which are too heavy to fit on the actual mount they were designed to fit on without some extra support to prop them up, otherwise damage to the mount will result.

The light optical bench has a support arm which can be positioned exactly to provide this support.

The kit of parts that is a Light Optical BenchThe Bolex Light Optical Bench is in effect just a kit of parts that fit together in lots of different combinations to offer you all the choices highlighted above.

It consist of three plates which can be moved, positioned and locked along a pair of guide rails, a camera support plate, an intermediate support plate and a lens support plate.

The camera support plate allows you to attach the camera to it (Surprisingly) using a three eighths of an inch screw thread protruding from it. Once the camera is attached, a tripod with a three eighths of an inch screw thread can be screwed into the cameras support plate.

If you have a spare Bolex rapid attachment disc this can be screwed into the camera support plate and then this can be attached to a Bolex tripod.

Camera plate and lens support plate support a telephoto lensThe lens support plate can be used to do just that by attaching the 'V' shaped support arm to this plate you are now able to hold heavy lenses.

The 'V' shaped support can be removed and a titling frame not dissimilar to the frame which surrounds a matte box be used to make titles or as platform for macro cinematography. By screwing in an adapter you can replace the titling frame with a slide rail to hold the Bolex matte box as well.

 

 

 

The intermediate support plate is used in two situations.

Intermediate suport used with a Matte Box1) When you want to use a Bolex matte box and you are already using the lens support plate either with the V shaped support or titling frame attached or

 

 

 

Intermediate support used on a Tripod2) When the light optical bench is being used on a tripod with a telephoto lens attached to the camera, the combined weight of which is causing the tripod to become unbalanced and tip in one direction.

By attaching the tripod to the intermediate support plate rather than the camera support plate and positioning the intermediate support plate somewhere between the camera and lens support plates you will reach a point where you can balance out the uneven weight of lens and camera on the tripod.

 

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The outfit comes with a pair of short and long rails and an attachment so you can attach the original Bolex Light Meter to one of the rails. However take note of what Bolex say in the instruction manual for this accessory "The optical bench, mounted with the camera and telephoto lens + matte box is fairly heavy (Understatement!).