Recently on Kickstarter, Ryan Avery posted an update about the Veydra Mini Primes, which up until this point, only came in a Micro 4/3 mount (they are all-manual lenses). If you are a Kickstarter backer, they are going to release the option for Sony E mount, as well as screw-on C mount. The reason these will work on Sony cameras is that the 25mm-85mm lenses can actually cover APS-C, even though they were originally made for Micro 4/3 cameras, which have a much smaller frame size. On Sony cameras, you'll want to be shooting in APS-C mode.
If you're unfamiliar with these lenses, here's a quick introduction:
And here's a review:
As far as the update on Kickstarter, here's the deal with the 12mm Mini Prime:
Hello again everyone. We cannot thank all of you enough for being patient and waiting for the 12mm to deliver. We have had significant challenges in producing this lens on a mass scale. All wide angle lenses are very difficult to manufacture. Flatness of the focus across the image and accuracy of the focus scale are both big problems for all wide angle lens manufacturers. We are no exception. We have finally resolved the production issues that have caused multiple delays in the shipment of the 12mm.
We will ship the 12mm Mini Prime to every one around the middle of September or as soon as possible. We will never rush a product to market until it ready for your demanding needs and long lasting quality. We thank you for your patience and we are confident in our decision to delay the 12mm until it is ready in middle of September.
Lenses will be available in Sony E as well as C Mount:
Good news for you who have invested in our Kickstarter, we will be making a special offer to all Kickstarter backers for our latest product updates which include a new Sony E and C Mount options as well as a lens support.
We often get emails asking for adaptability of the Veydra Mini Primes to other cameras than M4/3. The physical design of the Mini Primes is too small and the flange depth is too shallow (distance of the back of the lens to the sensor) to accommodate adaptation to Canon EF or PL mount. However, we can offer other shallow flange depth mounts like Sony E and C Mount. Therefore we will offer a Sony E mount for the Veydra 25mm, 35mm, 50mm and soon to be 85mm lenses in APS-C mode coverage on all Sony NEX or E mount cameras including the Sony A7s, A7RII, A6000, FS-700, and FS-7.
We will also offer a C Mount for direct mounting on Super16 film cameras and Digital Bolex cameras with no need for adapters. The C Mount will work on all current Veydra Mini Prime lenses except the 50mm which will require it's own dedicated C Mount.
On the issue of lens support:
There has been some significant discussion online about the inherent loose nature of the Micro4/3 mount. This is not so much as design flaw on the part of camera manufacturers as it is matter of original intention for the mount. PL mounts were made for "positive lock" on cinema cameras for heavy cinema lenses. Micro4/3 mount was meant for very small lightweight still photo lenses and therefore, when we put a heavier lens like the Veydra Mini Prime on it, the lens will move a bit.
We have addressed the issue by making a lens support which we will put on our website soon and send a special offer to Kickstarter backers. This will resolve the twisting of the mount and resulting image shift. When we originally designed the Veydra Mini Primes, we considered adding a built in lens support but it would have increased the size of the lens and complexity of manufacture so we decided to wait and see if a support would be required. Again, we apologize for the delay in this support as we expected to have it completed by now however it proved to be its own design challenge which we have resolved. We will ship the lens support for interface with 15mm LWS Rod systems in October.
Though these aren't dirt cheap, they are pretty inexpensive as far as cinema lenses are concerned, with a whole set of four lenses, the 16, 25, 35, 50mm T2.2 going for $3,700. The 12mm T2.2 and 85mm T2.2 are not available just yet, but if you wanted a full set you're looking at close to around $6,000. If you want to only use these on APS-C cameras, you're only going to want the 25mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm. We'll see at some point if these mount upgrades get into the hands of non-Kickstarter backers, but I imagine that will happen eventually.
If you want to try them out, there are places like LensProToGo that have them in stock.
For more, check out the links below.
Source: Kickstarter
