TAMASHII
The Next Chapter in Vintage Lenses
Tamashii is an idea first conceived by Mark LaFleur of Old Fast Glass. Five years ago, Mark set out to build a no compromises set of vintage full frame primes that had the specific characteristics he was looking for. It was important that each focal length do exactly what he liked and nothing he didn’t like. The research and testing began…
Mark worked alone, collecting a massive amount of lenses, and terabytes of test footage. After two years of research and testing, Mark began to put together his set. He identified the “winners” for each focal length but wouldn’t stop there. If he discovered another lens contender that had promise, it would go head-to-head against current winner to try and dethrone it. The testing was relentless.
The goal: a complete set of vintage full frame lenses from roughly 20mm to 100mm that share a cohesive look. The lenses had to be sharp enough wide open for demanding projects, but still flattering. Lens flares needed to be expressive, and gorgeous, without overwhelming the image, and without feeling modern. Bokeh needed to be textured, and impressionistic, but never busy or distracting. The lenses had to have little to no chromatic aberration. Since 99% of lens character is expressed when a lens is used wide open, the lenses needed to be fast, but not so fast that nothing is in focus, so the target f stop was f2 across the set.
Once he had his ultimate set in hand, he approached Zero Optik and Ancient Optics for rehousing. But Mark’s “pitch” was unlike anything he had done previously. Rather than tell his collaborators what lenses he wanted to rehouse, he shot lens tests, both in the test studio and in real world conditions, but kept the identities of the donor lenses a secret. Instead, he said, “watch this video. These are the next lenses I want to rehouse. All I ask is that you make your decision based on the character and performance of the lenses, rather than their brands. And I want to call the lenses ‘TAMASHII,’ which means ‘soul’ in Japanese.” It worked. His collaborators were in love with the character of the lenses, and the concept. Each focal length was as beautiful as the next.
The lenses truly have soul. In short, they are special. They do everything right. Sharp wide open, no chromatic aberration. They handle tough lighting conditions easily, yet they can’t wait to show you how they flare, with bursts of purple, peach, blue, and amber. Their bokeh: addictive. These lenses turn every background into something that is smooth, yet with the perfect amount of texture, all at a maximum aperture that gives you excellent separation between subject and background, while still being able to keep your subject in focus. The lenses were made to shoot wide open.
Together, our 3 companies make a formidable team with all the tools needed for a project as unique as this. Zero Optik saw the potential in the glass Mark chose and signed on as the designer and manufacturer of Tamashii. Alex Nelson’s unique skills, attention to detail, and impeccable design taste were just what this project needed. He designed what might be the most beautiful lenses to come out of Zero Optik. He pushed each focal length as far as they could go, delivering maximum sensor coverage, and best possible close focus, all in lightweight housings, with buttery smooth focus. Ancient Optics set out to collect the glass needed and funded the project.
Here we are today, the first set of TAMASHII primes has been assembled. 9 compact, lightweight Japanese lenses from the 1960s to the early 1980s. Each lens as impressive as the last. No slouches. All winners. We hope you love them as much as we do.
