Category: Leica

Leica, Leitz, Lenses, LPL, News, Product Announcement

Leitz Expands Hugo Line: Adds 40mm T1.5

by Frank RamirezLeave a Comment on Leitz Expands Hugo Line: Adds 40mm T1.5
Leitz Expands Hugo Line: Adds 40mm T1.5

Leitz Cine quietly expanded its HUGO series this week with the announcement of a brand new 40mm T1.5 lens. Revealed on August 25, the addition rounds the set out to a total of 14 focal lengths spanning 18mm through 135mm.

The HUGO series quickly grabbed attention among cinematographers for the pleasing rendering they impart on the image and as more robust build than the M 0.8 primes that they replaced. Much of the glass in the series comes from Leica M rangefinder optics, known for their signature character and natural falloff toward the edges. While Leica does not currently make a 40mm in their M line, this lens was developed with support from Leica Camera designers to ensure it matched the spirit of the series.

Continue reading “Leitz Expands Hugo Line: Adds 40mm T1.5” →
Leica, Lenses, News, PL, Product Announcement, TLS

TLS Brings Premium Leica R Rehousing Home

by Matthew Duclos2 Comments on TLS Brings Premium Leica R Rehousing Home
TLS Brings Premium Leica R Rehousing Home

The ever-popular Leica R primes have been modified and rehoused by many companies for several years but none so elegantly as Leicester, UK-based outfit, TLS. While a Leica R re-housing by TLS has been available for quite some time, this is the first time that TLS is offering a solution direct to customers without a middle-man. But what makes the Leica R lenses and the TLS housing such a great pairing? Let’s explore!

Continue reading “TLS Brings Premium Leica R Rehousing Home” →
Leica, Leitz, Lenses, LPL, News, Product Announcement

Leitz Cine Expands Hugo Line

by Matthew Duclos1 Comment on Leitz Cine Expands Hugo Line
Leitz Cine Expands Hugo Line

Leitz Cine has expanded their popular HUGO line of cinema lenses with three new additions: the 66 mm T2.1, 75 mm T2.1, and 90 mm T2.1. These new lenses, part of the newly dubbed HUGO II series, join the existing 10 focal lengths in the HUGO lineup, bringing more versatility and options to the highly respected lens family. Let’s take a closer look at these new additions and how they stack up against their faster predecessors.

Continue reading “Leitz Cine Expands Hugo Line” →
Leica, News

Leitz Cine Announces Plans for New Cine Primes and Zooms

by Matthew DuclosLeave a Comment on Leitz Cine Announces Plans for New Cine Primes and Zooms
Leitz Cine Announces Plans for New Cine Primes and Zooms During IBC 2018, Leitz Cine announced the development of a whole new set of twelve prime lenses designed for Full Frame/Vista Vision format as well as a brand new pair of cinema zoom lenses also designed for large format cinematography. Continue reading “Leitz Cine Announces Plans for New Cine Primes and Zooms” →
Leica, Lenses, News, Review

Leica R Primes Done Right by Cinescope and TLS.

by Matthew Duclos9 Comments on Leica R Primes Done Right by Cinescope and TLS.
Leica R Primes Done Right by Cinescope and TLS.

Since the DSLR Revolution the Leica R primes have been the pinnacle of quality hybrid photo-cine prime lenses. Duclos Lenses has applied their Cine-Mod® to thousands of Leica R primes which brought a seamless focus gear, smooth  click-less aperture, common 80mm front rings and Canon EF mount. But we had never tackled the PL mount solution. There were a couple of Chinese modifications that brought PL mounts and larger, heavier housings to the R series. But it wasn’t until Cinescope teamed up with TLS in the UK to bring a proper, robust cine-style housing to the Leica R primes.  Continue reading “Leica R Primes Done Right by Cinescope and TLS.” →

Angenieux, Arri, Canon, Cooke, Duclos, Fujinon, Leica, Lenses, News, Rokinon, Sigma, Tokina, Zeiss

The Pacific Northwest Lens Summit

by Matthew Duclos1 Comment on The Pacific Northwest Lens Summit
The Pacific Northwest Lens Summit

That’s right. It’s a lens test. I’ll be joining host Michael Koerner at his facility Koerner Camera Systems in Portland Oregon in just a few weeks. The perfect bridge between NAB and Cine Gear – Koerner will be hosting a range of manufacturers to showcase their latest gear. Less of a shootout and more of a hands-on event, we’ll be pairing up cameras and lenses and giving each a go to see what works best in different situations.

We’ll have lenses and reps from the following:

  • Angenieux
  • Arri
  • Canon
  • Cooke
  • Fujinon
  • IB/E
  • Leica
  • Lomo Illumina
  • PS Technik
  • Raptor
  • Sigma
  • Tokina
  • Zeiss

So how about it? Join us! No need to RSVP. You can find the event details over on Koerner’s facebook page. Looks like it’s going to be a good time. Come hang out. Drink. Eat. Mingle. I’ll have some swag on hand to give away. If you’re a lens geek like me and Michael Koerner, you’ll be in good company.

