New toy for Leica M 240: Leica Summilux-C Primes - new article at overgaard.dk

[Overgaard]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I've put together an article trying to sum up the Leica Summilux-C and Leica Summicron-C movie primes.

 

Mainly of interest to moviemakers used to pay 20,000 - 100,000 for a good lens. I must admit i feel a craving for using some of the Summicron-C lenses with the adaptor.

 

Enjoy!

 

leica.overgaard.dk - Thorsten Overgaard's Leica Pages - Leica Summilux-C and Leica Summicron-C Cine Lenses for Moviemaking

 

As always, feel free to comment here.

[digitalfx]

Next time your in New Orleans your welcome to play with mine.

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[MarkP]

I've just ordered a complete Summilux-C set.

[jaques]

Should I get the Summilux set or the summicron set Mark? I mostly shoot little films of my cat in the back yard... I need something that is good enough for youtube...

[wlaidlaw]

Very interesting article by Thorsten - many thanks for sending me the email with the link. I am looking forward to reading the PDF article in due course.

 

I am amazed how low the price of these Leica Cine Lenses is in comparison to the Zeiss/Arriflex lenses or Cooke. I would guess that like for like, the Leica lenses are nearly half the price of the Zeiss. On the assumption that they are every bit as good, I would have thought that Leica would clean up on this market. The only thing they don’t currently offer like Zeiss and Cooke do, is zoom lenses but I am guessing this will come.

 

Wilson

[Overgaard]

Very interesting article by Thorsten - many thanks for sending me the email with the link. I am looking forward to reading the PDF article in due course.

 

I am amazed how low the price of these Leica Cine Lenses is in comparison to the Zeiss/Arriflex lenses or Cooke. I would guess that like for like, the Leica lenses are nearly half the price of the Zeiss. On the assumption that they are every bit as good, I would have thought that Leica would clean up on this market. The only thing they don’t currently offer like Zeiss and Cooke do, is zoom lenses but I am guessing this will come.

 

Wilson

 

Yes, they are not expensive at all, seen in the filmmaking context. They delivered set no 100 just September 2013, so the production is not huge. And a lot of cine lenses are rented from rental houses.

[wlaidlaw]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

The other thing I wonder, is that now they have got the hang of really accurate machining of titanium lens bodies for the Summilux-C lenses, we will see more titanium bodied special M lenses.

 

Wilson

[jdlaing]

The other thing I wonder, is that now they have got the hang of really accurate machining of titanium lens bodies for the Summilux-C lenses, we will see more titanium bodied special M lenses.

 

Wilson

 

I believe the lenses are Titanium finish and not solid Titanium.........is that not correct?

[wlaidlaw]

I believe the lenses are Titanium finish and not solid Titanium.........is that not correct?

 

The website for the movie lenses says: Made from: Titanium for the Summilux-C series. I don’t think that Leica would tout this as a feature over the Summicron-C series if it was just a finish or plating.

 

Wilson

[Daniel Novello]

Many thanks for the article, Thorsten. I must say, the linked pdf is fantastic reading for all Leica fans. Stories and insights on Leica I have never come across before:

 

http://www.fdtimes.com/pdfs/articles/leica/Leica-CWSonderoptic-CineLenses-FDTimes150.pdf

 

//Daniel

[rscheffler]

I haven't read through everything, but has anyone shot any of theses lenses on an M240 in comparison against the standard M Lux & Cron offerings? Do the C lenses cover the full sensor? The specs in the chart would indicate they don't...

 

Regarding titanium construction: the FDTimes pdf frequently refers to titanium lens mounts...

[wlaidlaw]

I haven't read through everything, but has anyone shot any of theses lenses on an M240 in comparison against the standard M Lux & Cron offerings? Do the C lenses cover the full sensor? The specs in the chart would indicate they don't...

 

Regarding titanium construction: the FDTimes pdf frequently refers to titanium lens mounts...

 

Ron,

 

My understanding is that their image circle is bigger than full frame 35mm .

