Vazen announces the 65mm T2 1.8x anamorphic lens for MFT camera systems, rounding out the 3 lens lineup

Anamorphic lens specialist Vazen has announced its new 65mm T2 1.8x anamorphic lens for the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) system will cost $3,250 and is ready to ship immediately. The new lens completes the 1.8x MFT lens lineup, according to the company, alongside its 28mm T2.2 and 40mm T2 counterparts.

When used with the full 4:3 MFT sensor, the lens will produce a 2.39:1 ratio aspect image once the footage is desqueezed. Shooting in the 16:9 ratio, frames will end up 3.2:1 and will probably need cropping, so cameras that can record from the whole sensor work best. On a MFT camera, the horizontal angle of view will give users the width we’d expect using a 72mm lens on a full frame system, so this is the lens to use for portraits and moderately distant subjects.

In common with the other lenses in the series the 65mm T2 uses a front anamorphic design to make the most of oval out-of-focus highlights and the characteristic flare from point light sources. Vazen, however, claims the flare isn’t too saturated or over-powering. Like the 28mm, the 65mm lens does have a thread for filters, and accepts 86mm screw-in sizes or 95mm using the Vazen adapter. As you would expect, the focus and aperture rings are equipped with 0.8mod cine gears for focus pullers, and the focus throw is 300° from the closest position of 1.09m/3.6ft to infinity. The lens weighs 1.68kg/3.7lbs and measures 105x185mm.

These lenses are a good deal less money than models from most other anamorphic producers, such as Cooke, but are also bigger, heavier and more expensive than those offered by Sirui — though the Sirui lenses have a 1.33x squeeze rather than the 1.8x of these Vazen models.

Owners of the existing 28mm or 40mm lenses will be able to get a discount of $400 when they buy this new 65mm lens, and those wanting the whole set of three can buy a kit for $8950 instead of the $9750 cost of buying them individually. For more information see the Vazen website.

Press release:

Vazen launches the 65mm T2 1.8x Anamorphic Lens for Micro Four Thirds cameras

Shenyang China, Nov 30, 2020 – Vazen, a new Chinese cinema lens brand, has announced the pricing and shipping availability of the Vazen 65mm T2 1.8x Anamorphic Lens for Micro Four Thirds (M43) cameras. In addition to the previously launched 28mm and 40mm, the whole Micro Four Thirds 1.8x Anamorphic lens set is now completed.

All the Vazen 1.8x anamorphic lenses feature a front anamorphic design. It delivers a buttery smooth oval bokeh, signature blue but not overly saturated, horizontal flare and the widescreen cinematic look. The lens delivered an outstanding sharpness, even at wide open, which is unmatched by other anamorphic lenses with similar squeeze ratio. Vazen chose to adopt a 1.8x squeeze design to balance the anamorphic characters as well as the resolution of the image. The 1.8x produces a stronger anamorphic character than 1.33x / 1.5x anamorphic lenses. And when it’s paired up with 16:9 sensors, much less data (vs 2X anamorphic lens) is needed to be cropped away to create the desired 2.39:1 ratio.

The Vazen 1.8x works best with 4:3 ratio sensors like Panasonic GH5, Z-CAM E2, Panasonic BGH1 to produce the cinematic 2.39:1 ratio. It also works well with Blackmagic Pocket 4k cinema cameras.

The lens is designed with a 86mm filter thread and 95mm front diameter. Both aperture and focus rings are built with 0.8 mod gears.

Pricing & Availability

The lens is currently available to order from authorized resellers and in Vazen website (http://www.vzlens.com/). It is available to ship immediately.

The retail price in US is USD 3,250/pc. USD 400 discount will be offered to any existing Vazen 40mm / 28mm owners.