NiSi has announced its new Athena Prine cine lenses at NAB 2023. The Athena series are available in focal lengths ranging from 14mm up to 85mm and they all cover full frame sensors.
The focal lengths are as follows:
- 14mm T2.4
- 25mm T1.9
- 35mm T1.9
- 50mm T1.9
- 85mm T1.9
All of the lenses feature a T1.9 aperture, apart from the 14mm which is a T2.4. NiSi claims that they all have very little focus breathing. All the lenses are the same size and they feature a 77mm filter thread which makes it easy to use screw-on filters such as variable NDs.
Along with being the exact same size, the aperture, and focus rings are all located in the exact same position which makes them easy to change out without having to re-position lens motors.
According to NiSi, the lenses were designed to achieve maximal micro-contrast control and ultra-low chromatic aberration.
The Athena lenses are available in PL, Sony E, and apparently Canon RF. What is interesting is that the Sony E and Canon RF mount versions of the lens feature a drop-in filter. This allows you to put in rear VND and other types of filters.
The Athena lenses aren’t the first Cine lenses that NiSi has offered under its brand. Way back in 2018, they announced the F3 prime lenses.
The new NiSi F3 prime lenses covered 46.5mm format sensors which made them compatible with a large range of cameras.
The lenses were the same lenses that were sold by Kinefinity under the MAVO name. NiSi manufactured the lenses and Kinefinity was just re-branding them.
Price & Availability
There is no current indication about pricing or availability for the Athena Prime cine lenses.
