By site editor Dan Chung:
Veydra this week announced that their Mini Prime cine lenses, originally launched on Kickstarter, will get two new lens mount options. The 25mm, 35mm, 50mm and 85mm will all receive a new Sony E-mount option that covers the Super35 sensor size. These should be ideal for cameras like the FS700, FS7 and the new a7R II in S35 crop mode. Sadly the existing 12mm and 16mm Mini Prime lenses won’t cover S35 sensors and so don’t get the E-mount option. There will also be a C-mount option for all the Mini Primes.
The Mini Primes were originally designed with the Micro 4/3 mount in mind. When Ryan Avery and his team made the optical designs of the longer focal lengths in the family it was natural, however, to incorporate a larger image circle that covered more than the common Micro 4/3 sensor sizes. This was in part due to the fact that they knew in advance that the JVC LS300 would have a S35 sensor despite using the Micro 4/3 mount system.
As a result the existing 25mm, 35mm, 50mm and 85mm all cover the larger S35 image circle. Being made for mirrorless cameras the Mini Primes have a short flange depth design. The lens rear elements come very close to the sensor unlike DSLR lenses. This makes fitting the Mini Primes to EOS or PL mount cameras impossible, but it does lend them to fitting onto other mirrorless mounts like Sony E-mount and the older C-mount.
This from Ryan Avery of Veydra:
“The Veydra Sony E-mount will be an accessory option available for purchase to Kickstarter backers first, and then all other customers immediately afterward for existing Veydra Mini Prime Micro4/3 mount lenses. The Veydra Sony E Mount will be a single piece user changeable mount. All you need to do is remove the existing Micro4/3 mount and with a few small screws attach the new E-mount. No shims will be required.
The focus scale will need to be adjusted using our revolutionary sliding focus scale. Simply loosen 3 screws on the focus ring and slide it to the proper infinity mark. Veydra will publish a how-to video on the mount changes and focus scale adjustment for both Sony E and C Mounts.
We are most excited about the new Sony E-mount as it will enable our customers to use the small form factor and high quality 4K+ optics of the Veydra Mini Primes on Sony E-mount cameras like the popular Sony A7RII in 4K crop mode and APS-C cameras like the FS100, FS700, and FS-7.
Digital Bolex D16 and traditional S16 film camera users will also benefit from a similar two-piece C Mount option that will be available for all Veydra Mini Primes from 12mm to 85mm (the 50mm will require its own dedicated mount due to glass elements in the mount itself).
We also announced on our Kickstarter that the long awaited 12mm lens will be delayed a final time to ship in middle of September. We regret this delay however the extra time was necessary to make the 12mm as high quality as it could be for our customers. The flatness of focus field and accuracy of the focus scale numbers are very important and difficult to metrics to achieve with wide angle lenses for all manufacturers. We have decided to hold shipment for the best results possible and we will make our final September shipment date promise.
Finally, we have announced that we are in production on a single piece molded lens support for the Veydra Mini Primes. The Micro 4/3 mount was originally designed for still photography applications with very light weight lenses. Adding a true cinema lens with the extra weight associated with a high quality lens adds stress to the M4/3 mount causing image shift when racking focus quickly. The Veydra Lens Support will address this issue by allowing the user to secure the lens to 15mm LWS rods systems. The Veydra Lens Support will be available to Kickstarter backers first and then to all customers after all Kickstarter backers have been given the chance to purchase the Lens Support.”
For more info keep an eye on the Veydra website.
