Character and consistency

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Leitz Cine open up the creative options for cinematographers thanks to an array of storytelling tools including the HUGO, ELSIE and THALIA lenses.

Lenses with character remain widely used across all budget levels, but as more and more cinematographers try these old, classic lenses they discover trade-offs in consistency, flare control, and availability. However, some characteristics are non-negotiable. Skin tones must be accurate, colours should be natural, and faces need just enough softening for a pleasing, humane look.

Leitz Cine lenses have always prioritised colour and skin tones with just the right amount of warmth. With the Leitz HUGO lenses, we crafted a balance with more prominent character and aberration that has won over many cinematographers, and even won a Golden Frog at Camerimage 2024.

The Girl with the Needle, directed by Magnus von Horn and shot by Michał Dymek on HUGO lenses, earned an Oscar nomination as Denmark’s submission for Best International Feature Film in addition to the Golden Frog.

The Leitz HUGO lenses’ curved focus field softens corners with a bit less light as well as a falloff of sharpness and focus, drawing the viewer toward the centre of the frame. Many first time users note, “I would have added a similar effect in post, but now I can do it in camera!”

The lenses are extremely fast at T1.5 while remaining incredibly compact and lightweight, thanks to their Leica M photography lens heritage. Using the same Leica glass allows them to maintain the M lenses’ iconic look. We expanded the lineup with a beautiful wide 18mm, a large format must-have 135mm, and a 66mm using the design from a lens built for the US Navy’s top spies during the Cold War. Add in the famed 50mm-N T1.0 from Leica’s iconic Noctilux lens that must be seen to be believed for a full set of 13 lenses.

ELSIE offers the artisan a beautifully prepared canvas on which to build their looks and a large focal range from 15mm to 150mm to paint with. Pictured: *The Way We Speak*

Building the look

The Leitz ELSIE lenses maintain beautiful colour and skin tones while taking a different approach. ELSIE is perfect for those who want a subtle character in order to use filtration, lighting and production design to create their looks. Designed from the ground up for cinematography, these lenses avoid less desirable photo/rehoused lens quirks like breathing and chromatic aberration while maintaining a gentle field curvature, though less pronounced than the HUGO series.

ELSIE offers the artisan a beautifully prepared canvas on which to build their looks and a large focal range from 15mm to 150mm to paint with. Their image circle extends well beyond full frame and can work on large format/65mm productions at certain aspect ratios.

Speaking of 65mm, the Leitz THALIA 65 lens family, the first professional set of 65mm-capable glass available outside rentals, now includes 11 lenses. The new 20mm anchors the wide end, while the longest focal length is 180mm. The set contains three creative macro lenses: 24mm, 55mm, and 120mm. The THALIA 65 90mm-T lens, inspired by the historic 1930s Leica Thambar portrait lens, creates soft, dreamy images wide open but cleans up when stopped down. We expect these lenses to be popular with the latest 65mm digital cameras from Blackmagic Design, ARRI, and Fujinon.

Lenses are nothing without a secure mount. HUGO lenses have a large amount of glass behind their LPL mount, and most LPL mounts on the market didn’t fit them. So we developed LPL mounts (with PL Adapters) for Sony VENICE/VENICE 2/BURANO as well as the new Sony VES Mini System. These mounts fit every lens in the market, including those with rear filters and rehoused rangefinder lenses. These mounts simplify format swaps for crews and rental houses, eliminating the need to unscrew and change mounts ever again.