As I mentioned previously, I have been working on cleaning up some Super Baltar lenses in between other jobs. This week was dedicated to servicing, lubricating, and collimating 2 of the 3 sets of Super Baltar lenses I will have available soon. When Bausch & Lomb introduced the Super Baltar series of lenses in 1960, they were launched along with the Mitchell R-35 camera and were available exclusively in what came to be known as the MK II mount. Cinematographers were enthusiastic about the Super Baltar lenses, but not so much about the Mitchell R-35, or its successor the MK II, because they preferred the quieter operation of the Mitchell BNC/BNCR. Several companies began to manufacture adapters that would allow the MK II mounted Super Baltars to be converted to BNCR mount.
Some people wanted to be able to use the Super Baltars with both the BNCR and the MK II, so removable adapters were made to fit over the MK II mount so the same lenses could be used on either camera. Other people simply wanted the lenses to work with their Mitchell BNCR cameras, so the original mount was machined and a new BNCR mount was made to replace the original mount. Among the lenses I have been working on, there are all of the different styles of MK II to BNCR conversions. All of the mounts here had to be modified in different ways so they would fit properly to the lenses and collimate correctly. In the past, I have adapted Super Baltar lenses for PL mount. At this time, I don’t have any of those adapters left, but all of these lenses would be compatible. I still have a little bit more cleanup work to do and nice photos to take, then all 3 sets of Super Baltars will be available for sale.