Chinese lens manufacturer DZOFilm has announced two new cinema zoom lenses under its Catta Ace line.
VistaVision image circle
The Catta Ace zoom lenses cover 35-80 mm and 70-135 mm focal lengths. These ranges are the same as the Catta Zoom full-frame lenses available for Sony E and other mirrorless mounts. However, the Catta Ace lenses cover a larger VistaVision image circle of 46.5 mm. They also come with interchangeable lens mounts for Canon EF and Arri PL cameras. In addition, you can get an optional Arri LPL mount.
Build quality
The Catta Ace zoom lenses weigh around 3.6 pounds for the 35-80 mm model, while the 70-135 mm version is slightly heavier at 3.7 pounds. The body of the lenses comes built with black aluminum alloy rather than the white polycarbonate and glass fiber shell of the full-frame models.
Smooth bokeh
The 35-80 mm DZOFilm Catta Ace zoom lens is designed with 20 elements in 15 groups, while the 70-135 mm lens has 17 elements in 11 groups. Both lenses have the same 16-bladed iris design, which should deliver round, smooth bokeh. The lenses also share the same aperture range from T2.9 to T22. The filter thread size of 77 mm is the same on both lenses as well.
Parfocal
The Catta Ace zoom lenses have standard 0.8 pitch gear rings for focus, zoom and aperture. In addition, the focus ring is capable of 270-degree rotation, which will help you smoothly and accurately hit your focus points. DZOFilm has posted video clips to demonstrate that the lenses have minimal focus breathing. This means that the image size shouldn’t change when you pull focus. Unlike most photo lenses, the Catta Ace zoom lenses are parfocal. This means you won’t lose focus when you zoom in or out. The close focus distance is around 2.5 feet for both lenses.
Availability
The DZOFilm Catta Ace 35-80 mm and 70-135 mm cinema zoom lenses each have a retail price of $3899, including a hard case. A set of both lenses is available for $7499 with a hard case. The optional LPL mount is an additional $219. DZOFilm has stated that the Catta Ace zoom lenses will start shipping in March 2022.
