Fujifilm launches MK Cine lenses

Fujifilm Corporation has unveiled its new MK series of cinema lenses which offer advanced optical performance, plus ultra-compact and lightweight design.

The Fujinon MK18-55mm T2.9, a standard zoom lens with the focal length of 18-55mm, is the first MK lens to be released in March 2017. In the summer, this will be followed by the launch of the Fujinon MK50-135mm T2.9, a telephoto zoom lens offering the focal length of 50-135mm.

The MK lenses inherit Fujinon cine lenses’ advanced edge-to-edge optical performance and low distortion characteristics, whilst also offering a compact and lightweight design.

The MK series offers fast lenses with T2.9 speed across the entire zoom range, enabling a shallow depth-of-field as well as a bokeh effect. The lenses are compatible with E-mount cameras with the Super 35mm/APS-C sensor and the X Mount used in Fujifilm’s “X Series” of digital cameras (APS-C sensor). They achieve advanced optical performance despite their compact and lightweight body by incorporating short flange focal distance into the optical design. The use of optical and mechanical design, optimised for dedicated movie lenses, minimises focal shift and optical axis shift whilst zooming, and lens breathing (change of angle of view during focusing) characteristics that are typically observed in interchangeable lenses for digital cameras. The lenses feature three rings to enable manual and independent adjustment of focus, zoom and iris, all with the gear pitch of 0.8M. The focus ring can rotate up to 200-degrees to facilitate precise focusing. X Mount versions of the MK lenses (focal lengths of 18-55mm and 50-135mm) are being developed for launch by the end of 2017.

In further news, David Webb recently joined Fujifilm’s Optical Devices Division as its cinematography sales and business development manager for UK and Europe. Webb’s experience in the motion picture industry includes 17 years at Kodak, where he was business unit general manager for entertainment imaging, covering the UK, central and Eastern Europe, as well as Middle East and Africa.