TK LENSES

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TK LENSES TK LENSES provides lens rehousing and custom mechanical work for cinema use, based in Bangkok, Thailand.

Super-Takumar is another series we’ve been working on since the early days, going back to around 2023. We started with t...
04/09/2026

Super-Takumar is another series we’ve been working on since the early days, going back to around 2023. We started with the 50mm as a test lens, then gradually moved on to other focal lengths like the 35mm and 85mm. Over time, the housing design kept evolving along with the rest of our work, and we’ve now had the chance to bring together a more complete set, including 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, and 135mm.

The Super-Takumar series has always had a strong following among vintage lens users for its compact size, smooth rendering, and distinctive character. Bringing the whole range into a consistent cine housing makes it much easier to use as a complete working set, rather than treating each focal length as a separate still lens.

We’re also currently working on another set based on the SMC PENTAX-A series, so there will be more Pentax glass to share soon.

If you have a set you’d like to send in for rehousing, you can find more details at tklenses.com.

Many people may not realize just how rare vintage Kowa lenses are. They are one of the classic vintage lens families fro...
01/09/2026

Many people may not realize just how rare vintage Kowa lenses are. They are one of the classic vintage lens families from Japan, yet relatively few people ever get the chance to use them. One of the biggest challenges is simply finding enough of them to build a complete set. Kowa produced a surprisingly wide range of versions over the years, including rangefinder lenses, SLR lenses, and dedicated cine lenses, some of which have become extremely expensive.

This time, we had the opportunity to rehouse nearly the entire Kowa SLR lineup, including the 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 105mm, and 135mm. The only ones missing are the 19mm and the 58mm f/1.5, both of which we expect to add in the near future.

Part of the appeal of vintage Kowa lenses is their gentle rendering, warm golden flares, lower contrast, and ability to retain detail without looking overly sharp or clinical. They are particularly well suited for narrative work where a softer, warmer image is desired. Another advantage is that they cover full frame, making them much easier to integrate into modern workflows.

For this rehousing, we implemented our latest mechanical design throughout the set. We increased the iris blade count from 6-7 blades to 14-16 blades across the lineup, extended the focus throw to 300 degrees, and converted the lenses to a static housing design that eliminates both rotation and extension during focusing. The result is a set that fits more naturally into a modern production workflow, while also being easier to service and maintain.

For additional information and pricing, please visit tklenses.com.

Cooke Kinetal was introduced around 1959 to 1960 as part of Taylor Hobson’s professional 16mm lens lineup, designed by G...
16/04/2026

Cooke Kinetal was introduced around 1959 to 1960 as part of Taylor Hobson’s professional 16mm lens lineup, designed by Gordon Cook for the growing world of documentary, industrial, and scientific filmmaking. The 37.5mm f/1.8, 50mm f/1.8, and 75mm f/2.6 all come from that early Kinetal range and remain some of the classic focal lengths from the series. Although the Kinetals were originally designed for 16mm, the 37.5mm and longer focal lengths can still cover S35, with a slight amount of vignetting depending on the setup. They may not be as sharp as the Speed Panchros, but they carry a character and charm that is very much their own.

We received these three lenses quite a while ago and only recently had the chance to finally complete the set and deliver it to the client. Each lens was fully reengineered with an all new non-linear, cam-driven focusing mechanism, a 95mm front OD, and a 300 degree focus throw. Focus and iris positions were also standardized across all three lenses for a more consistent working set. At the same time, we preserved the original iris diaphragm design, so the lenses still retain their authentic rendering and original image character, now in a housing that is far more durable and production ready.

15/04/2026

Pricing review in progress!

Over the years, we have adjusted our pricing several times, usually through modest and gradual increases.

We are now reviewing our rehousing pricing again, as some lens lines still do not reflect current production realities and remain below a sustainable level.

Not every lens will change by the same amount. We are currently evaluating which lens families need adjustment first. Once the review is complete, the rehousing cost calculator will be updated accordingly.

Long-term sustainability in the rehousing market has become increasingly difficult. To ensure we can continue for the long term, our pricing needs to move closer to the true cost of production.

Current pricing remains subject to change at any time. Once the new prices take effect, they will not return to the current level.

We appreciate your continued support. If you have been considering a rehousing project with us, this would be a good time to proceed under the current pricing.

Many people may not know, or may have forgotten, that anamorphic rehousing was our original goal from the very beginning...
11/04/2026

Many people may not know, or may have forgotten, that anamorphic rehousing was our original goal from the very beginning. That was the path we set out on when we first started in late 2021. At the time, anamorphic work was still much more demanding for us, so we turned to spherical lenses for a while, and LOMO became one of the first series we began developing. We kept working on LOMO throughout the years that followed, but this time we came back to it with a fully reworked design from the ground up.

