No less momentous than say the advent of a new grand cru in the world of viticulture, one of the big three German manufacturers debuting a fresh set of large-format cine lenses is sure to capture the imagination of more than a few cinematographers. Leitz now announced their new Full-Frame Elsie Cine Primes. To industry fanfare, Wetzlar-based Leitz has announced a brand new set of full-frame cine primes designed from the ground up, dubbed Elsie. (More on the significance of the name later). With large format Leitz Primes and Thalia Primes already in their stable, and with the industry still struggling to recover from Covid, some may wonder why Leitz has come out with another set of full-frame cine primes now. The answer may simply be because they can. Let’s take a closer look at the New Full-Frame Elsie Cine Primes! Leitz Full-Frame Elsie – Vignetting Boasting a 46.5mm image circle, the Elsies will only just cover the Monstro and V Raptor sensors, with a tad further room to spare on the Alexa LF and even more on the Sony VENICE. DPs shooting VFX-heavy projects and purists may shy away, since Leitz tout falloff of resolution and illumination at the corners in their press release – a flowery euphemism for vignetting, which the company points out, draws the viewer’s eye to the center of the frame. So much for the rule of two-thirds. But let’s face it, Leitz is mostly sought after for their legendary character, not their clinical look....
Published By: CineD - Wednesday, 29 September, 2021