Tokina Cinema announced their new Vista-C lens, designed to create a unique look for large format sensors that combines the best elements of the past and present, with distinctive features such as flare, contrast, and edge falloff that are reminiscent of lenses of the past.
Tokina Cinema Vista-C – Recreating Vintage Lenses
Like many older lenses, Vista-C produces beautiful flare with red and blue accents, suppressing the green flare that is common in modern cinema lenses. By intentionally reducing contrast, it reduces image distortion and provides a pleasing edge falloff.
But Vista-C is not just a throwback lens, it also features modern improvements such as a very fast aperture of T1.5, resolution compatible with the latest digital cinema cameras, and modern physical lens construction that allows for greater precision and focus motor compatibility. It is also worth noting that it almost never exhibits focus breathing.
The Aesthetics of This Lens
Designed to meet the evolving aesthetic demands of blockbuster filmmaking, Vista-C lenses are inspired by some of the most famous classic lenses of yesteryear. Using their expertise and advanced manufacturing techniques, Tokina Cinema’s master lens craftsmen have incorporated these desirable vintage features into contemporary design and construction. The result is a lens that is truly worthy of being called a modern classic.
Although the look of the Vista-C lenses is almost the same as the previous Vista and Vista-P series, the optical design has been significantly changed. Many years have gone into the development of the Vista-C, with elements of each lens being changed or modified and with newly developed coatings. The optical design and changes in the flare color give it an appealing look that is both retro and fresh at the same time. The result is something very different from other Vista lenses and other popular cinema lenses on the market.
Construction
New optical elements and coatings create a subtle curvature of field instead of the harsh spherical aberration found in the Vista-P series, resulting in a desirable and distinctive aesthetic – all part of a deliberate effort to recreate a classic look characterized by soft edges, pleasing bokeh and natural light falloff.
The Vista-C design involves changes to lens construction and coatings that go far beyond the kinds of modifications typically made by some rental companies and lens specialists when attempting to “tweak” the image of original Vista lenses.
Another key element of the look produced by Vista-C lenses is the near complete lack of focus breathing, which when combined with their flare, resolution and field curvature properties produces unparalleled results.
Made by cinematographers and for cinematographers
Horacio Martinez, Director of Photography at SVC, commented on the launch of the Vista-C:
“The defocusing, minimal focus shift, red and blue flare create a perfect blend of vintage and modern aesthetics, which is one of the most important features of Vista-C and very similar to the essence and character of K35.”
Several top cinematographers have been involved in the development and testing of Vista-C lenses.
Mr. Martinez (SVC) has already shot a short film with the lens and is impressed with the images it produces.
“This is an incredible set with great properties and personality,” Mr. Martinez added. “The flare is very rich and the mixture of blues and reds creates a beautiful aesthetic in the frame. The focus falloff and minimal focus breathing give this set even more character and versatility, making it an easy choice for achieving great results in visual storytelling.”
Mr. Martinez further explains how he used the Vista-C: “The exotic location of a desert house required lenses with extraordinary character and capabilities. The Tokina Vista-C lens exceeded our expectations, delivering beautiful flare, rich textures and vast sensor coverage. Shooting with the ARRI Mini LF Open Gate (4448×3096) allowed us to capture the essence of the desert and perfectly express the intent of our story.”
“It’s a great coating that creates beautiful flare,” CSC’s Grant Cooper commented on trying the lenses and described the Vista-C lenses. “The bokeh and light falloff are really interesting. It’s poppy and three-dimensional, but at the same time it’s like a gradient. It has a swirl effect at wide open apertures, and really pops in the high contrast areas.”
Vista Prime: Vista-C continues the tradition
Despite its differences, the Tokina Cinema Vista-C retains the same design as the popular Vista line of prime lenses, a line of lenses with a proven track record that has made them the go-to choice for many productions.
These lenses have been used in some of Hollywood’s biggest movies and TV shows, most recently in the hit shows “Ted Lasso,” “Loki,” “Killing Eve” and “The Gentlemen,” as well as movies such as “The Covenant” and “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.”
Beyond Large Format
Vista-C has a wider image coverage than VistaVision, with all lenses having an image circle with a resolution greater than 46.7mm, meaning all large format cinema cameras can be covered, and the 35mm and larger lenses can cover even larger formats, including the Alexa 65 Open Gate.
Field of view distortion is most noticeable at or above the intended resolution of Vista Vision/Full Frame, and its effects can be reduced at the edges of the frame by using Super 35 or smaller formats.
Fast T1.5 across all focal lengths: The brightness of the Tokina Cinema Vista-C lens
Vista-C offers an ultra-fast T-stop of T-stop 1.5 across all focal lengths from 18mm to 135mm, allowing photographers to achieve excellent distance between subject and background when needed, as well as the ability to shoot in low light conditions. When used at or near maximum aperture, the wide-angle Vista-C lenses can be used to great creative effect, with even more unique looks when combined with field distortion and flare caused by point light sources projected onto the lens.
Tokina Vista-C and Vista-P Differences
Vista-C aims to significantly reduce the green color of lens flare that was a hallmark of Vista and Vista-P lenses, instead offering blue and red flares for a different look.
The Vista-C series is comprised of all-new optical elements designed to deliver smoother transitions and better color reproduction, a design choice that reduces uniformity and contrast while still maintaining the wide-aperture speed and resolution that made the Vista series so popular.
The early Vista-P was designed with a specific internal distance between the lenses that increased spherical aberration and distortion. With the Vista-C, Tokina opted for a classic look instead.
Sleek design of Tokina Cinema Vista-C lenses with interchangeable mounts
The lenses share a 114mm front outer diameter and a 9-blade aperture and can be ordered with PL, LPL, Sony E, EF, or MFT mount.
Vista Lens Series: The Ever-Evolving Tokina Cinema
For cinematographers and productions requiring cleaner, more modern image processing, the original Tokina Cinema Vista prime lenses will continue to be produced.
Vista-P lenses have the same look as Vista Prime lenses, but with wider spacing between the lenses to increase spherical aberration, creating a swirly bokeh effect.
Tokina’s new Vista Vista-C is a refined evolution of the Vista series, with new optics, modern coatings, and a clear shift towards classic lens characteristics.
Tokina Cinema Vista-C Lenses: Release Date and Lineup
The Vista-C series consists of the following nine lenses:
- 18mm T1.5
- 25mm T1.5
- 35mm T1.5
- 40mm T1.5
- 50mm T1.5
- 65mm T1.5
- 85mm T1.5
- 105mm T1.5
- 135mm T1.5
Shipments are expected to start in March 2025. These lenses will be showcased at the BSC Expo in London on February 13th, 14th and 15th, 2025.
