After a grueling first day, staying up until 2am to go through photos and data, sorting out what info is public and what is confidential R&D after meeting with so many of our favorite lens manufacturers, we have day two in the can as well. Here’s some more photos from the show floor and some additional product info based on your comments and tweets. Enjoy!
We took a closer look at the Fujinon 20-120mm Cabrio which is not so subtly aimed directly at the Canon 17-120mm Cine-Servo. Fujinon says that the focal length is an ideal compromise that provided a constant T-stop through the entire zoom range and maintain excellent edge to edge image quality at all focal lengths. The lens is really well balanced which is important for those shooting ENG style on the shoulder. In terms of coverage, the 20-120mm Cabrio will be suitable for up to the 5KHD frame on a RED Dragon. Beyond that, you’ll start to see some vignetting. Some may consider this a drawback, but let’s not forget that we’re still looking at proper Super 35 format coverage here. So everything else, Sony, Blackmagic, Arri, etc., you’re clear for launch.
The Canon 18-80mm T4.0 that everyone has been asking about. It’s truly a hybrid lens that bridges stills, Cine, and ENG fairly seamlessly. Of course, there are some features that we don’t like, and others that Canon’s customers have been requesting for a long time. Let’s take a look. The focal length here is key. It essentially replaces a set of, albeit slow, primes – at a fraction of the size, weight, and cost. This lens is very clearly targeted at the owner-operator-one-man-crew type shooter where mobility and speed are crucial. What we don’t like about the lens: EF Mount only, fly-by-wire iris (no dumb adapters), gear pitch on zoom and iris not 32, no hard-stops in focus ring, front diameter non-standard. All of these are simply compromises that Canon made to make this lens lighter, faster, cheaper. I understand why they made these choices and choose to see the potential of this lens. The Duclos Spec Dev Team is already hard at work solving ALL of these issues for those shooters that want a slightly more cinematic lens with industry standard specs. Expect some exciting news on this front in the near future.
We have one more day of show floor exploration. We’ll be checking out a couple more products at the request of followers. Let us know what you think about the new Canon zoom. What features do you like, what do you dislike? Is there a product you want us to check out on the show floor at NAB 2016? Drop a comment below!
Do you think Canon will respond to Fuji by reducing the price of the 17-120? Have done my own comparison shopping @NAB between it & the 20-120…don’t see how anyone buys the Canon when the Fuji is $18K.
I agree. Not sure what Canon has planned there, but you’re absolutely right. I can sacrifice a couple of millimeters for the increase in quality at almost half the price, plus better balance, weight distribution. Canon does have some attractive rebates going on with the 17-120mm, but not THAT attractive.