Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master zoom lens has just been announced. It offers an ultra-wide focal length with constant aperture while covering full-frame sensors. Weighing 847 grams (29.88 oz), the lens features minimum focusing distance of 28cm (11″), 9-blade aperture, and rear filter holder system for sheet-type NDs. The lens is available for around €3,300. Take a look at our short video with test footage. Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM Lens. Image credit: cinema5D Sony just announced a new full-frame G Master lens that aims to extend its range of constant aperture f/2.8 zoom lenses on the wide end. The Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM complements the previous 24-70mm and 70-200mm f/2.8 GM lenses and adds the ultra-wide-angle point of view. Let’s take a short look at the lens. Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM According to Sony, this lens (full model name – SEL1224GM) is the world’s widest full-frame zoom lens with a constant f/2.8 aperture. With the addition of this lens, Sony’s G Master f/2.8 series of lenses now cover focal lengths from 12mm to 200mm. The FE 12-24mm F2.8 GM lens weighs 847 grams (29.88 oz). Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM Lens. Image credit: cinema5D When it comes to the optical design of the lens, it features three XA (extreme aspherical) elements, an additional aspherical element, and three ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass elements plus two Super ED glass elements. As Sony claims, this design enables the lens to minimise astigmatism, chromatic aberration, and colour fringing and deliver corner-to-corner clarity. As Sony claims, the used Nano AR Coating II should suppress internal reflections and minimize flare and ghosting. The focusing mechanism consists of two independently controllable groups. The minimum focusing distance is 28cm (11″). It is an internal focus lens so its length remains constant when focusing and its centre of gravity varies only a little. Sony says they worked on good autofocus performance and there are four XD (extreme dynamic) linear motors in the lens. Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM Lens. Image credit: cinema5D The 9-blade aperture of the lens along with XA elements should, according to Sony, achieve a pleasing bokeh. Other than zooming and focusing rings, Sony also included a customizable focus hold button and focus-mode switch on the lens. The lens is dust and moisture resistant and the front lens element features a fluorine coating that repels water, oil, and other contaminants and it is easier to wipe off any fingerprints from the lens surface. Because of the ultra-wide FOV of the lens, it is not possible to mount a front circular filter. Sony equipped the lens with a rear filter holder that accommodates standard sheet-type ND, color correction, and other filters. Sony includes a cutting template for sheet filters in the box. Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM Lens – rear filter holder with ND-sheet. Image credit: cinema5D First Hands-On Impressions My colleague Johnnie has spent some time with the lens and he filmed a short documentary with it mounted on the Sony a7 III mirrorless camera. The idea was to only use this one lens to tell a story. Johnnie also took advantage of the APS-C mode of the Sony a7 III to extend the focal length by 1.5x to 18-36mm (full-frame equivalent). Here are some of Johnnie’s thoughts about the lens: Overall, a very nice full frame lens, can sometimes be a bit softer on the edges when wide open Constant f2.8 aperture The lens is great for tight spaces – it is VERY wide Image is a distorted at the edges on the wider end (It is not a Zero-D lens). Personally I like this kind of distortion. For a non distorted image, you will have to zoom in Its weight should be considered especially when it is intended for gimbal use (It’s a heavy lens) It is a sharp lens, but it was limited by the Sony’s a7 III bitrate. I fill it would perform  better on a more advanced camera, like the FX9 for example The rear filter solution is OK, but it can be cumbersome and can sometimes slow one down – it is not possible to use Variable ND filters It looks like the lens is parfocal, which is good In summery, I would definitely use this lens on locations when room is tight, or the opposite, when wanting to enhance the power of great locations. The above Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 sample footage has been shot on the Sony a7 III. Graded with Lutify.me.  Music: epidemicsound Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM Lens. Image credit: cinema5D Pricing and Availability The Sony FE 12-24mm F2.8 GM is available now for pre-order. The shipping should start in August 2020. The price has been set to approximately $3,000 (around €3,300 in Europe). The price is definitely in the premium segment of the market – mainly because of the ultra-wide focal length combined with the fast aperture. What do you think about the new Sony FE 12-24mm F2.8 GM lens? Do you have experience with other G Master zoom lenses? Do you use ultra-wide lenses for filming? Let us know in the comments underneath the article.

