TLS Super Baltars
These wonderful lenses were the industry standard during the 1950s through the 1970s on films like The Godfather. These lenses are great on digital and they really "take the edge off" digital sensors.
The TLS lenses have a Cam follower design and common 110mm fronts. The mechanical action on these lenses is incredible -- just like a modern S4 lens, smooth with many spaced out focus marks.
The Bausch & Lomb Super Baltars were released in the early 1960s as a successor to the original Baltars. The Super Baltars were designed to be compatible with reflex 35mm film cameras, which had spinning mirrors, by using retrofocus optical designs for the wider lenses. They became popular for cinema lens choices for decades due to their impressive 20mm T2.3 focal length and slightly faster aperture of f2 (T2.3) compared to the original Baltars' maximum aperture of f2.3 (T2.5). The lenses are known for their iconic blue/purple coatings, which produce warm-toned images with beautiful blue or purple flares depending on the white balance and light source. They are sharp on the center and have medium contrast, with softer edges than modern lenses. They also have a textured bokeh when used wide open. The Super Baltars were used to shoot The Godfather films and were the primary lenses used for the movies Rush (2013) and The Witch (2015).
Features
These are probably the best lenses for digital sensors and render skin beautifully.
They have a warm color palette and cool flare from the cobalt (hence the "balt"ar name) glass. It's a special contrast which is not low con or washed out, but instead very smooth and beautiful.
Some older and poorer quality Super Baltars have lower contrast and glowing highlights.
We have hand selected our lenses to minimize that effect. These lenses are all properly sharp on the projector and really special on camera.
Shoot one project and you will see why we love these lenses! An American classic which comes from a different time of manufacturing and optical craftsmanship.
Updated Mechanics on these lenses really take a lot of the headaches and guess work out of using older lenses like these.
The image circle on these lenses is amazing with the wide angle 20mm hitting 33mm -- giving almost full Dragon sensor coverage.
Image Circle: 20/33mm 25/33mm 35/39mm 50/38mm 75/41mm 100/42mm
Inventory
Reach out to us to check rental availability.
15mm T4 Kowa CF: 3’ 1.2lbs
20mm T2.3 Super Baltar CF: 11” 3.36lbs
25mm T2.3 Super Baltar CF: 9” 4.4lbs
35mm T2.3 Super Baltar CF: 1’1” 2.88lbs
50mm T2.3 Super Baltar CF: 1’2” 2.85lbs
75mm T2.3 Super Baltar CF: 20'“ 3.38lbs
100mm T2.3 Super Baltar CF: 3'3" 4.3lbs
150mm T3 Super Baltar CF: 4'9" 4lb 4oz
Also Available:
Angenieux 20-120 Vintage Zoom T2.6 PL mount ( close match)
14.5mm T4 Angenieux (114mm front)
Classic films
Godfather Part 1 & Part 2
Carrie
The Birds
Star Wars
Modern films
Labor Day, 2013 (Brolin, Winslet)
Love is Strange, 2013 (Tomei, Molina, Lithgow)
Results, 2014
Rush, 2013
Footage Examples
The Godfather: Part 2
Shot on Arriflex 35
DP: Gordon Willis
Rush
Shot on Arri Alexa Plus
DP: Anthony Dod Mantle