This past Tuesday I had the privilege of being reacquainted with one of the kindest people I have worked with, 91-year-old Kenji Seumatsu. For those who may not know Kenji, he is one of the most respected optical designers and engineers in the world. He has worked widely in the motion picture and scientific fields, including on projects with NASA and Century Precision Optics, and received a technical achievement award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
I first met Kenji when I was fresh out of college, when I was hired by F&B CECO Hollywood to be a camera repair technician trainee. While there, I was taught how to service Arriflex, Mitchell, and Bell & Howell motion picture film cameras. It was there that I met Kenji for the first time as he wrapped up his work on numerous lens modifications, as well as the design and building of the F&B CECO Super Speed lenses. I was moved from the camera maintenance area to the lens maintenance area, where I met Kenji and he was nice enough to show me the basics of how to service the various lenses in CECOs inventory.
Years later, while working on a hi-def video tap, I called Kenji for some help figuring out the relay lenses for the project. True to who he is, he invited me to his workshop to help me calculate the required focal length for the relay lens and source lenses for the project. That was surprisingly over 30 years ago and our paths hadn’t crossed since.
Until last week that is, when I received a message from Kenji’s wife Carol that he was cleaning out his shop and, if there were things that I could use in my shop, I was welcome to come spend a little time reconnecting with Kenji and take home some treasures. All I needed to hear was that this was Kenki’s shop, and I was on my way. There is too much stuff for me to go into detail, so let me just thank Kenji and Carol from the bottom of my heart for inviting me into their home and allowing me to come back with some absolutely magnificent tooling and lens parts.
