An interview from the 2024 NAB Show in Las Vegas with Tony Wisniewski at the ZEISS Booth. Lenses for cinematography from Carl Zeiss have helped to create distinctive images in many famous movies and have already received three Technical Academy Awards. Our objective is to provide movie makers with lenses that open up entirely new creative possibilities. ZEISS offers a lens solution for every application or budget.

The ZEISS Nano Primes are the first high-speed (T1.5 throughout) cine lenses made specifically for mirrorless full frame cameras – initially available with Sony E-mount. These primes offer a pleasing, versatile look that is adaptable for an extensive range of shooting situations and a compact, lightweight design that makes them easy to use on any set or location. Available in six focal lengths (18mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm, 100mm), this matched set conveniently covers wide-angle to telephoto.

Versatile cinematic look
ZEISS developed the optical design of the new Nano Primes specifically for mirrorless film cameras. Christophe Casenave, responsible for Cinematography Products at ZEISS explains, “Thanks to the close focusing distance and the high speed of T1.5, Nano Primes enable images with an extremely shallow depth of field, even in the wide-angle range. The elegant bokeh and the harmonious focus fall-off ensure a versatile look that meets different artistic requirements, whether for indie productions, documentaries, commercials, series, or feature films.” The universally applicable look can also be combined with the high-end lenses of the Supreme Prime family. Casenave adds, “With a similarly gentle sharpness and aesthetic focus fall-off, the Nano Primes are an ideal complement to the Supreme Primes and, in combination, are also ideal for B and C cameras and lower-budget productions.”

Compact and lightweight design with familiar cine ergonomics
With their light weight and professional handling, Nano Prime lenses are designed to fit right into established film crew workflows. Thanks to the compact design along with the usual ZEISS quality, the lens family can be used reliably in dynamic or constricted shooting situations, even under adverse conditions. Consistent positioning of the focus and iris rings across all focal lengths ensures quick and uncomplicated lens changes. The calibrated focus scales are easy to read and a long 280°focus rotation aids precise focus pulling. In addition, the iris ring features 90° rotation and a non-linear scale to enable fine aperture adjustment.

Flexibility through integration of lens data and interchangeable mount
Thanks to the integrated electronic interface, metadata such as focal length, focus distance and aperture value are transmitted to the camera in real time. Additional lens data for distortion and vignetting is available in the ZEISS CinCraft ecosystem and thus for post-production (CinCraft Mapper) as well as in the recently introduced CinCraft Scenario camera tracking system. Adding to their versatility, Nano Primes are ready for the simple exchange of additional mounts thanks to the proven ZEISS IMS (Interchangeable Mount System).

ZEISS CinCraft Scenario provides camera tracking data for use in real-time rendering engines for virtual production or live compositing. In addition, it lets the user record tracking data for post-production: “While camera tracking is known to be extremely useful for pre-visualization and virtual production, CinCraft Scenario can bring major benefits to any production that includes VFX as it can record the tracking data on set to be then used in post-production, where it can help significantly optimize an artist’s workflow,” explains Tom Evans, Product Manager and Camera Tracking Specialist at ZEISS.

The new camera tracking system can be used in practically every environment, indoors and outdoors, on film sets, with green or blue screens and in LED volumes. This is made possible by its unique hybrid tracking technology that not only allows for tracking specially placed reflective markers – the industry standard – but also tracks features of the surroundings, like object edges. In addition, CinCraft Scenario also works with digital markers on LED walls that are invisible to the main camera.

For more information please visit: www.ZEISS.com