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These two lenses were first shared on this forum a few years ago by the previous owner, but since they have been recently serviced by TLS, ready for use, I thought I would reshare them in case anyone has insight into their history and usage? Unlike the majority of Todd-AO 35mm lenses, these are spherical prime lenses on Mitchell BNCR mount, with greater than FF/135 coverage. Both are marked with serial no: 2001 and the branding "Ultra-Fast". They have integrated gears, 90mm frontages, they do extend during focusing and they have dual Tstop and Fstop scales. The 35mm T1.5 is a rehousing of the first generation Nikkor-N 35mm f1.4. This was easy to confirm as the characteristic 9 bladed aperture was retained and optics had yellowed considerably due to thorium decay. The glass was treated with UV by TLS as part of the servicing and the colour balance is now correct. The 125mm T1.7 is a bit of a mystery. Having spoken to Zero Optik, their suggestion was the lens uses rehoused projector optics, which would make sense as Dr. Richard Vetter did provide projector optics to Ed DiGiulio of Cinema Products, to create additional focal length for Kubrick based on the Zeiss Planar 50mm 0.7. There is virtually zero information on these lenses or the range anywhere online and I am curious if anyone has any insight into their history. Were there more focal lengths in the range? What movies were they used on? Given that the Nikkor-N 35mm f1.4 with thorium coatings was first released in 1970 and only made for about a year, that helps to place when the lenses were made, but very little else. I've seen some suggestion these lenses were later Todd-AO 65mm lenses, but both are marked "Todd-AO 35" and to my knowledge Mitchell BNCR was never used on any 65mm camera system.
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****JUST WANT TO MAKE CLEAR THAT THIS IS *NOT* AN ANAMORPHIC LENS. It is spherical. Yeah, I know, I thought ToddAO35 was an anamorphic format, but it seems they made some other lenses with the label.**** Selling a very unique oddity. Never seen another. Wasnt even aware such a thing existed...I had always assumed ToddAO35 meant anamorphic, but it seems ToddAO also built a handful of spherical lenses under the label. Vintage lenses of this focal length and speed are pretty much non-existent; this would make a perfect addition to either a K35 set or maybe Zeiss Superspeed set. While labeled ToddAO-35, the lens has quite a large image circle...bigger even than 65mm film/Alexa65. Currently BNCR mount. Lens has been with Jacek @ Optitek for a while now, waiting to get converted to PL mount and a basic CLA...IIRC the focus ring was a bit stiff and in need of lube job. Iris functioned fine. Jacek hasn't started any work on it yet. Glass/coatings in solid shape. There may be some imperfections, blemishes, etc. like minor cleaning marks (obviously i don't have the lens to check and it's been a long time since i had it in my hands)...but nothing that will have effect on image. It looked quite good to my eye when I last had it. I got the kens about 1.5 years ago, along with a few K35s. It's been a mystery since then and I've been unable to find any solid information on it. Pretty cool curiosity and piece of history, and would be an interesting addition to any set of vintage high speed primes. Selling at $9k.
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https://www.ebay.com/itm/384545645331?mkevt=1&mkcid=16&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0 Asking Price: $15,000 Rare opportunity here friends, I am currently selling my Todd-AO 35 2x Anamorphic 40-240mm f/4.2 Varifocal Cinema Zoom lens with its original casing. This once in a blue moon piece of glass from the 1970s is used with signs of ware external ware, though in perfect working condition with no loss of optical quality. It is made with a BNCR mount, which may be converted to match any other full frame lens mount which supports BNCR flange depth (IE a PL mount for example). This is a vintage anamorphic cinema zoom lens from the 1970s which comes with its original casing. Todd-AO’s are known for their incomparable violet anamorphic flares matched with a sharp yet distinct image. If this is a lens you can’t let slip by, click the link to my eBay page at the top of the forum. If an eBay account isn’t your thing, feel free to send me a direct message. Other than eBay, I will only accept PayPal. Item will ship once payment has gone through, and I will handle the shipping costs. All sales are final. Feel free to reach out with any further questions!
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Hi, I’m new to this forum and I have a question that I hope that someone with a knowledge of Todd AO anamorphics might be able to give me some clues about. I have a Todd AO 35 front element that I bought on Ebay some time ago. I’m trying to find out which focal length this element should have (as in, the focal length on the taking lens). And also, whether this is the early or later version of the Todd AO’s. I was thinking that if I can figure out which taking lens to use, I could get an old Canon K35 lens and have the whole thing built into a fully functioning anamorphic lens by Kim Camera or the like. So, I’m reaching out to anyone who might have a clue as to which lens size this element would fit with. The front is 122mm and the rear is 48mm. I would be grateful for any clues, and any pointers before I embark on this project!
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