Realizing the Impossible

Creating a fast lens with excellent optical performance, a previously unattainable goal, has been made possible through new design and manufacturing techniques as well as exotic glass materials. A crucial factor is the use of aspherical glass surfaces which require ultra-high precision in design and manufacturing. A complex holographic measuring process had to be developed specifically for these lenses.

A widest stop of T1.3 allows shooting in low or available light for more natural-looking shots and a reduction of the lighting budget. In addition, a wide open stop creates the cinematic look of an extremely shallow depth of field.

Breathtaking Performance Even Up Close

Additional features that were previously considered contradictory are good close focus performance and reduced breathing (an unwanted shift in image size when focus is changed). In the past, the close focus performance of a lens could be improved by utilizing a floating element. However, this made it more difficult to control breathing, so lens designers always had to compromise. By using the unique and patented Dual Floating Elements™ technology, Zeiss virtually eliminated breathing in the Master Primes while at the same time keeping the excellent close focus performance already established with the Ultra Primes. This unique combination of features allows for fresh angles and focus pulls that would have previously been impossible, creating new ways to block a scene and new image sequences for cinematographers to explore.

All these advances, combined with the improved T* XP anti-reflex coating, strategically painted lens rims and special light traps, result in lenses with unsurpassed resolution, high contrast and low veiling glare. Even in the darkest corner at night the Master Primes can capture details other lenses simply cannot see.

F R O M    T H E    F I E L D Cinematographers who have used the Master Primes are enthusiastic. Bill Bennett, ASC, put it like this: „These are spectacular lenses, especially considering how fast they are. You guys have done the impossible; you have made them faster and at the same time improved the optical quality! People are going to be shocked because of how good and fast these lenses are. In my tests they looked optically better at T1.3 than other primes at T2!“

Cinematographer Bill Bennett, ASC (Photo: Michael Helms)

Cinematographer Stijn Van der Veken: „The Master Primes are the best lenses in the world! On the set, I love that they show no breathing. Having a lens without breathing gives you more freedom in what you can do. Once you get used to that, it is difficult to go back to lenses that show breathing. I found the Master Primes to have twice the resolution of older lenses and there is an enormous difference in the sharpness. Also they have much more contrast and much less flare.”

Cinematographer Stijn Van der Veken

The improved T* XP anti-reflex coating reduces veiling glare and internal reflexes and creates a pleasing, gentle color balance. Compared to conventional coatings it has a better transmission and a more uniform performance across the lens from optical center to the edges, resulting in higher contrast and deeper, richer blacks.

The above illustration shows the basic principle of how an aspherical lens works. Spherical lenses are subject to „spherical aberration,“ which means that they cannot focus all light rays of a given color frequency onto the same plane. The further away a light ray is from the optical center, the more pronounced this aberration becomes, making this a crucial issue for fast lenses with their larger diameter elements. To compensate for spherical aberration, additional lens elements are needed that make the lens heavier and introduce other performance issues.

Aspherical lenses, on the other hand, are lenses with complex curved surfaces, offering excellent aberration correction and thereby providing superior resolution performance. Aspherical lenses can be made smaller, lighter and in general, better than similar lenses which employ only spherical elements.

 

SMARTER LENSES FOR SAFER & FASTER WORKING

Built-in Lens Data System

All 14 lenses have the Lens Data System (LDS) built-in, showing real-time lens status and depth of field information either on the video assist or on a dedicated Lens Data Display. The Lens Data System gives assistants an extra edge to work faster and more securely, especially when the camera is in remote situations like on a crane or Steadicam.

Special in-camera effects like speed/iris ramps or shutter/iris ramps can be performed much easier, since the camera already knows where all the T-stops are, and no time consuming lens tables are necessary.

Consistent Performance

Most prime lenses are visibly darker in the corners, where they also lose resolution. The Master Primes exhibit an extremely even illumination across the whole Super 35 frame and retain high resolution all the way from the center to the edges. Even better, they can deliver this optical performance wide open and at their close focus setting. With this unique consistency across frame, aperture and focus range, cinematographers can concentrate on the images they want to create instead of having to adjust their style to the shortcomings of their lenses.

Special Optical Effects

The use of aspherical elements and exotic glass types with anomalous partial dispersion, like fluor crown and barium dense flint, greatly reduces chromatic aberration (color fringes). This not only improves the overall image quality, but also leads to better chroma keys.

Since the Master Primes have almost no visible geometric distortion, they accurately reproduce object shapes - straight lines on the set produce straight lines on film. Thus their footage can be matched easier with computer generated imagery than footage created with conventional prime lenses.

Color Matching and Iris Leaves

The whole set of Master Primes are Super Color Matched, so the cinematographer is able to concentrate on creating a look rather than matching lenses in post. Additionally, the iris opening of each Master Prime is created by at least nine high precision leaves, resulting in round and natural-looking out-of-focus highlights.

The Master Primes‘ iris opening stays consistently round and symmetrical over the whole T-stop range. This translates into natural and pleasing out-of-focus highlights and a smooth bokeh (left), here compared to a competing product (right).

 

STATE OF THE ART ERGONOMICS

Lens Ergonomics Re-thought

Camera assistants will appreciate the cam driven optics for an extended focus scale with more space between focus marks for distant shots. In addition, all focus scales are individually calibrated and engraved with large fluorescent markings for better visibility in low light conditions. Torque (the amount of strength needed to rotate a lens ring) has been temperature stabilized and carefully set for the best combination of easy movement and a secure, smooth feel.

To allow assistants to work quickly and comfortably with the Master Primes, the shape of the lens housing has been optimized for the greatest number of lens motor combinations. All Master Primes use internal focusing and their focus and iris rings are in the same position. Matte box, follow focus and lens motors can remain in exactly the same position for each lens change. Except for the extreme focal lengths, all have a uniform front diameter of 114 mm/4.5 inches.

An extended focus scale and individually calibrated and engraved
bright fluorescent focus marks improve the ergonomics of focus pulling.

Better Handling in Rental

Discussions with rental houses have led to further improvements. The focus ring of the Master Primes, for example, has highly accurate scales for both feet and meters engraved. By removing and reversing the focus ring, rentals can quickly switch between meters and feet.

Their rugged construction keeps the lenses functioning even under adverse environmental conditions, but if they should be damaged, serviceability has been improved. Various repairs can be performed without an optical re-adjustment, including exchanging the front ring, exchanging iris and focus rings and adjusting or exchanging LDS components. To avoid unsightly scratches, all gear surfaces have been specially hardened with a Permadur™ surface treatment, making them ten times harder than traditional gear rings.

Both metric and imperial scales are engraved on a single focus ring which can be
easily removed and reversed to switch between feet and meters.

Master Diopters

The Master Primes are accompanied by a set of achromatic close focus diopters that allow the crew to quickly grab an extreme close-up or get a wide angle shot with shallow depth of field, all with unprecedented sharpness and contrast and without the optical aberrations of traditional diopters. The three Master Diopters (+0.5, +1 and +2) are optically matched to the Master Primes for optimal color, contrast and overall image quality. However, since their optical quality is far better than that of conventional diopters, they can also be used with most Ultra Primes, the Lightweight Zoom LWZ-1 and other lenses with excellent results.

Visit the Master Diopters product page for more informations.