Cine Lenses: Zooms

Comments: This is a fantastic all around focal length for drama and incredibly sharp and versatile – I would put this lens up against any other cine zoom lens out there.

Description (from Canon):  The EF Cinema Zoom lens CN-E14.5-60mm T2.6 L S (EF mount) provides industry-leading wide angle coverage in a 4.1x zoom lens for the Super 35mm format, and is engineered to offer unrivaled optical performance for demanding high-end productions, meeting and exceeding industry standards.

Comments: This is basically the lens above but a more than half the price and significantly smaller, lighter, and COMPACT.   This is probably one of the best compact zooms you can buy today for Steadicam and other uses where you want to keep your camera package compact.   Excellent for handheld work.

Description (from Canon):  Cinema Zoom Lens CN-E15.5-47mm T2.8 L SP (PL mount) rivals best-in-class zoom magnification and wide-angle focal length range for the Super 35mm format, and is engineered to offer superb 4K optical performance for demanding high-end productions, meeting and exceeding industry standards. Intended for the working professional, the CN-E15.5-47mm T2.8 L SP lens has markings on angled surfaces and on both sides of the barrel, making it easy to read settings from behind, or from either side of the camera. Focus markings can even be switched from standard labeling to metric, depending on production need. This lens is equipped with control rings designed to maintain the proper amount of resistance with consistent operating torque, and a covered flange-back adjustment mechanism to meet numerous of production application needs.

Comments: This is basically the lens below but a more than half the price and significantly smaller, lighter, and COMPACT.   This is probably one of the best compact zooms you can buy today for Steadicam and other uses where you want to keep your camera package compact.   Excellent for handheld work.

Description (from Canon):  Cinema Zoom Lens CN-E30-105mm T2.8 L SP (PL mount) rivals best-in-class zoom magnification and mid-range focal lengths for the Super 35mm format, and is engineered to offer superb 4K optical performance for demanding high-end productions, meeting and exceeding industry standards. Intended for the working professional, the CN-E30-105mm T2.8 L SP lens has markings on angled surfaces on and both sides of the barrel, making it easy to read settings from behind, or from either side of the camera. Focus markings can even be switched from standard labeling to metric, depending on production need. This lens is equipped with control rings designed to maintain the proper amount of resistance with consistent operating torque, and a covered flange-back adjustment mechanism to meet numerous of production application needs.

Comments: This is my dream zoom lens – you could literally travel the world with this one lens and 2-3 primes and be set to cover just about anything:  drama, nature, sports – you name it.   It’s also significantly lighter and smaller than its main competition:  The Angenieux 24~290 Optimo and I’d love to do a side by side test of the two.

Description (from Canon):  Cinema Zoom Lens CN-E30-300mm T2.95-3.7 L S (EF mount) rivals best-in-class zoom magnification and telephoto focal length for the Super 35mm format, and is engineered to offer unrivaled optical performance for demanding high-end productions, meeting and exceeding industry standards.You can see the 30-300mm attached to the C300 throughout the video below.

Comments:   This is one of the most versatile (and therefore popular) wide-angle zooms out there that almost every DP/Rental house owns.  Take it to the next level and get this model that’s been re-housed for cine purposed by Duclos.

Description (from Duclos): Duclos Lenses has developed a conversion process for the Tokina 11-16mm ultra-wide angle lens. Most obvious is the PL mount that interfaces with any PL mount camera including the RED Epic. More subtle yet most important is the activated manual aperture control. Lubricated, geared, and marked, the new aperture ring allows precise control for the user. The outer shell of the lens has been replaced with black anodized aluminum. Internal components are refined and reenforced. The final product is a small, lightweight lens perfectly capable of holding it’s own against the likes of other motion picture optics. Now also available in Canon Eos and Nikon F mount.

Comments: While this lens will only work on a Canon 7D (it will vignette on the 1D MKIV and not cover the 5DMKII’s full sensor) I have come to love it for documentary / run and gun shooting where you don’t have the time to change lenses.   I shot an entire television pilot over a 2 week period and never changed this lens a single time off of my 7D – and that says it all.  Unlike a Canon EF Zoom lens – this lens is clearly marked on the focusing ring and accurate.  Make sure to check your flange distance with your camera to make sure the focus stays constant as you zoom in and out. While most won’t be able to afford this lens as part of their standard kit – it’s a wonderful rental item for almost any production.  This is one of the few EF lens mount zooms out there today (08/2010) and the optical quality if of course superb.

Description (from Zeiss): The new Lightweight Zoom LWZ.2 is the first on the market to combine outstanding optical image quality with an interchangeable mount. The LWZ.2 is a cine lens designed for use with HDSLR as well as traditional cine cameras. The interchangeable mount guarantees high flexibility for present and future use in any situation and for a wide range of camera platforms. You can see me talk about the the CP.2 lenses in the video below and specifically about this zoom at the 4:12 mark:   

Comments: A GORGEOUS Zoom lens from Zeiss specifically adapted for cinema use.

Description (from Zeiss): The Zeiss 28-80mm T2.9 Compact Zoom CZ.2 Lens with PL Mount is a standard zoom lens that is optimized for motion picture production. The lens offers full-frame (36 x 24 mm) coverage and exhibits no focus shift over the zoom range. The cine-style housing features calibrated focus scales and industry standard gearing for focus, iris and zoom. At 7.72" long and with a weight of 5.5 lb, the 28-80mm is relatively compact and lightweight, which makes it ideal for handheld and Steadicam applications.

Comments: Likely the sharpest 70~200mm in the world – neck and neck with the Canon 70~200mm 2.8 II but adapted for cine use in terms of focus throw.

Description (from Zeiss): The Zeiss 70-200mm T2.9 Compact Zoom CZ.2 Lens with PL Mount is a telephoto zoom lens that is optimized for motion picture production. The lens offers full-frame (36 x 24 mm) coverage and exhibits no focus shift over the zoom range. The cine-style housing features calibrated focus scales and industry standard gearing for focus, iris and zoom. At 9.84" long and with a weight of 6.2 lb, the 70-200mm is relatively compact and lightweight, which makes it ideal for handheld and Steadicam applications.