Compact – The Cine Lens

Canon Expands Compact-Servo Line with 70-200mm Tele-Zoom

April 20, 2017April 20, 2017by Matthew DuclosLeave a Comment

A favorite focal length of still photographers, and naturally of hybrid cinematographers bridging the gap between the worlds of still photography and motion picture, the new 70-200mm Compact-Servo is sure to be an ideal choice for the ultra-light documentary shooter. Canon’s 18-80mm Compact-Servo was announced about the same time last year, just ahead of NAB 2016. If you’re unfamiliar with the Compact-Servo line, imagine all the camera operators in the world using Canon’s L series still lenses. Now imagine half of them called Canon and complained that their L series lens doesn’t hold focus through the zoom and it doesn’t have integrated gears, and the focus isn’t reliable or repeatable… Then imagine Canon going to their engineers and explaining this – and that’s where we get the Compact-Servo zooms. Continue reading “Canon Expands Compact-Servo Line with 70-200mm Tele-Zoom” →

News

Zeiss Revives LWZ Line With New 21-100mm T2.9-3.9 LWZ.3 Zoom

September 1, 2016September 1, 2016by Matthew Duclos2 Comments

Just ahead of the European trade show trio, Zeiss has lifted the veil on their newest zoom lens project – The 21-100mm T2.9-3.9 LWZ.3. A Super 35 format, 4.7x cinema zoom lens weighing in at a mere four and a half pounds. We’ve got the scoop on Zeiss’ newest light weight zoom lens.
Continue reading “Zeiss Revives LWZ Line With New 21-100mm T2.9-3.9 LWZ.3 Zoom” →

Canon, News

Canon’s New 18-80mm T4.4 Compact Servo Zoom

April 13, 2016April 13, 2016by Matthew Duclos4 Comments

Yet another bombshell has landed in the NAB 2016 battleground. This time, it’s Canon who has struck with a brand new product in a whole new segment, perhaps only tapped otherwise by Sony – The 18-80mm T4.4 Compact Servo Zoom Lens which features a truly hybrid stills/motion design approach with some interesting cross-breed features. Continue reading “Canon’s New 18-80mm T4.4 Compact Servo Zoom” →

News

Zeiss Reveals 15-30mm T2.9 Wide-Angle CZ.2 Lens

September 6, 2013by Matthew DuclosLeave a Comment

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 >

News

Zeiss Drops Wide-Angle Zoom Hints

June 18, 2013by Matthew Duclos7 Comments

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” →

News, Review

Zeiss CP.2 & CZ.2 Video Showcase

February 13, 2013February 13, 2013by Matthew Duclos2 Comments

A lot of folks want to see actual footage instead of just numbers when it comes to the practical look and feel of a particular lens. And as usual, Zeiss delivered. Here is a small collection of short videos that feature different primes and even a few zooms that Zeiss currently offers. The first video is a “Sizzle Reel” with a lot of quick takes from different scenes using different lenses. Zeiss used a range of focal lengths including the 15mm T2.1, 21mm T2.9, 25mm T2.1, 28mm T2.1, 35mm T2.1, 50mm T2.1, 85mm T2.1, 100mm T2.1 CF, 135mm T2.1, and lastly the 70-200mm T2.9 and shot a nice panning shot and a static rotating shot with each focal length. Take a look and gather all you can from this collection of results.

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News

Zeiss Reveals New Lenses

August 30, 2012August 30, 2012by Matthew Duclos5 Comments

The following from a Zeiss press release dated 08.30.12.

Carl Zeiss will display the new cine zoom lens Compact Zoom CZ.2 28-80/T2.9 at the IBC in Amsterdam, the leading international trade show for film, radio and television, from September 7 to 11, 2012 in hall 11 booth G64. The new Compact Zoom CZ.2 28-80/T2.9 by Carl Zeiss is a cine zoom lens ideally suited to a wide variety of shooting situations. It is easy to handle, compact and versatile. It takes pictures in 4K resolution — in full format. This is the second Compact Zoom CZ.2 lens from Carl Zeiss, complementing the Compact Zoom CZ.2 70-200/T2.9 presented in April at the NAB Show 2012 in Las Vegas for the longer focal length range. For color rendition, contrast and other parameters such as great flare suppression, calibrated focus scales, consistent aperture over the zoom range, round iris the new CZ.2 family is closely aligned to one another, making these lenses ideal for attaining a con- sistent optical performance when changing lenses.

Continue reading “Zeiss Reveals New Lenses” →