Laowa has officially announced its new Ranger Compact Cine Zoom Lenses. The new series consists of a 28-75mm T2.9 and a 75-180mm T2.9. There will also be a 16-30mm T2.9 joining the series soon. The lenses were designed to meet the demands of different production sizes from solo to small crew run-and-gun filmmakers up to larger productions.
Key features
- Light and compact
- Long and versatile zoom range
- Constant T2.9 aperture
- Extremely close focus distance
- Parfocal design
- Well-controlled with almost no focus breathing – Exceptional image quality
- Quick back focus adjustment mechanism
- Interchangeable PL/ EF mount
- Additional mirrorless mounts are available (E/ RF/ Z/ L)
At Cine Gear 2023, we caught up with Laowa where they announced the new 16-30 T2.9 Ranger Full Frame Cine Zoom that will join the 28-75mm T2.9 & 75-180mm T2.9.
Laowa also exclusively gave us the pricing on the Ranger Full Frame Cine Zooms that have been officially launched today. They will be $2,999 USD each.
The two lens set that features the 28-75mm T2.9 & 75-180mm T2.9 will be $5,799 USD.
Being able to build a full rame zoom set with a constant T2.9 aperture and a focal range from 16-180mm for less than $12K USD is impressive, especially given their compact size. The lenses are claimed to be parfocal.
In a lot of ways, because of the size and form factor, they remind me of the Fujinon MK series. Now, I haven’t used the Ranger series let so I am in no position to comment on how they are optically.
The Ranger series lenses weigh around 3.08 lbs / 1.4kg each.
I did get to spend some time with the lenses at both NAB and Cine Gear and I found that the build quality was nice and the operation of the focus, iris, and zoom is smooth.
With a constant T2.9 aperture, I was surprised at just how small these lenses were given their focal range. The lenses come natively in PL mount, with a user interchange Canon EF mount.
The optical design of the 28-75mm consists of 22 elements in 18 groups. The 75-180mm has 14 elements in 14 groups. Both lenses have 10 aperture blades. They both cover an image circle of 43.2mm. The focus throw is 270 degrees.
The lenses have a 77cm front filter diameter and an 80mm front diameter. They are claimed to be par focal and they have a back focus adjustment built into the lens.
The 28-75mm and the 75-180mm can focus at extremely close distances (0.49m / 1’7” on 28-75mm and 0.89m / 2’11” on the 75-180mm) and are well-controlled with almost no focus breathing.
Both lenses come with 0.8 mod gears, threads for mounting lens support and other utilities. Dual scales with Feet and Meters are both displayed on the lenses. Both the 28-75mm and 75-180mm have a 77mm filter thread and 80mm outer diameter. Filmmakers can choose from using screw-in filters or a matte box.
The lenses will also work with Laowa’s upcoming 1.33x Anamorphic Adapter. If you are using a full-frame lens, the adapter will work with any focal length over about 40mm. The Anamorphic adapter was still a prototype and they are still refining the design. Laowa hopes to be able to cover a 35mm full-frame prime without any large vignetting.
