GEAR LENS REHOUSING
I DOUBT MACHINERY WILL BE ABLE TO replicate what the guys are doing WITH THE ASSEMBLY”
often don’t feel very nice. Rehousing enhances the handling and overall feel of these lenses, addressing these issues and improving their performance.” According to CVP, popular rehousing projects include IronGlass’s refit of the Helios, Soviet and Carl Zeiss Jena lenses. Additionally, the Canon K35, Zeiss Super Speed, Canon FD, Leica R, Mamiya 645, Kowa Cine PROMINAR and Cooke Speed Panchros are also favourites. The latter was TLS’s first rehousing project, proving to be hugely popular. Having only originally planned ten sets to justify the design time, the team has now worked on around 500 sets of these lenses. The team also sees big demand for the Canon K35s, largely due to being one of the only vintage cinema lenses to cover full-frame. WHAT’S NEXT FOR REHOUSING? Looking to the future, TLS is keen to continue refining its housing designs, striving for improvements in serviceability and functionality with each iteration. While technology is evolving rapidly around us, the team can’t see a world in which craftsmanship and expertise are replaced by machines. “That’s probably the reason we’ve stayed successful; it is quite an artisan process. I don’t think there’s any kind of shortcut to what we do,” muses Lowe. “I doubt machinery will be able to replicate what the guys are doing with the assembly. It will be interesting to see what happens with regards to AI and the industry as a whole – whether it makes post-production much easier and more efficient to have these effects outside of the cameras, rather than in-camera. But right now, it’s very much the trend that everybody wants to create the look in-camera first. We will see where the technology goes!”
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS The demand for rehoused vintage lenses is rising, according to TLS
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