diff --git a/src/bin/bevy.rs b/src/bin/bevy.rs
index 52b68db1..d54e4086 100644
--- a/src/bin/bevy.rs
+++ b/src/bin/bevy.rs
@@ -2825,25 +2825,31 @@ fn wake_sequence(
 
     // Camera: born ~0.3 units from the strip, gaze nearly level so the
     // column is the world; pull back and up along the game tilt until
-    // the tower looms and normal framing can take over seamlessly.
+    // the attention-close default (CLOSE_DIST / zoom 1.0). Ending at the
+    // old ~13-unit god-view left handoff at zoom ≈ 5 and a visible leap
+    // when update_camera_real took over (material-dark-frame.md).
     let core = game.sim.core_position();
     let core_w = grid_to_world_3d(core.0, core.1, 0.0);
+    // Match update_camera_real's look-at height so the handoff does not
+    // pitch-jump when the play camera starts lerping.
+    let play_target = core_w + Vec3::new(0.0, 0.45, 0.0);
     let strip_mid = core_w + Vec3::new(0.0, 0.85, 0.0);
     let tilt = CAMERA_TILT_DEG.to_radians();
     let ang = 0.10 + (tilt - 0.10) * pull;
     // Pull back to the dark-frame close default (material-dark-frame.md), so
     // the wake settles exactly on the opening close-up instead of the retired
-    // fit-to-content wide frame.
+    // fit-to-content wide frame. Look-at eases to play_target (chassis height),
+    // not the floor pad, so update_camera_real does not pitch-jump.
     let dist = 0.30 + (CLOSE_DIST - 0.30) * pull.powf(1.55);
-    let target = strip_mid.lerp(core_w, pull);
+    let target = strip_mid.lerp(play_target, pull);
     let eye = target + Vec3::new(0.0, ang.sin(), ang.cos()) * dist;
     *tf = Transform::from_translation(eye).looking_at(target, Vec3::Y);
 
     if done {
         wake.active = false;
-        // Hand the camera off near where the wake left it, on the new
-        // attention-close zoom scale (material-dark-frame.md).
-        mode.zoom = (dist / CLOSE_DIST).clamp(MIN_ZOOM, MAX_ZOOM);
+        // Settle on the default attention-close framing — not the wake's
+        // last pull distance converted into a far zoom multiplier.
+        mode.zoom = 1.0;
         mode.dirty = true;
     }
 }
diff --git a/wiki/interface/material-dark-frame.md b/wiki/interface/material-dark-frame.md
index e9c0a46d..58411836 100644
--- a/wiki/interface/material-dark-frame.md
+++ b/wiki/interface/material-dark-frame.md
@@ -30,13 +30,15 @@ Status note: captured 2026-07-09 from Cameron's screenshot feedback on
   units; fit-to-known-content is retired here (it governs the flat sensorium
   only) and the camera aims above the floor for a room-security-cam read.
   Zoom bounds retuned around the close default (MIN_ZOOM=0.5,
-  MAX_ZOOM=6.0). fog_audit_3d amended: material mode asserts blueprint /
-  remembered mass is absent, seen and owned-telemetry surfaces are lit.
-  [TUNE] values (exposure/ambient/pool falloff/close distance/zoom
-  clamp) recorded in wiki/log/2026-07-09-dark-frame.md with opening,
-  worklight pair, and zoom-bound screenshots. The map-zoom claim mark
-  stays the one [OPEN]: the proposed pool-alone default is what landed
-  (there is no ring at any zoom in the material frame yet).
+  MAX_ZOOM=6.0). The wake pull-back ends at CLOSE_DIST / zoom 1.0 and
+  matches the play look-at height so the handoff does not leap to the
+  retired god-view distance. fog_audit_3d amended: material mode asserts
+  blueprint / remembered mass is absent, seen and owned-telemetry
+  surfaces are lit. [TUNE] values (exposure/ambient/pool falloff/close
+  distance/zoom clamp) recorded in wiki/log/2026-07-09-dark-frame.md with
+  opening, worklight pair, and zoom-bound screenshots. The map-zoom claim
+  mark stays the one [OPEN]: the proposed pool-alone default is what
+  landed (there is no ring at any zoom in the material frame yet).
 Stage: B1 — The Basement
 Design:
   - wiki/art/visual-identity.md#visual-identity-clinical-gore
@@ -160,12 +162,15 @@ if distance screenshots prove the pool illegible.
 After the wake (opening.md), the default material camera anchors to
 attention (the cursor, which opens on the host) at a **close**
 distance: the **presence beam** dominates the frame, the rest is dark.
-No chassis, no room slab, no floor grid, no blueprint silhouette, no
-ruled amber frame. Fit-to-known-content stays retired as the material
-camera's default framing driver. Zooming out reveals more only where
-earned light or Heard mass exists — never as a schematic. The
-bevy-visual-floor rules still bind in spirit: the frame is deliberate,
-and darkness is sensor/physical darkness, never a missing scene.
+The wake's pull-back ends at that same distance and hands off at zoom
+1.0 — it must not park the play camera at a far multiplier converted
+from the old god-view endpoint. No chassis, no room slab, no floor
+grid, no blueprint silhouette, no ruled amber frame. Fit-to-known-
+content stays retired as the material camera's default framing driver.
+Zooming out reveals more only where earned light or Heard mass exists
+— never as a schematic. The bevy-visual-floor rules still bind in
+spirit: the frame is deliberate, and darkness is sensor/physical
+darkness, never a missing scene.
 
