German lens manufacturer Leitz has just unveiled a new set of high-end full-frame cinema lenses, the HUGO series.
It will initially consist of seven T1.5 focal lengths, ranging from 21 up to 90mm, plus a 50mm T1.0. The 7-piece kit is priced at €107,300.
According to Leitz, this new set of glass inherits the look of existing Leica M lenses. Particularly, the optical design is inspired by that of Leitz M 0.8 glass, but the new HUGO lenses should offer better build quality and operability.
Initially, the series will consist of 7 fast lenses, all sharing the same 11-blade circular aperture of T1.5, plus a light-starving 50-N mm T1.0. These will be joined by an 18 and 135mm at a later date. Hence, upon launch, the lineup will look like this:
- 21mm T1.5
- 24mm T1.5
- 28mm T1.5
- 35mm T1.5
- 50mm T1.5
- 75mm T1.5
- 90mm T1.5
- 50-N mm T1.0
Available lens mount options include LPL, L, and of course M mount. The series is designed to cover full-frame sensors (image circle: 43.3mm) and comes with good close focus capabilities. Indeed, the close focus distance of the 21 and 24mm is set at 0.3m/1ft.
Size, weight, and design
Lightness and compactness are the core of the new Leitz HUGO primes. The lightest lens in the series is the 35mm T1.5, which weighs 0.81kg/1.78lbs. Not much for a fast lens of this kind. The length of the barrel ranges between 68mm/2.7” and 112mm/4.4”.
The build quality of the new HUGO primes show outperform that of existing Leitz M 0.8 glass. The lenses come with an improved cinematic housing with unified position of focus and iris rings across the whole series. They offer long focus and iris throws (270° and 70.5° respectively), have a standard front diameter of 95mm, and can accommodate 92mm screw-on front filters.
Price and availability
The official retail price of the 7-piece Leitz HUGO kit is €107,300, while the super fast 50-N mm T1.0 will retail for €18,900. Finally, the company also announced that in the future users will be able to have their M 0.8 lenses converted to a HUGO design. However, the price of this service is still unknown.
