Please let the 7artisans 24-96mm T/2.9 be a budget-friendly cinema zoom lens

7Artisans’ upcoming lens is their most exciting product in, well, ever. The 7Artisans 24-96mm T/2.9 is an impressively fast 4X zoom lens for super 35 image sensors. If you want a cinema lens and don’t feel like paying a fortune for a cinema lens from Canon, this lens is an exciting option.

The 7Artisans 24-96mm T/2.9 is a Super 35 lens and the company’s first zoom lens. The lens was teased last month on social media as a mysterious 4X series yet to be announced. It is yet unclear if 7Artisans are planning more cinema zoom lenses in this “series”.

Budget cinema lens

Currently, if you’re looking for a budget cinema lens, it will be a tough search. Modern cinema sets from Arri, Canon, or Zeiss are out of the question. Way too expensive to be considered budget.

Going vintage doesn’t help either, as vintage cinema lenses are often horrifically rare and hard to get. So what are you left with? The great, yet still quite expensive, “sort-of-budget” lenses. Lenses like the Fujinon MK ($3999) or the Laowa Ranger Lite. ($3499) (We covered the original Laowa Ranger back at NAB 2023).

These are all great lenses, but with price tags of over $3,000, it is hard to consider any of them as a budget lens.

Why does a new budget cinema lens matter so much?

It doesn’t matter if you’re shooting with a Sony FX6, A RED Komodo, Canon R5C, or a more affordable camera like the FujiFilm XH2s or even the XS-20. Cinema lenses are useful for almost all videographers, yet their price often gatekeeps people out. We need more cinema lenses that the independent cinematographer can actually afford. Hopefully, the 7Artisans 24-96mm T/2.9 will fill that gap.

7Artisans 24-96mm T/2.9 Price and Availability

One thing is certain. Between entering the cinema lens market and announcing their first AF lens coming soon, it seems that 7Artisans are broadening their catalog.

7Artisans are yet to announce the price of the 7Artisans 24-96mm T/2.9. That said, considering their track record, I would expect that the MSRP will be highly competitive.

According to Asobinet, 7Artisans originally suggested the lens would be available around November. As it is December already, you can expect more info to be available soon. There are no pre-order links yet, but track this link for availability.

[via Asobinet]

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