ZEISS Nano Prime Cinema Lenses Can Unlock That Classic Cinema Look on a Budget

The New ZEISS Nano Prime Cinema Lens Line

As mentioned above, this new ZEISS Nano Prime Lens set will include six commonly used focal lengths ranging from the wide-angle to the telephoto. Designed specifically as Sony E full-frame compatible, the set will feature 18mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm, and 100mm lenses with markings in feet.

All the lenses will of course share similar gearing, front diameters, and aperture ranges so that shooters will be able to switch between them easily and with very little math or calculations. If purchased in a set the entire group will come with a transport case to help take them on the go.

However, there are options to buy them individually with prices that are quite reasonable compared to other high-end prime cine lenses.

Achieve the ZEISS Cinematic Look

So, what’s cool about these new ZEISS lenses is that they’re going to be “entry-level” for those who might really want to use a full cine lens set for their projects, but haven’t had $60k+ (or the equivalent for rentals) to spend.

The entire lens set itself comes in at just under $26,000, so it’s still expensive, but much more reasonable. The lenses will also be super helpful for achieving that ZEISS cinematic look that you’ll find with a high-speed T1.5 aperture and the shallow depth of field that its 12-blade iris helps create.

The lenses cover full-frame sensors, but even the widest 18mm lens will be useable for wide-angle views on a Super 35 camera as well. Plus, with native metadata and eXtended Data passing through to the camera, you can record all types of info on lens type, focus distance, iris, focal length, distortion, and vignetting, which can be helpful for working with different systems in post-pro and VFX.

Price and Availability

These new ZEISS Nano Prime cinema lenses are currently available to pre-order (links below) either as a 6-lens set or individually and are expected to ship here in early May 2024. As individual lenses, they’re set to retail at $4,490 each (except for the 18mm and the 100mm lenses, which will retail at $4,490).

Here are the specs for the full set and purchase options for each:

• 18, 24, 35, 50, 75, and 100mm Lenses
• All Lenses Cover Full-Frame Format
• T1.5 to T16 Aperture Range
• 12-Blade Rounded Iris
• Native Lens Data Communication
• ZEISS eXtended Data
• Lens Scale Marked in Feet
• Includes Transport Case