With more and more “affordable” cinema lenses entering the market, Fujinon have decided to take $10,000US off the list price of their Cabrio 4K PL Compact Lenses. The 14-35mm Cabrio / T2.9 (ZK2.5×14), 19-90mm Cabrio / T2.9(ZK4.7×19), 85-300mm Cabrio / T2.9 -4.0 (ZK3.5×85), and the not so compact 25-300mm Cabrio / T3.5-3.85 (ZK12x25) have all had their prices reduced.
The Cabrio series have long been a fan of many a DP, and they continue to be a very popular rental item. They were the first lenses of their kind to feature an integrated servo zoom (that you can remove). The servo zoom made the transition for a lot of cameramen who were shooting on 2/3″ sensor cameras over to Super 35mm a lot smoother.
The 19-90mm in particular has been a hugely successful lens for Fujinon, and can be found in just about any rental house. With a constant aperture, servo zoom, and relatively lightweight given its focal range, it set the standard for lenses in this category.
Since the 19-90mm was released (way back in 2012), we have seen similar form factor lenses such as the Canon Canon CN7x17 KAS S Cine-Servo 17-120mm T2.95, and even Fujinons 20-120mm Cabrio / T3.5(XK6x20) come on the market.
You can se my full review of the 20-120mm Cabrio / T3.5(XK6x20) here, where I compared it against both the Canon Canon CN7x17 KAS S Cine-Servo 17-120mm T2.95 and the 19-90mm Cabrio / T2.9(ZK4.7×19).
With the price of the 20-120mm Cabrio / T3.5(XK6x20) now as low as $13999US at some distributors such as B&H, it was only a matter of time before the price of the Cabrio’s had to come down.
Even with the $10,000US price reduction, these lenses are still not what I would call “affordable” cinema lenses. They are targeted at a specific market (primarily rental), and high end owner/operators running cameras such as the Sony F55, Arri Alexa/Amira, and RED EPIC/DRAGON/WEAPON.
The new retail prices are listed below:
14-35mm Cabrio / T2.9 (ZK2.5×14) $32,000US
19-90mm Cabrio / T2.9(ZK4.7×19) $29,800US
85-300mm Cabrio / T2.9 -4.0 (ZK3.5×85) $32,000US
25-300mm Cabrio / T3.5-3.85 (ZK12x25) $44,000US
