Zeiss is adding another four prime lenses to its popular cinema line. From now on, Supreme Prime Radiance Lenses will be available in 18mm, 40mm, 65m, and 135mm focal lengths, but there are also some changes and improvements aimed at making your footage even better.
Nitecore soon to produce camera lenses, announces five full-frame cinema primes
Nitecore is a Chinese company producing rechargeable flashlights and third-party batteries (including smart batteries no one asked for). But now it’s about to make camera lenses as well. The company has just announced five full-frame cinema primes ranging from 25mm to 100mm. They will be compatible with a range of mounts, and the company promises “optimum optical quality.”
Irix teases new cinema lenses, starting with a 150mm T3.0
It looks like Swiss lens manufacturer, Irix is getting into the world of cinema lenses. A new teaser posted to the Irix Facebook page shows a 150mm T3.0 lens in a cinema housing. Obviously, this is just a rehoused version of the Irix 150mm f/2.8 Macro, but with the features we expect from cinema lenses. Features like a clickless aperture and a very long focus throw with a geared ring for follow focus units.
Venus Optics enters the world of cine lenses with 25-100mm t/2.9 and 12mm t/2.9
Venus Optics has been known for a variety of unique and weirdly cool Laowa lenses. The company is now entering the world of cine lenses and it has announced a 25-100mm t/2.9 and a 12mm t/2.9 lens for EF and PL mounts. Venus Optics will display the lenses at this year’s NAB, which will be their US debut.
Canon launches its first series of seven PL-mount prime cinema lenses
Canon has launched its first set of cinema prime lenses made for PL-Mount cameras. The series is named Sumire Prime, and it consists of seven prime lenses covering focal lengths from 14mm all the way to 135mm.
Samyang to release low cost 2x anamorphic cinema lens
Anamorphic lenses have been the domain of high-end cinema for a long time. They were a way to get around the limitations of relatively narrow film to shoot widescreen (and wider) footage. As digital sensors have typically taken on the traditional 4:3 and 3:2 aspect ratios of film (yes, there are a few 16:9 ones out there), anamorphic lenses have become favourites with digital, too.
But anamorphic lenses are expensive. Crazy expensive. It seems, though, that more affordable solutions may be on the horizon from Samyang/Rokinon. Backed by the Korean Film Council, it seems that Samyang already has at least a working prototype, according to these photos.
Zeiss announces ‘Supreme Prime’ lenses for full frame cameras
Zeiss has announced their newest set of cinema lenses for advertising and movie production. Although these lenses are smaller than their counterparts, the German company promises that they will offer top of the line results for filmmakers.
NiSi jumps into the lens market with five new F3 Prime Cinema lenses
Well, this is a bit of a surprise. Popular filter maker NiSi is getting into the cinema lens market. Kicking off the launch, they’re introducing five brand new cinema lenses ranging from 25mm to 100mm (with a possible sixth 18mm lens on the way). The lenses will be available in Canon EF, Sony E and PL mounts and offer a nice variety of focal ranges right off the bat.
Bargain Veydra cinema lenses win out over Zeiss CP.2s in new tests
It’s not often that you see a small company challenge the likes of Zeiss. It’s even less common to see one actually beat them in comparative tests. But that’s exactly what Veydra have done in some new tests from the folks at LensRentals. For those unfamiliar with Veydra, it was only just over three years ago that they were seeking funding on Kickstarter for their new line of compact Micro Four Thirds cinema lenses.
The prices for Kickstarter backers were very low considering the quality people hoped for. Even now that they’re on general sale, they’re still substantially cheaper than Zeiss CP.2 series lenses. Now also available in Sony APS-C E Mount, these small, less expensive lenses seem to be the way for many video shooters to go.
When and why you should invest in a cinema lens for shooting video
Cinema lenses are usually much more expensive than the corresponding still lensed. So, you may have second thoughts about whether you should or shouldn’t invest in them for your video project. After all, you can even take a cinematic video with your phone, right? Caleb Wojcik and Greg Farnum discuss the differences and give you some of the reasons why you should buy (or rent) a cinema lens after all.
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