Carl Zeiss has announced the 35mm full-frame “ZEISS Nano Prime” E-Mount series of cinematic lenses. The estimated retail price and delivery time are as follows:
- NP 18mm/NP 100mm : $5,000
- NP 24mm/NP 35mm/NP 50mm/NP 75mm : $4,400 each
- Special case (uses Peli-Light, a lightweight series of Pelican cases) : $830
- ZEISS Nano Prime 6-pack and special case set : $25,550
Delivery is scheduled for late May 2024. For the time being, delivery will only be available as a set of 6 lenses and a case. When ordering, please specify the lens distance ring specifications (Feet or Meter).
ZEISS Nano Prime series overview
The ZEISS Nano Prime series has six lenses, 18mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm, and 100mm, which are newly designed for E-mount both in optics and lens barrel, and all have a unified aperture value of T1.5. The front frame diameter is 95mm, compatible with common matte box mounting diameters. Furthermore, there is an 86mm filter screw on the inside of the front frame, allowing users to attach various circular screw-in filters such as protective and variable ND filters. The design is made to be useful when shooting with a gimbal, where users want to make the camera area more compact (thread pitch is P=1.0).
Clear and sharp depiction similar to Supreme Prime
The ZEISS Nano Prime lens rendering, which is similar to ZEISS’s high-end cine lens Supreme Prime, combines high contrast and rich gradation expression, making it possible to express images that capture every detail of the subject. It can be used natively with the FX series currently selected for filming many dramas and commercials, and is also compatible with VENICE and BURANO.
ZEISS Nano Prime Records Lens Data
The ZEISS Nano Prime series is the first E-mount cine lens to have electronic contacts on the mount, allowing information such as the lens focal length and aperture value to be displayed on the camera’s viewfinder, and this information is also recorded in the camera’s recorded data. In addition, since lens “distortion” and “peripheral illumination” data can be obtained from the ZEISS CinCraft server, VFX composition can be performed using the same workflow as existing ZEISS cine lenses.
ZEISS’s first Japanese-made cine prime lens
The lenses are manufactured by ZEISS’ long-standing partner company in Japan.
■ Lens specs
| Nano Primes | 18mm | 24mm | 35mm | 50mm | 75mm | 100mm |
| T value | T1.5-T16 | T1.5-T16 | T1.5-T16 | T1.5-T16 | T1.5-T16 | T1.5-T16 |
| Minimum shooting distance | 250mm | 350mm | 450mm | 500mm | 750mm | 1,000mm |
| full length | 112mm | 89mm | 89mm | 89mm | 112mm | 112mm |
| Front frame diameter | 95mm | 95mm | 95mm | 95mm | 95mm | 95mm |
| Filter diameter | M86x1 | M86x1 | M86x1 | M86x1 | M86x1 | M86x1 |
| weight | 1,192g | 876 g | 871g | 924g | 1,125g | 1,255g |
| Focus ring rotation angle | 280° | 280° | 280° | 280° | 280° | 280° |
| Aperture ring rotation angle | 90° | 90° | 90° | 90° | 90° | 90° |
| Number of aperture blades | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
