From Vintage to Set-Ready in Just Three Weeks: Why Adam Etherington BSC Chose TLS

Adam Etherington BSC, has always had a passion for shooting narrative drama. Beginning a career with commercials, shorts, and indie features, he has since moved into high-end television series. Over the years, Adam has worked on projects for leading platforms such as Amazon, BBC, Disney, Apple and Netflix, with one of the most recent projects being Paris Has Fallen (2024).

What role do lenses—especially vintage ones like Canon rangefinders—play in shaping your visual style?

The cinema camera lens is one of the most important and impactful creative choices available to today’s Cinematographers. The responsibility and opportunity to curate and define the visual aesthetic of a piece of work is a great privilege, and the technological and creative choices we make need to be grounded in both the overarching creative vision as well as a technical assurance that our work will deliver images that are both true to the narrative, and that capture the visual intentions and ideologies of the many creative collaborators on each production.

Why did you decide to have your Canon rangefinders rehoused?

The Canon Rangefinder optics offer a beautiful and distinctive visual aesthetic that is simply irreplaceable with modern engineering. The lenses themselves use materials and manufacturing methods that are no longer possible within the world of modern production, and hence each lens and set has a personality and character that offers the cinematographer a chance to create a visual narrative truly unique to their creative choices. For many years cinematographers embraced and adored the end visual product of these and other old cinema and stills lenses. However, in their original housings they were simply entirely impractical for production. Ever increasing demands for efficiency and speed from cinematographers and camera teams, especially within large scale high-value productions, require a reliability and efficiency of technology that is absolute. The considerations when making technical choices for these kinds of shows revolve enormously around protecting the performance of the artists in front of the camera, and ensuring that the production stays on schedule and on track. The ego of the cinematographer should never interfere with the delivery of the story and performance, and a critical part of this is selecting technologies that are respectful to the process and offer artists the freedom to perform uninhibited by technological issues and in service of the wider story and show.

Hence, for a long time, it simply wasn’t possible to use these kinds of vintage stills and cinema lenses on large scale productions, such would have been the impact on both the working process and the danger of technical malfunction. TLS’ Rehousing’s changed all of that. They provide assured reliability and a mechanical consistency that allows AC’s to work with the precision and efficiency that is critical for a production to function smoothly. TLS have opened the creative door for Cinematographers to embrace and explore the visual artistry that can be found within a wide and varied range of incredible vintage cinema glass.

Adam Etherington BSC and Will Lyte - AR Steadicam Operator

The Rehousing Experience: Turnaround Time – Just 3 Weeks!

What were you looking for in a rehousing service before you approached us?

I knew that I needed these lenses on a very tight turn-around in order to hit our deadline. I knew also that the only company I would trust to rehouse my lenses was TLS. I’ve had over 100 lenses rehoused with TLS over the years and I have always been more than happy to wait for their expertise and to queue in line. In the past this has meant very long wait times and a lot of forward planning, however their newly increased capacity and ability to deliver on such a tight schedule made something that would otherwise have been completely impossible, a reality.

How did you feel about the turnaround time when we delivered the full rehousing in just 3 weeks?

That was absolutely incredible. One of the greatest hurdles in the past with getting lenses rehoused is that TLS, by victims of their own success, always had a huge waiting list! The move to the new facility and the gradual training and development of additional highly skilled expert tech’s has however meant that the 3-week turnaround was now a possibility, whereas in the past it would have been entirely impossible. We had a tech dedicated to the rehousing who I could liaise with via the office in order to ensure that the lenses retained the absolute quality of delivery that was needed, with us able to QC donor optics to ensure that the finished lenses were the absolute best they could possibly be.

Were you surprised by the speed compared to other experiences you’ve had (or heard about) in the industry?

I have limited experience with other companies, so I can only say that this experience surpassed my expectations.

How did the process—from communication to delivery—match your expectations?

TLS are always fantastic with their communication, which is one of the things that sets them apart from so many other rehousing and servicing companies. You’re always made to feel, when talking to anyone in the team, like you’re their only customer and they can’t do enough to help make the experience as smooth as possible. They have a phenomenal leadership team that lead by example and take personal responsibility for maintaining the highest of standards, both of service and of quality of end product.

Can you say anything about the rehousing itself? What are the main improvements that you’ve noticed?

I assume this refers to the improvements compared to the original lenses—and in that respect, the difference is night and day. The confidence that comes with working on set with TLS-rehoused lenses is invaluable for any cinematographer. When I put them on the camera, I know they will perform at their absolute best. The precision in areas such as gear placement and T-stop accuracy provides a level of technical consistency that allows the entire team to focus fully on the creative process, without distraction or doubt.

Personal Reflection and opinion on rehousing lenses

Working with TLS rehoused lenses was a true creative turning point. It allowed me to bring the timeless beauty of vintage cinema optics into productions of any scale, meeting even the highest technical demands. The trust my ACs and I have in TLS’s engineering means we can devote ourselves entirely to storytelling, confident that the lenses will perform flawlessly every time.

It has been a joyful collaboration with world-leading experts who consistently go above and beyond, delivering a product of the very highest calibre. I’m deeply grateful to TLS for the exceptional work they’ve done and for their unwavering commitment to supporting cinematographers—thank you for doing such a brilliant job.

See more works from Adam on his website https://adametherington.com and on his Instagram account @ae_dop.