Three new high-speed, full-frame prime lenses – an 18mm T1.5, 40mm T1.5 and 200mm T2.2 – have been added to the Zeiss Supreme Prime series of cine lenses.

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Zeiss: The new 40, 200 and 18mm Zeiss Supreme Primes

The addition of the new 40mm model means that there is now a total of 14 prime lenses available in the series, with fixed focal lengths between 15mm and 200mm and maximum apertures from T1.5 to T2.2.

“By adding a 40mm lens, we have introduced a surprise member to the Zeiss Supreme Prime family,” said Christophe Casenave, responsible for Cinema Products at Zeiss. “Since launching these lenses, we have been in constant contact with customers worldwide and will continue to work on further enhancing this family. We added the new lens in order to respond flexibly to our customers’ desire to close the gap between the 35mm and 50mm focal length.”

The compact, lightweight Supreme Primes are designed to cover large-format camera sensors and are compatible with such cameras as the Sony Venice, Arri Alexa (Mini) LF and Red Monstro. They are claimed to be particularly versatile and able to create different visual looks – due to smooth depth of field and elegant bokeh – making them useful for a variety of different film productions.

“We designed the Zeiss Supreme Prime lenses specifically for high-end productions. Since their launch, the lenses have been used in a variety of high-budget commercials and music videos, as well as in feature films, dramas and TV series,” said Casenave. For example, award-winning cinematographer Robert McLachlan, ASC, CSC, used Supreme Prime lenses for the upcoming HBO series Lovecraft Country. The lenses were also used on Downton Abbey by DoP Ben Smithard, and by DoP David Higgs, BSC, for the second season of His Dark Materials.

The new lenses are equipped with the Zeiss eXtended Data metadata technology launched in 2017, to provide frame-by-frame data on lens vignetting and distortion in addition to the standard metadata provided by Cooke’s /i technology protocol. This streamlines workflows, particularly for VFX and virtual production.

The three new lenses will ship from September. They will be joined by a 15mm T1.8 by mid-2021.