IBC 2016: Cooke will re-introduce new Panchro Classics using the original design but with PL mounts for modern cameras.

Cooke said the move was a response to the ongoing high demand for the company’s vintage Speed Panchro lenses that date back to the 1920s.

Cooke said the original Cooke Speed Panchro, designed by Horace W Lee in the 1920s, was a cine prime lens that chromatically enhanced an image when filming under restricted illumination. Developed several years before ‘talkies’ came into being, the advent of sound films created a great demand for faster lenses because arc lamps could no longer be used, making much existing equipment obsolete.  

Cooke Optics chairman and owner Les Zellan said: “People still love the look they get from the old Speed Panchros, but they are hard to find – and if you can find them, you have to remount them for today’s cameras.

“In response to this, we have taken the original design and created a new housing to fit a PL mount. The new Panchro Classic lenses will have the same look and feel that people love about the originals.”

The Cooke Panchro Classic line is scheduled to ship from NAB 2017.

Renderings of the new Cooke Panchro Classic range will be available to see at IBC.