Photo Cinema reproduct lens [Mu-Yichi-Kyo]
Founded in January 2012
Photo Cinema reproduct lens [Mu-Yichi-Kyo]
Founded in January 2012
Kino Plasmat
1924-2024
Centenary Reproduct
The optical design of the Kino Plasmat f1.5, a masterpiece by Paul Rudolph that was installed in the Ur-Leica and is said to have had the greatest influence on old Leica cameras, is no longer available, so I decided to create it by tracing the earliest model.
Since the f2 (manufactured as f1.9) was good, I wanted to try f1.5 next and considered manufacturing a 75mm, but a lens that was a little longer would have limited uses and would be larger and more expensive, so I decided to go with the 50mm again for comparison.
There are documents remaining for the Kino Plasmat f2 (German patent DE401630). This was a commercial specification, that is, for filming in Hollywood, and judging from the number of lenses currently on the market, it seems that it did not sell well, so the f1.5 was designed later.
Ernst Leitz, who could not design a photographic lens, seems to have asked Dr. Rudolph for help, and it is said that early prototypes of Leica were equipped with f2 and even Kino Tessar. However, it seems that it was difficult for Leica to make a Kino (movie) lens from the beginning, so Max Berek designed Elmar, an improved version of Kino Tessar. Kino Plasmat was later sold at f1.5 instead of f2. There are more f1.5 lenses left on the market.
What is the origin of Leica's ephemeral imagery? It seems to have been the Kino Plasmat, but the book on Berek's designs also includes a detailed description of the Kino Plasmat f2.
The optical design of Kino Plasmat f1.5 has changed over time, but I traced the earliest model. The glass used and aberrations are already clear and can be checked on a computer. Factory has taken into account the length of the lens hood to avoid vignetting when using the large format 44x33. This design also exists in the 42mm, but since it is a Kino lens, the wider the angle of view, the more difficult it is to shoot.
院落 Yinraku P2 50mm f1.5 JPY 310,000 Sold out
Dedicated hood included. Filter diameter 49mm. Minimum shooting distance 0.65m. Aperture blades 8. No glass coating.
Larger than P1 due to large aperture. Actual weight 213g.
The most common is f1.5. Below is a diagram of f1.5 from the Hugo Meyer catalog, and you can see that the glass shape is slightly different from f2. According to VadeMecum, f2 is rare because it was made specifically for movie. An example of a camera repurposed for photography is the Luna camera, which is almost a wooden box. The first medium format camera released had a plasma 90mm f2 (no kino but the lens configuration was kino), and when it became Leica format, it was changed to a plasma 50mm f2 (also kino, i.e. patent data). It seems that lens replacement was basically impossible, but it was still a strange idea to put a kino on a standard lens (although I don't think it will be a problem for you, a bokeh ball expert reading this article). It seems that Leica had not yet been released at that time. The very first prototype of Leica may have been equipped with this F2. However, the Luna camera is thought to be the only mass-produced camera that reused the kino plasma for still photography.
50mm is great, but it's hard to use. If you change the scale to 75mm, the angle of view will be narrower, so you will be free from the distortion that is unique to Kino-Plasmat. Use it for portraits.
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