Cooke has announced its new Panchro 65/i lenses, which were specifically engineered for 65mm imager cameras.
The Panchro 65/i will include six focal lengths:
- 30mm / 40mm / 55mm / 75mm / 100mm / 152mm
The 55mm, 75mm, and 100mm offer a fast maximum T-stop of T2.5 whilst the 30mm and 40mm offer T2.8 and the 152mm T2.9. All lenses offer a minimum T-Stop of T22 and the Panchro 65/i series is lightweight across the range (1.8kg to 2.3kg).
With new large format cameras such as the Blackmagic URSA 17K and the upcoming FUJIFILM GFX EXTERNA, we are going to start seeing more lens options coming to market that can cover very large sensors.
Cooke was an early supporter of larger format cinema and released limited runs of the Double Speed Panchros and Duopanchros in the early 1950’s to support both VistaVision and 65mm film formats. This combination was used to photograph many great films such as Vertigo (1958), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) and To Catch a Thief (1955).
The Panchro 65/i is said to bring the signature Panchro look to larger formats, widening the lensing options to filmmakers who are embracing this method of capture.
The Panchro aesthetics have been carefully crafted into this new design, delivering the classic feel but for a much larger image circle. Cooke’s lens design principles offer cinematographers enhanced depth and dimensionality, especially in facial features and foreground-background separation. Featuring six fast and lightweight focal lengths, the Panchro 65/i is an ideal lens for today’s shooting environments.
The Panchro 65/i debuts as the first 65mm format smart lens series equipped with Cooke’s intelligent /i technology, futureproofing filmmakers by keeping future productions at the forefront of the technology.
On an Alexa65 this set gives a horizontal angle of view range from 84.1 to 20.2º. On this camera the 30mm focal length would facilitate an angle of view slightly wider than the S8/i 21mm on a full-frame camera.
Cooke will announce the launch date for Panchro 65/i in early 2025 and expects to have demo units available later that year.
