Denz Canon 7D PL-Mount First Impressions

Mr. Arnold from Denz sent me a Canon 7D PL-Mount for some test-shots! Here are my first impressions. Solid quality, really massive and a completely new sensor block. They sent me two Zeiss lenses, one 25 mm 1.2 and one 75 mm 1.4. I will shoot a short film in Prague this week with the Denz Equipment and the Zeiss PL-Mount lenses.

Technical Specifications:

• for all 35mm lenses fitted with PL54-Mount
• HD-Sensor-mount and PL54-Mount are made of material with a super low coefficient of expansion, which is also used for space- / satellite-technology
• Sensor-size fits S35 (3perf.) format – 18 Megapixels (effektive)
• 24,25 and 30 f/s progressive (1920×1080 pixels)
• 50 and 60 f/s progressive (1280×720 pixels)
• On-Board Recording as well as 3” display with Live-View
• various accessories for optimum handling

The Canon 7D evo PL54 is a forward-looking development on the DSLR camera market.

With the Canon 7D evo PL54, all 35mm lenses fitted with PL54-Mount can be used. In order to realize this, large modifications of the stock canon-camera had to be done.

The originally used sensor-block will be replaced by a new custom made sensor-block, so that the camera-body just contains the electronics.

The sensor-block, the PL54-Mount and the support bracket are building a statically determined unit. In order to avoid a wrong flange depth caused by temperature, the sensor-block is made of a special steel, a material with a super low coefficient of expansion, which is also used in space technology.

The PL54-Mount and the sensor-block are positively tied with a support-bracket, which is made of heavy-duty aluminium (Konstruktal), manufactured from solid material as used in aircraft construction. At the bottom of the support bracket there is one 3/8“ thread to mount the camera and 4 srews to take the load off the camera body.

The shutter-unit remains in the camera. For that reason, still-photography in Manual Exposure Mode is still possible, by using Live View to focus.

In order to start the camera remote-controlled, a 3-pin Fischer plug has been built in, so that CMOTION, ARRI and other accessories can also be used.

It is still possible to activate the Start/Stop – function by IR – remote control.