 

Wilson

[hoppyman]

I've just ordered a complete Summilux-C set.

 

I met their representative in Wetzlar actually, really nice guy and he explained about the production differences between the two ranges. He didn't have the adaptor with him during my chat unfortunately. The mounts of the Summicron C lenses at least are stainless steel. I don't have any printed info here on the Summilux C range.

The special edition cameras – the Leica M-A and Leica M Monochrom and the three matching Summiluxes have bodies that are machined from solid stainless steel and there is an anti-marking coating applied by the Swiss.

Just book a visit to LeitzPark and you can stroll across to their facility across the way from the big new place with all of the goodness inside. Take a suitcase and someone else's Mastercard.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[chmilar]

Thorsten's article has a table showing the image circles of Summicron-C lenses as 36mm and Summilux-C lenses as 33mm.

 

Full-frame 36x24mm sensor has a diagonal of 43.267mm.

[Rick]

Thorsten - I read your nice review of the lenses, but didn't see any actual photos with the M adaptor. Was this just a heads-up article about these lenses or did you have a chance to actually review the lenses with the M adaptor or with a cine camera?

 

Rick

[digitalfx]

I haven't read through everything, but has anyone shot any of theses lenses on an M240 in comparison against the standard M Lux & Cron offerings? Do the C lenses cover the full sensor? The specs in the chart would indicate they don't...

 

Regarding titanium construction: the FDTimes pdf frequently refers to titanium lens mounts...

 

Well, they are way too large and heavy to shoot on the M240...and the other issue, especially the Summilux is that they don't cover FF. Ironically the lower cost Summicrons have better coverage, but I doubt they cover FF either. I am using the Summicron-C's on a Red Epic and they just cover 6K resolution, but the sensor is not FF. Summilux-C's do not fully cover 6k.

 

The M adapter is not currently available, although there is a cheap Chinese version on Ebay. Leica's is not shipping and has only been shown at a few trade shows and events.

[BerndReini]

There is no way the image circle will cover full-frame. Most digital cine cameras have a Super 35mm sensor, which is about the same as an APS-C still camera. It would be a waste to cover 24x36 with a professional cine lens. The Summilux C lenses are optimized for a smaller image circle. They are great lenses, but range and availability makes people nervous about investing this much.

[digitalfx]

Most digital cine cameras have a Super 35mm sensor, which is about the same as an APS-C still camera. It would be a waste to cover 24x36 with a professional cine lens.

 

Not for long...FF cinema cameras are almost here. The Sony A7s is pretty decent camera considering its cost. I would love to use my Summicron-C's on it, but Leica M glass works just fine considering the A7's ergonomics.

[rscheffler]

Well, they are way too large and heavy to shoot on the M240...and the other issue, especially the Summilux is that they don't cover FF. Ironically the lower cost Summicrons have better coverage, but I doubt they cover FF either. I am using the Summicron-C's on a Red Epic and they just cover 6K resolution, but the sensor is not FF. Summilux-C's do not fully cover 6k.

 

The M adapter is not currently available, although there is a cheap Chinese version on Ebay. Leica's is not shipping and has only been shown at a few trade shows and events.

 

Thanks. Yes, the lenses are large and I can appreciate how that would affect handling on the M. Not that I'll be buying any of these, but was wondering if the price premium actually buys you considerably improved optical performance? I.e., are they sharper than an M equivalent wide open and is the plane of focus considerably flatter? The imaging characteristics in one of the videos embedded in Thorsten's page certainly looks very Leica-like...

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[wlaidlaw]

The other point about the size of the image circle, is that 6K cameras with larger than super 35 sensors are on the way. Both Panavision and Arri are expected to bring out large sensor 6K cameras in the near future. Also the aspect ratio of movie cameras is different from the 2:3 or 4:3 we are used to at just under 2:1 (actually 1.94:1). I would have thought that Leica would have made the image circle as large as they could for future proofing purposes.

 

Wilson