Today SLR Magic posted the following note on the BMC user forum that I'm sure will be of interest to many of you:
"Today 11:50 AM Report Post
@rick.lang Yes the "incubation" period had been almost a year but we have made much progress. We were also taking our time on feedback and to plan out our cinema set. The 50 APO was announced as a FF but it actually has 8K sensor area coverage. During development, we have forecast 8K to be coming in the near future and surprisingly, there are 8K sensor options available on the market now. Due to this "incubation" period, we will now ensure the set would have lenses with 8K compatibility. The PL development began when @john brawley invited me to join his team on set in Melbourne in 2013. Everyone was very nice and shared their invaluable on-set experiences with me. Others have helped in the process, including Roger Cicala who invited me to their HQ in Memphis. A lot happened there, but the end result was a re-designed 50 APO lens that surpassed the IQ of the original prototype. I have also met Illya Friedman in Los Angeles learning about PL mount incompatibility issue with third party adapters in the process. When PL mount incompatibility issue was resolved, it was Andrew Reid that gave the final push to offer the interchangeable PL mount design we came up with. Now, we have figured how to make this PL lens to have a wider audience, allowing for normal production. High costs are involved with single unit production leading to price expectation of approximately $2K. Single unit production means we will only make a few lenses per month like our 50mm T0.95 CINE lens in M mount. As we are now able to put this project into normal manufacturing process, we are able to lower our manufacturing cost. The lens does exist, as it is currently under production and would be available for sale by the end of this year at a promotional price of $999. During this promotional period, the Titanium PL mount with capability to use third party adapters would be offered over the Aluminium PL mount only option. We can’t thank enough to everyone involved with giving us suggestions.
We plan to have our APO set ranging between 25 on the wide end to 135mm on the tele end with 8K sensor area coverage. If we do offer lenses wider than 25, it would be in S35 format.
@rick.lang the first glimpse of our Anamorphot family of lenses appeared at Cine Gear Expo ’15 , but tit will not be an orphan by the end of this year. @Asladek and many others have told us it is quite common for Anamorphic to be requested as an ideal format for some projects. We wanted to offer PL lenses that fills a void in the market, than to work on readily available options. The two approaches we have decided on is affordable APO lenses and affordable Anamorphic lenses. As our Anamorphot family development is due for completion soon, we will work on completing the APO family next. @robmneilson sorry to have missed your message. We usually check our email everyday but do not check message systems of other platforms as often! Hope that answers most of the questions everyone has =)
-Andrew"
And this was my response to that post:
"Today 09:39 PM Report Post
John et al, thank you so much for the support and encouragement you have given to SLR Magic that has brought us to today's astonishing post from Andrew. I have replied privately to Andrew as we have been exchanging emails.
I'll try not to wax poetic about this post from Andrew. I think I posted more than once that if BMD were ever considering making their own cinema lenses, they should buy SLR Magic at least brand their lenses. I said that because I was concerned that no one was bringing to the manufacture of cinema lenses the same sincere devotion to indies and professionals (those who are not working on projects with large budgets) that has characterized and motives Blackmagic Design to offer those people affordable cinema cameras. When Frank dropped his bomb a week ago Monday, it looked like Samyang/Rokinon was about to do that. And Rokinon Xeen lenses do look quite good, and tempting, but particularly for people on this forum including me, the cost of the Xeen lenses are a stretch. However I was working on my budget to pick up a set because they are the best value for a starter set of true cinema lenses. But 'affordable' is a relative term, yes, less expensive than their competitors, but more than I expected from Rokinon.
And then Andrew drops his own bomb today. Like the BMCC, the BMPCC, the URSA/Mini 4.6K, all cameras that have earned a reputation for providing better image quality at less cost than anyone else appeared to think possible, I think we can look back on today as the day that we know SLR Magic is about to make their mark, as John said, to find their niche, providing indies with truly affordable lenses coupled with high image quality. Not a Master prime or Ultra prime, not a Cooke, not a Hawk, but their own lenses with character. We now anxiously await the formal unveiling of the production APO family and the SLR Magic anamorphic lenses.
I feel so privileged to have been a tiny part of this revolutionary day. And I am so indebted to you all. Good thing I didn't get all emotional and poetic, right?"
