Clairmont Camera is an equipment rental service with stations in Hollywood, Toronto, Vancouver, Albuquerque (New Mexico) and Montreal. They seem kinda famous for notorious retro fitting new equipment. They have modded Canon's EOS 7D and 1D Mark IV to PL mount (since 2010). There are no detailed specs given about the mod, but the mount looks like the Denz/FGV attempt. After all, they do remove the mirror, so the cameras work in Live View in both video and still modes only. Compatibility is given for a "wide variety of movie lenses" (according to Film & Digital Times compatible with all PL mount lenses). |
Denz-Deniz is a company from Munich (Germany) who offered permanent conversions of Canon EOS bodies to the PL mount (the so-called Denz Canon Evo Collection introduced in 2009).
They took the CMOS sensor and shutter out of the body, made some more room by removing the mirror, the mirror box and AF sensor unit, the viewfinder pentaprism as well as the matte screen and added a new cage contruction comprised of the lens mount and a new sensor box and mount, which furthermore came with a tripod mount fixed to it. The whole construction was made of space-age materials, i.e. special steel and aluminum. That said, the sensor was statically mounted in relation to the lens mount to minimize changes of flange distance by temperature or deforming physical impact on the camera body by heavy lens overweight. The camera was left "blind", the AF sensor was not reintegrated. The viewfinder was replaced by a Fischer 3pin connector to plug in remote controls for video start/stop (the port is installed in an angled way, so the cable would hang sideways to the right). All other camera functions were retained, including still mode (via Live View, the shutter was remounted in front of the sensor) and the camera's original remote ports (both IR and wired). Denz offered this modification for Canon EOS 7D, 5D Mark II and 1D Mark IV. Sebastian Wiegärtner has lots of pictures and a video, go have a look. |
Hot Rod Cameras is a company located in Burbank (California), who offer permanent conversions of Canon EOS bodies to PL mount (since 2009). Their current portfolio includes the 5D-PL (Canon EOS 5D Mark II) and the 7D-PL (Canon EOS 7D), FDTimes also reported about EOS 1D Mark IV models about to be modded back in 2010. You can either send in your own camera for modification or order a modified new camera out of their stock. What you get, is the Hot Rod PL Mount installation (fine calibrated for accurate flange focal depth, comes in british racing green), sensor cavity flocking with anti-reflective material and pentaprism masking to prevent unwanted lens and sensor flares. The price further includes a one year warranty. The lens mount comes with integrated rig mount extension. The Deluxe Kit also includes the Hot Rod CSH Kit comprising the Central Support and a set of Universal Hand Held Grips. A two years warranty is optional for both new and custom modifications. The modification process will take like 2 weeks. Due to its large sensor the 5D Mark II is limited in flawless compatibility with PL mount lenses. The following lenses are listed to be able to fully cover the sensor:
Lenses that are supposed to fully cover the 5D's sensor, but are not tested so far:
The Following list of lenses has been tested and approved to fit with the 7D-PL:
Lenses that are supposed to fit the 7D-PL, but are not tested so far:
The Angenieux Optimo Rouge 30-80mm has been tested and is not compatible. The Angenieux Optimo Rouge 16-42mm will probably be incompatible as well (not yet tested). *Note: On at least one tested set the 40/50mm Ultra Primes did not cover, but on another set the 40mm and 50mm did cover. |
FGV Schmidle is another german company offering PL mount modifications (since 2010) quite similar to Denz. All PL mount lenses intended for film are compatible. Albeit FGV's main business is equipment rental service, the mods are available to everyone.
On offer are the Canon EOS 7D (FGV-PL7D) and EOS 1D Mark IV (FGV-PL1D). Here is a video of the FGV-PL7D. As you can see, they also put a 3pin Fischer connector in place of the no longer used viewfinder. Unlike the Denz port, it exits straight out of the camera. Rig mount including two pairs of 15mm rods (120mm and 240mm) is optional. The FGV-PL1D comes straight with rig support mount including two pairs of 15mm rods (120mm and 240mm) and a riser for bridge plate systems. In addition to the Fischer port on the back the mod features a push button to toggle Live View. Also, the camera package includes the FGV Cable Protector, a kind of plug support for the HDMI and AV ports. FGV does not offer modifications for cameras you already own. You'll have to buy a brand new modded model from them. Lots of pictures of the PL1D and a round-up for the PL7D are available at philipbloom.net. |
Syndicate is a company from Stockholm. They did some Canon EOS PL and BNC mount conversions, namely the Syndicate 7D Cinematic BNC-R and the Syndicate 7D Cinematic PL models back in 2009. The PL mount version is compatible with all PL mount lenses available. Like the Denz and Schmidle modifications the mods include a removable rod mount (19mm). There seem to be different versions, the website names a Beta Uno and a Beta Dois, the latter one at least produced in a number of 10. Although they don't offer them in their shop they still might be able to do it again or even have some samples for rent. |
| Those are the conversions only. Refer to Adapting Lenses > Mount Adapters for simple PL-EF adapters. |