With this latest redesign, we were finally able to carry the new system across nearly the full LOMO spherical range, from 18mm all the way to 150mm, including 22mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm, and 100mm.

Since LOMO was one of the first spherical lens series we ever worked on, its evolution has unfolded alongside our own. In many ways, this redesign reflects how far both the lens and our work have come. After more than four years, it feels good to see it arrive here!

The Leica Elmarit-R 19mm f/2.8 V1 was introduced in 1975 for the Leica-R system and designed by Walter Mandler. It was L...
05/04/2026

The Leica Elmarit-R 19mm f/2.8 V1 was introduced in 1975 for the Leica-R system and designed by Walter Mandler. It was Leica's first 19mm ultra-wide for their SLR lineup, with a ~96° AoV, developed at a time when extreme retrofocus wide-angle design was still far more difficult and limited than it would become in later years. The lens is known for its strong rendering when stopped down, especially through the mid-apertures, while still carrying the classic compromises of an early ultra-wide design.

For our rehoused version, we brought the lens to a 95mm front OD to keep it consistent with the rest of the set, without introducing vignetting. We removed the original focusing mechanism entirely and replaced it with a new non-linear cam-driven system, designed, manufactured, and assembled from the ground up. We also built a completely new iris and calibrated the lens in T-stops for more reliable use in serious production.

Over fifty years on, the optical formula Walter Mandler designed is still doing the work, just in a form that belongs on a modern set.

We had previously rehoused a Cooke Speed Panchro 25mm Series III back in early 2025, and at the time the entire set was ...
03/04/2026

We had previously rehoused a Cooke Speed Panchro 25mm Series III back in early 2025, and at the time the entire set was built with a 110mm front OD. This time, however, the 25mm was the only Speed Panchro in the set, while the rest were Cooke Kinetals, which could all be done with a 95mm front OD. That meant we had to revisit the 25mm and push the design further so it could match the rest of the set at 95mm as well.

Standardizing a vintage set is all about the details. Bringing this lens down to 95mm allows the entire set to work together more seamlessly in modern production without constant equipment changes. Fitting the Series III optics into a smaller housing required multiple rounds of engineering and refinement, but the result is a far more cohesive and practical set.

For decades, the Cooke Speed Panchro series has remained one of the most respected and recognizable names in vintage cinema lenses. Rehousing brings these optics into a more practical form for modern productions, allowing cinematographers to keep using classic glass to tell new stories in the digital era.

The Leica Summilux-R 80mm f/1.4 is one of the first Summilux lenses we rehoused in the Leica-R lineup, following the Sum...
28/03/2026

The Leica Summilux-R 80mm f/1.4 is one of the first Summilux lenses we rehoused in the Leica-R lineup, following the Summicron-R 35mm and 50mm we completed earlier. This lens also gave us the chance to use our latest design, with a full 300 degree focus throw and a 16-blade iris upgrade to keep the bokeh round throughout the aperture range.

For an 80mm f/1.4, the lens is fairly compact, so it didn't require an especially long housing. It's still quite heavy though, as expected for a fast lens of this type. Its measured T-stop comes in at T1.6.

More Leica R sets will be coming soon, including Elmarit, Summicron, and Summilux lenses across the range.

Beyond the OM line, Olympus also built the Pen F series, a half-frame system with a surprisingly wide range of lenses. O...
17/03/2026

Beyond the OM line, Olympus also built the Pen F series, a half-frame system with a surprisingly wide range of lenses. One of them is this 70mm f/2. Even though it was originally designed for half-frame cameras, it covers full-frame without any vignetting, which is one reason many people enjoy using it on modern large sensor cameras. It also pairs nicely with the OM series, sitting neatly between 50mm and 85mm.

This is already the fourth version we’ve built for the lens. It was completed in October last year and represents the last design before our current version.

The Yashinon-DX 45mm f/1.4 was the standout fixed lens of the Yashica Lynx-14, introduced in 1965. It was considered exp...
13/03/2026

The Yashinon-DX 45mm f/1.4 was the standout fixed lens of the Yashica Lynx-14, introduced in 1965. It was considered expensive for its time and featured a fast normal focal length with a 7 element, 5 group design. The lens is widely associated with Tomioka Optical Works, which Yashica later acquired in 1968.

In the motion picture world, it’s not a lens commonly seen in use, likely because it was never designed as a standalone interchangeable lens in the first place. It was made specifically for the Lynx-14, which makes adapting it for cinema use far less straightforward than most vintage still lenses. Rehousing it into a proper cinema format gives this 60 year old piece of glass a second life, allowing it to capture the modern world through a truly vintage lens once again.

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