Cooke have just announced new versions of their classic Speed Panchro cine lenses. The original lenses were made between the 1920s and 1960s, but more recently have experienced a resurgence in use as DPs seek to give the images from digital cinema cameras a more analogue look. Specialists like True Lens Service in the UK can rehouse them into modern geared housings and the price of used Panchros in good condition has now gone sky high.
The new Panchros are based on the original Speed Panchro designs, but updated with modern housing design and tweaked optical formulas. New coatings are used to help recreate the classic look – I suspect that the exact designs of the originals can’t be used because the lead and other minerals used in them are now prohibited. The end result, I’m told, should look much like the originals, with the new mechanics allowing them to fit right into any modern production.
Unlike modern cine lenses the Panchros are going to be designated in F-stops, not T-stops. As with the originals, the maximum apertures will vary according to the lens. The new lenses will be PL mount and are scheduled to ship around the time of the NAB show in April 2017.
Only minutes after the announcement the pre-orders are already heating up, even though pricing hasn’t yet been announced. Cooke’s Carey Duffy told us: “I am very excited about the prospect of selling these classical lenses and I am sure our customer base is even more happy with the announcement. In fact, my phone is already ringing with great interest since we announced them.”
While the pricing of these lenses is likely to put them out of the reach of most factual and indie shooters they are a very welcome option on the rental market.
This from Cooke:
Leicester, UK – 5 September 2016 – Responding to the ongoing high demand for Cooke Optics’ vintage Speed Panchro lenses from the 1920s-1960s, the multi-award winning manufacturer of precision lenses for film and television will re-introduce new Panchro Classics using the original design but with PL mounts for modern cameras. The Cooke Panchro Classic line is scheduled to ship from NAB 2017.
The original Cooke Speed Panchro, designed by Horace W Lee in the 1920s, was a cine prime lens that chromatically enhanced an image when filming under restricted illumination. Developed several years before ‘talkies’ came into being, the advent of sound films created a great demand for faster lenses because arc lamps could no longer be used, making much existing equipment obsolete. Cooke Speed Panchros combined a relative aperture as wide as f2.0 with an angular field of view and definition previously impossible with much smaller apertures. They quickly gained a worldwide reputation for quality cinema production and were widely used throughout the 20th century.
Les Zellan, Chairman and Owner, Cooke Optics, said, “People still love the look they get from the old Speed Panchros, but they are hard to find – and if you can find them, you have to remount them for today’s cameras. In response to this, we have taken the original design and created a new housing to fit a PL mount. The new Panchro Classic lenses will have the same look and feel that people love about the originals.”
