NAB2024 – NEW from NAB
Tokina Cinema announced head of NAB2024, the addition of no less than four new lenses to its Vista-P series. The new 40mm T1.5, 65mm T1.5, 105mm T1.5, and 135mm T1.5 Vista-P lenses join the five existing lenses in the series to form a comprehensive set with a unique look. Each of these new lenses covers a Vista Vision-sized sensor with fine detail that makes them usable in even larger formats. At the NAB2024 Tokina Cinema booth, these lenses will be on display for guests to view.
Vintage character, modern performance
Tokina Cinema’s team of optical experts’ design philosophy was to create a set of cinema lenses that combined vintage character, high resolution and modern lens handling. Working closely with some of the leading cinematographers and rental agencies, the company ended up creating a truly distinctive lens with a unique blend of buttery, swirly bokeh towards the edges of the frame and high resolution in the middle. There is virtually no breathing and the super fast T1.5 T-stop ensures excellent separation between subject and background when needed.
At the edges of the frame, the Vista-P lens produces images that are similar to vintage lenses like the Helios-44 or Petzval, with a swirling distortion that is especially useful for portraits. Stopping down reduces this effect, resulting in a more conventional image. Overall, the look is clean and modern, with resolution that exceeds that of traditional vintage lenses.
New lens options expand creative possibilities. Pairing an ultra-fast 1.5 T-stop with a 105mm or 135mm telephoto lens offers shallow focus for close-ups of talent, while the 40mm and 65mm lenses are increasingly popular mid-range focal lengths that offer creative alternatives to the traditional 35mm and 50mm.
Precision-tuned at the factory for maximum performance
Vista-P lenses are used in hit shows such as “Ted Las Vegas,” “Loki,” “Killing Eve” and “The Gentlemen,” and are based on the design of existing Vista series prime lenses. Outwardly, the Vista-P series looks similar to existing Vista lenses, but the inside has been extensively redesigned. By shifting the placement of lens elements, the air-to-glass distance for hard-to-reach elements is increased, stronger spherical distortion is intentionally introduced, and the lenses are essentially tuned in the factory to add distinctive character.
Additionally, images produced by the Vista-P have lower contrast due to the increased air-to-glass distance, further emulating the look of vintage lenses. This lower contrast, combined with increased distortion at the edges of the frame, makes the Vista-P an ideal modern replacement for unreliable, lower resolution vintage lenses.
Due to the popularity of the regular Vista-P and the fact that many DPs want spherical distortion, some camera rental company technicians have previously tried to modify the original lenses themselves. This is usually done by widening the spacing between the rear elements or adding shims to move these elements further apart. However, the effect of simple modifications is mild, and to get a more noticeable effect, a different spacing is required deeper in the lens. Vista-P achieves this, setting it apart from non-genuine modifications.
Designed for Vista Vision
With the Vista-P series, the effects of spherical distortion are most noticeable in the fine detail areas that Vista Vision/Full Frame is intended for, but the effect can be reduced at the edges of the frame when using Super35 or lower formats.
Factory Modifications
The modifications mentioned above are complex and must be done at the Tokina Cinema factory in Japan. The Vista-P series is available either as brand new lenses that are already modified at the time of purchase, or as an upgrade for existing Vista prime lenses, which requires the lens to be returned to Tokina Cinema and shipped to Japan for modification.
Advantages of Vista Lenses
Apart from the difference in personality, Vista-P lenses retain all other key benefits of the regular Vista primes: almost no focus breathing, a 46.7mm image circle, and the ability to cover all large format cinema cameras. The lenses share the same 114mm front OD and 9-blade iris, and are available in PL, LPL, Sony E, EF or MFT mount.
