The first footage has been released from the highly anticipated 25-75mm T2.9 Tokina Cinema lens – just as it becomes available for pre-order.
Shot by Director of Photography Bob Gundu, the imagery ably demonstrates the excellent definition of the 25-75mm T2.9, coupled with the pleasing rendering of background with beautiful foreground separation.
“Using this lens is like having a bag full of high quality primes in a single lens that is the perfect size. This new Tokina zoom has that magical quality of great resolution without being soulless - a characteristic only found on really good zoom lenses,” Gundu said.
Designed from the ground up by Tokina’s cinema division, the 25-75mm T2.9 represents the pinnacle of modern cinema zoom lens design, with features usually reserved for higher cost cinema zooms. It is a constant T2.9 throughout the range, with parfocal operation and excellent zoom tracking with minimal image shift. Lens breathing, distortion and aberration are all highly controlled.
Gundu was also impressed with the versatility and practicality of the zoom and how it allowed him to move quickly from shot to shot: “It’s the perfect match for my RED Komodo. Having a single zoom lens that isn’t too large, yet encompasses the most commonly used focal lengths on a film shoot without sacrificing quality, is amazing. Previous mid-range zoom lenses I’ve used are either compromised by being too large and too costly, or based on modified photo lenses with their inherent issues. This new 25-75mm T2.9 changes all that.”
Image from RED Komodo and Tokina Cinema 25-75mm T2.9 by DP Bob Gundu
The lens slots in between the company’s existing 11-20mm T2.9 and 50-135mm T2.9 cinema zooms. The 3x zoom range allows the lens to remain relatively compact by cinema zoom standards, while attaining optical quality not found in cheaper rival mid-ranged lenses derived from stills or industrial uses. The 2kg weight and moderate size makes it suitable for operation on professional gimbals, Steadicams, jibs and other situations where a larger zoom lens would be inappropriate.
“Having zooms on fast paced commercial shoots is a must for me. I fell in love with the creaminess of the Tokina 50-135 cinema lens and have been waiting eagerly to fill the middle zoom range. This new 25-75mm T2.9 does not disappoint. A zoom that performs this well at this price is pretty incredible,” said Gundu.
The 25-75mm T2.9 Tokina Cinema Lens on-set with the RED Komodo
The 25-75mm T2.9 is designed to cover S35 sensors with a slightly larger coverage circle of 36mm. It is the perfect mid-range zoom for cameras like the RED Komodo, Sony FS series cameras and ARRI Alexa, Alexa Mini and Amira. It will also cover several popular larger sensor models like the RED Helium 8K, RED Dragon 6K, RED Monstro in 6K, Sony FX9 in DCI 4K crop, or the ARRI Alexa LF and Mini LF when shooting in their UHD crop mode.
Image from RED Komodo and Tokina Cinema 25-75mm T2.9 by DP Bob Gundu
The lens weighs in at 2kg and is 174mm long (PL Mount) with a 86mm filter thread, and 95mm front diameter for common cinema accessories. It is robustly constructed of aluminum common with other Tokina Cinema lenses in the series. It features a nine-bladed iris for smooth rendition of out of focus areas.
It has smooth, 0.8 MOD geared rings for focus, iris and zoom and features Tokina’s interchangeable lens mount system. It is available in PL, E-mount, MFT mount and Nikon F mount options.
Tokina also offer a 1.6x Expander in PL-to-PL or PL-to-E-mount that allows the lens to cover Vistavision-sized sensors, giving it the equivalent range of 40-120mm at T4.
First shipments of the 25-75mm T2.9 Tokina Cinema lens will begin in July 2021 and it is now available to pre-order from authorised dealers for $4999 USD plus local taxes.
You can learn more about the Tokina Cinema lens range at the Tokina Cinema USA website.
You can download the hi-resolution demo footage shot by Bob Gundu here.
Additional images can be downloaded here.
Frame grabs from the video by DP Bob Gundu can be downloaded here.
For press information contact Ryan Avery ryan@fktamerica.com (+1-714-330-4966) or Dan Chung dan@crashzoom.com (+44 7900 327121)
