NAB. The stage on which brands throughout the industry showcase their newest products shined extra bright this year. However, as a shop specializing in optics, we had our focus on the new lenses out on the floor. Enter the new DZOFilm Arles Primes VV cine primes.
Arles Overview
The Arles currently have 5 focal lengths in their set. They are a 25mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm, and 100mm all with an aperture of T1.4. That should be enough to get you up and running on most sets, but we look forward to see if they will release additional focal lengths at a later date.
Similarly to the Vespid primes, the Arles are also suited to covering Vista Vision sensors. Moreover, the Arles actually has a slightly larger image from what we were told by DZO. Expect updates when we get our hands at full production samples. But what this means is that you get a lens capable of working for Large-Format cinematography in a relatively compact package.
The Arles In-Use
The DZO team stopped by to give us a private look and opportunity to handle them*. The Arles are compact but still have a decent amount of heft to them. They are significantly larger than the Vespid primes, but not as large as something like the Tokina Vista Primes. We will report back when official specs are released soon. That is to say, they would make great pairings with shoulder or Steadicam rigs. We expect to see them used very heavily on gimbals.
At first glance through a camera, we immediately took notice of details such as the smoothness in bokeh. While we did not scrutinize the image characteristics too heavily on this first look, it does seem that this series is going to appeal to many cinematographers. The build quality is also something to note. With a sturdy metal housing, smooth gear rotation, and unified features like a 95mm front diameter the Arles is positioned to be a purpose built workhorse series of lenses.
(*Disclaimer: these are just sample units and we did not therefore conduct thorough tests as we do our inventory of other lenses.)
Availability
There is currently no official date of release, but continue to check in with us through our website and our social media for the latest news.
In the meantime, explore the other DZOFilm lenses we have available for sale at our shop. If you are in the area feel free to schedule some time to come in to demo our selection by contacting us directly.