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  • 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 :)

lomo lenses?

What lenses are of interest in particular Zak ?

I've got a few, but also know where most of the bodies are buried.

Matt Uhry
www.mattuhry.com
 
http://www.vimeo.com/2855207

Here's a quick lens/flair/build 18 test on my 35mm square front.

or you could just watch Solaris.

I don't own any non anamorphic Lomos though.

Kip
 
I think you can't count on some kind of universal lens test from LOMO's. They come in all kinds of condition and ages. You need to evaluate the ones you want based on age (the newer the better) condition (wear and ease of mechanics) sharpness (particularly as relates to the mounts and columnation (SP?)) and whether or not they have been cleaned and adjusted in the States. Some of these lenses are great when you get them, some really need to go to the lens hospital, but the basic glass is usually very good (if clean and reasonably late model) and the mechanics and lubrication can be brought up to standards by Duclos and others. But a bad Lomo lens, with fungus and bad mechanics, is only good for a paperweight.
 
I'm considering changing the name of the company from Duclos Lenses to "The Lens Hospital". ;)

GFIROb is right. Lomos come in all sort of build quality and condition. They are extremely expensive to repair as most of the screws and parts will break or fall apart upon service.
Lomo did not consider serviceability when they built these lenses. They can be beautiful optical pieces, but the mechanics almost always need several hours of work to get them up to speed.
 
Hi

a quick link for footage :

http://vimeo.com/3183007

Lens : 28mm f1.2 35OKC-10-28-1M #870009 CKBK

I will post soon a small presentation video, with the french actress Louise Bourgoin, shot with all my lomos, as well as some stills from a 1940'type short movie (when the shooting is finished), normally on monday.

I agree Lomos are optically nice, but it is a pain to have mechanics work well.
 
I'd have to say, as a follow-up, that after our LOMO's (primes and zoom lens) were released from the Duclos Lens Hospital, they performed really well, and while the service was not what you would call cheap, the total cost of the lenses-purchase, PL mount and Duclosize-was still very reasonable compared to the other options for used Cine lenses (including the cost of the new Red lenses).

So we're happy and we love the cute little hospital gowns that the lenses are wearing when Duclos ships them back...
Rob Gardner
 
I can post some stills later this week. Ekran speeds, Lomos, and the 25-80 ekran zoom.

Cheers,

Nick
 
Don't know if this helps you, but here is a 75mm lomo, ckbk, 1989.


A005_C008_10165S_0169%5B1%5D.jpg
 
Ive been bombarded with emails from people wanting to service Lomo lenses.
I thought I could use this thread to kinda give people a heads up.

Lomo lenses range quite a bit in age and style. Most of them being acquired were built in the 70's and a few from the 80's. This makes them nice and cheap and many people are taking advantage of that (good for you). But that doesn't change the cost of labor when servicing the lenses. Rob was right, it is costly to service Lomos. This is mostly due to their poor build quality. While servicing, the set screws tend to break off and require even more time to remove. Many of the components inside the Lomo lenses are hand made (not in a good way) and don't always fit correctly. Don't get me wrong, they are great lenses. But they are very costly to maintain. I'll give you an example... I just serviced a Zeiss 35mm MkIII Super Speed and billed the customer for 4 hour.
I also recently serviced a Lomo anamorphic that we billed the customer 8 hours.
So... my point is, they are cheap to buy, but costly to maintain. And they do produce nice images ;)
 
I'll second what Mathew said, but I would add that our experience with Duclos is that their service, while expensive, gave us lenses that were virtually new and performed extremely well and even with that painful cost, were still, in the end, much more affordable than anything else. They do a very, very thorough job (which you must pay for, dearly) but if the original lens itself had good glass (no fungus or scratches) little use (which is usually the case with a lens in the 1989 to 1991 time frame when the Soviet Union was melting down and few films were being made) and no physical damage (from being dropped or shipped badly) you will come out in the end with a fine, true cine lens, functioning very well. And if there is a big problem with the lens, Duclos will let you know before they do any work. You get a full report on the lens before they do anything.

Long term, eventually the lenses will have to be serviced again (as all lenses do) and they are built of aluminum on aluminum (rather than steel and brass) so they will wear over time, but I think it would be a lot of time between Duclos visits (unless they were dropped). Compared to a Nikon lens, they are built like a T-72 tank (with similar workmanship to the T-72, if you have ever seen one).

I should also say that we use them (together with two Cooke zooms and Ekran speeds) as our primary lenses now. Our clients (we produce television documentaries for PBS and cable) have no idea what kind of lenses we use and wouldn't know an Ultra Prime if it bit them on the ass. All they care about is how the footage looks. We have two Red's and we have replaced our Varicam system with them (though we kept one of our Varicams). So we use them in a fully professional environment, almost always with a first assistant cameraman to pull focus. And they have done a great job for us.

I think that LOMO's and Ekrans are the only way to buy a set of professional cine lenses for less than $10,000 a set, but finding them, selecting them and shipping them safely back to you is part of the process, as is having them admitted to the lens hospital, in my opinion.
Rob Gardner
 
Hi matt,
What would it cost to change oct 19 to PL on these lenses and how difficult it is.
Thx,
babu
 
Hi matt,
What would it cost to change oct 19 to PL on these lenses and how difficult it is.
Click to expand...

Hi, Getting these lenses PL mounted in the states is expensive. If you have the Lomo standard speeds from a Kinor 35H or C series camera, you can purchase PL mounts which bolt on in place of the OCT 19 mounts. These are a couple hundred bucks each. The lens should still be sent to a lens tech for collimation.

Ekran speeds and older lomos need to go to St. Petersburg for PL mounts. www.spbsale.com

If Duclos does your PL mounts, they will be really nice.

nick
 
18, 24, 28, 35, 50, 75 and 150mm
Click to expand...

not all of them will be as good as the 75mm. IMHO the 75mm is the best Lomo. Sharp, good contrast, pleasing colors, well built (compared to the others, i mean)

The lomo I don't recommend is the 22 t2. It's not t2, but t2.4, it's soft, and flare easily. I've never seen a 24mm, so i suppose you speak about the 22.
 
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