Panasonic has announced two new L-Mount lenses. The LUMIX S PRO 16-35mm f/4 is a new ultra-wide angle lens, and the LUMIX S PRO 70-200mm f/2.8 O.I.S. is a new fast version of the standard telephoto lens. Both lenses feature a rugged dust-, splash- and freeze-resistant construction, and a clutch mechanism to switch between auto and manual focus. LUMIX S PRO 16-35mm f/4 and 70-200mm f/2.8 O.I.S lenses. Source: Panasonic The L-mount alliance is certainly not sleeping, as there have been lots of exciting news lately. Panasonic’s S1H became the first ever Netflix approved mirrorless camera (you can check our S1H review here), SIGMA released their fp, which is a very compact full-frame camera with CinemaDNG internal recording (our review is available here), and Leica has just released the new SL2. While SIGMA already offers 15 lenses for the L-mount, Panasonic is also – slowly but surely – following their roadmap to provide enough high-quality native lenses for the L-mount ecosystem. Up until now, they have already released four L-mount lenses for their full-frame LUMIX S cameras: LUMIX S 24-105mm f/4 Macro O.I.S. LUMIX S PRO 24-70mm f/2.8 LUMIX S PRO 70-200mm f/4 O.I.S. LUMIX S PRO 50mm f/1.4 The Japanese company has freshly announced two new additions to this lineup – the LUMIX S PRO 16-35mm f/4 and LUMIX S PRO 70-200mm f/2.8 O.I.S lenses. This means, Panasonic will offer the complete “trinity” set of zoom lenses to cover every commonly used focal length. Panasonic LUMIX S PRO 16-35mm f/4 Lens This lens is, unfortunately, not a very fast f/2.8 version, with its fastest aperture being f/4, but on the other hand, it is therefore lighter and more compact. It consists of 12 elements in 9 groups, three aspherical lenses, one ED and an Ultra-High Refractive Index (UHR) for accurate image capture. Its double-magnet linear motor is capable of fast and accurate autofocusing. LUMIX S PRO 16-35mm f/4 lens. Source: Panasonic The lens includes a focus clutch for switching from auto to manual focusing modes, suppresses focus breathing for video work, and is dust, splash, and freeze resistant. LUMIX S PRO 16-35mm f/4 lens construction and MTF chart. Source: Panasonic Panasonic LUMIX S PRO 70-200mm f/2.8 O.I.S Lens The 70-200mm f/2.8 is a standard fast telephoto lens. Panasonic already has the $900 cheaper, slightly smaller and 600g lighter f/4 version in their L-mount lineup, so the f/2.8 version was the next logical step for them. LUMIX S PRO 70-200mm f/2.8 O.I.S. lens. Source: Panasonic To minimize aberration and distortion, it incorporates 22 elements arranged in 17 groups, two Ultra Extra-low Dispersion (UED) lenses, three Extra-low Dispersion (ED) lenses, and an aspherical lens. Focus is sharp with smooth transitions out of focus and pleasing bokeh. It also features the focus clutch mechanism for easy switching from auto to manual focusing. LUMIX S PRO 70-200mm f/2.8 O.I.S. lens construction and MTF chart. Source: Panasonic The lens’ internal Optical Image Stabilizer (O.I.S) complements Panasonic cameras’ Body I.S. and 5-axis Dual I.S, providing up to seven stops of stabilization for handheld and low shutter speed shooting. For filmmakers it might be important that Panasonic tried to significantly reduce focus breathing in this lens. The construction is rugged, dust-, splash-, and freeze-resistant. Price and Availability Both lenses can already be pre-ordered now. The LUMIX S PRO 16-35mm f/4 lens will cost around $1,500 and is expected to be shipping from January 13th 2020 on. The LUMIX S PRO 70-200mm f/2.8 O.I.S. lens will cost around $2,600 and is expected to be shipping from January 16th 2020 on. What do you think of these newly announced lenses from Panasonic? Did you invest in the L-mount ecosystem already? Let us know in the comments underneath the article.

