# Help needed! Strange mount on SOM Berthiot Lenses...



## apneaphoto (May 15, 2013)

Hi everyone. Complete noob to the forums here, hoping this is the right section to post this. 
A friend of mine recently acquired a huge lot of vintage camera gear from the widow of a shop owner. I have been helping him sort through the stuff trying to find out what is useable and what is worthless. In addition to the hundreds of items of which I have no idea their use or value, I came across these SOM Berthiot lenses with some strange threads on the end. I have spent a ton of time doing research and am completely stumped. Now, this may be a completely stupid question, but what type of mounts are these? Everything I have seen refers to either a C or D mount which this appears to be neither one of. Thanks for any advice, these lenses appear to be high quality and I would very much like to find out how to use them or at least what this mount fits into. :thumbup:


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## Gavjenks (May 16, 2013)

If you can't figure it out, at least it looks like it would function well as a boat anchor.


Edit: In all seriousness, try the following:
1) Take the current lens off your DSLR in a clean-ish environment
2) dial this lens to infinity focus, according to the focus control
3) Hold it hovering in front of your camera and move it back and forth until/if you can see something in focus at infinity out of your window

You might not ever see anything in focus at infinity.  if so, it probably means this lens would have to be inside your camera to get inf. focus.  And you're out of luck.

If you do achieve infinity focus, however, then you can probably use this lens.  You just need a way to securely mount it that far in front of your camera's normal mount.  I have gotten good results in the past with an $8 "macro reverse ring" on amazon, with the filter end used as a mount to glue a piece of PVC pipe, and then a little bit of dremeling or screws or more glue or whatever is most convenient to attach the lens using the pipe at the required distance. (note: the PVC pipe works best if you paint the inside black with flat paint, or even better, line with black felt)

Ta da!  Cheap, permanent "mystery lens --> Canon/Nikon/Pentax  mount" conversion

Diagram: http://imgur.com/sm0AM05


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## Garron (May 16, 2013)

I think they look like a Camex bayonet mount.
See link http://www.pathefilm.freeserve.co.uk/95gearerc.htm



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## Derrel (May 16, 2013)

Maybe you could take some measurements and wade through the list of cinema mounts on this page??? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_mount


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## apneaphoto (May 18, 2013)

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Well, if 160+ people have viewed this thread and no one knows what i'm dealing with than I don't feel totally stupid.


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## vintagesnaps (May 18, 2013)

LOL I thought it might be a cine lens... which I suppose many of us wouldn't know anything much about. I did look up the name on the lens barrel - Ercsam. That was apparently a line of cameras/lenses made by Ercsam/Camex which later bought out Pathe and I guess Berthiot made lenses for them... I found mention of it on Marriott home page which I've run across before looking up vintage cameras (and I see someone already posted the same link I found to the history of Camex/Ercsam).

You got me curious and looking online now I somehow ended up on ebay France! Found one that looks like the same lens mount as yours; apparently Camex had its own bayonet mounts and your lens might be for a 9.5 intead of the later 8 mm movie cameras. 

If you go to ebay.fr and search 'camera ercsam camex 9,5 mm type gs 1950' that should take you to the listing (use comma instead of a period for 9,5mm). The lens barrel looks somewhat different but the mount looks like it might be the same.


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