FAQ

New orders are currently estimated to ship 2-3 years after the deposit payment has been received.

We do not keep completed lenses in stock and we cannot, unfortunately, source lenses for clients.

Whether you already own the base lenses or are planning to assemble a set from scratch, you can send us a message to get a precise quote for the specific focal lengths you have in mind. We require full payment before rehousing begins, but a 25% non-refundable deposit will hold your place in line and we will contact you for the remaining balance when your set comes up in the queue.

Most of our orders are for relatively large sets. But everyone orders different lenses to make their set; most of our clients that begin with a single lens go on to have more lenses rehoused. As a result, we price each individual lens assuming it is or will become part of a larger purchase and do not offer additional discounts.

We stand behind our designs and will fix or replace any problems caused by an assembly error or part defect, free of charge. Damage caused by impact or misuse is not covered under that guarantee, however, and is subject to a $125/hr service fee plus the cost of any parts that need to be replaced.

We are always interested to know what lenses cinematographers would like to see rehoused, so please get in touch if we don’t already offer services for the lenses you have. Designs not listed on our website may, however, take longer than our typical 14-15 month lead-time.

We don’t offer mount conversions or simple external modifications. In many cases, trying to build a PL mount onto a pre-existing still-photo housing is more labor-intensive and complicated than completely rebuilding the optics into a totally new housing.

We are unable to take on bespoke lens designs at this time.

We do not offer custom anodizing colors or external finishes at this time.

Every rehousing company has their own approach and philosophy. We rebuild everything to be as close to purpose-built cinema lenses as possible, so each glass element is removed from the original housing, cleaned, and installed into brand-new metalwork. We install new circular irises to ensure consistent bokeh across every set, at any stop, and re-calibrate the optics for centering and field symmetry. Whenever possible, we also improve minimum focus distance.

We do offer polishing and recoating of damaged elements, but it can quickly become expensive. For that reason, we recommend it only as a last resort for very rare or expensive lenses as it often exceeds the price of completely replacing a donor lens. We can replicate many historical coatings, but modern multicoatings require substantially more effort and expense.

We can engrave your focus scales in either metric or imperial units. Our housings are designed to allow for the quick removal and swapping of focus scales, so if you need both metric and imperial options, we can engrave additional scales for an additional cost.

The circular irises we install in all of our lenses do often open further than the original manufacturer aperture, but that rarely results in faster T-stops. The optics themselves are often the limiting factor, not the iris blades.

Shipping rates and customs duties fluctuate regularly and we do not have a way of estimating either of those in advance. Non-US clients are responsible for any import fees incurred during the shipping process and we cannot list the finished lenses as being worth less than the total of your original invoice.

Because of the safety protocols required to operate while COVID-19 is still an ever-present threat, we cannot allow visits to our office at this time.