Thread: Leitz, Leitz Baby....

Currently running vintage Lecia lenses for cine and love them. Although the Contax Zeiss are nice, the Leitz's are just something special.

Having said that, oh what it must be like to have their "entry level" $15,000 cine lens. I won't even guess what their "normal" $42,000 lens must be like.

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I'm more of a Fujifilm guy, myself. And Fujinon lenses for cinema/video.

BTW, when I used to shoot pro motorsports with creds, all the TV camera crews I used to hang out with at the various corners were using Sony video cameras with...Fujinon cine lenses.

Porsche LMP2 car stuffs the Audi LMP1 into T2 (Andretti) at Laguna...

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

I'm more of a Fujifilm guy, myself. And Fujinon lenses for cinema/video.

BTW, when I used to shoot pro motorsports with creds, all the TV camera crews I used to hang out with at the various corners were using Sony video cameras with...Fujinon cine lenses.

Porsche LMP2 car stuffs the Audi LMP1 into T2 (Andretti) at Laguna...

Yeah - it's amazing the different look the different brands lenses have.

I'm finding I prefer the look of the vintage Zeiss and Leica/Leitz's to the more modern and clinical look of many lenses.

I've been experimenting with 40 and 50 year old Canon FL''s, FD's, Pentax, etc and it's amazing the different look they all give.

They actually work fantastic for modern cine with them being manual focus, longer focus throws than modern lenses, and lens coatings that don't sterilize the picture.

It's also amazing how expensive 50 year old Leica lenses still are! LOL

This is very much dependent on personal preferences, typical subject matter, etc. I've been through a Nikon, Canon, FujiFilm and Leica phase and much prefer somewhat older Leica lenses (the new ones are often too clinical for my taste). I don't shoot cine lenses though, nor much video. I've also moved to Olympus/micro 4/3 for backpacking/fishing/outdoor stuff where weather sealing and size/weight matters. The amazing thing for me is the connection one feels to a lense and a system when all is working well - kind of like having the audio system dialed in. Like my audio gear though, I just hope that my family doesn't sell this stuff at a yard sale after I'm gone.

Originally Posted by Hounddog

This is very much dependent on personal preferences, typical subject matter, etc. I've been through a Nikon, Canon, FujiFilm and Leica phase and much prefer somewhat older Leica lenses (the new ones are often too clinical for my taste). I don't shoot cine lenses though, nor much video. I've also moved to Olympus/micro 4/3 for backpacking/fishing/outdoor stuff where weather sealing and size/weight matters. The amazing thing for me is the connection one feels to a lense and a system when all is working well - kind of like having the audio system dialed in. Like my audio gear though, I just hope that my family doesn't sell this stuff at a yard sale after I'm gone.

I'm currently running older Leica and Zeiss Contax lenses for Cine (my Cine camera doesn't really do photos). I LOVE the older Leica stuff and have a 28mm and 50mm. That's all I can afford right now. This Cinema lens is basically an older Summicron in a Cine housing with the features that come with it that would make my life much easier. The older lenses are all MF which is fine as that is all we use in Cine type videos.

I also love my old 1970's Takumar Pentax lens I paid $78 for. It gives a wonderful "analog" look to them modern lenses have lost. I've just sold sold all my modern lenses (I actually have one NIB 25mm lens left I need to sell) as they just don't give the look I'm after.