This website, MatthewDuclos.com, has been a great resource for cinematographers since 2009. Originally started as a personal blog to serve as a dumping ground for answers to common questions, it continuously evolved into much more. The content expanded from simple thoughts on the motion picture lens industry, to in-depth tutorials, to featurettes with some of the industry’s biggest lens manufacturers. In order to continue providing relevant, timely content, we’re making a few changes around here. All for the better! Continue reading “Some Housekeeping”→
I’ve been on a bit of a Zeiss kick here lately, partly because I genuinely appreciate their products, but mostly because they continue to innovate and provide new glass for their customers. Earlier this week we took delivery of the Zeiss 135mm T2.1 CP.2 which marked the first time Zeiss released a lens as a CP.2 before releasing it as a ZF.2 or ZE. I’ll be sure to put some tests of the 135mm up soon, it’s an impressive tele-prime to say the least. This brings me to todays topic. The ZF.2 lenses that the CP.2 primes are based on are still being produced in quantity and Zeiss continues to add focal lengths and updates older designs on a regular basis. There’s certainly no sign of them slowing down. However, if you pay attention to the inter-webs, you’d have noticed rumors and results of their new 55mm Distagon floating around. Continue reading “The Future of Zeiss DSLR Lenses”→
It’s that time of year once again. Duclos Lenses closes up shop except for those few unlucky employees who stay behind to keep the wheel turning. This year everyone is flying from LA to Vegas… What a waste. I prefer my loyal automobile to get me there in about the same amount of time as those flying fools. I’ll be snapping photos the whole way there and while at the show whenever I find something cool or interesting worth sharing. A virtual photo tour, as it were, for my guests to enjoy. I’ll do my best to utilize my plethora of Apple and Nikon/Canon toys to show as much as I can, as quick as I can. Please feel free to ask questions or request specific photos and I’ll do my best to accommodate. Now onto the photos!
UPDATE: Between WordPress’ irritating interface and the Hilton’s sluggish (at best) wifi, I’ve decided just to upload all to Flickr via my 3G iPad connection. Click the link below for the gallery. Enjoy!
Hitting the road, Vegas bound.Duclos Lenses mobile command center. Fully operational.Duclos 70-200mm prototype arrives from LA just in time to show around tomorrow.
Doing a a few practical tests before heading down to the show. (Duclos 70-200mm and Zeiss 21mm ZF.2 Cine-Mod)
The 11-16mm has been doing extremely well and received a lot of good reviews especially with the release of the RED Epic camera and it’s ability to cover the entire frame. There was a small slump where the lenses were constantly in stock and just sitting on the shelf. But now we can’t build them fast enough.
Bridge shot with RED Epic and Duclos 11-16mm by Mike Seymour
A little background on the lens and our conversion can be found here: Duclos Lenses PL Mount 11-16mm. We build our conversion lenses in batches of 25-50 at a time. The base lens is a bit difficult to find since it’s such a great photo lens, making it hard to find in stores and online. Once we have all of the stock lenses ready to go we begin tearing down the plastic housings and unwanted parts. The lens is essentially stripped down to the core mechanics and glass. Our local machine shops crank out all new aluminum and stainless steel parts for the housing and components of the new lens. All of the material, machining, assembly, and testing is done right in the San Fernando Valley. When we say Made in the USA, we mean it. Kinda… (The original Tokina lens is still made in Japan).
A fresh batch of Duclos 11-16mm lenses ready for final touches and packaging.
Now that this current batch is well into production the lenses should start shipping again. We learned from our mistakes and are producing a much larger quantity of parts for the conversion. So if you’re in line for a Duclos Lenses 11-16mm, know that we are building them as fast as we can and yours is on the way.
