Hawks built from Lomo round front anamorphics?!!

[James Steven Beverly]

Some one asked me if the Hawks were built or the design taken from Lomo round fronts, although I doubt if this is the case, were they? :huh:

[Allen Achterberg]

I've seen ex-ray type photo's making the comparison. They are strikingly similar. I cannot say if they are a copy, but personally I think it is likely.

 

Allen

[Max Jacoby]

The Hawks are designed by a Russian designer who, if I recall correctly, was also involved with some Russian anamorphic lenses, so there are some similarities in the design of these lenses (anamorphic element in the middle for instance). But they are certainly not a copy, rather the design has been improved compared to the Lomos which are lenses from the 1980s.

[James Steven Beverly]

Max and anyone else interested, I just got some information on Film-Tech.com from Christian Appelt on this subject, he stated:

 

"The first series of Hawk anamorphic lenses did consist of Russian glass remounted for greater precision and reliability. The modern line of Hawk anamorphics is manufactured for Vantage Film by Rodenstock GmbH of Munich. AFAIK this began with the Hawk lenses used for EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE (1999).

 

More about Hawk lenses can be found here:

 

http://www.vantagefilm.com/

 

BTW, they just introduced Hawk V-Lite, a new series of lightweight anamorphic lenses for Steadicam and hand-held cinematography. "

 

Just FYI

[Max Jacoby]

If you compare the specs of the Lomos and those of the Hawks C-Series, you'll find that they vary quite a bit, some focal lenghts don't overlap at all, the Hawks are generally faster than the Lomos, etc...

 

http://www.theasc.com/magazine/sept99/phantom/fx2/main.htm

 

These C-Series are not really used that much anymore, because Vantage came out with the V, V-Plus and V-Lites which are all much better lenses and nothing like the Lomos.