Background on the development, from 2005, of the new line of Leica PL mount Summilux-C Cine Lenses. With information on the individuals involved: Dr. Andreas Kaufmann, Christian Skrein, Otto Nemenz, Iain Neil, Band Pro, Alfred Schopf, and Erik Feichtinger. Interview with Christian Skrein and an in-depth discussion with prominent optical designer Iain Neil. Reprint from June 2010 Issue 32+33 Film and Digital Times. 6 Pages. 2 MB PDF.
Archive for the 'Leica' Category
Why am I wandering in Wetzlar, sneaking around Solms? I’ve been invited to spend a couple of days visiting Leica to learn more about the company, and especially the imminent, new Cine Lenses distributed by Band Pro. (above: the team working on the Cine Lenses. Anyone waiting for the first batch: rest assured, we did not stop the production line. This picture was taken during the mid-morning break.)
Leica Camera began 161 years ago as the “Optical Institute Wetzlar,” founded by Carl Kellner. In 1865, Ernst Leitz became a partner in the company.
In 1954, the legendary Leica M3 was introduced, with its quick-change bayonet mount.
The Leicaflex was introduced in 1965: the first Leica SLR. In 1966, Leica came out with the Noctilux 50mm f/1.2. It was the first lens with a production aspherical lens element. This is important, because it helps explain the use of aspherical elements in the new Cine Lenses, and why Leica has the grinding and polishing tools to achieve this.
The Leica M8 – the first digital M – came out in 2006, followed by the Leica S-System (larger format) in 2008. The next year, 2009, was very busy. 10 new products were introduced, including the M9 (the world’s first digital rangefinder camera with a full-format 24×36mm sensor) and the X1, a high-aperture compact digital camera with APS-C sensor.
The Cine Lens project is the first time in Leica’s long history that motion picture lenses are being made. We reported about that in our last issue. Some readers wrote in asking whether these were really Leica products, and the answer is yes. The aspherical lens elements are polished on computer-controlled machines to tolerances that I believe are better than 1 micron, and mechanical parts are machined to tolerances better than 10 microns. That’s impressive, when you consider that the size of one photosite on a digital sensor is around 10 microns. We’ll have a full report, with lots of pictures, in our IBC/Cinec issue.
INT. BANK VAULT – DAY
Small town somewhere in Germany. Secure location undisclosed. Two matching keys open a safe deposit box. The drawer is placed on a clean, white table. A black velour cover reveals a small wooden case. We put on white gloves. Dr. Rudi Spiller, CEO of Leica Camera (below), carefully removes the first Leica ever made: the original 1913-1914 Oskar Barnack prototype 35mm still format camera, worth around 4 million dollars. No wonder it’s in a vault.
It was the first small, portable, 35mm still format camera. Oskar Barnack was head of microscope R&D at Ernst Leitz Optical Works in Wetzlar. In his spare time, beginning 1911, he began work on a prototype still camera for cinematographers to test exposures using existing 35mm motion picture film. “Aha,” he must have said. “This is a lot easier to use than schlepping around a big, heavy view camera. The standard 35mm motion picture negative is 18 x 24mm, and the film travels vertically. But, turn the camera on its side, and we can get a larger 24 x 36 mm negative. And, instead of contact-printing huge view camera negatives, we can use a projector to make larger prints. Oskar shot lots of stills with his prototype camera. Here’s one of the first, taken in Wetzlar’s Eisenmarkt (Iron Market):
And here’s what it looks like today:
The first Leica A cameras went into production in 1925. The rest, as they say, is history.
Film and Digital Times Mid-Year Cine Gear 2010 Edition (issue 32+33) is now online for subscribers.
We will be all over Cine Gear.
Visit us at Booth # 126 for a complimentary paper copy.
See you there: June 4-5.www.cinegearexpo.com
The lenses that could not be named are Leicas, and they will be on display at Band Pro’s NAB booth (C 10308). The initial set of Summilux-C Primes in PL mount will be: 16, 18, 21, 25, 35, 40, 50, 65, 75, 100 mm. They are all T1.4, and the focus scales of all lenses are identical and equally spaced.
The Leica Summilux-C lenses are all the same length, with 95mm threaded front. Another helpful feature is an integrated net ring threaded into the rear element–no doubt one of the many suggestions from Otto Nemenz and his crew, who must cringe every time rental lenses were returned with nets glued to the back.
The mount and lens barrel are manufactured from high-strength titanium. Leica Summilux-C lenses weigh between 3.5 and 4.0 pounds (1.6-1.8kg). Available exclusively worldwide from Band Pro, delivery is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2010. Additional focal lengths will become available in a second phase.
Go see the no-longer-a-mystery Leica Summilux-C lenses at NAB in Band Pro’s Booth C10308.