The Veydra Mini Primes were widely debated when they launched their Kickstarter campaign. Cautiously optimistic cinematographers who had been waiting for a pro-level Micro 4/3 cinema lens contributed, and exceeded the modest Kickstarter goal of $50,000 with a whopping $272,000 final pledge. After the first batches of the Mini Primes began arriving at the door steps of generous early adopters, those that didn’t contribute to the Kickstarter were… well, kicking themselves. The Veydra Mini Primes have continued to be the most professional, cinematic choice for Micro 4/3 motion picture projects. So now what…? Clearly Veydra is no one-trick-pony as they’ve just announced several new projects ahead of NAB 2015: Continue reading “With Success of Mini Primes, Veydra Lays Out Plans”
Tag: angle
Go Wide With Arri’s 9.5-18mm T2.9 UWZ
UWZ… It’s pretty simple really. Ultra Wide Zoom. It’s not much of a zoom really with a mere 1.8x zoom range but who cares when you’re at 9.5mm! Arri’s newest zoom lens is something of a technical achievement and an answer to many cinematographers’ pleas for a high quality wide angle zoom lens option. While it’s range isn’t much to brag about, being just under 2x, it provides enough flexibility for a cinematographer to replace two or three prime lenses without sacrificing overall image quality. The real benefit of this lens is it’s rectilinear image and stunning quality across the entire image – all 33.7mm⌀ of it. Continue reading “Go Wide With Arri’s 9.5-18mm T2.9 UWZ”
Zeiss Reveals 15-30mm T2.9 Wide-Angle CZ.2 Lens
Just ahead of IBC, Zeiss revealed their expected wide-angle Compact Zoom lens which fills out the CZ.2 line of lenses, which now offers coverage from 15mm all the way to 200mm with just three zoom lenses. Zeiss goes on to detail a few features of the new zoom such as it’s compatibility with the other CZ.2 zooms in terms of color matching and performance, as well as it’s 35mm full frame coverage and interchangeable mount system. The speed of the zoom is a T2.9 which matches the other two zoom in the set, the 28-80mm and 70-200mm. Zeiss mentions a release date of April 2014 for this lens. Let’s hope they can keep up with demand. The 28-80mm which was supposed to begin shipping in June 2013 has yet to make a public appearance. Check out the complete article from Zeiss which also provides some details of their upcoming Master Anamorphic 100mm. Original Article >
Zeiss Drops Wide-Angle Zoom Hints
Compact Zooms
Zeiss discontinued their 15.5-45mm Lightweight Zoom (LWZ.2) about three months ago. This LWZ was a great range and a decent speed for hand-held and Steadicam work but it didn’t match up well with the design or build of the new Compact Zooms (CZ.2). Zeiss released the 70-200mm T2.9 Compact Zoom a few months back and has been slow to deliver since it’s release. The lens is an excellent tele-zoom that will be comfortable for shooters coming from DSLRs who loved their Canon, Nikon, Tamron, Sigma, Sony… Take your pick – just about every lens manufacturer makes a 70-200mm Tele-zoom. The 70-200mm performs very well at all focal lengths (review coming soon) which has left it in very high demand. Continue reading “Zeiss Drops Wide-Angle Zoom Hints”
Fujinon Fills Out Cabrio Family
Fujinon has been making some progress with their Cabrio line of professional lenses. With some very steep competition from Canon and Zeiss in terms of sub-$50k cinema zoom lenses, Fujinon’s Cabrio series are a great option with the included zoom rocker and relatively light-weight. The Cabrio line started with the 19-90mm T2.9 and was joined by the 85-300mm T2.9 shortly thereafter. With a large number of users who are looking for that slightly wider field of view thanks to the 5D and the larger sensor in full-frame cameras, Fujinon announced the 14-28mm T2.9 Cabrio during NAB 2013.
15mm Zeiss Fatty
Just received our first shipment of little fattys from Zeiss. More officially known as the Zeiss ZF.2 Distagon 15mm f/2.8. Those who pre-ordered should be receiving theirs shortly. I’ll be doing some extensive testing, likely comparing it to our 11-16mm as well as other wide angle lenses.