C I NEMA ZOOMS | TECHNOLOGY
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THE LPL MOUNT
Building lenses to satisfy the modern hunger for large apertures, large sensors and even larger resolutions raises crucial issues of sheer optical physics that can’t really be sidestepped. They can however be worked around, at least to some extent, by things like the LPL mount. It might be tempting to read that as large PL, and it’s certainly large and often found on large format cameras. Nevertheless, we shouldn’t overlook the fact that LPL also places the lens noticeably closer to the sensor; the flange distance is 44mm versus 52mm for PL. The advantages of short distances and large diameters are enormously influential. Very lightweight lens mounts such as Micro Four Thirds have made traditionally difficult designs, such as anamorphics, available much more cost-effectively. There have been digital cameras that used mirror shutters, of course, but they weren’t massively popular, and the ability to put the lens nearer the chip makes optical designs noticeably less complicated. Many digital cameras – at least those without viewfinder mirrors – can be modified to LPL, so there are really few downsides.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR IB/E Optics might be best known as the specialists responsible for innovations such as the things that allow us to mount B4 lenses on PL mount cameras, and for operating as a bespoke design house for precision optical parts used in both cinema and industry. The company’s collection of filters is perhaps rather overlooked, producing some attractively natural-looking and organic effects. The level of capability is clearly huge, so it’s interesting to discover that the company has launched a set of four true macro primes. Called Raptor, the set includes 60mm, 100mm, 150mm and 180mm lenses each at T2.9; there’s also a rear adapter, which allows users to go a little wider and gain a stop while reducing coverage to
Super 35. And yes, normally, the lenses do have full-frame coverage, from a proper 1:1 macroscopic rendition of the subject all the way to infinity. Using the VVx2 optical extender, even greater focal lengths up to 360mm are available at some stop loss. In their native configuration, the Raptor lenses have an image circle of over 50mm, enough to satisfy more or less any camera out there. IB/E’s familiar universal mount system suits all those cameras, too. The Raptors are specialist pieces of equipment for specialist circumstances, and it’s the availability of that sort of specialism that often marks the coming of age of a new technology. It may not be quite clear how common full-frame camerawork will become, but IB/E’s move is an obvious vote of confidence.
NOVEMBER 2020 | DEF I N I T ION 39
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