RENT TLS Rehoused 152mm Super Baltar T3 S35 (PL)

The TLS Rehoused 152mm Super Baltar T3 is a modernized version of the classic Bausch & Lomb Super Baltar, combining a historically significant optical design with a precision-engineered TLS housing. While preserving the signature Super Baltar rendering, the TLS rehousing delivers improved mechanical reliability and consistency for contemporary production environments.

As successors to the original Baltars, Super Baltars introduced improved coatings, enhanced contrast, and better uniformity across focal lengths. Today, they are selected not merely for their heritage, but for their ability to impart an organic, textured quality and natural warmth to modern digital cinematography without excessive softness or degradation.

Image Fidelity and Focus
The 152mm Super Baltar T3 exhibits the series’ characteristic gentle contrast, smooth highlight roll-off, and organic sharpness. Wide open, it delivers subtle softness with pleasing skin tone reproduction and gradual transitions between focus and defocus. Central sharpness remains defined yet never clinical, while edge falloff contributes to dimensional depth. Minor chromatic aberration at wider stops is consistent with the lens’ vintage optical character.

Flare and Bokeh
With classic coating characteristics, Super Baltars produce controlled veiling glare and expressive flaring under strong light sources. Bokeh is smooth and rounded, contributing to a natural, cinematic separation. The overall rendering softens modern digital sensors and evokes the tonal qualities traditionally associated with motion picture film.

Handling and Adaptability
Originally compact but mechanically inconsistent, Super Baltars have been transformed through TLS rehousing into durable, production-ready cinema lenses. The TLS housing provides consistent front diameters, expanded focus scales, uniform 0.8 mod gearing, extended focus rotation, and robust construction. The PL mount configuration ensures compatibility with modern Super 35 cinema cameras.

Image Circle
The 152mm Super Baltar T3 covers Super 35 format sensors.

Cinematic Heritage
Super Baltars were introduced in the late 1960s and became widely used throughout the 1970s. Their distinctive visual signature helped define the look of American cinema during that era, contributing to films such as The Godfather, All the President's Men, and Paper Moon. The TLS rehoused versions retain this legacy while meeting the technical demands of present-day filmmaking.