Zeiss has carried on the tradition of the Super Speed family with its latest additions to the CP.2 line. These new T1.5 lenses come in 35mm, 50mm and 85mm focal lengths and share many of the same features as the other CP.2s, including a 114mm front diameter and interchangeable mounts. Additionally, the focus barrel has an angled finish, so focus marks can be easily read by the operator. These lenses also cover full sensor, meaning that one set of lenses works for everything from an HDSLR to a high-end digital cinema camera. 

For more details on the new Zeiss CP.2 Super Speeds, watch my video above. If you’re interested in learning even more about the ins-and-outs of Zeiss lenses (and others), Mitch will be traveling to the LA area to present a special Secrets of Optics class on March 25th.

Today, Carl Zeiss announced a new Compact Zoom and Compact Prime. The Compact Zoom CZ.2 28-80 T2.9 is less than eight inches long and weighs just 5.5lbs. Along with the previously announced companion lenses, the Compact Zoom CZ.2 70-200 T2.9 and the Lightweight Zoom LWZ.2 15.5-45, Zeiss will offer handholdable zooms ranging from 15.5mm-200mm. The Compact Prime CP.2 25mm T2.1 replaces the CP.2 25mm T2.9, and with the introduction of this lens, all Compact Primes in the 25mm-135mm range will have an aperture of T2.1.

…continue reading Zeiss Introduces Two New Compact Cine Lenses

Zeiss has expanded their CP.2 line with a 15mm T2.9 rectilinear lens with full frame coverage, as well as a 135mm T2.1 portraiture lens. They have also released the first lenses in their super speed series – 35mm, 50mm and 85mm, all of which feature an aperture of T1.5. All of these new lenses have interchangeable lens mounts in E, F, EF, PL and MTF. Watch my video to learn more about the latest models in the popular CP.2 line.

Zeiss today announced their new Compact Zoom, a 70-200 T2.9. The Compact Zoom covers not only Super-35, but in fact the full frame 36mmx24mm format, just like the Compact Primes. Also like the CP.2s, the 70-200 has interchangeable lens mounts, switching between PL, Nikon, Canon Micro 4/3 and Sony E mounts. The Compact Zoom weighs just 6.2 pounds and will be available later this year for less than $20,000.

Zeiss is adding to their popular Compact Prime range with the announcement of the CP.2 15mm T2.9 and 135mm T2.1 lenses. Previously, the widest lens in the CP.2 collection was the 18mm T3.6, so the addition of a faster, rectilinear 15mm is very exciting. Unlike the 18mm CP.2, the 15mm CP.2 will cover the full frame sensor (36mm x 24mm) of an HDSLR with no edge distortion or vignetting.

…continue reading Zeiss Announces Two New CP.2 Lenses

Zeiss has been the industry leader in motion picture optics for decades. The renowned quality of Zeiss optics married with the lower cost of the lightweight and rugged CP.2 Compact Primes led to a product that was a runaway success. Now the company has let its intentions be known for future cinema products. Coming soon will be additional focal lengths for the Compact Primes (there are currently nine sizes available), as well as a set of Compact Zooms to complement the CP.2s. Zeiss will also re-enter the anamorphic lens arena, manufacturing the only commercially available set of 2x anamorphic primes in the industry.

Our friend Jon Fauer talked to Zeiss’ Christian Bannert and Michael Schielen recently. Read the article in the latest edition of Film & Digital Times.

In this exclusive 3-part online series, indie filmmaker Noah Kadner takes a first look at Panasonic’s revolutionary AF100, the first prosumer camera to combine the interchangeable lenses of a digital SLR still camera with the ergonomics of a camcorder.

Part 1 – Introduction and Pre-Production

If you’re an indie filmmaker type like me, you’ve probably long been chasing the ‘film look’ for your projects. Unless you happen to be independently wealthy, this is a nebulous and elusive way to describe the image-quality divide between most indie projects shot on video cameras and the 35mm-originated films created with Hollywood-sized budgets. Putting aside production design, actors, make-up visual effects and other important creative qualities of big-budget features, there are other purely technical differences that contribute to this gap.

…continue reading Noah Kadner’s First Look at the AF100: Part 1