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TLS "Morpheus" 80-200mm Rehoused Zoom

Tom Greenberg

Tom Greenberg

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One of the "hidden" gems I ran across at NAB was the True Lens Service (TLS) Morpheus T2.8 80-200mm Zoom. This lens is based on a rehoused Nikon 80-200, but TLS has completely re-engineered the lens. It was originally designed for use on Bourne Ultimatum and later used on Casino Royale. Now they have decided to make them available to a broader audience. They have given it a "proper" focus direction, with a rotation of 180º, a rock-solid PL mount, and a 110mm front diameter. At 5 lbs. it is a nice manageable weight. You may be familiar with the Cooke Speed Panchro rehousings that TLS does…this is every bit as nice. I was told that delivery was going to be somewhere in the 90-120 day range.

This lens is an absolute work of art. It looks and feels like a Cooke Zoom…buttery smooth rotation while being solid as a rock. It even has the Cooke "look" (at least on the outside). I was so impressed with the craftsmanship, I just kept going back again and again to look (and touch). It sells for roughly $10,000 USD, which is a big chunk of change (especially for converted stills glass) but it is clearly a cut above the other rehousings I've seen.

They are working on a rehoused Nikon 24-70 T2.8 (rough ETA is late summer or early fall), to be followed by a 14-24 T2.8 (rough ETA sometime in early 2015). It looks like the set of 3 will be somewhere in the $35K range. Again, not a small amount of $$ but far less than the set of 3 Zeiss Compact Zooms. Of course, being based on stills glass, these are full frame lenses and will cover Dragon at 6K at all lengths.

http://www.truelens.co.uk/index.php?webpage=product_detail.php&product_id=484672&cID=52369

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Damn you Mark, lol...
 
Bob Gundu said:
I tipped off Tom on this lens. Seriously, it was ridiculously awesome! Now the cat is out of the bag :)
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Credit where credit is due…thanks for showing me this Bob! Now can you please explain to my wife why it's such a great deal...
 
Jiri Vrozina said:
year old news
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Hahaha... Who pissed in your corn flakes? Yes, Some of us have known about this for a few years. But Tom is a Gentleman who understands that busy Professionals may have missed this gem. Also, TLS is finally monetizing their engineering investment to a wider Group of Feature and Commercial Filmmakers like myself... So Tom's Post is quite relevant.

Please... Bring me and others here something that we don't know about. I would genuinely appreciate that.

Cheers.

Benzo
 
Hi Tom. Looks like an incredible lens. I have seen some shots that Mark shot a while ago with the Nikon and I must say I really like the look. I'm in the process of seriously weighing lens sets. So many choice that I can't seem to make my mind up. Would you purchase this instead of an 85 and 135 for example. This doesn't cost much more than two primes and has the range of easily 3/4 lenses. Did you see something shot with the lens. I absolutely love its construction, doesn't seem too huge. MY only little concern is the breathing. I know the stills lens suffered a little from that. Did they correct it in some way or isn't that possible in a stills rehouse?

Thanks for the post by the way. I think we all love to feast our eyes on some lovely lenses. These rehousings are truly a work of art.
 
TLS Morpeus 80 200mm F2.8 lens and Red Dragon. It would be very difficult to have a camera and lens any better than this. Shown here in a minimalist set up.

Available for hire for those int he Queue !

Any yes its every thing we wanted it to be.
 

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Nice setup Dave. Would you kindly give us a small review of the lens pls ?
 
Andrew Benz said:
Hahaha... Who pissed in your corn flakes? Yes, Some of us have known about this for a few years. But Tom is a Gentleman who understands that busy Professionals may have missed this gem. Also, TLS is finally monetizing their engineering investment to a wider Group of Feature and Commercial Filmmakers like myself... So Tom's Post is quite relevant.

Please... Bring me and others here something that we don't know about. I would genuinely appreciate that.

Cheers.

Benzo
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24-70 prototype is at the moment in USA so you can check it out. Lens (80-200) was discussed long time ago , had my hands on it at SMPTE 2013 in Sydney. Also David mentioned it .....
Sorry about my response ;-)... Never eat corn flakes, no taste.
The only small problem with their rehouse is - no EF Mount, only PL.
It is the best 80-200 rehouse i have seen, lets hope 24-70 will be the same.

Reg
jiri
 
Jiri Vrozina said:
24-70 prototype is at the moment in USA so you can check it out. Lens (80-200) was discussed long time ago , had my hands on it at SMPTE 2013 in Sydney. Also David mentioned it .....
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Is the 24-70 about the same weight 5 lbs? and require lens support? Where is the prototype available to see?

-P
 
What's the breathing like?
Bokeh?
Is it a true parfocal?

10K for a rehouse stills lens is high, imho, especially when others do a decent rehouse of similar range lenses for half. Don't get me wrong, it looks great, but I just wonder if it's worth it.
 
Kirk.Attard said:
Nice setup Dave. Would you kindly give us a small review of the lens pls ?
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Yes sure. Ill run some real reals next week and give you a view. We purchased this lens and will order more for our hire stock, perhaps thats the best recommendation I can give.

First off it is parafocal and movement super smooth. VERY well manufactured, easily as well made as other top shelf lens manufacturers probably better. Ill post here with details.
 
Marcos Montenegro said:
What's the breathing like?
Bokeh?
Is it a true parfocal?

10K for a rehouse stills lens is high, imho, especially when others do a decent rehouse of similar range lenses for half. Don't get me wrong, it looks great, but I just wonder if it's worth it.
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This lens feels like a cooke lens. Butter smoothness. No rehouse that I have ever used comes close to this. The 24-70 will be just as good. It will also cost a little more. The other conversion also don't change the focus direction. As for Parfocal, they adjust the lens to the best position to get good focus through the whole zoom length.

Here is a pic of the work-in-progress of the 24-70.
Bksjq6pCIAALwi1.jpg
 
This is the latest from them:

"As mentioned in my last two emails, we have almost completed the metalwork off the housing and hope to have a working prototype complete for Cinegear in June. Once that is done we will begin assembling them and start shipping orders late summer if not earlier."
 
Marcos Montenegro said:
What's the breathing like?
Bokeh?
Is it a true parfocal?

10K for a rehouse stills lens is high, imho, especially when others do a decent rehouse of similar range lenses for half. Don't get me wrong, it looks great, but I just wonder if it's worth it.
Click to expand...

What other full frame rehouse of 24-70 is there?
I only know of 28-70 Century.
 
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