Fujifilm Launches FUJINON MK50-135mm T2.9 Cinema Lens

Fujifilm launches a telephoto zoom MK lens with advanced optical performance, ultra-compact and lightweight design and excellent cost performance

FUJINON MK50-135mm T2.9 cinema lens

Lens design optimized for shooting movies realizes rich image expression and comfortable operability
FUJIFILM Corporation (President: Kenji Sukeno) will release the FUJINON MK50-135mm T2.9 (MK50-135mm) telephoto zoom lens with the focal length of 50-135mm in mid July 2017, following the first launch of the MK series of cinema camera lenses that boast advanced optical performance, ultra-compact and lightweight design and excellent cost performance. The MK50-135mm can be combined with the already-released FUJINON MK18-55mm T2.9 (MK18-55mm) standard zoom lens to form a kit that covers the most frequently-used focal lengths of 18mm to 135mm, accommodating a broader variety of conditions.

The rapid growth in popularity of movies made by emerging cinematographers in recent years including corporate and commercial movies on the Internet and other venues has increased the opportunities of shooting movies using cinema and regular digital cameras, and it boosts demand for high-performance cinema lenses that deliver high resolution and advanced scene-depicting capability. For filming such materials, interchangeable lenses for digital cameras are often used at present, instead of cinema camera lenses, as they are more affordable and mobile. Yet, these lenses are designed primarily for shooting still images, and therefore prone to problems such as focus shift and optical axis shift while zooming, and so on.
In response, Fujifilm developed the MK series of cinema lenses that resolve these issues while offering advanced optical performance, ultra-compact and lightweight design and excellent cost performance. The MK18-55mm, launched in March this year as the first release from the series, has been popular among emerging cinematographers, who praise it for its ease of handling thanks to the compact and lightweight design, and for its edge-to-edge sharpness despite its affordable price point.

The new MK50-135mm, released this time, is a telephoto zoom lens covering the focal length from 50mm to 135mm. It has the maximum T-stop value of 2.9* across the entire zoom range, enabling a shallow depth-of-field as well as a beautiful bokeh effect. The lens is compatible with E-mount** cameras with the Super 35mm*** / APS-C sensor. It incorporates the benefits of short flange focal distance*4 into optical design to the maximum extent to achieve advanced optical performance and its compact and lightweight design. The use of lens design optimized for shooting movies minimizes focal shift and optical axis shift while zooming, and lens breathing (change of angle of view during focusing) that are typically observed in interchangeable lenses for digital cameras. The lens also features three rings to enable manual and independent adjustment of focus, zoom and iris (aperture), all with the gear pitch*5 of 0.8M (module). The focus ring can rotate fully up to 200 degrees to facilitate precise focusing. These features make the lenses comfortable to operate.The MK50-135mm can be combined with the MK18-55mm to form a kit that covers the most frequently-used focal length between 18mm and 135mm, accommodating a variety of subject matters including landscape, The MK50-135mm can be combined with the MK18-55mm to form a kit that covers the most frequently-used focal length between 18mm and 135mm, accommodating a variety of subject matters including landscape, architecture and portraiture. They share the common front element diameter, filter thread and three-ring gear positions, allowing users to share the use of the same accessories such as matte box and filters. This eliminates the need to re-adjust accessory positions when changing between these lenses, streamlining operations in frontline video production.

The X Mount versions of MK lenses (with the focal lengths of 18-55mm and 50-135mm) for Fujifilm’s X Series of digital cameras (APS-C sensor) are currently under development, and due to be released by the end of this year.

FUJINON lenses offered by Fujifilm have been used at movie / CM / TV production sites around the world for their advanced scene-depicting capability. Tapping into its optical, high-precision processing and assembly technologies that have been nurtured over the years in the cutting-edge field of video production, Fujifilm will continue to expand its lens lineup to meet the diverse needs at the video production frontlines.

