By site editor Dan Chung:
I’m back in China after the Olympics, just in time to cover the country’s main TV and film production exhibition – BIRTV 2012. It has halls full of the latest gear from both international and domestic manufacturers. It comes just ahead of Europe’s main IBC show and it’s interesting to see many new products being shown here in Asia first instead of Europe.
Today I noticed this amazing looking lens in a glass cabinet on the Fujinon stand. It is a prototype for a new 85-300mm T2.9 Super35 cine lens with a servo zoom. The design is similar to its smaller sister the 19-90 T2.9 Cabrio lens we featured earlier in the year. It is essentially a PL mount cine lens with a servo unit bolted on the side that can be powered through an active shoe lens mount such as the one on Sony’s F3. For the focal length range and aperture it does not seem unduly large.
The price for 85-300mm has not yet been announced but sadly you can expect it to be high, possibly even higher than the £28K 19-90. Certainly it is out of reach for most news and documentary shooters – even the most well-heeled. But one can dream.
I’ll be reporting from the show all week so check back for regular updates.
