Not a Leica made lens but it might be interesting

[xayraa33]

 

[Godfrey]

Whenever I see this guy's videos, I think "Dang, he must have just finished drinking about a quart of espresso!"

The lens looks interesting, but I was somewhat put off by the fact that he didn't show a single picture (that I recall) that was simply rendered from the raw file or from a JPEG directly, instead passing everything through one or another Lightroom plug-in filter to apply some 'film simulation' to the lens's native rendering. So are the qualities he "loves" so much in this lens a product of the lens or a product of these plug-ins that he loves?

It leaves me with a rather ambivalent feeling for what will be, likely, a $1000 lens from which I'm looking for some kind of "character lens" look.

I left this same comment in the YouTube video comment stream and will be interested to see if there are any responses.

G

 

[Timmyjoe]

A little less than 20 years ago I had a complete set of Cooke Speed Panchro Series II and III lenses. Took me a long time to put the set together, 18mm Series III, 25mm Series III, 32mm Series II, 40mm Series II, 50mm Series II and 75mm Series II. I rented out the set thru a Chicago camera rental house, and about 10 years ago, unable to use the lenses on my still cameras, I sold the set for $7500, thinking I had made a great deal as it was three times what I had paid for them. Now they are worth four or five times that amount.

They rendered beautifully and I would love to have them now as they would "sing" on a full frame mirrorless set up.

Much regret on my part has made me better understand the adage of cinematographers I used to work with, "Never Sell Glass".

Best,
-Tim

 

[Coldkennels]

Honestly, I'm most excited about the fact an LTM version is on the roadmap.

I know LLL is a bit of a controversial subject around these parts, and I'm not sure that I'm going to be in the position to drop $1k on another 50mm lens any time soon, but any time someone's making a lens in LTM, I want to support them. I really don't know why it's not more common.

That said, that Speed Panchro looks excessively long; I imagine it would feel very odd (and involve a fair bit of viewfinder blockage) on a Barnack.

 

[rfaspen]

If nothing else, I do really like the look of the images in that review. I have been considering another 50mm lens ever since the VC APO 50 came out. Since then there have been a few other interesting 50s emerging on the scene. I can honestly say that this one really really appeals to me. It will probably become available about the time I'm allowed to buy another lens (wife keeps telling me I *just* got that 21mm lens only a little while ago).

Now, which would be better? LTM or M? There's a case to be made for each

 

[cboy]

Speakings from a pov of a stills photographer can the glass for cinema translate to stills image well in its effectiveness conveying a 'cinematic' image. Can the atmosphere of cinema translate into a single frame?

Perhaps I don't know the criteria of quality cinema glass compared to glass used for photography.

 

[PRJ]

I think for video guys this is a no brainer. For regular picture taking, meh.

Still, if it will be available in LTM then it gets more interesting.

I'll probably just stick with my Sonnars though.

I wonder how that guy has so many subscribers but almost no one watches his videos. Weird.....

 

[Timmyjoe]

Speakings from a pov of a stills photographer can the glass for cinema translate to stills image well in its effectiveness conveying a 'cinematic' image. Can the atmosphere of cinema translate into a single frame?

Perhaps I don't know the criteria of quality cinema glass compared to glass used for photography.

A lens is a lens is a lens, whether for cinema or still. And each lens has a signature of how it renders. The old Cooke Speed Panchro line of lenses were used in many motion pictures from the 1940's until even the present day. There was a way they rendered a scene, call it a classic cinema look, and that can be seen when exposing a single frame or twenty-four frames per second. I happened to really like the rendering, a bit warm, a slight bit soft, and just very "organic" (as opposed to the Zeiss look, which I always found very cool and clinical).

Would love to have them to use with B&W film or with a mirrorless Nikon Z camera for full color stills.

Best,
-Tim

 

[Godfrey]

Lens rendering qualities show, which is why the video disturbed me as it never shows *just* the lens rendering ... it's always the lens rendering combined with some of the presenter's favorite image processing filters (which he sells, I think ... so the whole thing is something of an advertorial).

If you're going to highlight a new lens based on its characterful rendering qualities, please show me those, not some mixed up soup of the lens plus a set of plug-in filters that I will never use. 🤪

G

 

[rfaspen]

Completely agree.
I didn't realize there was much post processing of the example images. I know I like the look of these kinds of lenses [intended for cinema] from the examples shown elsewhere on RFF (I think the username was JeffS or something similar). Still, I feel like Godfrey here; show me what the lens does. If you feel like showing off filters and such, do that after you show me what the lens itself does. Otherwise, its meaningless to attribute the "look" to the lens.

Hopefully some honest examples come out for us to evaluate.

 

[filmtwit]

ANyone else know much about em? I know they are not out yet, but are currently being sent out of reviews (See video link below)

 

[dourbalistar]

ANyone else know much about em? I know they are not out yet, but are currently being sent out of reviews (See video link below)

It's not obvious from the title, but there's already a thread about this lens:

Not a Leica made lens but it might be interesting

Maybe the mods can merge?