Zeiss presents complete family of Cine Zooms for small and large sensors at IBC 2015

Flexibility and highest image quality with high contrast and without distortion

par Zeiss La Lettre AFC n°256

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At booth 11.F50 at the 2015 IBC Show from 11-15 September in Amsterdam, the European largest show for the movie and broadcast industries, Zeiss will showcase its entire lens portfolio : from the SLR lenses including the Zeiss Otus high-end lenses, the Zeiss Loxia E-mount full-frame lenses and Zeiss Compact Prime CP.2 and Zeiss Compact Zoom CZ.2 right up to Arri/Zeiss Ultra Prime, Arri/Zeiss Master Prime and Arri/Zeiss Master Anamorphic.

Zeiss is showcasing the Compact Zoom CZ.2 15-30/T2.9, the third member of the Compact Zoom family at the IBC 2015. With the addition of the Compact Zoom CZ.2 15-30/T2.9, Zeiss says it is broadening its cine zoom line-up in the wide-angle range. It does not only offer extreme angles of view but also fulfils all the requirements for motion-picture zooms : it stands out for its optical brilliance, as well as its distortion-free images, Zeiss adds. The lens is available for €17,900 or US$ 23,900 (excl. VAT). The zoom lens fills the wide-angle gap and complements the CZ.2 28-80/T2.9 and CZ.2 70-200/T2.9 lenses each available for €14,900 or US$ 19,900 (excl. VAT).

The Zeiss Compact Zoom CZ.2 family of lenses sets new standards only experienced with fixed local lengths from Zeiss. Equipped with this set of three zoom lenses, cinematographers can master an enormous range of shooting situations without having to resort to frequent time-consuming lens switches. For sophisticated filmmakers, the Zeiss cine zooms open up new creative possibilities. When working with a zoom lens, users can move a lot more quickly because they do not have to change lenses and can make different shots from the same perspective.

According to Zeiss, the Zeiss Compact Zoom CZ.2 lenses are the only cine-style zooms in the world with full-frame coverage. All lenses of the Zeiss Compact Zoom family comply with the 4K production standards and, like the Zeiss Compact Prime CP.2 lenses, they are ideal for cameras featuring sensors with surfaces measuring up to 36x24 mm. The lenses also work with larger 8K-sensors such as the Red Weapon® with an image circle diameter of approx. 46 mm. With online minimal limitations at certain focal lengths and aperture settings, the Zeiss Compact Prime CP.2 and Zeiss Compact Zoom CZ.2 lenses are ideal partners for the Red Weapon® even in 8K mode and provide the greatest selection of focal length for the Red Weapon® sensor in 8K mode. When the lenses are used with smaller sensors , e.g. Super 35 sensors, users benefit from the positive "sweet-spot effect" : the image circle used by the sensor comes from the inner circle of the lens. As a result, the lens only uses that part of the illumination that has the highest quality in terms of sharpness, light and contrast.

The Zeiss Compact Zoom CZ.2 lenses are “masters of flexibility”, whenever the goal is to achieve high-quality results with little lens changes. The optical balancing between Zeiss cine zoom on the one hand and Zeiss high-end cine lenses on the other, fulfils filmmakers’ highest demands, whether they are making big-screen, TV, documentary, music video productions or feature films.

All three cine zooms have a consistent aperture of T2.9, also make them suitable for situations with less available light. Over many years, Zeiss has been continuing to develop to bokeh – that special look of an out-of-focus area in an image. After all, bokeh is one of the most important characteristics of a lens, Zeiss believes. With special optical design and circular f-stop forms, Zeiss zooms here achieve a particularly harmonious result and depict out-of-focus highlights as circular without any bothersome artifacts. In addition, the Zeiss T* coating – based on several layers in the nano field – ensures a visible reduction of stray light and reflections. The result : brilliant images with a three-dimensional effect.

A special protection against dust and spray water for rough use on the set further underscores the high professional standard of these cine lenses.

The cine zooms from Zeiss deliver the well-known quality and performance for which Zeiss lenses have been known for decades. With the lenses Zeiss Compact Zoom CZ.2 15-30/T2.9, the CZ.2 28-80/T2.9 and the CZ.2 70-200/T2.9, Zeiss has set new performance standards for cine zooms. Equipped with an interchangeable mount system (IMS), the lenses can be flexibly used on practically all current and future cameras. The zooms are equally suitable for cameras with EF-, F-mount and professional HD video and movie cameras with E-, MFT- and PL-mount.

Many of the lenses exhibited at the booth can be tried out directly on current cameras. Visitors are welcome to ask questions to the Zeiss experts at the booth F50 in hall 11at IBC from 11-15 September and exchange their experiences with them.