Angenieux Optimo Primes Announced – Full Frame & Interchangeable Mounts

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by Olaf von VossMay 29^th, 2019

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Think Hollywood. And now add the word “Zoom”. Like no other brand in the moving picture industry, the name Angénieux is tied to these two buzzwords. However, the very same company just announced a very different set of lenses: Angénieux Optimo Primes, a complete set of 12 prime lenses, ranging from 18mm all the way up to 200mm.

Modern zooms lenses, no matter what brand, are most likely based on findings by the late Pierre Angénieux. Specifically his findings about zoom lenses with mechanical compensation and retro focusing elements are still implemented in most professional zoom lenses built today.

Angenieux is known for their top notch cinema zoom lenses, such as the famous Optimo Style 25-250mm T3.5 or their EZ-1 and EZ-2 zooms. But what about prime lenses? In order to mix’n’match Angénieux zoom lenses with other brands prime lenses at least a little bit of tweaking in post is necessary and since we’re talking about optical devices there’s no such thing as a 100% match.

Angénieux Optimo Primes

Enter Optimo Primes. These freshly announced prime lenses inherit all of Angénieux’ look and feel but with fixed focal lengths. In other words: They match the readily available zooms perfectly. There will be a total of 12 Optimo Prime lenses:

Q3 2020

• 21mm T1.8
• 28mm T1.8
• 40mm T1.8
• 50mm T1.8
• 75mm T1.8
• 135mm T1.8

Q4 2020

• 18mm T1.8
• 32mm T1.8
• 100mm T1.8

Q2 2021

• 24mm T1.8
• 60mm T1.8
• 200mm T1.8

Each of these 12 Optimo Prime lenses offers a massive 46.5mm image circle (larger than full frame) which is just .7mm shy of the RED MONSTRO’s and WEAPON’s VV 8K FF requirement of 47.19mm. Furthermore the Optimo Prime lenses come with a interchangeable mount system which supports LPL, XPL, PL, Nikon F, Canon EF, and Panavision XL mounts.

Family portrait (18mm & 200mm still missing here)

Lens data comes in two flavors: Cooke/i and Arri LDS will be supported. I think the interchangeable mounts paired with the large image circle and the built in support for lens data makes this set of lenses pretty versatile and future proof.

Pricing and Availability

You guessed it: Since these Optimo Primes bear the name Angénieux, they won’t be cheap. At all. Prepare your wallet (and yourself) for around $23,000 – $31,000 per lens, depending on the focal length of choice. The first six lenses will be ready in Q3 2020, the full kit will be available by spring 2021.

Link: bandpro | Angénieux

Do you have some spare coins to spend? What do you think about Angénieux entering the prime lens market? Share your thoughts in the comments below!