These Rehoused 1950s Todd-AO Cinema Primes Are One-of-a-Kind
The legendary Todd-AO 65mm Prime lenses were originally built in the early 1950s and were used to film some true classics. The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), Zero Optik, and Keslow Camera have teamed up to bring these lenses back, meticulously restored and rehoused, for modern filmmakers.
The original Todd-AO Prime lenses were used to film widescreen Hollywood classics like Oklahoma!, The Sound of Music, Cleopatra, The Alamo, and many more. Some of these lenses were donated to the American Society of Cinematographers many years ago and sat in a state of disrepair, mostly forgotten until recently.
When these lenses were rediscovered in an ASC basement, ASC and Zero Optik, a Los Angeles-based optical engineering company, got to work restoring the beautiful lenses to excellent condition, and put them inside modern cinema lens housing. The work began in January 2024.
“The restoration and refurbishing of these lenses, which was spearheaded by our own Shelly Johnson, reflects the ASC’s commitment to preserving the tools that shaped our visual language,” says ASC President Mandy Walker.
“By restoring the Todd-AO lenses, we’re doing more than simply honoring cinematic history — we’re empowering filmmakers to explore new creative frontiers with the soul of classic optics,” Walker adds.
The series of nine refurbished lenses is designed for modern large-format cinematography and spans focal lengths from 18mm to 135mm, each with a unique T-stop and distinct close-focus characteristics.
Keslow Camera, the exclusive rental house for the lenses for the next year, states that the lenses are “an excellent pairing with any large format camera platform” and cover sensors up to 65mm in size. The new housings are custom-built to support PV, PL, and LPL mounts, and each mount is easily interchangeable. The new housings have a unique distressed metal finish, which the makers say will patina over time. Although each lens has unique specifications, all but the 18mm feature an 85mm front diameter (the 18mm has a much larger 114mm front diameter).
The series comprises 18mm T5.3, 28mm T3.7, 40mm T2.8, 50mm T2.2, 55mm T2.8, 60mm T2.1, 80mm T2.9, 105mm T3.3, and 135mm T4.1 lenses. Close focusing distances range from eight inches to (28mm T3.7) to 47 inches (135mm T4.1).
Academy Award-winning cinematographer Greig Fraser, best known for his work on Dune and Rogue One, worked with ASC and Zero Optik on tuning the rehoused lenses.
“Whenever I get my hands on vintage glass, I’m always kind of surprised,” Fraser tells Keslow Camera. “These lenses revealed themselves to be quite beautiful and subtle. They fell off in such a natural way, and I especially appreciated how they rendered skin tone. We worked to create an element of resolution and sharpness without ever feeling ‘sharp,’ and were able to draw out more of a three-dimensional feel.”
The ASC Todd-AO 65mm Primes are a one-of-a-kind set of cinema lenses. There is only one set in existence, and it will be available to rent exclusively through Keslow Camera for the next 12 months. There is no doubt that some very talented cinematographers will be keen to get their hands on the lenses for their next big project.
Image credits: American Society of Cinematographers, Zero Optik, and Keslow Camera
