Smartflex: New 4x5" camera for handheld use - including new lens

[Marcelo Paniagua]

interesting videos.

 

[Richard Man]

Seems quite handheldable to me!!

 

[Marcelo Paniagua]

Seems quite handheldable to me!!

oddly enough, yeah.

 

[choiliefan]

I have a 5X7 Press Graflex SLR which is very much hand-holdable.
The Home Portrait Graflex, not so sure about but it did come with strap lugs from the factory.

 

[Crysist]

Yep. And yet further down the page it says:
"It boasts an F2 aperture, which is unheard of in large format photography. The bokeh effect is equivalent to a 50mm F0.55 lens on a full-frame camera, providing you with stunning and impressive imagery."

They do show off a different f/2 lens in an Instagram post:



The website just isn't really clear about that.

Also, they refer to the 178mm as being a modern computed formula with modern glasses and coatings, it could be they based it off the Aero Ektar. I think LLL has done similar work when remaking old designs; maintaining the character but sometimes improving some aspects.

Just curious as a separate question, this project seems very ambitious and yet is able to make big headway. The post spoke of producing many different prototypes of different focal lengths. LLL is able to do it and offer a bazillion different styles per lens, so I can tell it's true and they're running on a limited basis, but I always figured optic manufacturing isn't a small time deal.

He also mentions the "order quantity" being very high. Is one, or both, or many of these companies doing this kind of lens work possibly contracting a separate company to make all the elements and then making the housing in-house? Or maybe doing that external as well and just assembling? I know Edmund Optics and Thorlabs, which are both quite close to me, seem to offer custom optics services. Are they just ordering custom stuff from companies similar to those?

 

[Richard Man]

You might have heard of China Inc. They are really good at making parts, including lens elements. Seriously, the number of new lenses they are making is astonishing.

 

[mollyc]

There was a new instagram post today saying they are making 1,000 lenses and that the kickstarter price should be "a fairly low price."