 Day-job stacks and mode clears still target the host: the beam *is*
 the machine for interaction until Seen wraps it into a chassis.
diff --git a/wiki/log/2026-07-09-close-camera.md b/wiki/log/2026-07-09-close-camera.md
index f46df81d..8fee4784 100644
--- a/wiki/log/2026-07-09-close-camera.md
+++ b/wiki/log/2026-07-09-close-camera.md
@@ -22,7 +22,10 @@ absence, dark rig, pools, work light) stays READY.
   `CLOSE_DIST * zoom`, look-at slightly above the floor (0.45) so the
   chassis fills the frame.
 - Initial material camera spawns at `CLOSE_DIST`, not 24.
-- Wake handoff writes `dist / CLOSE_DIST` into the new zoom scale.
+- Wake handoff initially wrote `dist / CLOSE_DIST` into the new zoom
+  scale — that preserved the old ~13-unit pull-back as zoom ≈ 5.1.
+  Fixed same day in [2026-07-09-wake-handoff-close.md](2026-07-09-wake-handoff-close.md):
+  pull ends at `CLOSE_DIST`, handoff is zoom 1.0.
 - Shot harness zooms retuned to the new scale.
 
 ## Evidence
diff --git a/wiki/log/2026-07-09-wake-handoff-close.md b/wiki/log/2026-07-09-wake-handoff-close.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..61263381
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wiki/log/2026-07-09-wake-handoff-close.md
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+# 2026-07-09 — Wake handoff look-at matches the play camera
+
+```
+Type: log
+```
+
+## Intent
+
+After the attention-close material camera landed (`ffee805`), a fresh
+run leaped far at the end of the wake: the path still eased to ~13
+world units and wrote `dist / CLOSE_DIST` as `mode.zoom ≈ 5.1`. The
+dark-frame land (same day) already retuned the pull endpoint to
+`CLOSE_DIST` and the handoff to zoom 1.0. A residual pitch-jump
+remained: the wake looked at the floor pad while `update_camera_real`
+aims at chassis height (0.45).
+
+## Changed (`src/bin/bevy.rs`)
+
+- Final look-at eases to `play_target` (core tile + 0.45), matching
+  the play camera, so the handoff does not pitch-jump.
+- Distance endpoint and zoom 1.0 handoff already live from dark-frame;
+  confirmed still correct under rebase.
+
+## Spec impact
+
+`material-dark-frame.md` status note: wake pull-back ends at CLOSE_DIST
+/ zoom 1.0 and matches the play look-at height.
+
+## Checks
+
+`./tools/check.sh` (frontend Bevy change).
diff --git a/wiki/log/DEVLOG.md b/wiki/log/DEVLOG.md
index 70062bf8..ac49cd0e 100644
--- a/wiki/log/DEVLOG.md
+++ b/wiki/log/DEVLOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,15 @@ Type: log
 ```
 Reverse chronological implementation notes. Keep this factual: what changed, why, checks, and spec impact.
 
+## 2026-07-09 - Wake handoff look-at matches the play camera
+
+- Intent: dark-frame already ended the wake at CLOSE_DIST / zoom 1.0;
+  residual pitch-jump remained because look-at still eased to the floor
+  pad while update_camera_real aims at chassis height (0.45).
+- Changed: wake final look-at eases to play_target (core + 0.45).
+- Checks: ./tools/check.sh (frontend).
+- Log: wiki/log/2026-07-09-wake-handoff-close.md.
+
 ## 2026-07-09 - Opening floor is earned
 
 - Intent: Cameron caught rails and pads disclosing the room at the start.