Last month I reported that Canon would be bringing three new Cinema EOS cameras including the Cinema EOS C300S and Cinema EOS C500S that will shoot in 8K, as well as a new dynamic range monster in the Cinema EOS C700DR, which is rumored to have 20+ stops of dynamic range.
Secondly, back in March, I reported that Canon would launch a line of RF mount prime lenses, and I now know which focal lengths we should expect.
The new RF prime lenses will have the same character as the Sumire line of Cinema Prime lenses from Canon.
Canon RF Mount Cinema Prime Lenses
- RF 14mm T/1.5
- RF 18mm T/1.5
- RF 24mm T/1.3
- RF 35mm T/1.3
- RF 50mm T/1.3
- RF 85mm T/1.3
- RF 100mm T/1.5
- RF 135mm T/1.5
We are also going to see two RF mount compact zooms, and two larger zoom lenses announced at the same time.
The source notes, that due to the challenges still affecting lens manufacturing, the prime lens set for the RF mount may come as a development announcement.
The exact announcement date is not yet known, but with NAB 2021 taking place in October, that would seem like a logical time to bring all of this to market.
It's a different design team and cinema lenses are designed very differently. There are prime lenses coming that will interest you.
Canon sells mount for a lot more money than adapters so it kind of would be silly of them not to.
(Though I can see more C300S users opting for focal reducers instead of swapping mounts)
Who does Canon think will be buying these new cameras, if they burn all the current owners?
The $15k-$20k camera market is small and highly competitive, and you’ve got to take care of your customers.
But don’t ever buy a camera today thinking it might be upgraded with firmware tomorrow, buy it for the features it has when you buy it. If that feature set and price works for you get it, whatever make, if not then don’t buy it.
Once the glass elements for lens are manufactured, wouldn't reusing them for a MILC be a low hanging fruit? Are the materials or manual polishing for cinema lenses so expensive, it makes no sense to make a MILC version?
I‘d rather see 114. It’s pretty standard, plus both sets of their existing primes(CN-E & Sumire’s), compact zooms and handheld cine-zooms(17-120 & 25-250) are 114mm. And from a completely selfish standpoint, it’s perfect for me, considering I already own a full set of CN-E primes and a 17-120, so four of my five matte boxes have step-down rings to 114 or are native 114mm.
I don’t really see trying to go down to a 95mm front diameter being that beneficial and especially not inside the already existing Canon ecosystem. It’s actually one of the few complaints I have about the Sigma Cine Primes. I was going to supplement my Canon’s with one of the Sigma’s and the 95mm front was going to make ”just one more thing” I was going to have to deal with and buy more accessories to handle.
Of course, if you are already starting with 95mm or are starting from scratch, you have a different perspective.
Still lenses are generally designed for absolute sharpness, resolution and to reproduce as clean and natural/unadulterated an image as possible. Whereas a lot of lenses designed for “motion picture” work are designed to produce more pleasing results on talent, have gentler focus roll-off, overall warmer look and things like that. We’ve especially been seeing the trend towards deliberately “soft/dirty” lenses over the last 3-5 years, especially as cameras have been increasing in resolution(ironic, huh...?). Some manufacturers are even producing multiple versions of the same lens: One line is “clean” and then a “soft/dirty”/“vintage look” line (character as a lot of people like to call it, now). And charging (sometimes significantly) more for them. Even Canon has done this with the CN-E’s and Sumire’s.
At least with the zooms the optical formula is usually very different. A great example of that is the Sigma 50-100 f1.8. The stills version is an incredibly sharp and beautiful lens but may have more focus breathing than any other lens ever made. The only lens in the world with two zoom rings and no focus ring. The cost of the stills version is $1000 USD. Sigma also sells it as the cine 50-100 T2 for $4000. Because of that there are a couple of companies that witll rehouse your existing lens or sell you rehoused versions so the price comes in at I think $2000. One of the companies that does that has managed to eliminate the focus breathing and made it parfocal but in doing so it loses all of it's sharpness and character. Same glass but how you move the elements when you turn the ring has an effect as well.
The market is very very small. I don’t know where you’re getting your info from, it’s totally 100% at odds with the entire film industry.
My bank account slapping me across the face and yelling my low balance at me:
Me realizing that my hopes and dreams are now crushed:
Me post-realizing that I need a reality check and that I don't need to be spending all this extra money on a new mount that won't improve my filming quality and techniques, and that Canon is just trying to make more money to stay 'hip' against Sony: