a blog by Matthew Duclos
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”
Fujifilm has been busy… If you’re a Fuji fan like I am, you’ve been completely obsessed with the new GFX mirrorless medium format camera and haven’t been paying attention to the other projects they’ve been working on. Which, when you think about it – is mind boggling, that Fujifilm is doing so much at once. This particular move is a bit different for Fujifilm. Instead of making something that fits tightly into their own ecosystem, Fujinon Optical Systems has designed and manufactured a purpose built cinema lens, exclusively for E-mount cinema cameras. A whole new line they’re calling the MK series. The first lens in the line will be the brand new MK18-55mm T2.9. Let’s explore!
Continue reading “Fujinon’s New MK Series Launches With An 18-55mm T2.9, TRY IT at Duclos!”
Duclos Lenses released the first video in a new series they’re calling LENS GUTS. The name says it all. Lens geek, Matthew Duclos, sits down with a new lens each episode and tears into it, showing us the materials, build quality, and techniques used while he discusses the history or lesser known facts about each “patient”. Continue reading “LENS GUTS – A New Video Series from Duclos Lenses”
When Cooke advertises their lenses as “hand built in the UK”, they’re not joking. As someone who’s been lucky enough to experience the Cooke factory first-hand, I can confirm that every single lens is hand built by skilled technicians. This video shot by Florin Gabor back in 2013 takes us on a nice tour through the factory and shows a glimpse of each step of the lens manufacturing process. Continue reading “Ever Wonder How Cooke Lenses Are Made?”
Last week Rokinon announced that the latest addition to their XEEN by Rokinon line, the 16mm T2.6 lens, is available immediately from authorized dealers. This is the first XEEN lens to be released since the 135mm lens began shipping last July, and is the first (but most likely not the last) XEEN of 2017. Continue reading “Rokinon adds 16mm T2.6 to Xeen Line”
I’ve written about the Tokina 11-16mm many, many times. In fact, I was temporarily banned from REDUser years ago for backhandedly plugging the Duclos 11-16mm conversion – breaking the rules of the forum. I’ve since cleaned up my act (sort of). I speak often of the Duclos 11-16mm, and when I do, I always give credit to Tokina for making such a great product. I wanted to take a post here and acknowledge the original lens, it’s heritage, influence, and evolution over the past (nearly) decade. Continue reading “Tokina’s Gateway to Cinema: The 11-16mm”
Last month Sigma revealed that they were (finally) entering the cinema world with a brand new set of cine zooms and primes. On Thursday October 6th, with the help of Duclos Lenses, Sigma hosted a launch event for these new lenses at the ASC Clubhouse in Hollywood, California. Continue reading “Duclos Lenses Presents Sigma Cine at the ASC Clubhouse : A Photo Recap”
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”
Tokina entered the cinema lens market several years ago with a few zooms and a macro prime which were all ported over from their still photography line of lenses. Originally, their 11-16mm T3 (a lens that we lovingly began the trend with) lacked a PL mount option which it finally gained just recently, while the other lenses featured the PL mount as a factory option. The 11-16mm was accompanied by two additional zoom lenses – a 16-28mm T3 and a 50-135mm T3 and a lonely 100mm Macro prime lens. Last week, Tokina announced that it will begin manufacturing three brand new prime lenses – a 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm, all T1.5, and refreshing the 16-28mm with a version II. Continue reading “Tokina Cinema Introduces New Primes, Refreshed Zoom, and More!”
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”
This one has been a long time coming and I couldn’t be happier to be breaking this news to all that have waited so patiently. For the past couple of years I would receive an email or phone call about twice a month asking if we had plans to convert the Sigma 18-35mm and/or 50-100mm to a cine lens. I would consistently, politely decline citing high cost or some other hurdle that made such a project unattractive to my organization which was generally met with the oh so annoying “Well, this other company in China does it for real cheap”. Good for them… But alas, we can finally admit to the real reason why Duclos Lenses has avoided such a project. Sigma has taken it upon themselves to carry out what so many have asked for over the past couple of years; Manufacture a high quality, fast, lightweight range of zooms and primes direct from their factory in Aizu, Japan. Let’s take a look into the future of Sigma Cine. Continue reading “Sigma Steps Into The Spotlight With New Cine Zooms and Primes”
Vintage lenses have been a major trend in the motion picture industry and Cooke is in a prime position to take advantage of their unrivaled heritage. They’ve just announced they’ll be reviving the classic Cooke Speed Panchro line of prime lenses that were first made in the 20’s and ran all the way through the 60’s. Let’s take a look at what information is currently available from Cooke. Continue reading “Cooke Brings Back The Panchro Primes”
Just ahead of the European trade show trio, Zeiss has lifted the veil on their newest zoom lens project – The 21-100mm T2.9-3.9 LWZ.3. A Super 35 format, 4.7x cinema zoom lens weighing in at a mere four and a half pounds. We’ve got the scoop on Zeiss’ newest light weight zoom lens.
Continue reading “Zeiss Revives LWZ Line With New 21-100mm T2.9-3.9 LWZ.3 Zoom”
For many years now I have used 1.4x and 2x extenders with my still lenses for both photography and video, and I am familiar with their advantages as well as their shortcomings. Since PL mount lenses have really become my gear of choice lately, I was in the market for a good PL mount 2x extender. I am now the happy owner of the Duclos 2x Extender and I wanted to take a minute to share my first impressions of it. Continue reading “Field Test – Duclos 2x Extender”
Back to the weekly grind. It’s Monday. Let’s get it started right with a bit of light reading. Continue reading “Weekly News Roundup #6”