New Zeiss Cine style dslr lens for EF mount
 

Zeiss Unveils New DSLR Cine Lens : Photocine News

A very interesting move from Zeiss. The compact primes that were adapted from SLR lenses, return to the EF mount with cine ergonomics and PL mount interchangeability.
As usual, a NAB announcement is due.

Are these going to be hugely expensive?
-C

Looks like their gonna be more than L equivalents

"estimated list price for a set of 6 lenses is under $20K"

Strictly speaking there are no 'L' equivalents for these lenses. Whilst the glass comes from Zeiss stills lenses, they've been totally rehoused with decent mechanics, focus gears and markings to provide a much more robust and ergonomic solution. At around $3.5K a pop they're affordable in cine terms, though I think come NAB there will be better options for the would-be cine shooter.

I've been shooting a lot with the ZE series and consider them the best option for the Canon DSLR's at the moment--these will improve things by offering a mechanical iris (14 blade vs the 9 blade of the ZE's) and longer throw on the barrel plus cine markings, critical for traditional follow focus work. The shared mount between lens and body should help prevent the torquing we've been seeing when switching rack directions on the lens.

The cost seems reasonable, if we consider that Prime Lenses are generally destined for the rental market. Together with the Zeiss SLR series (ZE) we now have a range of options. Thanks Zeiss... now if only Canon would give us 25p :)

These lenses are going to be great especially for traditional cinema type work, but it's worth remembering that the very long focus throw on cine lenses is not well suited to run and gun shooting where a regular ZE or ZF lens will be easier to focus quickly and handhold. The ZE lens represents the perfect balance for focus throw for my running around, most Canon's are too short throw (although the new 24mm TS-E lens has wonderful MF).

The main advantage to me would be the better bokeh from the greater number of aperture blades, the manual aperture is again useful for traditional cine use but I assume you will lose the ability to control aperture from a remote computer application so its swings and roundabouts for me personally.

Dan

What else would you possibly use Prime cine lenses for?

:)

K

Anything you can expand on? We're currently renting a bunch of lenses trying to figure out what we want to buy. We've settled on L series zooms for run-and-gun stuff whilst traipsing over Africa/Haiti/Wherever we end up, but we're still shopping for some primes for narrative stuff. My boss doesn't seem to have a problem with ponying up for L's, but if these are double that he might balk a little...

Note that Zeiss ZE lenses have the same glass as the Compact Primes, but they're in the $700 - $1,700 range. They aren't as fast as L lenses, and they don't have the 300 degree throw and cine markings, but they do have hard focus stops and good focus throw distances.

One weird thing about Zeiss lenses is that their apertures are all over the place. Apparently, the Zeiss engineers would consider what people would be willing pay (and to lug around), and they'd design the speeds around that.

I saw a video with a Zeiss rep who spoke of making a matched set of fast cine lenses in the future. In other words, they would all have the same f-stop wide open. The wide and long lenses could get very pricey, but it would be THE killer kit for narrative.

We've got the 50mm 1.2L in right now and I think my boss is in love. It's an amazing lens - but before we put out that kind of money I want to make sure it's the best bang for the buck and is best suited for video work.

I think a 50mm and an 85mm would be a good start for our primes - so maybe the ZE line will work, but the cine would certainly be geared more towards what we want to do with...

I've been shooting with the 1DMKIV exclusively with the ZE's and I wouldn't want to use anything else that's out there right now--that is, until the Compact Primes II emerge (and the word I've heard from Vincent L. is that they are fantastic).

I spec'd my employer's system with the 21, 35, and 85mm ZE lenses. They arrive tomorrow. I can't wait! The kit will also feature a RedRock rig and follow focus, a Z-Finder, a Vinten 3AS, and a Marshall HDMI monitor. I'm really looking forward to taking the kit out for a spin!

Any comments on Breathing for those Zeiss lens ?