Leitz VV primes tested by shift-4.com

[Karim D. Ghantous]

we can confidently report the LEITZ PRIMES have:

• Consistent illumination & resolution
• Minimal distortion across the whole full frame area
• Minimal focus breathing
• Smooth focus roll-off
• No chromatic aberrations
• Stunning flares

https://www.shift-4.com/leitz-prime-lens-test/

I remember when Dragon was new, Jim Jannard spoke very highly of the previous Leica primes back in 2013:

I have to say they we have tested just about every combination of lenses with the Dragon sensor and the Leicas win.

https://www.reduser.net/forum/dsmc1-cameras/dragon/106244-dragon-and-leica-lenses

 

[Zack Birlew]

I have no doubt that Leica cinema lenses are incredibly nice but I wonder why they're seemingly not used as often as one would think and also I keep seeing Leica cinema lenses popping up for sale. These new ones look very interesting and while I can appreciate the comments about moving beyond vintage lens looks, I can't help but feel that by being so clear that there's just something missing without using filters or doing post lens VFX processing. For example, a film that got me recently for cinematography inspiration was Alex Garland's "Men" as some of those shots with Panavision-H lenses looked like 8x10 large format imagery and those lenses are geared towards a vintage feel so there is still something to be said for vintage designs. This is why I'm looking forward to certain projects like the official Iscorama anamorphic revival and the Meyer Optik Gorlitz remakes of the Zeiss Biotar 58mm 1.5 and Biotar 75mm 1.5 lenses.

Now, having said that, I wouldn't say no to a set of Leica cinema lenses either! :thumbup1:

 

[Phil Holland]

seemingly

The full set of the flagship Leitz VV Primes is a fairly recent existence and they are in fact the most expensive spherical primes available for VV and also pretty much the highest quality if you add the sum of all the parts. Pretty much only major rental houses carry them and they don't exactly carry dozens of sets. The full prime set is about $515K.

The current season of Yellowstone is using them. But also a lot of things even filmed in the last year on them haven't been released yet. I've seen them more commonly used on higher end commercial shoots that usually are in the 1-10 day range as that is a more manageable rental short term.

For the historical relevance, when it was only a game of S35 Master Primes ruled all. A considerable effort went into the Summilux-C cinema primes and they are indeed to date some of the best S35 lenses you can find both in terms of technical prowess as well as a pretty look. There's a reason many Marvel, Netflix, and various other productions have gone with them over the years. Size even playing a factor. I paired them on Dragon for a few years and was consistently impressed.

There's room for a lot of different types of lenses out there, always will be, but I assure you if you look at the more premiere cinema optics cleaner and modern looks have always been the goal for decades. It's the hardest stuff to actually do and do well. Expensive right down to the low dispersion glass used in the lenses themselves. That's why some of the $,$$$ glass punches well above it's weight in price as well as you're getting closer to $$,$$$ glass performance, sometimes even being darn near on par in some ways. Servicing such lenses is additional commitment as well, but that's to be expected up there.

 

[Blair S. Paulsen]

Love the Summilux-Cs. Resolution for days without looking over sharp. Master Primes are often shot WFO to avoid that "too sharp" clinical look - plus the sweet bokeh.

Very interested in checking out the Leitz VV primes. Perhaps it's time to sell my house and live in my van...

Cheers - #19

 

[Matt W.]

WFO = wide open.

If I recall Fincher correctly used to shoot MPs wide open but switched to Leica.