David Kellermann
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 19, 2009
- Messages
- 1,076
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- Location
- Freiburg, Germany
- Website
- www.abt-cine.de
The Bokkeh Optics thread kind of shifted into a Celere lens thread, so I thought that it might be a good idea to start an own thread for the Celere lenses.
First a disclaimer: I do sell on my store Celere lenses and other products by Hanse Inno Tech, but am also a reseller for XEEN and other manufacturers.
The Celere lenses are purpose build cinema lenses from Germany. It's a collaboration of lens technician Steven Kisilevic and precision engineer Lars Andersen, both of whom are based in Hamburg, Germany.
Steven worked at MBF which is one of the biggest rental houses in Germany as a lens technician and also worked as a director. Lars' company Hanse Inno Tech manufactures accessories for film equipment (have a look at this reduser thread about the BNC Easy Click system).
Nearly three years ago, Steven approached Lars with the idea to build affordable high quality FF35 lenses in Germany.
To make them affordable, they decided to build them as hybrid lenses. They basically took lens elements from different manufactures and put them in a custom developed housing which was designed by Lars. Again, they are not simply rehoused still lenses. The front element for example gets manufactured and coated by a well known company in Wetzlar which also manufactures for Angénieux and other cine companies.
New versions of the front elements will be available in the next weeks, including an uncoated version.
I was a distributor for GL optics and also have some experience with other affordable lens sets. While it's in my opinion difficult to objectively judge lenses based on their look, since everyone prefers something else and the needed look also often depends on the project, I would rather comment on the build quality and the service. There are some videos further down showing some footage shot on them.
The Celere lenses are build for decades of use, unlike some other rehoused solutions where the inner mechanical parts are taken from the original photo lens which will wear out rather quickly, especially if you're using FIZ systems. The witness marks are easy to read and they even glow in the dark.
The other big advantage of the Celere lenses is the service. If something happens, you can send them directly to Hanse Inno Tech and get them back within a couple of days. They are also working on setting up a network of authorized service houses for the Celere lenses in the US and other countries.
Here's a link to their website and some videos of lens comparisons:
https://celerelenses.com/
Celere and other lenses tested by Hanse Inno Tech:
https://vimeo.com/user42439449/videos
Really cool project to compare many spherical and anamorphic lenses:
http://cinelenstest.com/
And a test of different lens by Tom Greenberg who's also here on REDuser:
https://vimeo.com/161533371
Last but not least a video from Broadcast Asia. RED seemed to like them (I'm sorry for the terrible quality of the video):
Hanse Inno Tech will probably show a prototype of their new 18.5mm T1.6 at CINEC in Munich in late September. Next in the line will be an 135mm. Other focal lengths will depend on demand.
The new front elements will be available shortly.
They are currently also working on anamorphic lenses which will be again an hybrid system with custom front elements. They will be ~T2.1 and rather small. First prototypes should be ready December 2016.
First a disclaimer: I do sell on my store Celere lenses and other products by Hanse Inno Tech, but am also a reseller for XEEN and other manufacturers.
The Celere lenses are purpose build cinema lenses from Germany. It's a collaboration of lens technician Steven Kisilevic and precision engineer Lars Andersen, both of whom are based in Hamburg, Germany.
Steven worked at MBF which is one of the biggest rental houses in Germany as a lens technician and also worked as a director. Lars' company Hanse Inno Tech manufactures accessories for film equipment (have a look at this reduser thread about the BNC Easy Click system).
Nearly three years ago, Steven approached Lars with the idea to build affordable high quality FF35 lenses in Germany.
To make them affordable, they decided to build them as hybrid lenses. They basically took lens elements from different manufactures and put them in a custom developed housing which was designed by Lars. Again, they are not simply rehoused still lenses. The front element for example gets manufactured and coated by a well known company in Wetzlar which also manufactures for Angénieux and other cine companies.
New versions of the front elements will be available in the next weeks, including an uncoated version.
I was a distributor for GL optics and also have some experience with other affordable lens sets. While it's in my opinion difficult to objectively judge lenses based on their look, since everyone prefers something else and the needed look also often depends on the project, I would rather comment on the build quality and the service. There are some videos further down showing some footage shot on them.
The Celere lenses are build for decades of use, unlike some other rehoused solutions where the inner mechanical parts are taken from the original photo lens which will wear out rather quickly, especially if you're using FIZ systems. The witness marks are easy to read and they even glow in the dark.
The other big advantage of the Celere lenses is the service. If something happens, you can send them directly to Hanse Inno Tech and get them back within a couple of days. They are also working on setting up a network of authorized service houses for the Celere lenses in the US and other countries.
Here's a link to their website and some videos of lens comparisons:
https://celerelenses.com/
Celere and other lenses tested by Hanse Inno Tech:
https://vimeo.com/user42439449/videos
Really cool project to compare many spherical and anamorphic lenses:
http://cinelenstest.com/
And a test of different lens by Tom Greenberg who's also here on REDuser:
https://vimeo.com/161533371
Last but not least a video from Broadcast Asia. RED seemed to like them (I'm sorry for the terrible quality of the video):
Hanse Inno Tech will probably show a prototype of their new 18.5mm T1.6 at CINEC in Munich in late September. Next in the line will be an 135mm. Other focal lengths will depend on demand.
The new front elements will be available shortly.
They are currently also working on anamorphic lenses which will be again an hybrid system with custom front elements. They will be ~T2.1 and rather small. First prototypes should be ready December 2016.
