Kinoptik anyone ?

[Bernard Jallet]

Hey guys,
I shot this little music video using P+S Technik Rehoused Kinoptik lenses (apparently old lenses built by Angenieux in the 50's) :

Just wanted to share with you guys as I really really liked these lenses, full of character, beautiful bokeh, super soft on skintones yet very sharp..
The whole set consists of : 18.5mm (doesn't cover Alexa 2k or Dragon 5K) 25mm (covers Alexa 3,2K or Dragon 6KHD), 32mm, 40mm, 50mm (this one is a GEM), 75mm, 100mm, all T:2.3 if I'm not wrong, we mostly used the 40 and the 50 for this one
It's a good alternative to Cooke S2-S3 if you ever find them in a rental house, we got them from SMD Loc in Paris

Oh and it was shot on Alexa Mini, not Red..

Thanks for your comments..

Bernard.

 

[Vladimir Cazacu]

We did some tests with a Kinoptik kit a few years back (not rehoused) and they are great little lenses. They flare like crazy but have a ton of personality (very similar to the old Schneiders).

There are two versions of the Kinoptik Grand Angle 18mm - f/1.8 ; one projects a 16mm image circle (so it easily covers S16) and the other projects a 28mm image circle (same as the 25mm you used, though that one was designed for S16 cameras).

 

[Erik_Flynn_Patton]

Thanks for making it watchable in the US.

 

[Ilya O.]

Greets, Bernard.

I'm happy you used that Kinoptik Apochromat lenses which are rarely seen in action nowadays! I wish you could use them more wide open to see the character Thanks for doing that and trying something different than Cooke and Zeiss.

I consider your thread as a good chance to gather all info about nice Kinoptik Paris lenses here.

So, as a starter here is Kinoptik BOOK for your pleasure:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_9Rua4iG1MrN3dlTVFIRnNUSms/view?usp=sharing

CONTENTS:

35mm Kinoptik Apochromat lenses:

1. 25mm f/2
2. 28mm f/2
3. 35mm f/2
4. 40mm f/2
5. 50mm f/2
6. 75mm f/2
7. 100mm f/2
8. 150mm f/2.5
9. 300mm f/3.5

16mm Kinoptik lenses:

1. 5.7mm f/1.8 Tegea
2. 12.5mm f/2.5 Angular
3. 18mm f/2 Apochromat-16

Kinoptik BOOK page sample:

A key in English to all the plots:

What makes 35mm Kinoptik Apochromats a nice lens set?
Take a look at lens diagrams, all of them (but not 300mm which is a Triplet) are of Cooke Opic / Planar / Double Gauss asymmetrical lens design (6 elements in 4 components), and that makes them quite consistent in rendering, color and character.
Second, in addition to the similar lens scheme, all share very basic single-layer coating so generally any lens in a set transmits only 60-68% of light (300mm is 3 lenses so 77%) so expect the T-stop be somewhere at T2.6-2.4 range. Nice flares and pretty high light scattering (2% to 4.4%) so they will deliver the light in the frame with tons of character and dimension.
Third, and this goes as a result of 6/4 design for all lenses in the set, each Apochromat has pretty sharp and accented center and a fast sharpness fall-off towards the edge. This brings 3D feeling to the 2D picture, turns the viewer's attention to the very center and emphasizes the role of central composition and the dominating role of the character placed there.

Which lens of the set represents and embodies the Kinoptik look at most? I think that's 75mm. Take a look at the grafs and those plots marked with v-sign:

Pale orange marks all the optical characteristics which usually make the best portrait lens. See, that 75mm has a pretty steep resolution curve, high center and then - bum - fast down! it just resembles me a famous Rosher-Kino-Portrait 75mm f/2.3 lens (of Petzval lens design) or wide open Helios-40 85mm f/1.5. Still, I'm not sure, Bernard, do your Apochromat 75mm swirls the background like crazy? Next, see the 4.4% Light scattering coefficient? That's pretty big even for vintage lens but here it plays a nice role in keeping the contrast low and the light to glow, both good for portraiture. 65% of Light transmission ratio helps that too plus giver that calm vintage pastel color. Then, look at Edge definition curve at the center and at the edge, that shape is just what the doctor ordered for best face rendering. Add a bit of Spherical aberration to "filter" character's skin, and do not ever forget to have zero Distortion so the faces and people look how they should look like at any angle, geometrically correct. That's all, guys, and Kinoptik 75mm has that qualities!

Bernard, could you please share here more stills of 75mm and others wide open?