Canon released two new full-frame lenses for the RF mount. The first new release is the RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM telephoto lens, which is the third addition to Canon’s f/2.8L trinity (along with the RF 15-35mm f/2.8L and RF 24-70mm f/2.8L). The second lens is a fast portrait prime lens – the RF 85mm f/1.2L USM DS. Both lenses are now available for pre-order. New RF 70-200mm f/2.8L and 85mm f/1.2L lenses. Source: Canon Canon is making sure their full-frame mirrorless RF mount cameras have enough high-quality native glass to attract more customers. They delivered on their commitment to introducing six RF lenses for the EOS R System to the market in 2019. In August 2019 they announced both 15-35mm and 24-70mm f/2.8L RF zoom lenses. Now Canon released the third zoom lens to finalize the f/2.8L trinity – Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM. They also released a fast portrait prime lens RF 85mm f/1.2L USM DS. What are the features of these new lenses? The RF zoom lenses Trinity. Source: Canon Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM The RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM (official product page) completes Canon’s F2.8L zoom trinity lens series. The combination of these three lenses enables users to capture subjects in practically any scenario with the large, bright f/2.8 aperture and zoom range between 15mm and 200mm. New RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens. Source: Canon The new RF telephoto lens weighs approximately 1,070g and it is 146mm in length at its shortest. That is around 28% lighter and 27% shorter than the existing EF mount model. Unlike the EF mount model, this telephoto lens has a retractable design – the length changes when zooming. The RF 70-200mm is the first RF lens with a white heat shield coating, which makes it more weather resistant. New RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens. Source: Canon The RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM is the first Canon lens to support an electronic floating focus control that drives the two lens groups individually with Dual Nano USMs. This design made it possible to keep the compact size while maintaining quiet, power-saving, high-speed operation. The Dual Nano USMs help this lens achieve high-precision still image AF and smooth movie AF in combination with the EOS R series Dual Pixel CMOS AF. This combination reduces focus breathing for video shooting. The RF 70-200mm also boasts 5 Stop IS (Image Stabilizer) which expands the possibilities for handheld shooting. New RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens sample photo. Source: Canon The aberration is being corrected by glass-molded aspherical lenses, UD lenses, and Super UD lenses. Canon also equipped this lens with SWC coating which achieves anti-reflectivity and reduces flaring and ghosting. The RF 85mm F1.2L USM DS Canon already has the RF 85mm f/1.2L USM lens in their portfolio. What this new lens (official product page) brings, is Canon’s original DS coating. The DS coating is a vapor-deposited coating technology that has a high transmittance at the center and a low transmittance toward the periphery. Without compromising on quality, the DS coating applied on the front and rear surfaces of the lens softly and smoothly blurs the entire outline of bokeh – not just on one side which is common of similar lenses on the market. New RF 85mm f/1.2L USM DS lens. Source: Canon Its strongest area is portraiture photography, but Canon claims that the resulting bokeh effect this lens produces is great for achieving a “cinematic” look. This lens should make the subject “pop” from the background much better and more naturally. (See the Canon video below explaining how Defocus Smoothing works inside the  new 85mm lens). The lens features a minimum focusing distance of 85cm. Just like other high-end Canon lenses, the RF 85mm f/1.2L USM DS features ASC anti-reflective coating reducing flaring and ghosting and the effective arrangement of ground aspherical lenses to provide great image quality. New RF 85mm f/1.2L USM DS lens sample photo. Source: Canon Both lenses are dust and water-resistant. The customizable control ring of the RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM and RF 85mm f/1.2L USM DS makes it possible to assign aperture, shutter speed, ISO speed, and exposure compensation as desired. The RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM features a newly designed compact tripod mount that can be removed with a simple operation. Price and availability The RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM and RF 85mm f/1.2L USM DS will start shipping at the beginning of December. Both lenses are now available for pre-order. Price has been set to $2,699 for the RF 70-200mm and to $2,999 for the RF 85mm. What do you think about the new RF lenses? Are you using Canon’s RF mount camera? Do you prefer having native lenses or adapt to existing lenses? Let us know in the comments underneath the article.

