What Does a $50,000 Cine Lens Look Like on the Inside?

Cine-style lenses are essential in high-end filmmaking for many reasons, particularly because they afford shooters the precision that they often need on a big budget project. But how exactly do they work? And what are the differences between a cine lens that costs upwards of $50,000 and a comparable, though significantly less expensive, stills lens? Science Channel uses a little CGI to reveal a few inner workings of what looks like either a Cooke S4 or maybe an ARRI Zeiss master prime.

Unfortunately, that was just a clip from a longer Science Channel episode, and though it's cool to see an exploded view of what cine lenses look like on the inside, the video leaves plenty of questions unanswered for those with more advanced knowledge of lenses. However in the video below, Josh from Stray Angel Films goes into great detail about a topic filmmakers who are making the jump from amateur to professional want to know: the many differences between cine-style lenses and stills lenses.

There's no doubt that cine lenses give users unmatched quality and precision, which is most of the reason why they're so damn expensive and considered a rental-only option. (Some of it has to do with low volume sales.) However, so much more goes into making an image look great than high-end glass. If you're not able to get your hands on a cine-style lens, just remember that lighting, set design, costuming, props, and so many other things can increase the production value of your film.

Source: Science Channel