a blog by Matthew Duclos
Laowa is making a surprisingly aggressive move into the broadcast and live-production market with its new Ultima Zoom Series, a lineup of long-range parfocal cinema zooms built for sports, wildlife, and live-event production. Rather than chasing the crowded compact cine zoom market, Laowa appears to be leaning hard into extreme zoom ranges and operational flexibility instead.
Continue reading “Laowa Refocuses on Long-Range Cine Broadcast Zooms”
Zeiss has officially introduced the new Horizon Anamorphic lenses, a full-frame 2x anamorphic lens system that represents one of the company’s most ambitious cinema lens releases in years. While the anamorphic market has spent much of the past decade revisiting vintage imperfections and aggressively stylized optical character, Horizon appears focused on something different: intelligent integration, workflow efficiency, and adaptable imaging systems built for the realities of modern production.
Continue reading “Zeiss Introduces Horizon Anamorphic – Intelligent Anamorphics”
Zeiss has introduced Panoptes 65, a new family of cinema prime lenses designed specifically for 65mm format digital cinematography. The set launches with ten focal lengths ranging from 25mm to 180mm, all at T2.2, with a 59.9mm image circle intended to cover cameras such as the ARRI Alexa 265, Blackmagic Design URSA Cine 17K 65, and Fujifilm GFX ETERNA 55.
Continue reading “ZEISS Introduces Panoptes 65 – Large Format Primes”
Thypoch has announced the Simera-C 16mm T1.9, a new full-frame ultra-wide cinema prime that expands the company’s compact Simera-C lineup to six focal lengths: 16mm, 21mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 75mm.
Continue reading “Thypoch Adds 16mm T1.9 to Simera-C Line”
TLS has introduced their new Helix65 75mm T3.8 Macro 1:1, a dedicated large-format macro cinema lens designed to integrate with the company’s Vega65 prime series while offering true 1:1 reproduction and a compact mechanical design.
Continue reading “TLS Introduces Helix65 – a 75mm 1:1 Macro Prime”
Cooke Optics has officially announced the new AP3 anamorphic prime lenses, bringing the company’s anamorphic design philosophy into a significantly more compact and accessible format aimed squarely at modern mirrorless cinema workflows. Built around a lightweight interchangeable mount platform and clearly inspired by the success of the SP3 spherical primes, the AP3 series marks an important expansion for Cooke as the company continues moving beyond exclusively ultra-premium cinema optics.
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The Obscura37 brings the oldest form of imaging to modern cinema cameras by integrating a laser-etched pinhole into a rugged PL mount body cap. While it offers a unique, infinite depth-of-field aesthetic, its utility in a professional environment is defined by its extreme simplicity and high light requirements.
Continue reading “Tribe7 Launches Obscura37 – A Pinhole Lens!”
Leitz Cine has introduced a Fujifilm G mount option for its Hektor prime lenses, opening the door to compatibility with Fujifilm’s GFX platform, including cameras like the Fujifilm GFX100 II and the Fujifilm GFX Eterna 55.
Continue reading “Leitz Cine Adds Fujifilm G Mount Option for Hektor Primes”
True Lens Services has announced a new rehousing of the vintage Angénieux 45–90mm, translating a late-1960s optical design into a mechanically modern cinema tool.
Continue reading “Rehousing a Classic: TLS Modernizes the Angenieux 45–90mm”
The legend of the Angenieux 12x zoom is one that most cinematographers know by heart. Since the original 24-290mm T2.8 first landed on sets, it has been the gold standard for long-range cinema zooms. With the introduction of the Optimo Ultra 12x 65, Angenieux is expanding that legacy to the medium format market in more than one sense of the word with a truly impressive bit of optical engineering that packs a massive punch.
Continue reading “Angenieux Expands Line with Optimo Ultra 12x 65”
Framing charts aren’t particularly exciting, but they’re one of the more useful tools you can have on hand during camera prep. At Duclos Lenses, we produce high-quality, purpose-built focus, distortion, and framing charts for professional use. They’re designed, printed, and finished in-house to be consistent and reliable across repeated tests. But that process takes time and attention to detail. There’s design, printing, curing, prep, etc. …none of it is instant. And occasionally, a project comes up where you just need something now. Duclos FrameGen started as a way to fill that gap.
Continue reading “Duclos FrameGen – a Simple Framing Chart Generator”
Canon has officially introduced the Cine-Servo 40-1200mm T5.0-10.8, a new ultra-telephoto zoom that expands the company’s long-running Cine-Servo philosophy in a meaningful and ambitious direction. Framed by Canon as “Your Vision, Extended” and promoted as offering an “extraordinary zoom range in a compact footprint,” the lens is clearly designed to capture attention while reinforcing Canon’s position in the hybrid broadcast and cinema space.
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There’s something inherently bold about launching a new lens series with a 16mm, especially when that lens is designed to cover a 65mm image circle. NiSi’s latest announcement, the 65 PRIME 16mm T2.9, isn’t just another ultra-wide. It’s a statement of intent. And having seen an early prototype firsthand, it’s one that carries more weight than you might expect.
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There’s a fine line between innovation and indulgence in the world of cinema optics. Every so often, a new “look” emerges – not from the meticulous engineering of glass and coatings, but from the collective mood of an industry chasing something intangible. Character. Texture. Imperfection. Or, as it’s now being called – vibe. This year, Duclos Lenses leans into that ambiguity with the introduction of a groundbreaking new product.
Continue reading “Duclos Lenses Develops New Synthetic Coating Technology”
DZOFilm’s new Arcana series enters an increasingly crowded anamorphic market with a familiar promise: deliver cinematic character without the traditional tradeoffs. Compact, lightweight, and relatively affordable, Arcana positions itself as a practical alternative to larger, more demanding anamorphic systems. The real question is not what it claims to do, but how much of the anamorphic experience it actually preserves in the process.
Continue reading “DZOFilm Introduces Arcana Primes – A Hybrid Approach to Anamorphic”