• *T-stop value is an index that indicates brightness of a lens based on its F-stop value and transmission rate. The smaller the value, the greater amount of light the lens transmits.
• **Lens mount format developed by SONY Corporation
• ***Super 35mm is a standard format for motion film cameras using 35mm film stock, and refers to a sensor size used in many cinema cameras.
• *4Distance from lens mounting reference plane to sensor
• *5Distance between gear teeth

1. Product name, release date

Product name : FUJINON MK50-135mm T2.9
Release date : Mid July 2017

2. Main product features

(1) Advanced optical performance, packed into the compact and lightweight lens barrel

• The MK50-135mm covers the focal length of 50mm to 135mm. When combined with the MK18-55mm standard zoom lens, they form a kit that covers 18mm to 135mm, the most frequently-used focal length in video production.
• The MK50-135mm supports E-mount cameras with Super 35mm / APS-C sensor. It achieves advanced optical performance despite its compact and lightweight body, weighing just 980g, by incorporating the benefits of short flange focal distance into optical design to the maximum extent. This accommodates shooting with a limited number of people.
• The MK50-135mm has T2.9 speed across the entire zoom range which facilitates the increasingly popular style of bokeh effect with shallow depth-of-field. This also eliminates the need to re-adjust lighting, thereby contributing to shortening shooting time.
• The MK50-135mm offers advanced edge-to-edge optical performance and low distortion*6. It is designed with integrated color temperature with other FUJINON CINE lenses in the HK / ZK / XK series to simplify color grading*7 that is required when using a combination of multiple lenses.

• *6Distortion refers to a phenomenon in which an image formed through a lens becomes partially contracted or extended at the edges.
• *7Processes of correcting colors during video editing

(2) Resolving issues associated with using interchangeable lenses for still digital cameras in video production

• The front focusing group of lens elements and the zooming group of lens elements are driven independently from one another to suppress focus shift while zooming which eliminates the need to re-focus after zooming in or out. The optical and mechanical approach means there is no time lag as seen in an electrical control system.
• The use of the front inner-focusing system controls lens breathing (change of angle of view during focusing), so as to achieve smooth focusing in an impressive scene.
• Manufacturing technology developed for conventional FUJINON cine lenses is applied to control optical axis shift while zooming, ensuring to achieve intended composition every time.

(3) Comfortable operability required as a dedicated video lens

• The focus ring features a rotation of a full 200 degrees to facilitate precise focusing even when shooting with a shallow depth-of-field where a high degree of precision is required.
• The lens features three fully manual rings to enable independent adjustment of focus, zoom and iris. The fully manual mechanism adopted for not only the zoom ring but also the focus and aperture rings, enables intuitive operations that cannot be attained with an electrical mechanism, which typically causes time lag.
• All the operation rings have a gear pitch of 0.8M, the same as all other FUJINON cine lenses, which allows the use of any standard third party accessories for video production, e.g. Follow Focus that enable accurate and smooth focusing.
• The iris supports seamless adjustment free of clicking. This enables precise exposure adjustment while also preventing camera shake from clicking as well as clicking noise.

(4) Standardized design with the MK18-55mm for ease of operation

• The MK50-135mm shares the same front diameter of 85mm and filter thread of 82mm with the MK18-55mm, allowing users to make a shared use of matte box and filters.
• The two lenses also share the same three-ring gear positions, eliminating the need to re-adjust accessory positions when changing between these lenses.
• The MK50-135mm offers macro mechanism with the minimum object distance*8 of 0.85m (wide angle-end), broadening the types of scenes that can be covered with a single lens.
• The MK50-135mm features the Flange Focal Distance adjustment function*9 to achieve optimum camera and lens matching, thereby bringing out the lens’s full optical performance.

• *8Distance from the image-forming plane to a subject
• *9The position of lens’s image-forming plane can be adjusted according to each camera’s flange focal distance (distance from lens mounting reference plane to sensor).

3. Main specifications

• *10Sensor size : 24.84mm x 13.97mm