Korean camera site Kofic has released images of new 2x anamorphic lenses from Samyang/Rokinon, the company behind the popular Xeen primes among many other offerings. While early details are scarce, this is an exciting development as the increasingly competitive world of spherical cine lenses starts to spill over to anamorphic.
Credit: Samyang
From what information is available in these images, these will be full on 2x anamorphic lenses, designed to work with 4x3 sensors. Based on the body design these will be larger than the Xeen primes, and considering the price premium anamorphic brings with it, we're going to guess these come in the $4500 to $5000 range. That would let Samyang make a premium over the roughly $3K a piece spherical Xeen units, but still undercut the currently most affordable 2x option, the Atlas primes. Of course, there are other options in 1.33x anamorphics like the SLR magic primes, which are better suited for 16x9 sensors, but those don't have the appeal of the classic 2x squeeze.
No word yet on the branding (if it will be Xeen or yet another name), or pricing, or focal lengths, or specs. But, if Samyang is able to pull this off, fans of anamorphic shooting should start getting excited.
