Leitz M 0.8 lenses - a cinematographer's delight

[Al Brown]

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Just shot with a set of Leitz M 0.8 lenses. They are 8 M-mount cinemodded lenses consisting of 5 summiluxes (21, 24, 28, 35, 50), a noctilux (50) and two summicrons (75 and 90). Two 0.8 pitch rings for diaphragm and focus pulling, uniform filter diameter of 77mm and matte box diameter of 80mm. Used with RF to M adapter on RED Komodo. Avg. price per lens $10K.
 

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Edited September 17, 2024 by Al Brown

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[hansvons]

Nice. Wondering what the difference is to their new Hugo line regarding glass.

[LocalHero1953]

Are these different optical designs to M lenses? They’re clearly different packages. 

[Al Brown]

16 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Are these different optical designs to M lenses? They’re clearly different packages. 

Optically same and MFD is the same, just cinemodded mechanically. Also, Leica says that for these lenses "each piece of glass is hand picked and undergoes up to 4x as much cleaning as traditional M lenses to assure their performance".

[Al Brown]

1 hour ago, hansvons said:

Nice. Wondering what the difference is to their new Hugo line regarding glass.

Hugo is even more cinemodded, size standardized and marked in transmission (T) stops. Leica has added to HUGO line some peculiar fast lenses like 18mm T/1.5 and 135mm T/1.9. They also state that "existing M 0.8 lenses will be eligible for a conversion to HUGO lenses in the future".

[Carlos cruz]

Let us not forget a newly released 66mm. I only wonder why there’s no 18/1.4 in m line up. Will those lenses trickle down to m users?

Edited September 18, 2024 by Carlos cruz

[BernardC]

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11 hours ago, Carlos cruz said:

Let us not forget a newly released 66mm. I only wonder why there’s no 18/1.4 in m line up. Will those lenses trickle down to m users?

The 66 is an ELCAN design from the 1970s, made in small numbers for a US Army contract.  Original lenses are even more expensive than you would expect.

The 18/1.4 may have been designed concurrently with the 21 and 24 Summiluxes. Maybe they decided not to release it because the full-frame M9 was on the way, making the 18mm focal length less important.

18mm is sometimes considered the widest "normal-looking" focal length for cinema (4-perf and/or Super 35), so it makes sense to include it in a full lens kit. Orson Welles used it a lot in his 1950's work, notably for the opening scene of Touch of Evil.