As sensors get more and more sophisticated and look more and more similar to each other, lenses remain one of the true areas to really craft the appearance of your image. But lenses keep getting sharper...
So how does a great DP keep their images painterly?
Vintage lenses, sourced from the more than century-long history of photographic imaging, are one of the more popular methods for crafting unique looks to fit a particular story or project and to set yourself and your movie out from the pack.
Of course, vintage lenses come with awkward lens bodies, sometimes dragging focus rings, inconsistent marketings, and general other frustrations. GL Optics is one of the major players out there rehousing vintage glass into modern bodies so that the lens can perform the way working professionals need them to on set while still delivering the type of images the lens was originally designed for.
Starting with the newly revised Mark IV lens houses, Avi Cohen of GL Optics walks us through their lineup of cine lenses.
With everything from fully re-housed, re-worked Canon FD lenses to some truly unique Zeiss Contarex re-housed lenses that have an insane "ninja star" iris blade setup, the options are vast and well thought out.
Some of the highlights:
- New 13-blade iris setup to Canon FD lenses (instead of the factory-installed 7-blade setup)
- Close focus modifications, making basically any lens a macro lens
- Leica R lenses that are up to 60% lighter
- Laowa 12mm rectilinear lens that covers Vista Vision (YUP. 12mm that covers larger than Full Frame)
GL Optics even offer a conversion service for the lenses that you have on the shelf (if you have the right lenses) and for $3000 a pop, they'll convert your lenses to the Mark IV housing and ship them back to you in one month.
No Film School's complete coverage of CineGear 2019 is brought to you by:
Blackmagic Design, and Fyrfly.
