Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Is there an equivalent to Leica glass for the motion picture world?

Lenny Manfred

Lenny Manfred

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 20, 2007
Messages
825
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Location
Los Angeles
I am a Leica lens user, for many years, even now with my Canon digital bodies. Anyone who has had the experience to work with Leica glass knows that it is not necessarily just about sharpness, but more a combination of contrast, color cast and color strength that separates the Leica glass from the Nikon or Canon glass. I was wondering if anyone out there that is familiar with that Leica "look" can tell me which movie lenses will more closely resemble that in the film world: Ultra-primes, Master-primes, Angenieux, Cooke S4s, etc??

Thank you.
 
Yes.
Panavision Primo lenses. Leitz makes the glass for them!
Cheers,
Harry
 
panavision.jpg

Set of Panavision Primo L lenses.

Leica is definitely the best lenses available for still and cine lenses.

Just have a look photos from Henri Cartier-Bresson or a major Hollywood movies shot on Panavision Primo Anamorphic lenses (not for sale, to rent only) based on Leitz/Leica (ELCAN brand name (standing for Ernst Leitz CANada) glass made in ELCAN factory in Midland/Canada.

Zeiss's, Cooke's, Nikkor's, Canon's,...etc, all very nice lenses but never good like a LEICA's.
 
Abel Cine Tech has a set of Leica lenses that have been completely rehoused and converted for cine use. They are available for rent from our New York office but could also be made available from our Burbank facility. There are eight standard lenses and three macros available. They are excellent glass. For more information, please check out this link to the "exotic glass" page of our rental website.

http://www.abelcine.com/store/product.php?productid=1000803&cat=619&page=1
 
Dalsa also has their "4K" lenses which I believe are Leica as well.
 
I had found a Leica R to Canon FD adapter to use on my Muse Electronics Canon FD mount. But after the whole warranty snafu I switched back to the RED Nikon F mount, which works fine. Once a RED approved Leica R mount comes out, I'll switch to Leica R glass again. Hopefully, that'll come in the shape of the P+S Technik IMS, if they get the final design sorted out. A big "if", though.

We'll see...

:calm:
 
I saw a Leica mount for the RED at the Reduser NAB party. I have a few Leica R lenses that I use with a Canon EOS mount also, so I figured I would use them with the Birger mount when available. That way I can use both Canon and Leica and Nikon lenses on the RED without switching mounts.

But I would think that the Zeiss Master Primes would be a close look to Leica R lenses on the RED. Anyone have any comparisons between the Master Primes and Panavision Primo L's?
 
Steve Sanacore said:
I saw a Leica mount for the RED at the Reduser NAB party. I have a few Leica R lenses that I use with a Canon EOS mount also, so I figured I would use them with the Birger mount when available. That way I can use both Canon and Leica and Nikon lenses on the RED without switching mounts.

But I would think that the Zeiss Master Primes would be a close look to Leica R lenses on the RED. Anyone have any comparisons between the Master Primes and Panavision Primo L's?
Click to expand...

you should start a new thread with that question. it's too deep into this thread for it to be seen by most people.
 
i have a follow up question. the reason i have stayed away from using still photography lenses on my red is that you have to focus by eye, you can't either trust the marks or there just aren't enough marks, lets say, between 5 and 8 feet, to be able to focus accurately that way. this is also the reason i stayed away from the zeiss ZF lenses P+S did the modification too. they are pretty cool, but the marks are too close and inaccurate to trust them. focus gears will not change that either. any suggestions?
 
lennywood said:
I am a Leica lens user, for many years, even now with my Canon digital bodies. Anyone who has had the experience to work with Leica glass knows that it is not necessarily just about sharpness, but more a combination of contrast, color cast and color strength that separates the Leica glass from the Nikon or Canon glass. I was wondering if anyone out there that is familiar with that Leica "look" can tell me which movie lenses will more closely resemble that in the film world: Ultra-primes, Master-primes, Angenieux, Cooke S4s, etc??

Thank you.
Click to expand...

I have a set of Van Diemen re-housed PL mount Leicas, and i love em. They create beautiful images on my RED.
 
lennywood said:
i have a follow up question. the reason i have stayed away from using still photography lenses on my red is that you have to focus by eye, you can't either trust the marks or there just aren't enough marks, lets say, between 5 and 8 feet, to be able to focus accurately that way. this is also the reason i stayed away from the zeiss ZF lenses P+S did the modification too. they are pretty cool, but the marks are too close and inaccurate to trust them. focus gears will not change that either. any suggestions?
Click to expand...

If you use photo lens with gears and as a controller either remote with motors (bfd/m-one) or a standard FF, then you can remap the marks to the 360° turn on your FF or BFD. I have found though, that a lot of Leica lens have a nice rotation (the 50/1.4 and the 70-180/2.8 zoom has nearly 340°)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top