Vantage Goes Beyond 4K With HAWK65 – New Anamorphic Lenses For 65mm Digital Sensors

Vantage have a longstanding tradition in the film business, and have been creating anamorphic cine lenses for the film industry for the better part of the last 25 years. Their famous Hawk Anamorphic x2 and x1.3 lenses for film and digital cinema cameras of the past decade have been a constant fixture on countless Hollywood films and are often favoured by DP’s longing for that true anamorphic look. Last year ARRI revived the 65mm large cinema format by unveiling their supped-up ALEXA 65 featuring an state-of-the-art 6.5K sensor with a 6560 x 3102 resolution, creating a need for high-performance lenses capable of resolving the monstrous resolution offered by the latest digital cinema acquisition technology.

Vantage, true to their cinematic roots, has now turned its attention to the renewed interest in the 65mm format by announcing three completely new anamorphic lens series for the 65mm Digital Cinema format:

• Hawk65 Anamorphic
• Hawk65 Anamorphic Vintage’74
  
• Hawk65 MAX
  

The new Hawk65 Anamorphic series lenses have been specifically designed for 65mm digital sensors or formats that are larger than established 35mm formats. Here’s what they say on their website about the new lenses:

65mm cinematography continues to build on its long tradition founded on the impressive negative size and the large-format anamorphic glass that were used to create that epic look. Vantage understands how important those initial 65mm anamorphic lenses were to film history, and our latest state-of-the-art lens systems are built to surpass those high-water marks in 65mm anamorphic technologies.

Vantage felt that newly designed glass was needed to meet the potential that the 65mm format provides. We have taken great care, the appropriate amount of time, and significant investment to create innovative optical calculations combined with original designs that are tailor made for each new series and, thus, provide the filmmaking community with completely new anamorphic opportunities. Development has been underway for more than a year, and all three series are already being manufactured. The initial core sets will be available later this year.

Each new series will supply cinematographers with a different 65mm option.

• Hawk65 Anamorphic includes prime lenses from 35mm to 250mm and front anamorphic zooms, providing cinematographers with that true 65mm large format Scope look.
• Hawk65 Anamorphic Vintage ’74 is a version of the Hawk65 Anamorphics with lower contrast, flares, and creamy skin tones that create the signature aesthetic of the 1970s for 65mm large format sensors.
• Hawk65 MAX consists of several wide and medium angle lenses and has been developed for IMAX^®film format and other giant screen applications.

“All three series of lenses will use Vantage’s new Selective-Off-Plane Technology^®, which influences a specific parameter of the image characteristic. These 65mm optics reflect Vantage’s continued focus on the needs of cinematographers in the ever-changing landscape of filmmaking.”

Hawk Anamorphic V-Lite 2x Lenses

Obviously those lenses are out of the price range for most shooters, even though they’d be rental only possibly, but the fact that they exist is enough to make me wonder if there are any more reasons at all to shoot celluloid?

My guess is Vantage will show these lenses at NAB 2015 in April this year giving DP’s yet another reason to salivate over and slowly, but surely mute the key argument used by celluloid zealots for shooting film for IMAX. I can sit back and picture the ARRI 65 + Hawk65 Anamorphics combo on the set of some Michael Bay abomination in the not so distant future… call me cynical, but I’d rather see that than sit through Interstellar projected on 70mm film in IMAX again… more on that some other time.

[via FD Times / source Vantage]