Sept 5 – 8, 2022. The nice folks at Leitz invited a coterie of cinematographers and camera assistants to visit Wetzlar for eyes-on time with Hugo, Elsie and Henri, along with factory tours, fine food and flowing refreshments.

Hugo is the new Leitz series of Leica Format (Full Frame) cine prime lenses: 21, 24, 28, 35, 50, 75, 90 mm — all T1.5. There is an additional 50mm T1.0 lens and an 18mm and 135 are in the works.

Leica optical designer Peter Karbe was there. “Shoot wide open, no excuses,” he said. And so I did, all wide open “with a wrench” at T1.5. To see how Hugo looks, here are some ungraded 4K portraits taken with the 90mm and 75mm Hugo primes. read more…