Tokina 50-135mm T2.9 Mark II lens has been one of the new lenses at Tokina’s IBC booth. It features a compact design, covers super35 sensors, and offers the same 95mm diameter and same gear rings position as Tokina 11-20mm T2.9 cinema zoom lens. The new 50-135mm lens will cost around $3,500 and should start shipping in early 2020. Tokina cinema lenses portfolio includes the original Vista prime series, the Vista One prime lenses (announced earlier this year), 100mm macro lens, and few zoom lenses. At IBC 2019, Tokina showed its new 50-135mm T2.9 MKII cinema zoom lens and the Tokina 135mm T1.5 Vista prime. If you are interested in the new 135mm T1.5 Vista prime lens, check our other article. In this article, we only focus on the new super35 50-135mm T2.9 cinema zoom lens. Tokina 50-135mm T2.9 Mark II Cinema Zoom Lens The new Tokina 50-135mm T2.9 Mark II cinema zoom lens features a compact design. It is an update to the original 50-135mm T3 cinema zoom lens from Tokina. It features an all-metal mechanical housing with industry standard 0.8 MOD cinema gears, 300 degree focus throw, updated T2.9 iris, and 95mm front diameter for common cinema accessories. Its optical structure produces a 31.2mm image circle, which is enough for super35 (APS-C) sensors. The position of focus and iris rings as well as 95mm diameter matches the Tokina 11-20mm T2.9 cinema lens. Both lenses in the series feature an interchangeable mount between PL, EF, Sony E, MFT, and Nikon F mounts. The 50-135mm lens is parfocal to retain focus while zooming, it has dramatically reduced focus breathing and image shift, and low distortion. There is a de-clicked, 9-bladed, curved iris for round bokeh and precise exposure control. Close focus is available from 3.3 feet distance. There is an 86mm front filter thread. Future Tokina Cinema Zoom lens – The 25-75mm T2.9 At the end of our interview with Chris from Tokina, we got a little sneak peek at the future of Tokina cinema zoom lenses. Tokina is now offering two super35 cinema zoom lenses – the 11-20mm T2.9 and the new 50-135 T2.9 Mark II. To fill the focal length gap between these two lenses, Tokina will introduce a 25-75mm T2.9 cinema lens next year. It is going to have the same 95mm diameter and same gear rings positions as existing cinema zooms to complement the lineup. Price and Availability The price of the new Tokina 50-135mm T2.9 MKII cinema zoom lens will be around $3,500. Tokina plans to start sending the lens to its distributors at the end of this year, so it should ship to first customers in January or February 2020. What do you think of the new Tokina 50-135mm T2.9 cinema zoom lens? Do you have experience with the first generation of this lens or with the 11-20mm T2.9 cinema zoom? Let us know in the comments underneath the article.

