Main Features at a Glance:

• Unique look through rectilinear design: extreme wide, but straight lines stay straight
  
  
• The widest rectilinear cine lens ever built that covers ANSI Super 35
  
  
• Ultra Prime optical quality: maximum resolution & contrast with almost no geometric distortion
  
  
• Zeiss T* XP lens coating for minimal veiling glare
  
  
• Color matched to Master Primes, Ultra Primes, Lightweight Zoom LWZ-1 and Ultra 16 lenses ts
  
  
• Radical aspherical front element keeps size & weight down
  
  
• Ultra Primes now have the largest focal range of any modern Super 35 prime lens set: 8 - 180 mm

 

The unique look of the Ultra Prime T2.8/8R is based on its rectilinear design (the "R" in its name stands for "rectilinear"). In contrast to a fisheye lens, a rectilinear lens keeps straight lines straight and creates an image that covers the entire ANSI Super 35 aperture. Both the Ultra Prime 10 mm and 12 mm are also rectilinear wide angle lenses.

With the Ultra Prime 8R, Zeiss used the latest technological advances to keep the high optical and ergonomic standard of the Ultra Primes in an 8 mm design. This was no easy feat since the wider a lens gets, the more difficult it is to keep image quality at an optimum. This explains why many lens manufacturers shy away from building extreme wide angle lenses - building such a lens in a rectilinear design is even more difficult.

The front element of the Ultra Prime 8R is a radically shaped aspherical lens element that is produced using semiconductor technology, resulting in high optical quality while substantially reducing size and weight. In fact, the Ultra Prime 8R is smaller than the 10 or 12 mm Ultra Primes - a revolutionary size for an 8 mm lens - and weighs only 2/3rds of the 10 mm weight. An extreme wide angle lens with a small form factor not only speeds up work on the set, it can also be employed in unusual places. It gives the cinematographer ample room to place lights when working close to the actors and allows the lens to skim past objects that are very close to the optical axis for shots that were not possible before. As an extra benefit, the Ultra Prime 8R can be used on the ARRIFFLEX 16 SR3 (when the viewfinder is rotated up for clearance, of course).

 

Special optical glass with anomalous partial dispersion, a floating element, exotic glass materials and internal focusing do their part to ensure that the Ultra Prime 8R shares the family traits of its siblings. Like the other Ultra Primes, the Ultra Prime 8R

• covers the whole ANSI Super 35 image area (24.9mm x 18.7mm/0.980" x 0.7362"),
  
  
• is super color matched to guarantee seamless cuts between scenes and to avoid time consuming  color matching in post,
  
  
• has minimized chromatic aberration and almost no geometric distortion,
  
  
• shows maximum contrast and resolution consistently over the entire focus range including unrivaled close focus performance,
  
  
• shares special light absorption techniques and the Carl Zeiss T* XP multi-layer anti-reflex coating for negligible veiling glare,
  
  
• has the focus and iris rings in the same position as the other Ultra Primes for fast and easy lens changes and
  
  
• shares the same robust and reliable construction that is appreciated by rental houses since it minimizes downtime.

Because the Ultra Prime 8R has an extremely wide angle of view, it does not work with most regular matte boxes, necessitating a new front shade for the ARRI Lightweight Matte Box LMB-4. With this new shade, the LMB-4 becomes the LMB-4A. When mounted on the Ultra Prime 8R, the LMB-4A can accept two 6.6 x 6.6 filters. A new set of masks allows the LMB-4A to still give ample flare protection for the longer Ultra Primes. 

The Ultra Prime T2.8/8R extends the range of Ultra Prime lenses at the extreme wide end. Together with the 10, 12, 14 and 16 mm Ultra Primes, these lenses provide the most complete wide angle selection in any modern prime lens set. Thus the Ultra Primes now offer 16 different focal lengths for every cinematic need, from the only telephoto lens designed specifically for motion  pictures, the Ultra Prime 180 mm, to the new Ultra Prime 8R, giving you the flexibility to get the coverage you want.

 

T* XP is the trademark for the improved Zeiss anti-reflex lens coating that reduces veiling glare and other reflections. XP stands for extended performance.