2021 has started with the official announcement of two new large-format cinema lenses: The FUJINON Premista zoom 19-45mm T2.9 and the Tokina Vista prime 65mm T1.5. Both of them are designed as industry workhorses and dedicated to cover large sensors. Check them out below.

Tokina Vista prime 65mm T1.5

The Vista 65mm is the latest focal length in the series that includes a robust design that produces nearly zero focus breathing. This new lens features a huge 46.7mm image circle making it compatible with nearly every motion picture camera sensor on the market including VistaVision format. The new Vista series all are the exact same size and gear position for easy setup and workflow. The lenses characterize by ultra-sharp imagery with nearly zero image breathing during focus pulling.

Vista 65mm T1.5 highlights

• 46.7mm image circle
• Suitable for 8K image capture
• High resolution/low chromatic aberration
• Durable all-metal build
• Fast T1.5 aperture
• Virtually no breathing
• The focus rotation angle of approximately 300 degrees
• Zero to low distortion
• Smooth, 9-blade, curved iris

Price and availability

The price of the Tokina Vista 65mm is $7,499 and it can be preordered from the B&H website

Vista One upgrading program

Tokina Cinema offers an upgrade program to convert existing Vista Prime lenses to Vista One single-coated technology. The lenses are calibrated to factory specifications and checked for optimal performance. The front element receives a proprietary single coating technology applied to both the concave and convex surfaces of the front element. Furthermore, there are different coating types applied to each surface controlling the flare in ways that a simple polish and new coating would not provide if done by a 3rd party manufacturer. One of the characteristics of Vista One is that the flare is strongly diffused with a strong blue color inclusion at wider apertures with secondary and tertiary flares coming in a green color that is normal for the Vista series. The cost of the upgrade is $3,409 per lens. At this time, the new 65mm is not suitable for the Vista One upgrade. However, it’s a matter of time till it will.

FUJINON Premista 19-45mm T2.9

In September, FUJIFILM has announced the development of the FUJINON Premista 19-45mm T2.9 lightweight wide cinema zoom lens for large format sensor cameras. Today, the official launch date was announced: January 28, 2021. This lens will join the prestige Premista family of full-frame cinema zooms, which is FUJINON’s brand for high-end cinema productions that demand accurate glass to be paired with large sensors. The first Premistas was announced back at NAB 2019 and had caused a lot of interest among filmmakers, lens enthusiasts, and large sensor cinema shooters.

Short and lightweight wide-angle zoom

According to Fujinon, the Premista 19-45mm is a short, lightweight wide-angle zoom that produces images with natural and beautiful bokeh, high resolution, accurate color rendition, and controllable flare with minimal ghosting for capturing high dynamic range (HDR). The lens shows very little distortion throughout the entire zoom range, alleviating the burden of correcting footage after shooting and allowing high-quality cinematic images to be created more efficiently. Furthermore, all three lenses also share the same front diameter and gear position for the focus, zoom, and iris operating rings, enabling efficient operability and production of high-quality images.

FUJINON 19-45mm highlights

• Covers Large-Format Sensor Size- 46.3mm Diameter Image Circle
• ZEISS eXtended & Cooke /i Lens Data (Read more: FUJINON Premista: The First Large Format Zooms to Provide ZEISS eXtended Data)
• 280° Focus Rotation
• Robust lens body
• Weight: 3.3kg (7.3 lbs)

Price and availability

The new FUJINON Premista 19-45mm lens is expected to begin shipping on January 28, 2021. The suggested retail Price is $49,900 USD.

Final thoughts

The large-format cinema zoom FUJINON Premista 19-45mm and the prime Tokina Vista 65mm are both considered high-end quality solutions for cinematographers who shoot on large sensor cameras. These lenses are designed to cover big sensors capturing outstanding imagery with minimal distortion and breathing, packed within a robust body for harsh production environments. They are not cheap though. Would you purchase one of those? Comment below.