At NAB Schneider rounded out their Cine Xenon line of full frame primes with the addition of a new 18mm T2.4 lens. Our intrepid reporter Rodney Charters ASC talked to Schneider’s Ron Ayers at the show.
To our knowledge the new 18mm is the fastest full frame wide angle cine lens in existence. It is the same size and feel as the existing Cine Xenons and shares a common 100mm barrel diameter. The main difference is that the 18mm is slightly heavier at about 3.1 lbs, and it does not have the 95mm front thread that allows filters to be mounted to the other Xenon lenses. I assume this is because a filter would risk vignetting with such a wide lens in full-frame, but it would have been nice to have the option to easily add Schneider’s own 95mm variable filter if shooting in Super35.
All Cine Xenon lenses have 14 blade apertures and interchangeable lens mounts. You can easily swap between EF, PL, Sony E and Nikon mounts. If you buy an additional mount you get a shim set so you can ensure the correct flange adjustment.
A 135mm full frame lens is promised by NAB next year.
For more info visit the Schneider website.
