After a kick-off event at the ASC Clubhouse in Hollywood last week, Fujifilm came to Las Vegas with news of Premista, a series of cinema zoom lenses built for large-format sensors and HDR acquisition.
Looking to make sense of the name? Think Premier, as in Fujifilm’s high-performance Super 35mm format premier lenses, and Vista, as in the spacious VistaVision film format whose form factor is being mimicked by more and more digital sensors. As Hollywood productions trend more toward large-format digital cinematography, Fujifilm says there’s an increased need for versatile, high-performance zooms.
A live Premista demo at the MGM Park hotel on Sunday night.
StudioDaily
In an NAB presentation tonight at the MGM Park hotel in Las Vegas, Tom Fletcher, Fujifilm North America’s director of marketing for the optical devices division, said his first strategic impulse when he started at Fujifilm three years ago was a sense that large-format cinematography was the future. That gut feeling, along with lots of conversations with customers, paved the way to the Premista introduction, he said.
Fujinon Premista28-100mmT2.9
Fujifilm
The first Premista lens will be a 28–100mm T 2.9, due in August for a list price of $38,800, followed by an 80–250mm T 2.9-3.5 telephoto model that’s currently under development but scheduled to ship before the end of the year at a list price of $39,800.
Fujinon Premista80-250mmT2.9-T3.5
Fujifilm
The Premista series is built with large-diameter aspherical lens elements, a new focusing and zooming system, and a 13-blade iris design (compared to the nine blades of the Premier lenses) geared toward generating soft bokeh as well as adding depth and even, Fujifilm says, “a sense of atmosphere” to a scene.
But Fletcher cautioned that you shouldn’t read that as an indication that Fujinon is trying to capture the qualities of vintage lenses. “People say to us, ‘Can you build a vintage-look lens?’ That’s not the Fujinon look,” he said. “Our lens is an optically clear lens, with corner-to-corner sharpness. That’s what people like about a Fujinon lens — it’s going to give you natural and controlled color.” Accordingly, ghosts and flares have been reduced, the better to reveal the gradations of color and texture that are captured through HDR.
The two Premista zooms are identical in size and weight.
StudioDaily
The focus rings on the new lenses rotate 280 degrees with a smooth torque, Fujifilm says, and the Premista has been engineered to beat the Premier line when it comes to size and weight — the first two Premista lenses will be 45% lighter, 28% shorter, and have a front element that’s 17% smaller in diameter compared to the Premier HK 18–85mm T2.0 lens. For protection, an extra glass element has been added to the front of the lens to protect the aspheric element underneath it from damage.
Fletcher did offer a few words of caution when it comes to the largest large-format cameras, noting that the Premista lenses will not quite cover the full Arri Alexa 65 sensor area. He suggested that cinematographers test the lenses with the Alexa 65 shooting in one of its lower-resolution modes.
In other news, Fujifilm is extending its UA series of 4K UHD lenses for 2/3-inch camera sensors with three new models, including the UA125x8, a 125x zoom covering an extremely long focal range from 8mm to 1000mm with an f1.7 aperture. Fujifilm said that makes it the longest and widest 4K zoom in the UA series. It uses Fujifilm’s high-transmittance electron beam coating and aspheric lens technology to increase light transmission and reduce flares and ghosting, along with Fuji’s anti-fogging design.
Also new in the UA series are the UA18x7.6 and UA23x7.6, two handheld 4K zooms aimed at a variety of applications.
Fujifilm is also hosting a speaker series at its booth in the Central Hall, C7225, free and open to all show attendees. Here’s the schedule, as provided by Fujifilm:
MONDAY, APRIL 8
10:30 AM
Philip Bloom, Award-winning filmmaker/Director of Photography
“New Era in Affordable Zoom Lenses”
12:00 PM
Melinda Sue Gordon, SMPSP, Motion Picture Still Photographer
“Set Still Photography, Documenting Performance & Process”
2:00 PM
Church Media Panel Discussion
Moderator: Bret Shisler, Fujifilm/FUJINON
Panelists:
John Pipes, Director of Media, Joyce Meyer Ministries
Bryan Bailey, Director of Media, Prestonwood Baptist Church
Bryan Williford, Content Creator, Prestonwood Baptist Church
“A Clearer Vision: the House of Worship and the Arrival of 4K”
4:00 PM
Philip Bloom, Award-winning filmmaker/Director of Photography
“New Era in Affordable Zoom Lenses”
TUESDAY, APRIL 9
10:00 AM
Sports Video Group Panel Discussion
Moderator: Ken Kerschbaumer, Executive Director, SVG
Panelists: Dan Turk, Chief Engineer, US Mobile Units, NEP; Marc Orgera, VP/GM, F&F Productions
“The Future of Sports Imaging”
12:00 PM
Philip Bloom, Award-winning filmmaker/Director of Photography
“New Era in Affordable Zoom Lenses”
2:00 PM
Tom Curran, Cinematographer, Netflix’s Tidying Up with Marie Kondo
“How to Spark Cinematic Joy in Tight Spaces on Tight Schedules for Netflix”
4:00 PM
Barry Andersson, Award-winning director/DP/Author of The DSLR Filmmaker’s Handbook: Real-World Production Techniques
“When and Why Is It Better to Shoot with a Real Cinema Zoom?”
