Xelmus Unveils 3 New Anamorphic Primes for Full-Frame Lenses

The team over at Xelmus has filled out its Apollo branded anamorphic lenses with three new focal lengths, including a 50mm T1.7, a 75mm T2, and a 135mm T2, bringing a total of six to the table. All of them are available for pre-order today. 

Each full-frame anamorphic prime has a 2x squeeze, which is offered on the higher-end Cooke Anamorphic/i Full-Frame Plus line and the Servicevision Scorpio FFA lenses.

Optically, they have a 14 blade iris design, while the 2x squeeze takes a 2.39:1 projected image down to a 1.195:1 aspect ratio. The lenses are compact, sharp, and optimized for distortion correction. The optics are much smaller than a front variable diopter design, making them lighter in weight with less chromatic aberrations and better light transmission. 

Their design features standard 0.8m gears for both focus and aperture rings which are consistently placed, making lens swaps simple and easy during production. 

One of the main features of the lenses is the anti-mump system created by Panavision. With that system, while focusing from infinity to the close point, the image stretches only in a vertical direction (vertical breath), and the horizontal axis stays locked. The focus ring is smooth with a generous 270° of rotation.

One thing worth noting is that the T-stops are not consistent across the series. 

• 40mm T2.1
• 50mm T1.7
• 60mm T1.7
• 75mm T2.0
• 100mm T2.5
• 135mm T2.8

Since the lenses are compact and light, they're suitable for steadicams, gimbals, handheld, and drone work.

In terms of cost, each focal length is available for $11,999 ($5,999 deposit), or sets of the three can be purchased for $35,997 ($17,997 deposit). That said, the price is more affordable than the Cooke FF Anamorphic/i lineup, which costs around $32,000/lens and puts them slightly higher than the Atlas Orion series, which also has a 2x squeeze.

You can check out more about the Apollo series here. 

Update 12/14: An early version only disclosed the deposit amount. It's been updated that for clarity.