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
"Today 11:50 AM Report Post
@rick.lang Yes the "incubation" period had been almost a year but we have made much progress. We were also taking our time on feedback and to plan out our cinema set. The 50 APO was announced as a FF but it actually has 8K sensor area coverage. During development, we have forecast 8K to be coming in the near future and surprisingly, there are 8K sensor options available on the market now. Due to this "incubation" period, we will now ensure the set would have lenses with 8K compatibility. The PL development began when @john brawley invited me to join his team on set in Melbourne in 2013. Everyone was very nice and shared their invaluable on-set experiences with me. Others have helped in the process, including Roger Cicala who invited me to their HQ in Memphis. A lot happened there, but the end result was a re-designed 50 APO lens that surpassed the IQ of the original prototype. I have also met Illya Friedman in Los Angeles learning about PL mount incompatibility issue with third party adapters in the process. When PL mount incompatibility issue was resolved, it was Andrew Reid that gave the final push to offer the interchangeable PL mount design we came up with. Now, we have figured how to make this PL lens to have a wider audience, allowing for normal production. High costs are involved with single unit production leading to price expectation of approximately $2K. Single unit production means we will only make a few lenses per month like our 50mm T0.95 CINE lens in M mount. As we are now able to put this project into normal manufacturing process, we are able to lower our manufacturing cost. The lens does exist, as it is currently under production and would be available for sale by the end of this year at a promotional price of $999. During this promotional period, the Titanium PL mount with capability to use third party adapters would be offered over the Aluminium PL mount only option. We can’t thank enough to everyone involved with giving us suggestions.
We plan to have our APO set ranging between 25 on the wide end to 135mm on the tele end with 8K sensor area coverage. If we do offer lenses wider than 25, it would be in S35 format.
@rick.lang the first glimpse of our Anamorphot family of lenses appeared at Cine Gear Expo ’15 , but tit will not be an orphan by the end of this year. @Asladek and many others have told us it is quite common for Anamorphic to be requested as an ideal format for some projects. We wanted to offer PL lenses that fills a void in the market, than to work on readily available options. The two approaches we have decided on is affordable APO lenses and affordable Anamorphic lenses. As our Anamorphot family development is due for completion soon, we will work on completing the APO family next. @robmneilson sorry to have missed your message. We usually check our email everyday but do not check message systems of other platforms as often! Hope that answers most of the questions everyone has =)
-Andrew"
And this was my response to that post:
"Today 09:39 PM Report Post
John et al, thank you so much for the support and encouragement you have given to SLR Magic that has brought us to today's astonishing post from Andrew. I have replied privately to Andrew as we have been exchanging emails.
I'll try not to wax poetic about this post from Andrew. I think I posted more than once that if BMD were ever considering making their own cinema lenses, they should buy SLR Magic at least brand their lenses. I said that because I was concerned that no one was bringing to the manufacture of cinema lenses the same sincere devotion to indies and professionals (those who are not working on projects with large budgets) that has characterized and motives Blackmagic Design to offer those people affordable cinema cameras. When Frank dropped his bomb a week ago Monday, it looked like Samyang/Rokinon was about to do that. And Rokinon Xeen lenses do look quite good, and tempting, but particularly for people on this forum including me, the cost of the Xeen lenses are a stretch. However I was working on my budget to pick up a set because they are the best value for a starter set of true cinema lenses. But 'affordable' is a relative term, yes, less expensive than their competitors, but more than I expected from Rokinon.
And then Andrew drops his own bomb today. Like the BMCC, the BMPCC, the URSA/Mini 4.6K, all cameras that have earned a reputation for providing better image quality at less cost than anyone else appeared to think possible, I think we can look back on today as the day that we know SLR Magic is about to make their mark, as John said, to find their niche, providing indies with truly affordable lenses coupled with high image quality. Not a Master prime or Ultra prime, not a Cooke, not a Hawk, but their own lenses with character. We now anxiously await the formal unveiling of the production APO family and the SLR Magic anamorphic lenses.
I feel so privileged to have been a tiny part of this revolutionary day. And I am so indebted to you all. Good thing I didn't get all emotional and poetic, right?"
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Rick Lang