Fujifilm Photography News and Rumors

Fujifilm launches “FUJINON Premista19-45mmT2.9”
– Premista Series’ wide-angle zoom for cinema cameras, compatible with large-format sensors
– Natural image with little distortion throughout the entire zoom range
– Powerful tool for producing high-quality video

TOKYO, January 14, 2021 — FUJIFILM Corporation (President: Kenji Sukeno) is pleased to announce that the “Premista19-45mmT2.9” (Premista19-45mm), a wide-angle zoom covering focal lengths from 19mm to 45mm, will be released on January 28, 2021 as the third model to join the Premista Series of cinema zoom lenses. The Premista19-45mm supports large-format sensors* and delivers outstanding high resolution, natural and beautiful bokeh, and rich tonality with HDR (high dynamic range).

The Premista19-45mm is a compact and premium-quality wide-angle zoom lens, developed with Fujifilm’s optical technology nurtured over many years. It effectively controls distortion** to deliver natural images with little distortion across the entire zoom range.

Fujifilm strongly supports high-quality video production for a variety of scenes by covering wide-angle focal length and widening the range of focal length to 19-250mm, thanks to the addition of Premista19-45mm to the Premista series which prepares the standard zoom and telephoto zoom.

*Large image sensors that measure 43.2-46.3mm diagonally. Sensor is larger than the super 35mm sensors, which is the standard format for cinema cameras.
**Image distortion that tends to occur when shooting at wide-angle focal lengths.

In recent years, there has been an increased uptake of cinema cameras equipped with large-format sensors capable of delivering high-quality and richly-expressive footage at sites producing premium-quality video such as Hollywood movies. Prime lens, which has outstanding optical performance, are regularly used among lenses compatible with the large-format sensors. However, when shooting with prime lenses, it is necessary to change lenses depending on the scene. Thus, there is a growing demand for zoom lenses which requires less replacement and capable of shooting high quality video.

In 2019, Fujifilm released both a standard and telephoto zoom lenses as part of the Premista Series of zoom lenses for high-performance cinema cameras equipped with a large-format sensor. The series has been praised by professionals at the frontline of video production for its edge-to-edge sharpness and a wide range of focal lengths for exceptional convenience.

The Premista19-45mm is a wide-angle zoom lens that offers a constant T-stop of 2.9*** across its focal lengths from 19mm to 45mm. Featuring large-diameter aspherical lens elements and a unique zooming system, the lens achieves an astonishing level of edge-to-edge sharpness. Additionally, distortion is effectively reduced even at the widest focal lengths, delivering natural footage with minimal distortion across the entire zoom range. Furthermore, the use of proprietary optical simulation technology and mechanical design technology enables a compact yet robust lens body measuring 228mm and weighing 3.3kg. The new zoom lens can be utilized for handheld shooting using a steadicam*4 or high-angle shooting using a crane. Similar to the standard and telephoto zooms, the Premista19-45mm supports “ZEISS eXtended Data”, which can record metadata*5 when shooting, thereby reducing video-editing workload in post-production and facilitating efficient video production.

Fujifilm has led the cinema industry since its foundation in 1934 to achieve domestic production of photographic and motion picture films in Japan. Fujifilm will continue to tap into optical, high precision forming and assembling technologies that have been nurtured in the field of cutting-edge video production to develop a wide range of lenses, thereby addressing diverse needs.

***An index stating the brightness of the lens, taking into account the F value and transmittance. The smaller the value, the greater amount of light the lens passes to the sensor.
*4Equipment that controls camera shake during handheld shooting to record stable video.
*5Information such as focus, zoom and iris position.

1. Product name
FUJINON Premista19-45mmT2.9

2. Release date
January 28, 2021

3. Main features
(1) Compatible with large-format sensors to deliver outstanding high resolution, natural and beautiful bokeh and rich tonality

• By featuring large-diameter aspherical lens elements polished to ultimate precision and Fujifilm’s unique zooming system, the Premista19-45mm effectively corrects chromatic aberration. This resolves images across the frame to produce impressive sharpness and clarity.
• The lens effectively reduces distortion, which tends to occur when shooting at wide-angle focal lengths, to achieve natural scene description regardless of subject distance and zoom position.
• The 13-blade iris design forms a near-perfect circular aperture. It produces natural and beautiful bokeh when the aperture is set for a shallow depth-of-field, which is a characteristic of large-format sensors.
• The use of cutting-edge optical design and Fujifilm’s unique coating process allows minimal ghosts and flares thoroughly to maintain rich tonality for premium-quality video based on HDR.

(2) Wide-angle zoom covering focal lengths from 19mm to 45mm

• The Premista19-45mm is a wide-angle zoom lens that offers a T-stop value of 2.9 across its focal length range from 19mm to 45mm. It covers the focal lengths equivalent to five prime lenses*6, thereby reducing the need to change a lens for fast and efficient video shooting.
• The lens can form a kit with the Premista Series’ standard and telephoto zooms to cover focal lengths from 19mm to 250mm, accommodating wide-angle shooting to include background as well as telephoto shooting to zoom in on a subject.

*6Five prime lenses for cinema cameras compatible with large-format sensors with focal lengths of 21mm, 25mm, 29mm, 35mm, and 40mm.

(3) Compact design and excellent robustness at the same time

• The use of proprietary optical simulation technology and mechanical design technology enables a compact yet robust lens body measuring 228mm and weighing 3.3kg, withstanding harsh professional shooting conditions. The Premista19-45mm can be used for handheld shooting using a steadicam or high-angle shooting using a crane.

(4) Advanced and excellent operability

• The Premista19-45mm shares the same front diameter and gear position for the focus, zoom and iris operating rings as the Premista Series’ standard and telephoto zooms. This allows the shared use of accessories such as a matte box, which reduces issues such as flares and ghosts, and a follow-focus system that enables smooth and accurate focusing. There is no need to re-adjust accessory positions at the time of swapping lenses, thereby providing efficient operability.
• The lens features a Flange Focal Distance adjustment mechanism*7, allowing users to easily adjust the flange focal distance by simply rotating a ring on the lens barrel to correct shifts in the flange focal distance caused by rapid temperature changes at a shooting location. The focus ring has a wide rotation angle of 280 degrees and gives smooth torque during rotation for precise focusing and excellent operability. Fluorescent paint is applied to index marks on the focus, zoom and iris rings so that these settings can be visibly checked even at night or in a dark room. The focus index can be displayed in feet or meters.

*7This function can adjust the lens’s image-forming plane to the optimum position according to each camera’s flange focal distance (the distance from the lens’s mounting reference plane to the image sensor).

(5) Compatible with the ZEISS eXtended Data

• The lens supports “ZEISS eXtended Data”, developed by Carl Zeiss in compliance with the “/i^® Technology*8” communication protocol. It allows users to record metadata during video shooting as well as to correct lens distortion and light fall-off at the corners*9, thereby reducing video-editing workload in post-production and facilitating efficient video production.

*8/i is a trademark or registered trademark of Cooke Optics Limited.
*9Separate compatible devices may be required depending on the camera used.

Fujinon Premista 19-45mm T2.9: B&H Photo
Fujinon Premista 28-100mm T2.9: B&H Photo / Adorama
Fujinon Premista 80-250mm T2.9: B&H Photo / Adorama