German lens manufacturer Leitz has just unveiled a new set of high-end full-frame cinema lenses, the HUGO series. It will initially consist of seven T1.5 focal lengths, ranging from 21 up to 90mm, plus a 50mm T1.0. The 7-piece kit is priced at €107,300. Before we dive into the technical specs of these new HUGO lenses, here’s a little curiosity. If you’re wondering where this new family of cinema primes gets its name from, it’s soon explained. Indeed, the Leitz HUGO lenses pay homage to Hugo Wehrenfennig, the engineer behind the M bayonet system. According to Leitz, this new set of glass inherits the look of existing Leica M lenses. Particularly, the optical design is inspired by that of Leitz M 0.8 glass, but the new HUGO lenses should offer better build quality and operability. So let’s take a closer look! Image credit: Leitz Leitz HUGO: T1.5 and T1.0 full-frame lenses Initially, the series will consist of 7 fast lenses, all sharing the same 11-blade circular aperture of T1.5, plus a light-starving 50-N mm T1.0. These will be joined by an 18 and 135mm at a later date. Hence, upon launch, the lineup will look like this: 21mm T1.524mm T1.528mm T1.535mm T1.550mm T1.575mm T1.590mm T1.550-N mm T1.0 Image credit: Leitz Available lens mount options include LPL, L, and of course M mount. The series is designed to cover full-frame sensors (image circle: 43.3mm) and comes with good close focus capabilities. Indeed, the close focus distance of the 21 and 24mm...
Published By: CineD - Tuesday, 6 September, 2022