As part of the 15th edition of the ‘Salón Internacional de la Luz’ (SIL 2025), the masterclass “Vintage Glass: Reclaiming the Past” took place: a highly technical and inspiring session led by cinematographer Serguei Saldívar, AMC, who shared his vast experience and passion for rehoused lenses, also known as Vintage Glass.
Throughout the session, Saldívar guided attendees through a captivating journey into the history of these lenses, revealing how their unique character and timeless aesthetics continue to thrive in contemporary cinematography. Most of these optics originate from analog still photography or early cinema lenses, which are meticulously modified to suit modern digital cinema cameras. The rehousing process includes restoring internal mechanisms, adding industry-standard positive lock mounts, and integrating geared focus rings, all to enable their seamless use in professional productions.
Beyond the technical transformation, Vintage Glass also reflects a highly curated artistic vision. Saldívar emphasized that his goal is to build a lens collection with absolute visual consistency. From wide angles to telephoto lenses, each piece must belong to the same optical family to ensure aesthetic cohesion across a film. “I want to shoot an entire film using Leica focal lengths… We have unique lenses like the 280mm, 188mm, 15–50mm macro, and 90mm. Plus, every lens in the Vintage Glass collection shares the same front diameter, which is incredibly helpful when working with lens-mounted accessories,” explained Saldívar.
This initiative is not only driven by his technical expertise and curatorial eye, but also by a strategic collaboration with Georgina Terán, CEO of EFD Studios. With her deep knowledge of technology and extensive experience in cinematographic equipment, they are together building a lens collection tailored to serve the Latin American film industry.
During the masterclass, attendees experienced firsthand how these lenses shape image texture, depth of field, and emotional tone. It was an invitation to see differently to embrace imperfection as aesthetic value, and to recognize history as a living narrative tool.
A masterclass that reminded us: the past doesn’t stay behind, it is reclaimed, reinvented, and reframed, one frame at a time.
