Attention collectors!!! FS: Piece of Cinemascope HISTORY: FIRST LARGE-FORMAT ANAMORPHIC lens, 152mm B&L "SUPER Cinemascope"

[James Coleman Rogers]

I have an EXTREMELY rare piece of Cinemascope/anamorphic history available.

An example of the first large-format anamorphic system in the world, used on the famous 1956 film "THE KING AND I".

This is related to B&L's original "Cinemascope" lenses... but so much more special/unique.

It is a large-format version, made specially by Bausch&Lomb for the "CinemaScope55" format...it is labeled as "Super Cinemascope", rather than merely "Cinemascope" to signify its design for the large-format negative (actually larger than 65/70mm, the negative area is the size of FOUR 4perf super35 negatives...massive).

This lens, and the Cinemascope55 format,  were only used on two films: "Carousel" and the famous film "The King and I".

You can read more about the format here:  https://www.in70mm.com/news/2007/cinemascope55/uk/index.htm

The example I have is a 152mm lens (s35 4-perf equivalent focal length would be ~75mm I think), in superb condition, functioning PERFECTLY.  Smooth focus, aperture functioning perfectly, staying perfectly round.

I am sure someone here will be interested in this...truly stunning, likely one-of-a-kind, practically priceless piece of cinema/widescreen history.

Deserves to have an appropriate home found for it, to be preserved for future generations. Would be great to see it used again (as long as it can be done without irreversably damaging the original condition of the lens)...or, this would make an INCREDIBLE display piece for the showroom/office of a rental house, lens manufacturer, private collection, museum, etc.

I am interested especially in TRADES of interesting/rare lenses.

Attached are some pictures, one displaying the special "Super CinemaScope" nomenclature: 

The last image shows the special "SUPER CinemaScope" nomenclature, signifying its design for CinemaScope55 large format.

 

Cheers, and thanks for looking!

[David Mullen ASC]

Cool!

 

[Phil Rhodes]

Crikey, actual cinemascope!

I wonder what it'd take to cobble that thing onto some sort of big-chip modern camera.

[James Coleman Rogers]

NO LONGER AVAILABLE!

I traded it...for this!!! (Franscope 40-140mm 2x anamorphic zoom):

[Dom Jaeger]

Some great movies were shot on Franscope, including Bunuel's Diary of a Chambermaid, Godard's Contempt, and Truffaut's Jules et Jim. 

There's a dolly zoom in Jules et Jim that might have used this lens:

 

[James Coleman Rogers]

10 hours ago, Dom Jaeger said:

Some great movies were shot on Franscope, including Bunuel's Diary of a Chambermaid, Godard's Contempt, and Truffaut's Jules et Jim. 

There's a dolly zoom in Jules et Jim that might have used this lens:

 

Indeed...a great deal of Jules et Jim actually used this lens. The shot you mention definitely used this lens, as it was the first and only front-anamorphic zoom lens at the time and remained so I think until the 70's.

It was also used on "The Blue Max" (GREAT film!)

And also was used for a large portion of "Un Femme Est Un Femme (A Woman Is A Woman)".

As well as "The Creatures" and a few others I'm forgetting, and likely many more I'm unaware of.

I will do a detailed post elsewhere on the forum, and include some tests, as soon as I receive the lens in a few weeks ?