Leica, Lenses, News, PL

Leica Announces New Thalia Line Ahead of NAB

by Matthew Duclos2 Comments on Leica Announces New Thalia Line Ahead of NAB
Leica Announces New Thalia Line Ahead of NAB

Here’s something a bit different from everyone’s favorite German lens manufacturer – Leica’s new Thalia prime lenses which tout a massive 60mm image circle. More than enough to cover any current digital cinema sensors. The new Thalia line takes aim at cinematographers looking for a more character-rich image.  Continue reading “Leica Announces New Thalia Line Ahead of NAB” →

Leica, News, Review

Leica Macro-Lux Line Expands with +0.5 and +2 Diopters

by Matthew DuclosLeave a Comment on Leica Macro-Lux Line Expands with +0.5 and +2 Diopters
Leica Macro-Lux Line Expands with +0.5 and +2 Diopters

Leica announced the original +1 Macro-Lux Diopter last year and it has quickly become the go-to clamp-on diopter for a wide range of productions. If you didn’t catch the announcement at NAB 2016, I’ll recap for you really quickly… The Macro-Lux +1 is essentially a super high quality clamp-on diopter. If you’re not familiar with diopters, think of them as a very quick way to achieve closer focus than what’s normally possible. A +1 is a pretty standard magnification which is why Leica released this one first. Now you can achieve even greater artistic goals with the +0.5 and +2 Macro-Lux. Continue reading “Leica Macro-Lux Line Expands with +0.5 and +2 Diopters” →

Arri, Canon, Cooke, Duclos, Leica, News, Review, Zeiss

The Ultimate Vintage Lens Test

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The Ultimate Vintage Lens Test

Over the course of two days, in a studio in Burbank, California, a band of self-proclaimed “lens geeks” set out to complete the ultimate vintage cinema lens test. The project first began as a collaboration between ShareGrid’s Brent Barbano, and Duclos Lenses’ own Matthew Duclos. Initially, Barbano and Duclos had been planning to complete a rather small-scale lens test with the industry’s most popular and widely used vintage lenses. However, upon approaching director and cinematographer Mark Lafleur to ask him to participate, they discovered that he too was getting ready to carry out his own vintage lens test. The two sides decided to join forces, and before long a whole team was assembled. With Lafleur and Barbano as Directors and Executive Producers, and Duclos as Lens Consultant, Kyle Stryker was brought on as Director of Photography. The team also came to include Camera Assistants Matthew Borek and Michelle Diaz, and Nick Ferriero as Editor. Continue reading “The Ultimate Vintage Lens Test” →

Leica, Lenses, News

Leica Refocuses With M 0.8 Primes

by Matthew DuclosLeave a Comment on Leica Refocuses With M 0.8 Primes
Leica Refocuses With M 0.8 Primes

Leica is known world-wide for their classic line of M lenses that have been a favorite of photographers for decades. With the worlds of still photography and motion picture becoming less and less defined as time goes on, it’s not uncommon to see a still photo lens being used for motion picture work. Leica took note of this with their extensive catalog of high quality M mount primes and decided to do a bit of blending themselves.  Continue reading “Leica Refocuses With M 0.8 Primes” →

Angenieux, Arri, Canon, Cooke, Duclos, Leica, News, Rokinon, Tokina, veydra, Voigtlander, Weekly, Zeiss

NAB 2016 Preview

by Matthew Duclos3 Comments on NAB 2016 Preview
NAB 2016 Preview

NAB has officially begun. It looks like just about every lens manufacturer couldn’t keep it in their pants and dropped their news ahead of the actual show, with a few exceptions. This post is a general roundup up the news announced as of Sunday night before the show. We’ll be posting a daily wrap-up with a ton of photos and additional news from the show floor so be sure to subscribe and check back soon. If there’s anything we missed that you found interesting, send a tweet to @MQDuclos and we’ll make him run across the expo to check it out ;-). Let’s get to it! We’ve broken the product announcements up by manufacturer in alphabetical order. Continue reading “NAB 2016 Preview” →

Leica, News, PL

Leica’s Summicron-C Line Grows with 15mm and 40mm

by Matthew DuclosLeave a Comment on Leica’s Summicron-C Line Grows with 15mm and 40mm
Leica’s Summicron-C Line Grows with 15mm and 40mm

At this rate, we won’t have any products left to announce during NAB. CW Sonderoptic, Leica’s sister company that manufactures their cine lenses, has announced the addition of two new prime lenses that really round out and fill the gaps in the Summicron-C line of lenses. Taking up the wide end we’ll see a nice, fast, 15mm. And then, to prove that they’re really listening to their customers, the coveted 40mm is added right in the middle of the range. A favorite focal length of many cinematographers that gives just a tad more reach than a 35mm, but doesn’t quite punch in to the tight field you would get with a 50mm. Beautiful!  Continue reading “Leica’s Summicron-C Line Grows with 15mm and 40mm” →

Duclos, Leica, News, Review

Leica 70-180mm Cinema Conversion from Duclos Lenses

by Matthew Duclos6 Comments on Leica 70-180mm Cinema Conversion from Duclos Lenses

Duclos-70-180mm

Back in 2009 we began shipping our Tokina 11-16mm cine conversion. We honestly had no idea it would be so successful. About a week after we initially started shipping our 11-16mm lens, customers began asking what our next project was. You see… We don’t just convert any lens. We look for something different – something unique. At the time we released our 11-16mm lens, there really wasn’t anything else in the same category. There were a few high-end options that were 6x – 8x the price of our lens or some vintage lenses that simply didn’t perform very well when compared to the 11-16mm. These days you can find the 11-16mm with cinema features from any number of companies including lens shops in Germany, China, and even from Tokina themselves. I can confidently say that our cinema conversion is still the best option out there by a large margin. So – the next project… Continue reading “Leica 70-180mm Cinema Conversion from Duclos Lenses” →