Johnnie spoke with Sean Ruggeri at the Laowa booth to talk about two new zoom additions to the Proteus anamorphic lineup: the 24–45mm T2.9 and the 45–85mm T2.9. As with the other Laowa anamorphic lenses, these new zooms feature a 2x squeeze and will be available in amber, silver, and blue flare options. Laowa has come out with a few new products lately, namely, the Probe Zoom Macro Lens Series and 15mm and 20mm Zero-D Shift Cine Lenses. But here at NAB 2025, we focused on these two new zooms, their optical design, and how they might fit into a run-and-gun workflow. Proteus anamorphic zoom lenses. Image credit: CineD Designed for Super 35, but feel free to experiment Both lenses are designed for Super 35 sensors with a 2x squeeze ratio, and while Sean says we’ll most likely see them used with a 6:5 aspect ratio to get the full anamorphic effect, he also adds that there’s always room to experiment depending on your resolution and crop settings. Compact and light The lenses are 19.3cm (7.6in) in length and, notably, light and compact for their class, weighing in at around 2.7kg (6 lbs). That makes them a practical choice for handheld or run-and-gun shooting, where size and weight are typically limiting factors. Close focus and low distortion One standout feature is the minimum focus distance. The 24-45mm focuses down to just 0.5m (19in) from the sensor plane, and the 45-80mm to 0.89m (35in). This allows for tighter framing and is...
Published By: CineD - Yesterday