Leica Debuts 40mm T/2.0 & 15mm T/2.0 Summicron-C Lenses Plus Cine Macrolux +1 Diopter
Part of the Summicron-C line, the 40mm T/2.0 and the 15mm T/2.0 lenses will be available later this year. Also available will be the Cine Macrolux +1 diopter designed to fit on lenses with diameters up to 95mm.
The additions of two new lenses will bring the Summicron-C line to 11 lenses total, all color matched and closely sized and weighted for ease of lens changing in production. The Summicron-C line is the smaller and cheaper companion to Leica's Summilux Cine line of lenses, although at an average of $15,000 a lens, it is still mostly a rental option for filmmakers.
Leica also debuted the Cine Macrolux, a new +1 diopter attachment for up to 95mm diameter lenses, fitting Leica's cine line. Macro lenses are commonly used for product work and closeups because the diopter allows a lens to focus closer than its nominal close focus distance while also magnifying the image. A lens set to infinity focus on the barrel, but with the Cine Macrolux attached, will be focusing at 1 meter, and the rest of its focusing range will be scaled to fit within that distance, which is especially useful for anamorphic shooting where the minimum focusing distance can be prohibitively large. There is also magnification of the image at a ratio equal to the focal length of the taking lens (in meters) multiplied by the diopter strength.
(The mathematical calculation for diopter strength is 1m/(Diopter Strength), hence 1 meter in the case of the Cine Macrolux. Glasses and contact lens wearers may be familiar with having negative diopters for their prescriptions, effectively extending the maximum focus distance of their eyes by subtracting from the positive diopter of their eye's weakened state.)
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