By technical editor Matt Allard:
Talk about a drool-worthy announcement. Hawk are introducing a set of new spherical T1.0 prime lenses called Vantage One. Yes, you read that right: T1.0! You want fast, you got super fast. For the uninitiated the T-stop is the way lenses are rated in the Cinema world. It is the measured actual light transmission of a lens to account for slight losses in light due to absorption. All lenses absorb a small amount of light and a lens of T1 would might have an F-stop around f0.95.
There are nine Vantage One T1.0 lenses in the set: 17.5, 21, 25, 32, 40, 50, 65, 90 and 120 mm. All are T1 and all have close focus ability.
Hawk anamorphic lenses have been around for more than 20 years. Vantage makes the Hawk anamorphic lenses and has plenty of expertise in Cine lenses. Now, Vantage has decided to bring out a new range of regular spherical lenses too – the Vantage One T1 primes.
Vantage wanted to take a fresh approach so they looked at the market place and the new breed of digital cinema cameras that were available and came up with the Vantage One. The design concept was lenses that complemented the high sensitivity of today’s cameras, So they had to be very fast and feature a unique look.
Film and Digital Times recently got to see the Vantage One and this is what they had to say:
“With T stops from T2 to T11, Vantage One lenses provide a look similar to most modern glass, with total image illumination (no shading or fall-off at the edges). At T1.4, the look is “more forgiving” but still extremely good. Wide open, at T1, Vantage One lenses open up a new world of extremely shallow depth of field, with a beautiful, subtle, silky creaminess, great for skin tones. The bokehs have an interesting kind of donut or bubble effect. Maybe a good way to describe the look is to remember the original Leica Noctilux 50 mm T1 still lens circa 1976.”
“The Vantage One lenses are almost telecentric. There’s a long distance from the rear element to the sensor, so light rays are almost parallel. They say this results in less colour fringing and even illumination to the corners of the frame: 100% at T2, and 85% illumination at T1.
Vantage One lenses will come in two versions: with anti-reflective coating and (marked with a distinctive red ring) with some optical elements uncoated. Uncoated elements produce additional flares and lower contrast.”
If you have to ask what the price is, then you probably can’t afford them. No prices are available yet, but I would guess a full set would be well over $100,000. Santa, I’ve been good this year and I’m not greedy……I’ll take one set for Christmas.
