This item just went under the radar. It appears that a few months ago, Xelmus, which specializes in X2 affordable anamorphic lenses for full-frame cameras, introduced a new and very interesting lens — the X2 APOLLO 24mm t2 which covers Super 35 sensors.
Xelmus X2 APOLLO 24mm t2
This was a bit of a surprise, as we know how much challenging it is to develop a wide X2 anamorphic. Although it’s not as wide as the Atlas Orion 21mm which is the world’s widest front anamorphic cinema lens, an anamorphic focal length of 24mm is pretty impressive. There’s no sample footage yet, however we are sure that it looks as gorgeous as the rest of the APOLLO glass. Moreover, Xelmus specialists in full-frame anamorphic. But the 24mm is made for Super 35, just like the 32mm. As Xelmus states “All Apollo line lenses are compatible with ALEXA LF Full Frame Open Gate. Only 32mm and 24mm lenses are made for super 35 sensors”. There’s no info regarding the price. Nevertheless, we assume that the 24mm will be more expensive than the 32 which costs $17,000.
The Changeling: Xelmus APOLLO on ARRI ALEXA 65 sensor
Xelmus Anamorphic lenses have been used in major filmmaking projects. For instance, ‘The Changeling’ on Apple TV+ demonstrates another way DP Marcell Rév HCA ASC helped to realize Matsoukas’ vision was through his choice of lenses: newly rehoused Xelmus APOLLO Anamorphics with gloriously heavy bokeh, paired with the ARRI ALEXA 65 and custom filters. “The lenses have this halo effect – a really heavy falloff – and it helped to blur the edges and blur the surroundings a bit to create this distorted world around the characters,” he says. “That just felt right for this story…We weren’t sure about the aspect ratio but we were sure about the texture of these lenses, so they ended up defining it”.
Watch the trailer below to explore more about the Xelmus APOLLO look & feel:
Furthermore, Xelmus lenses were utilized by cinematographer Chung-Hoon Chung on Wonka, and BLACK MIRROR Season 6 as well.
These lenses have exceptional anamorphic characteristics and we hope that more filmmakers will use them in all kinds of projects.
BLAZAR strikes again and I’m waiting for NEW 2x anamorphic squeeze BLAZAR CATO, price should be not more than 2,500$ possible to be the cheapest 2x anamorphic on the market!