Originally designed and manufactured for stills photography in the early 1960s, this lens was the fastest produced lens for commercial use at the time. Due to the single coated elements, which had an amber tint, it led to the lens earning the unofficial title of ‘dream lens’. The lens has a beautiful character when used wide open and gives a creamy bokeh which is enhanced by the replacement circular iris when the lens is rehoused. This lens was slightly later to the rehousing scene due to the constraints of the cameras at the time. As the rear element sits closer to the film plane, it was not possible to use on film cameras with a spinning mirror. Further to this, the size of the optics toward the rear meant a difficult solution to fit within a PL mount. However, since the adoption of the LPL mount, this gave enough mechanical freedom for TLS to begin rehousing.
Canon Rangefinders have a large amount of flares, particularly with any direct light. They are sharp in the centre with a lower contrast than you see with modern day optics. The fall off is gradual around the centre of the lens, but can be quite extreme towards the edges of the frame, especially on the wider focal lengths. This is more pronounced when using the lenses as intended on a full frame sensor. The close focus on these lenses have been improved during the rehousing process.
- LPL Mount; back focus adjustable with standard shims
- T-Stop 1.1 – F0.95
- Min. Object Distance typ. – 16″
- Front Diameter mm – 110
- Total Length – 110mm / 2 5/8 inch
- Total Weight – 1.01 kg / 2.23 lbs
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Common focus and iris gear positions relative to mount flange
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