FUJINON Premista 80-250mm T2.9-3.5 PL announced: FUJIFILM Corporation just recently introduced their newest Premista series lens to complement the 28-100mm T2.9 PL zoom lens released in August this year. Together they’re covering a wide range of nearly 10x zoom ratio from 28mm – 250mm to fully support large image sensors. They are intended to present some of the highest grade quality, rich gradation and suitability for HDR for cinematic purposes. Let’s take a closer look at its features. FUJINON Premista 80-250mm – Full View. Image credit: FUJINON The FUJINON Premista 80-250mm T2.9-3.5 was explicitly designed to cover large sensors that measure 43.2-46.3mm diagonally. The lens incorporates large-diameter aspherical lens parts and a sizeable 13-blade design that almost reaches a perfectly circular aperture shape. The intention is to create the highest possible image reproduction on the large image sensor, accompanied by a natural bokeh and a shallow depth-of-field to create a profound cinematic look. The latter is unique to large format in combination with high-resolution image sensors. Main Characteristics, Look and Line-up Consistency FUJINON usually implements patented or exclusively created technologies, techniques and systems in their lenses, just like their main competitors. In this case, they are working with their design of a zoom/focusing system to reduce chromatic aberration in long-range cinematic zoom lenses. This characteristic usually needs precise and individual attention in a complicated lens system for the highest purposes, like here. Additionally, FUJINON has applied its necessary procedures to minimize flares and ghosts responding to and abiding by cinematic standards. A lot of cinematic lenses are alleged by their manufacturers to have a particular level of sharpness or a certain degree in the spectrum of “vintage soft sharpness” and a somehow distinctive mellow look to them. On the contrary, in this specific case, Fujifilm claims to have reached stunning levels of sharpness and clarity with this cinematic lens. Thereby they are also highlighting that this lens is instead intended to produce film footage in naturalistic colours. This detail includes a representation of colour tones that properly fits in with other popular FUJINON series like the XK, HK, MK and ZK, instead of standing out from the host of available lenses. The latter is especially vital when working with multiple lenses on a single camera or shooting complex scenes with multiple cameras and thus requiring different angles. Therefore finally, FUJINON offers consistency amongst lenses across the board. It also simplifies processes in the colour grading suite and contributes to the value of their whole lineup that ultimately serves as easily interchangeable. FUJINON Premista 80-250mm T2.95 – 3.5 PL – Side View. Image credit: FUJINON Premista 80-250mm – Operability Features Since the Premista 80-250mm is a top-range product, it especially gives credit to aspects of operability, among others, that many directors of photography around the world fully expect from lenses in that price category. These include a Flange Focal Distance correction function with a ring, attached to the lens barrel that effortlessly adjusts the flange focal distance. The lens also sports a long rotation of the focus ring with 280 degrees, end to end. The latter is particularly crucial for precise focusing required by the shallow-depth-of-field characteristic of large-format lenses and within cinematic environments and exigencies to focus pulling in the film industry. To supplement that, the Premista 28-100mm and 80-250 share their essential measurements such as front diameter and iris, zoom and focus control gear/ring positions. Thereby the same configuration of follow-focus and matte box among other accessories is trouble-free interchangeable. FUJINON Premista 80-250mm – Focus, Zoom and Iris. Image credit: FUJINON The FUJINON Premista 80-250mm T2.9-3.5 comes with the “ZEISS eXtended Data” (firmware update required) conforming with the Cooke “/i® Technology” standard for lens communication and will be available this December. What do you think about the new lens? Would you like to see a version of it in the MK category of lenses? Please share with us your thoughts in the comment section below. 

