NAB has officially begun. It looks like just about every lens manufacturer couldn’t keep it in their pants and dropped their news ahead of the actual show, with a few exceptions. This post is a general roundup up the news announced as of Sunday night before the show. We’ll be posting a daily wrap-up with a ton of photos and additional news from the show floor so be sure to subscribe and check back soon. If there’s anything we missed that you found interesting, send a tweet to @MQDuclos and we’ll make him run across the expo to check it out ;-). Let’s get to it! We’ve broken the product announcements up by manufacturer in alphabetical order.
Angenieux: 44-440mm Anamorphic Zoom
Announced several weeks ago, the newest addition to the Angenieux anamorphic lineup is a 44-440mm T4.5, based on the 25-250mm Optimo Style zoom but with some really well implemented anamorphic elements. We had a chance to test out this new lens and we were quite impressed with it’s performance. You can read all the details on our post here >
Arri: Two New Master Anamorphic Primes
Arri added a brand new 28mm and 180mm Master Anamorphic to their already impressive line of superb anamorphic prime lenses. These two new lenses will also be available with the Master Anamorphic Flare Sets.
Canon: 18-80mm T4 Compact-Servo Zoom
Here’s one that we didn’t expect to drop until NAB was underway… Canon officially announced their brand new 18-80mm Compact-Servo, breaking into a whole new category of lenses that really bridges the gap between stills and cinema. With features sure to please a wide range of productions, the new Compact-Servo 18-80mm is priced to sell! Check out all the details on our post here >
Cooke: 35-140mm and 45-405mm Anamorphic/i Zoom
Cooke had teased an anamorphic zoom at NAB last year, and given a bit of insight later that year at Cine Gear Expo. Well now they have an official product as well as a follow-up. Cooke will be showing the new 35-140mm T3.1 Anamorphic zoom (shipping Summer 2016) at their booth. They’ve also announced the next lens to follow that, a 45-405mm T4.5 Anamorphic zoom (shipping 2017). Read Cooke’s press release here >
CW Sonderoptic: Summicron-C 40mm and 15mm T2.0 and Macro-Lux
Leica, CW Sonderoptic listened to their customers and announced two new Summicron-C prime lenses ahead of NAB – a Summicron-C 15mm T2.0 and a Summicron-C 40mm T2.0. Perfectly rounding out the Summicron-C line, these two new primes were announced alongside CW Sonderoptic’s new MacroLux, a +1 diopter for decreasing minimum focus. You can read more about the primes here > and more about the MacroLux here >
Duclos Lenses: Brand New 2X Extender, 15mm and 20mm Macro Tubes
With a brand new optical design, the Duclos 2X Extender is poised to be the absolute best 2x tele-extender on the market. Duclos Lenses announced their new extender shortly after announcing their new PL Macro Extension Tube which is now available in 20mm length and 15mm length. There may be a few additional product announcements from Duclos Lenses (depending on how well some of my NAB meetings go…) Stay tuned.
Fujinon: 20-120mm T3.5 Cabrio Zoom
Quite possibly the most well received pre-NAB announcement so far is the new Fujinon 20-120mm XK Cabrio. The combination of useful focal length, attractive price, and expected image quality made this a welcome announcement from Fujinon who says they want this new zoom lens to be the “go-to” for cinematographers. There are quite a few interesting details and specs about the newest member of the Cabrio family. Read more about the new Fujinon zoom here >
PS Technik: 35-70mm Cinemascope Zoom
Another anamorphic zoom to add to the mix, this one coming from lens specialty shop P+S Technik. A 1.5x anamorphic 35-70mm T3.2. Some of the biggest points of this new lens are the Vista Vision coverage, front anamorphic design, and minimal breathing. We’ll be sure to visit P+S Technik during NAB to see if there’s any additional information we can gather.
Rokinon: Check back tomorrow!
TLS Optics: Check back tomorrow!
Schneider: Check back tomorrow!
SLR Magic: Check back tomorrow!
Veydra: 19mm T2.2 Mini Prime With APS-C Coverage
The Veydra Mini Primes have positioned themselves as the highest quality native Micro 4/3 cinema lenses available. Veydra recently released the Mini Primes in Sony E Mount for Super 35 format cameras such as the FS5, A6300, FS7, etc. But you were limited to the 25, 35, 50, and 85mm – the 12mm and 16mm did not cover Super 35 format. This left customers asking for a wider lens than the 25mm. Duclos Lenses will begin taking orders for the 19mm Summer, 2016.
Voigtlander: Check back tomorrow!
Zeiss: New Batis 18mm f/2.8 Full Frame Prime Lens
The Zeiss Batis line of prime lenses have a few features that set them apart from their brothers: Full-Frame Coverage, Sony E Mount, OLED Display, Weather-Proofing, and Ultra-Lightweight Composite Body. Zeiss has added an impressive 18mm f/2.8 lens with all the same features. To me, this lens just screams DRONE! It’s perfect for this type of application given it’s ultra lightweight, compact, high-quality design. Along with the Batis 25mm f/2 and the Batis 85mm f/1.8, the new 18mm f/2.8 will be available from Duclos Lenses with their unrivaled Cine-Mod which will provide a seamless 32-pitch focus gear for use with a follow focus or remote motor.
That’s all we have so far. Tomorrow is the first official day of NAB and we’ll be running all over the show floor, meeting with all the major lens manufacturers, snapping photos, and posting additional details for each day of the show. This year is a bit different than previous years since pretty much all of the new products have already been announced. For this reason, the next few days are going to be a closer look at the show floor and some more hands-on experiences from TheCineLens.com team. If there’s something specific you’d like us to check out during the show, something lens related, drop us a comment below and we’ll do our best to look into it for you. See you tomorrow!
Geez, is Sigma ever going to make a Cine Art line? It’s like they’re throwing money away.