Fuji announces new line of cinema lenses for Sony E mount, teases two new X-series lenses for 2018
posted Wednesday, February 22, 2017 at 2:00 PM EST
It's all about lenses for Fujifilm today. The Japanese company has announced two "MK" Super 35-format lenses for Sony E-mount and has also updated its X-mount lens roadmap.
Fujinon MK lenses
Looking first at the pair of MK lenses, the new series is designed for movie production and emerging cinematographers. To this end, the MK lenses are said to offer "advanced edge-to-edge optical performance and low distortion." Further, they are designed to offer integrated color temperature with other Fujinon Cine lenses (HK, ZK and XK series) for simplified color grading when recording video with multiple lenses. MK lenses will offer T2.9 speed across the entire zoom range.
Zoom lenses sometimes struggle with focus shift when zooming, but the MK series' front focusing group and zooming group of lens elements are driven independently to help suppress this issue, meaning you won't need to re-focus after zooming. Similarly, the lenses are also designed to control optical shift while zooming, so that you won't need to adjust your framing as you zoom.
Usability concerns are different for cinema lenses than stills lenses, so the focus ring of MK lenses will rotate 200 degrees, allowing precise focusing. Further, the lenses include three fully manual rings which independently control focus, zoom and iris. Operation rings have a gear pitch of 0.8M which allows for standard third party movie production accessories to be used.
The first MK lens which will be available is a standard zoom lens, the Fujinon MK 18-55mm T2.9. The lens will be available by the end of March and will cost just under US$3,800. A second MK lens, the Fujinon MK 50-135mm T2.9 lens, will cost the same but won't be available until sometime this summer.
Fuji X-mount lens roadmap
In addition to the new cine lenses, Fuji has also added two X-mount lenses to its roadmap for 2018. The X Series of digital cameras launched in 2011 and since its introduction, Fuji has released 24 X-mount lenses.
As you can see in the image above, Fuji intends to release an ultra-wide angle zoom lens and telephoto prime lens in 2018. Fuji already has the XF 10-24mm f/4 R OIS ultra-wide zoom lens, which offers a 15-36mm equivalent focal length, so it will be interesting to see if they opt for a wider zoom, a faster zoom or perhaps both boxes will be ticked when it launches next year. The telephoto lens appears to be primed for the 200 to 300mm focal length range, although it is difficult to tell based on the diagram. Nonetheless, it will be the longest prime lens in Fuji's X-mount lineup as the longest prime now is the XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR lens. Fuji's longest lens is currently the XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR, which while versatile and offering a lot of reach, is certainly not fast, so Fuji shooters looking for a fast telephoto option will likely be excited for 2018.
(Seen via Fuji Rumors)