Canon introduced two “compact-servo” cine lenses back in 2016. One of them, the Canon CN-E 18-80mm T4.4 made its way into my gear bag more often than I might have thought it would. Time for a personal review of this lens! What kind of lens do you prefer? The answer might be hidden between seemingly polar concepts: versatility vs performance, zoom vs prime, cine lens vs photo glass. To be honest, I’m a prime lens person, and I try to shoot on primes as much as possible. That fact doesn’t render zoom lenses useless for me, far from it. If I’m on a one-man-band shoot, a zoom lens can be very helpful indeed, less pain carrying stuff around, more versatility for fast paced shooting. Today I’m looking at the Canon CN-E 18-80mm T4.4 zoom lens which I’ve been using on several jobs throughout the last three years since its introduction in 2016. The other one, namely the Canon 70-200mm T4.4, I didn’t use that often. As stated above, I mainly use zoom lenses if I’m shooting alone as a one-man-band or with just a very small crew and in these cases, the 18-80mm is a very handy focal range to work with. My current setup: Canon C300 Mark II with Canon CN-E 18-80mm lens Canon CN-E 18-80mm T4.4 This lens is special in various ways. It feels a bit like a hybrid between Canon’s long standing expertise in photographic lens design and features you find in modern broadcast lenses. But first things first, here comes a list of main features of this lens: Super 35 / APS-C sensor coverage 18-80mm zoom range (4.4x ratio) Constant aperture of T4.4 (F/4.0) Manual iris Auto & manual focus (but NO hard stops) Minimum focus distance: 50cm / 19.7″ Optical Image Stabilization Back focus adjustment Servo handgrip can be detached Servos are powered through lens mount or connector Weight: 2.6 lb / 1.2 kg Length: 7.2” / 182.3 mm When I first laid hands on this lens more than two years ago, I instantly was surprised how light and compact it actually is. All the “normal” broadcast zooms like the ones from FUJINON are bigger and heavier despite the fact that the Canon CN-E 18-80mm covers APS-C sensors, which the classic broadcast zooms do not since they were designed for 2/3″ broadcast cameras. Canon CN-E 18-80mm next to its “photo pendant”, the 24-70 F2.8 (which is full-frame). The overall build quality of the Canon is pretty good and on par with their lineup of lenses. The aforementioned compact size is really a plus, and on fast turnaround jobs, I like working lightweight and with as little clutter as possible. The focal range might sound a bit limiting but in reality, I never had a problem with the servo stopping at 80mm. In fact, more than once I had the 70-200mm “bigger brother” with me but I barely needed it. Optical Performance The optical quality of the Canon CN-E 18-80 is pretty solid. (Please bear in mind that this is not a technical test, but my personal impression!) I barely experienced chromatic aberrations, just a little vignetting and virtually no breathing. It is a little bit on the soft side (which I like) and the colors are rendered nice and pleasingly natural. Of course, bokeh is not as soft and creamy as with fast prime lenses but since the Canon covers decently large APS-C sensors, you’ll get nice soft backgrounds when opening up the iris. The minimum focus distance is only 0,5 m which is a pretty good value for a lens with this zoom range and although it lacks a dedicated macro feature, you can get pretty close up on things when shooting on 80mm. One of the main features is the servo, no doubt about it. This piece of gear transforms the 18-80mm zoom lens into a solo-shooters weapon of choice for doc work. The grip lets you hold your camera in a broadcast way with one hand holding the lens (plus the camera attached) while the other is free for operating the focus barrel. Even if you don’t want to zoom within a shot but use this lens only as a “variable prime” this way of operating the lens is very handy. The zoom rocker offers a good resistance for your finger in order to pull off a smooth zoom on the first take. The harder you press the faster it zooms. To me, the servo sits between pro grade broadcast zoom lens servos (which are priced accordingly) and entry level zoom controls. More expensive ones offer more steps in order to render an even smoother “zoom curve” than the Canon CN-E 18-80mm is capable of pulling off. So while looong & slooow zooms might not be the flagship feature of the Canon servo it is very capable and I never had any issues on real life shoots with it. The best thing, and a valid feature for labeling this lens a cine zoom, is the fact that the Canon CN-E 18-80mm hold focus throughout the zoom range, in technical speak the lens is parfocal. Virtually all photo zooms are NOT parfocal, because they were never designed for continuous video work. A photo zoom doesn’t have to be parfocal, just set your desired focal length, (auto-)focus, click. For a video/cine zoom lens, on the other hand, being parfocal is kind of mandatory. Have you ever tried to zoom in with a photo zoom lens in order to check focus? Well, you know what I’m talking about, don’t you? If you don’t need the zoom servo, you can detach it completely from the lens itself but you’ll need a tool for that. For adjusting the position of the handgrip just loosen a screw, adjust the handgrip and fasten it again. A servo needs power to operate and thankfully there are different options for powering the Canon CN-E 18-80mm: It can draw power from the host camera through the lens mount or – if you use some kind of dumb adapter – you can feed 12V power directly into the lens through a dedicated connector. Powering trough the lens mount works with native EF mount camera such as my Canon C300 mk.II but it also works with Sony cameras (FS7 for example) using a Metabones adapter such as a Speedbooster for example. In that case, the Sony handgrip with build-in zoom rocker is able to control the zoom servo of the lens. Very neat! One thing is a bit weird, though. You have to connect the handgrip to the lens itself in order to work and that connector sticks out in a very awkward way indeed. It even gets a bit in the way of your hand holding the grip which is really weird. Zacuto offers an angled extension for solving this problem but it would be nice if such adapters weren’t necessary in the first place. Photo vs. Broadcast vs. Cine Speaking of weird design decisions: Canon is labeling this lens as “cinema zoom lens” but the focus barrel lacks hard stops. This is another proof of the best-of-both-worlds concept between photo and cine lenses Canon is working with here. Canon states that they had to drop hard stops on the focus barrel in favor of implementing their dual pixel autofocus system. For me, this is a fair trade as I’m using this lens for solo projects most of the time. But labeling it “cine” which implies things like wireless focus control for example, the lack of hard stops leaves me a bit puzzled, to be honest. Another feature from the photo world is the optical image stabilization which comes, just as you know it from other Canon photo lenses, in three modes, A, B and C. I am personally not a big fan of this feature since it simply doesn’t look 100% good to my eye. It certainly smoothes out shakes but it does it in a slightly strange and artificial way. I prefer a little camera shake when shooting handheld because that’s the whole point, isn’t it? Leaving the human factor in and not trying to flatten out everything until nothing is left. Adjusting the flange back distance. One feature most broadcast lenses have but virtually all photo lenses lack is the ability to adjust the flange back distance. With it, you can micro-adjust your lens to any given camera body in order to operate at peak performance (read: sharpness). While you won’t use that feature all the time it’s nice to have it so you can tweak the rear lens element in order to work perfectly with any given camera – as long as you can adapt its mount. Conclusion I really dig this lens. It’s lightweight, it’s relatively small and compact and it’s very versatile for doc and one-man-band work. You can use it on native EF mount cameras but you also can use it on other cameras, using an adapter (that’s the beauty of the long flange back distance of EF glass). Sure, T4.4 isn’t great but most of the time this isn’t an issue at all. If you’re about to shoot in dark environments you might want to think twice, though, or use a high-ISO camera. A faster aperture would have resulted in a much more heavy and bulky (and certainly more expensive) lens. It’s about balance here, I think. The zoom grip is great and it enables you to operate your camera very ergonomically over extended periods of time. If you are on the lookout for a one-does-it-all lens for your kit, the Canon CN-E 18-80mm might be your guy. To wrap it up, you can watch a short piece I shot with the camera/lens setup displayed above: It’s a review of a high-end Hi-Fi active speaker system but since we’re talking about optics, only the image counts this time around. However, if you are eager for more: head over to John Darko’s YouTube Channel here. Links: Canon What do you think? Do you have any experiences, good or bad, with this lens? Let us know in the comments below!

