Back in December of 2009 Band Pro unveiled their “Mystery Primes”. At the time Band Pro held the event at their Burbank facility, they hadn’t secured all of the legal mumbo-jumbo to use the name of a prominent, exotic German lens manufacturer. The fact that Iain Neil, a legendary optical designer, was standing next to the lenses during the unveiling, left little doubt as to who the manufacturer was. A few months later, Band Pro admitted that the lenses were in fact designed and built by none other than Leica. One of the most respected and sought after names in photographic optics, Leica stamped their badge on an impressive line-up of high-speed primes and set a delivery date for cinematographers to look forward to. That date came and went, Band Pro announced that Otto Nemenz International was already slated to receive the first 25 sets of lenses, and the rest of the industry was left to wait for a new delivery date. The lenses have finally started shipping and now I get to put them through their paces.
