The IRIX CINE 45mm strikes a perfect balance between price and performance

I’ve first seen the IRIX cine 45mm at PPE last year, when tradeshows were still a thing.  On paper, it looked incredibly impressive for $1,200 so I was really hoping to take it for a spin. A few weeks ago, I got my hands on one and took it for a ride. TL;DR – The IRIX 45mm cine in an amazing deal for its price, with some nice features and a look that reminds me of the Zeiss CP.2 signature look.

My thoughts

The IRIX cine 45mm is what I think the first affordable lens to combine both aspects of a good cine lens: production features and cinematic look.

Creating a good cine lens is hard, its a balance between several qualities. First, the glass you need for a good “cinematic look” is both heavy and expensive. Then, you want cine features like gear, long focus pull, and lens-family similarity. It’s not easy. The IRIX 45mm cine is the first lens I know of to provide both qualities for an affordable price. (Well, affordable compared to a $16,000 Summicron).

Most “cheap” cine lenses provide one of those aspects – cine features or cine look.  Canon FD lenses, for example, have a great vintage cine look, but lack on the “production” side. The Samyang cines, on the other hand, have great features, but lack on the cine look.

The Irix has a nice and long focus pull, and the gear to attach it to any system. It also has a small form factor that is easy to handle. On the flip side, it has a very appealing bokeh and “look” which usually lack from cheaper lenses. I guess cramming all those features into the lens came with the price of weight – the lens comes in at 1.1 Kilos which you’ll feel if you are going handheld.

A clever move from Irix was to provide the lens with a nice selection of mounts from Sony, to Canon to MFT (sorry Nikonians). Most importantly, it has a PL flavor which means that it can go on traditional cine cameras.

There are two newish features on the lens, one that I like and one that I don’t. I love that the marks are all over the lens and are super-clear. They are mirrored on both sides, so you’ll have an easy time no matter how you mount your rig. And it comes in both inch and cm variants. I am not a big fan of the magnetic hood mount. It falls when bumped (common on a set), and you don’t want to pick up the lens from the hood.

The Specs

Pricing and availability

The IRIX 45mm is available now for $1,195.00 for Sony, Canon MFT an PL ($1,295.00) mounts.

P.S. Here is our interview from PPE 2019 with the Irix crew: