Leica Cinema

[mooky]

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Leica Cinema?

 

Is this a new branch of Leica Camera?

 

Will it be digital cameras from Panasonic, with the 'Red Dot? Or, will it be that with a new product range that would use a mount for/with existing R or M lenses? Or, all brand new lenses? For an all new line of bodies........interesting.

 

More for everyone to speculate about ????!!!!!!

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

[dfarkas]

As forthcoming as Dr. Kaufman was about Leica Camera, he was tight lipped about Leica Cinema. He said,"wait one to two years and you will see." Sounded more like projectors, lenses, or something more like this. Elcan in Canada makes Panavision camera lenses and projection lenses for IMAX theaters. Maybe these items will find their way back to Wetzlar?

 

Any guesses are just speculation at this point.

 

David

[Angora]

Seems the company has already created (leagally speaking) : Leica Cinema GmbH, Zürich - easyMonitoring

[sdai]

Actually, Panavision's HD cameras (backed by Sony's HD VTRs, incl. Genesis) use ARRI DigiPrime lenses made by Zeiss, the Super Panavision cameras found in IMAX theaters also use Zeiss prime lenses and some zoomers made by Schneider, Canon and Pentax.

 

If Leica is serious about making cinema cameras and lenses, one company they should consider is DALSA, whose Origin is the only 4k resolution digital camera in the market. DALSA is a major player in large format CCD (such as the one used in Leaf backs) as well, the two coming together would be a perfect match.

[robsteve]

If Leica is serious about making cinema cameras and lenses, one company they should consider is DALSA, whose Origin is the only 4k resolution digital camera in the market. DALSA is a major player in large format CCD (such as the one used in Leaf backs) as well, the two coming together would be a perfect match.

 

Funny you mention Dalsa. The other day my eight year old was watching "How is it Made" on the Discovery Channel. They were at a factory making CCD chips. As it gets near the end of the segment, the CCD is mounted to a circuit board which is stamped "Made in Quebec" As the camera pans out you see the Dalsa logo in the factory.

[coolfonzies]

"Origin is the only 4k resolution digital camera in the market."

 

Actually, There's the RED One as well, (full frame, 4k) which is quite the amazing little wonder, at a fraction of the cost. (founded by the guy who started Oakley) Soderbergh and Peter Jackson are using them now. Personally, I think it's a market that's pretty well covered, seeing as most productions rent cameras and lenses, and Leica already supplies lenses for Panasonic's pro-sumer HD cameras. I think it'd really be a stretch for a new player in that market, but who knows?

[sdai]

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RED ONE is not in the same class of the DALSA Origin, which shoots full 16 bit RAW uncompressed. RED only has 12 bit. The exposure latitude of RED is 11 1/3 stops and the Origin exceeds 12 stops.

 

Anyway, these cameras all use lenses with a PL mount, and that's definitely something Leica can tackle with.

[sdai]

Funny you mention Dalsa. The other day my eight year old was watching "How is it Made" on the Discovery Channel. They were at a factory making CCD chips. As it gets near the end of the segment, the CCD is mounted to a circuit board which is stamped "Made in Quebec" As the camera pans out you see the Dalsa logo in the factory.

 

If I remember correctly, the factory in Quebec actually only does final assembly and inspection, the wafer fab is in Eindhoven, Holland ... a previous Philips facility.

[dfarkas]

Actually, Panavision's HD cameras (backed by Sony's HD VTRs, incl. Genesis) use ARRI DigiPrime lenses made by Zeiss, the Super Panavision cameras found in IMAX theaters also use Zeiss prime lenses and some zoomers made by Schneider, Canon and Pentax.

 

If Leica is serious about making cinema cameras and lenses, one company they should consider is DALSA, whose Origin is the only 4k resolution digital camera in the market. DALSA is a major player in large format CCD (such as the one used in Leaf backs) as well, the two coming together would be a perfect match.

 

During the LHSA meeting there was a presentation by two execs from Elcan. They showed a "this is what Elcan does" promotional DVD and the Panavision and IMAX lenses were highlighted as some of the longest running product lines at the Midland optics facility. ARRI uses Zeiss DigiPrimes, Panavision uses Primo Prime lenses (made by Elcan Optical).

 

ELCAN | ELCAN Business Areas | Commercial OEM | Complete Customer Solutions | Applications | Entertainment

[sdai]

Thanks a lot for the info ... David. If I knew Dr. Kaufman is coming to Rochester maybe I should join LHSA on the scene. LOL

 

Perhaps it's time for Leica to buy back Elcan? Leica could do more if they move back to Canada ... North America is the center of IT universe.

[sdai]

Curiously, I just checked IMAX's web site where they've listed a whole bunch of lenses being used and there no mention of Leica nor Elcan ... perhaps they've forgot something? LOL

 

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[dfarkas]

Curiously, I just checked IMAX's web site where they've listed a whole bunch of lenses being used and there no mention of Leica nor Elcan ... perhaps they've forgot something? LOL

 

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Perhaps beacuase IMAX projectors use Elcan lenses....

 

The story was that the projector lamps were so hot that all the other lenses they tried hazed over from the heat in a short time. Elcan was able to design special heat-resistant optics for this application.

[gautier]

Visit http://www.pstechnik.de/en/optics-leica.php to see Leica lenses adapted for motion pictures cameras.

[sdai]

Visit P+S TECHNIK | Professional Cine Equipment Manufacture to see Leica lenses adapted for motion pictures cameras.

 

That's too funny, Leica could handle this conversion easily, why would they let other folks to earn the money?

[thrid]

"Origin is the only 4k resolution digital camera in the market."

 

Actually, There's the RED One as well, (full frame, 4k) which is quite the amazing little wonder, at a fraction of the cost. (founded by the guy who started Oakley) Soderbergh and Peter Jackson are using them now. Personally, I think it's a market that's pretty well covered, seeing as most productions rent cameras and lenses, and Leica already supplies lenses for Panasonic's pro-sumer HD cameras. I think it'd really be a stretch for a new player in that market, but who knows?

 

 

Nice camera, but it doesn't have a mechanical shutter, so in temporal terms it can look like video at times.

[thrid]

That's too funny, Leica could handle this conversion easily, why would they let other folks to earn the money?

 

I've worked with converted Leica R glass. On a previous job we used Leica-R lenses to shoot Vista Vision plates for visual effects work. For many years people used Nikon lenses, but the visual effects supervisor on the show was a Leica man and we both knew we could do better.

 

The first time we saw the Leica footage in dailies the difference between the R and Nikon glass was blatantly apparent. For one thing the whites were neutral and everything was blazing sharp. Flare suppression was also greatly improved.

 

Leica really should have a go at cine lenses. There is a large market out there covering everything from HD, S16 to 35 and specialty formats.

 

I've long disliked the optical finger print of many Zeiss cinema lenses. The Superspeed series has some of the ugliest bokeh on the planet and the tonal rendering is very hard. They are very sharp- just draw ugly. Take a close look at a Kubrick film like "The Shining' or Barry Lyndon and you'll see what I mean (other than that I worship Mr. Kubrick)

 

I think the Cooke S series of primes is much, much better. Ultra sharp, but nice bokeh and very nicely balanced tonal range.