Canon released their all-in-one full-frame 10x zoom lens for the RF mount. The Canon RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS USM is now available for pre-order and it will ship during September 2019. New Canon RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS USM Lens There are not that many 10x zoom lenses out there that cover full-frame sensors. In mirrorless world, there has actually been only one such a lens – Sony FE 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS Lens for Sony E-Mount. Reviews of this lens on B&H are actually quite good in general. Furthermore, there are a couple of full-frame DSLR lenses that cover 10x or more zoom range. Please note, that the massive zoom range always comes with trade-offs – mostly in form of a lower image quality. Simply put, you cannot expect such a lens to perform the same way as two or three zoom lens covering the same focal range. The development of  the lens was already announced in February 2019 (Together with five other RF lenses). Now it looks as if Canon is really committed to provide their new full-frame mirrorless cameras with enough native Canon RF lenses. There are currently two cameras within the RF mount ecosystem – the flagship Canon EOS R, which was released last year (see our review here), and its lower-specs, lower-price brother Canon EOS RP, which was released in February 2019. Canon EOS RP (left) and EOS R (right). Canon RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS USM Lens As its name implies, the lens features 10x zoom range and an optical image stabilizer, which compensates for up to five stops of camera shake when shooting handheld – that is usable for both stills and video. The lens incorporates Nano USM autofocus motor, which according to Canon delivers quick, quiet, and precise focusing performance. This focusing system also affords full-time manual focus control when working in the one-shot AF mode. Additionally, the new Canon lens also features a unique customisable Control Ring, which can be configured to adjust a variety of exposure settings, including aperture, ISO, and exposure compensation. Minimum focus distance of the lens is 1.64′ (50 cm). It has a 72mm front thread for filters. Dimensions of the lens are (ø x L) 3.2 x 4.8″ (81.28 x 121.92 mm) and the weight is 1.65 lb (751.26 g). What do you think of the new all-in-one Canon Zoom lens? Do you have experience with the same focal range lens? Would such a lens fit in your workflow? Let us know in the comments underneath the article.

FUJINON Premista are two new cine zoom lenses that cover large format sensors. Standard 28-100mm T2.9 zoom lens and telephoto 80-250 T2.9-3.5 zoom lens are both going to be available within this year. During NAB, we interviewed Toshihisa Lida-san from FUJIFILM about these new lenses. As you might already know from our initial news post, FUJINON announced two new large format cine zoom lenses called Premista. Those zoom lenses will support up to a 46.3mm image circle (diagonal) without vignetting. They both come with PL mounts. FUJINON Premista – large format cine zoom lenses The name Premista comes from a combination of the words “Premier” and “VistaVision”, which is a widescreen variant of 35mm film created by Paramount in the 50s. This name should imply high quality optics covering large format sensors. FUJINON’s reason to introduce these new lenses are the latest trends in cinematography technology: A number of camera manufacturers have introduced large format (full-frame or slightly larger than full-frame sensor) high-end cinema cameras (RED, Sony, Canon, ARRI …). FUJIFILM and FUJINON have been monitoring this trend in the cine market over the last two years and they decided to launch these large format zoom lenses. FUJINON Premista – large format cine zoom lenses have PL mount The standard 28-100mm zoom lens has a consistent speed of  T2.9 throughout the zoom range. As for the 80-250mm telephoto zoom lens, FUJINON says it stays at T2.9 until about 200mm and then slowly ramps the aperture to T3.5. I suppose it was optically not possible to offer such a long range with constant aperture without making the lens design even heavier and larger (and thereby also more expensive to build), so FUJINON decided to offer the long reach with a slightly slower aperture. FUJINON Premista Specifications The first lens with standard zoom range of 28-100mm will be launched in August 2019. The other telephoto zoom lens FUJINON 80-250 will be available within this year (no exact date yet). FUJINON Premista 80-250mm T2.9-3.5 The price of the 28-100mm will be $38,800 and the 80-250mm will be $39,800, so the main customers are most likely going to be rental houses. FUJINON claims to have already received huge response and demand from rental houses. You can, however, already pre-order these lenses now. Links are included below the article. What do you think about the FUJINON Premista lenses? Do you have experience with other FUJINON cine lenses? Let us know in the comments underneath the article.