Tom McDonald

I used this lens in film school. It is great in cramped quarters being so wide that no other lens we had could compete with it. The key to sharpness in 16mm shooting where this lens is used is: 1- In Film: Measure the focus distance from the camera film plane (marked on the side of the camera) to the actor's eyes. Set the distance by looking at the lens distance scale NOT through the camera focus system. Since the scale varies in how much turn is like 1' you have to study it carefully to hit the right position for the focus distance that you measured. Use a cloth measuring tape if you can since it seems safer to the actor. Put some gaffer tape on the metal end to soften it. Don't put the end near their eyes instead move it out to the side of their head or in a place maybe just in front of their shoulder in line with the eyes. You can move fast now and then but accelerating and decelerating your body a lot scares some people though I love to jaunt around the set this way but it attracts too much attention. If you have a 2nd assistant camera person to help you then have them hold the measuring tape "end" at the camera and you go out into the picture field area by the actor and pull the tape to read the distance at the most important place to be in focus which is usually the actor's eyes. Optionally you can invest in a laser distance finder but it may not be as accurate as a measuring tape and it will scare the hell out of the actor as you reflect it off their body near their eyes! Do you really think there is a totally safe laser - should they sell them - yes - but I still would not point it near someones eye. Old ways sometimes are optimized over the various parameters of the motion picture set like quality, actor acceptance, quiet-&-efficient on the set, etc. In film, if you use the camera viewing system to set the focus you will never know if it is right since the viewing system maybe not be set correctly especially with rental and school cameras. That is if your eye sees it in focus on the ground glass it may not be focused at the film plane inside the camera. The two distances are different and they have to be carefully set by the camera tech before it leaves the rental house. This is one of the reasons camera people like to own their own camera. I did this above process on a student advertisement project. When we projected it in a movie theater probably 18' tall I had the sharpest negative by far of 30 projects projected in 16mm film. The rest of the school was being "cool" and "stud-ly" focusing by eye and compared to mine they were all "typical soft 16mm". You will be shocked at the resolution of 16mm film if the film projector the and lab transfer to release print are done correctly. The moral of the story is that correctly focused film of all formats is stunningly sharp and looks cooler than video's mechanical look. The full chain of creation must be maintained: LIGHTING (more light more lines of sharpness) - FOCUS (by measured distance and barrel set) - DEVELOPMENT (correctly) - TRANSFER (from camera negative to release print by contact printing, this is the normal way and we always specified wet transfer that tends to cover scratches) - Projection (must be focused at the beginning of the projection session exactly and the projector's light bulb must be turned up to correct brightness to give full foot candles on the screen to get the full resolution on the film). Yes you count on other people all along the chain. If you drink coffee your eyes will focus differently and maybe not as well when you don't or if you drink a glass of wine before watching then your eye focuses different also - study these to remember how you see under each influence. Video is not better since the video file formats used in theater only have 1/4 to 1/3 the resolution of film. Film project with good lenses, not the junk no name lenses used by some theaters, hands down beats video. This is not to mention loss of color range and fidelity of video... oops they call it digital now... guess I forgot. 2- Use the cinematography manual to find the depth of field for the distance you are shooting at. Notice the point of best focus, behind that point, and in front of that point distances and use these to creatively effect the use of focus. There were set pictures and in every one I was pictured looking down at the lens barrel, into the cinematographers manual, or pulling measuring tape. It worked I was king for a day during the projection session - the best 1st assistant cameraman ever... ra ra... As you can tell I love the lens.

I have emailed in the USA and around the world to try and find someone to do this. In the USA the two optical places I tried did not respond. In Euro a German Co. said they were not interested. I forget their names since it was a year or so ago and my email package does not search and find well. I contacted the Leica motion picture lens people and they say they are not going for Anamorphic soon. Usually this type adapter comes out of Asia where costs of R&D are lower. The USA is economically broke right now. Hope you find someone that will do it. Apparently the Anamorphic part of the lens is an add on to a regular lens. Maybe an optics forum, not photography forum, is a good place to look. Please post on this board if you find something out! Check out this cool anamorphic footage of Kowa anamorphic on a Cannon Scopic 16mm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMJ1680vExY Check out this look thru the Kowa anamorphic in the attached picture.

Found it! Here is the link to the Leica article at Fdtimes: http://www.fdtimes.com/articles/leica/32-33FDT-8.1Leica.pdf

An article on the motion picture 35mm PL mount Leica lens set and its designer is in the June 2010 John Fauer's Film & Digital Times. I emailed the to ask for a download of this article on their downloads page. If they put it on the web I will attach the IRL.

Looks like Leica is back to the lens designing ways that made them famous. Sure glad to see some competition. Hope they do an anamorphic set.

I am building a budget for a new production company. Investors want excellence. So should I put a set of the Leica-C lenses in my budget? Do you guys out there like the boke? The in and out of focus character? The movement? The accessories? Has anyone rented them? http://www.bandpro.com/309/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_images.tpl&product_id=40&category_id=33&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=27&vmcchk=1&Itemid=27

Go here and search for: "Transvideo Story" for a great pdf download on video tap screens: http://www.fdtimes.com/articles.html and here for the products: http://www.transvideointl.com/index.htm Email transvideo above telling what your equipment is and ask what options they have. Tom