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”→
I know… There’s been a few wallpaper posts lately. It’s because we’re gearing up for NAB which is right around the corner. If you’re not familiar with NAB – you should be. It’s an annual convention that takes place in Las Vegas where manufacturers and vendors come together from all over the world. There’s tons of antenna companies and manufacturers who make blink light panels that I have no idea how to use but have to walk by to get the the lenses…
All you really need to know is that NAB is basically Christmas morning for lens geeks like us. Stay tuned for some very exciting lens news straight from the show floor and giveaways from Duclos Lenses. In the meantime, enjoy this 4K photo of a Leica Summicron-C 25mm – she’s a beaut.
The Summicron-C prime lenses from Leica were introduced at NAB 2013. With 2014 right around the corner, Leica is gearing up to deliver their new Summicron-C primes very soon. But how has Leica gone about producing these new lenses in a way that benefits the Leica brand as well as the cinematographer considering them as a prime lens option? There are plenty of questions that this new set of prime lens demands answers to. We’ll take a look at their performance specs, and image characteristics here. Continue reading “Leica’s Summicron-C Primes Are Coming!”→
A recent report provided by Jon Fauer of FDTimes (source) have given us a sneak peak at Leica’s newest offering. Jon Fauer generously provides some prudent information on the upcoming set; The Summicron-C primes. Check out the original article with photos here.
My Thoughts
Not to be confused with their top shelf Summilux-C primes. I expect these new Summicron-C primes to fall right in line with the current crop of mid-range, professional primes such as Cooke Mini S4/i, Schneider Cine-Xenar III, and Zeiss Ultra Primes. The Summilux-C primes offer exquisite quality with a maximum aperture of T1.4, whereas the newer, predictably smaller and cheaper Summicron-C primes will provide a maximum aperture of T2.0. (Update below) There is no mention of price just yet but I would imagine they will be competitive with the previously mentioned sets, perhaps a bit higher due to the notorious Red Dot. I’ll be sure to stay on top of this news and release any facts as I receive them. Subscribe!
UPDATE
An unconfirmed source has provided a price of $17,000 per lens which is a $8,000 decrease, per lens, from the high-end Summilux-C primes. This price difference is approximately what I expected. The case is similar to Leica’s other series of lenses. Summilux lenses can range from approximately 20%-40% higher than their Summicron brothers. A very interesting new set of primes indeed. Ill be sure to gather more information at NAB in April, if not sooner elsewhere.
The DSLR Revolution is in full swing at the moment and everyone is scrambling to get the glass they love on the camera they are stuck with. It doesn’t sound too difficult to simply change a piece of metal, but there are a lot of things to consider when attempting to change a mount. After-all, lenses are a precision tool, naturally. Lens and camera manufacturers all have their own mount system which specifies a flange depth, the distance from the mount flange to the film/sensor plane. When this number is accurate, the image that the lens produces falls on the sensor in perfect focus. Move it forward or backward by the smallest amount (.0005″) and your collimation will be completely off, throwing out your focus marks and destroying the accuracy of a lens, especially a zoom lens. All of the different SLR camera manufacturers had a similar theory and design, but just slightly different numbers for the flange depth. Wouldn’t it be great if they all agreed on a standardized mount that would allow any lens to be used on any camera? Yeah, it would be great. But that’s not how it works.
Another angle of the Leica-R 35mm f/1.4 Summilux with Leitax Eos mount installed.
