Rebuilding vintage lenses into modern cinema housings by TLS — standardized gear rings and focus rotation for film production.
Technical Details
TLS standardizes all rehoused lenses to uniform outer diameters of 114mm, 110mm, or 104mm depending on the optical design. Focus rotation is consistently 300° with 0.8 pitch gears at a standardized height of 75mm from the mount. Iris rings also receive 0.8 pitch gearing with T-stop calibration instead of the original f-stop markings. All lenses are measured for transmission and recalibrated, with the original optical formula remaining fully intact. Close-focus modifications typically reduce the minimum focusing distance from 1.2m to 0.6m through mechanical adjustments.
History & Development
True Lens Services was founded in 2010 by Matthew Duclos in Los Angeles, following a strong surge in demand for characterful vintage optics in digital film production. In 2012, TLS rehousing established itself as the standard for converting Soviet, German, and Japanese still photography lenses into professional cinema sets. In 2018, TLS expanded its offerings to include LPL mount versions for large format sensors. Today, TLS processes over 200 lenses monthly, with Zeiss Contax, Leica R, and Russian LOMO optics being particularly in demand.
Practical Application in Film
Cinematographer Bradford Young used TLS-rehoused Zeiss Standard Speeds for "Solo: A Star Wars Story" (2018) to make the digital Alexa look more organic. The Netflix series "Stranger Things" consistently uses TLS-modified Leica Summicron-R lenses for authentic 1980s rendering. Typical workflows integrate TLS sets as A-camera optics alongside modern Master Primes or as the main set for low-budget productions with a $15,000-$25,000 budget. Disadvantages include longer mechanical tolerances and occasional breathing effects from the original still photography designs.
Comparison & Alternatives
TLS directly competes with Duclos Lenses' own rehousing services and GL Optics' vintage modifications. While Duclos specializes in Canon FD and Nikon AI, TLS primarily focuses on German and Soviet optics. Iron Glass Adapters offers more budget-friendly solutions without a full rehousing, but with less precision. Sigma Cine Lenses and DZOFilm sets deliver similar organic characteristics with new construction but do not achieve the specific rendering properties of true vintage glass. For budgets under $40,000, TLS sets dominate over Cooke S4/i or Zeiss Ultra Primes.