Iscorama Patents/Copyrights

[Caleb Genheimer]

Maybe this is an unanswerable question . . . but when for the love of all that is good in this world do the patents/copyrights/whathaveyou on the Iscorama focusing system expire and/or become fair game? It seems like the kind of thing that ought to expire after a set time of not being utilized. Who owns the rights to this stuff, and has anyone ever offered to take it off their hands? I mean, seriously. I know it is a unique optical system but come on. If they could make them back then, someone should be able to make them nowadays without too much hassle. 

[Paulio]

I assume it must be very difficult to make the lens in general as certain countries do not really respect copyright if there is a market.

 

I wish they would just bring the lens back into production, there is quite a lot of demand :)

[Julian]

I doubt if it is the patent that is holding back other companies from producing something alike. The pro companies make single focus anamorphic primes, right?

[Tito Ferradans]

Googling around some time back, I came across these. Not sure how useful are they though. By the description, it looks like our kind of Isco.

 

http://www.google.com/patents/US5184880

http://www.google.com/patents/EP0467281B1

 

or this one (not so sure about it)

http://www.google.com/patents/US6512636

[richg101]

It's not the fact that a patent can't be infringed, its more the fact that the Chinese do not have the ability to manufacture such a lens for any less than the preowned cost of an original Iscorama36.  Now in order for companies with the ability to manufacture such a thing, they need to price it accordingly.  There are more than enough iscorama's to go around.  just buy one if you want it.  to get the parts of an iscorama remade,  I'd imagine you're looking at around £800 worth of glass work per lens if you ordered 50 off (based on uk prices), that doesnt include redrawing and machining of the mechanics (around £5000 initial id imagine, then about £300 worth of machining per lens once set up), then there is the assembly.  chinese fingers are good at assembling in mass, but in order to make 50 units a month they'd have to be assembled elsewhere, by guys costing £35-50/hr.  

 

There isn't that much of a demand.  If there was, iscoramas should be selling for excess of £10,000 since they are as good, if not better than what cooke and zeiss just released.  If iscos were available to all, for under £500, they would be less desirable.  At the moment, IMO an iscorama on a canon 550d gives you the visual edge over a guy shooting on a red scarlet and cp.2's.  if everyone had an iscorama, the desirability would be lost.