Building on the success of the well-regarded CP.2 lenses, ZEISS's CP.3 Compact Prime Lenses offer the same full-frame sensor coverage and classic ZEISS look in an updated form-factor and with improved mechanics and lens coatings. This lens also includes the new eXtended Data connections which transmit essential lens metadata through both a Cooke /i interface on the mount itself and a 4-pin LEMO connection on the lens body.

This 18mm Compact Prime lens features an improved optical design over the CP.2 variant and shares the same physical length as the 15, 21, 25, 28, 35, 50, and 85mm CP.3 lenses while maintaining identical focus and iris gear positioning with the entire set of CP.3 lenses, relative to the mount. All CP.3 lenses also share the same 95mm front diameter. Similar physical attributes across the lens line makes fitting lens accessories such as matte boxes, follow focuses, lens supports, and lens control motors easier and less time consuming.

Another feature handed down from the preceding CP.2 lenses is the interchangeable mounts. This lens comes with a PL mount installed. Though, if you wish to fit your CP.3 lens to a different camera, the lens mount can be swapped by the user for a separately available mount of a different kind. If you like the bokeh in your images to be round, even after stopping down, you will be pleased to know that the 14-bladed iris from the CP.2 has not been left out of the optical design.

Note: While the CP.3 lenses are designed for a degree of user-serviceability regarding the mount, for ideal performance and calibration, B&H recommends that mount swaps and other lens adjustments be done by a trained lens technician at a service center.

Covers Full-Frame Format    PL Mount    T2.9 to T22 Aperture Range    Geared Focus and Iris Control Rings    Clickless Iris Ring    14-Blade Iris    eXtended Data (XD) and /i Connections    Classic ZEISS Image Rendering    Improved Ergonomics over Last-Gen CP.2    Lens Scale Marked in Feet

Combining Cooke's /i lens metadata protocol with Zeiss-specific datasets for each lens enables focal length, focus position, iris setting, and depth-of-field calculation metadata transmission to a wide range of cameras and production equipment. All information is transmitted in real-time through the 12-o'clock positioned pins on the PL mount and 4-pin LEMO port on the barrel of the lens and is captured for every individual frame. The lens data can be leveraged for accurate focus pulling when combined with a rangefinder or recorded alongside the video footage and applied in post-production. In particular, the recording of Zeiss-specific datasets enable DITs using Pomfort or DaVinci Resolve software to analyze recorded footage to remove distortion and shading in post-production.

One advantage to this system lies in the fact that a production team can save the time in pre-production normally spent mapping out each lens's distortion manually with focus charts. The eXtended Data workflow is both more precise and quicker saving both time and money on productions, especially ones that plan on using VFX.

Zeiss lenses are known for their clean and crisp image rendering. The CP.3 series of lenses is no different. This CP.3 lens will accurately color-match to other Zeiss cinema lenses inside and out of the CP.3 range. The CP.3 lenses feature improved lens coatings and anti-reflection masking over the CP.2 range for increased contrast and reduced flare, important for capturing content with the intent of an HDR-format release.

For enhanced ergonomics over the previous-generation CP.2 lenses, the CP.3 lens barrel has been reshaped to be more similar to the renowned Zeiss Ultra Prime lenses. This new shape is easier to handle, and takes up less physical space than the original Compact Prime design. An even weight distribution ensures that these lenses will be at home handheld, locked down on a tripod, or flown on a steadicam or motorized gimbal.

Related Questions and Answers

Q: 1. The Red Weapon Helium s35 8K FF has a 33.8mm image circle. If the Leica Summicron C 18mm has a 36mm image circle do we loose any of the image when using this lens on this camera?

A: You are correct on the numbers of both image circles. Since all that is needed is a lens image circle that is bigger than the sensor image circle, you are good to go in this instance.

Q: 2. Does the design of this 18mm come with floating elements to optimize the close focus? Thanks.

A: The Leitz Cine 18mm T2.0 Summicron-C Lens (PL Mount, Marked in Feet) has a minimum focus distance of 1 foot or 0.3 meters.

Q: 3. Would this lens vignette on an Alexa Mini shooting in 4K or open gate mode?

A: Zeiss 21-100mm T2.9-3.9 Lightweight Zoom LWZ.3 Lens creates the standard ANSI S35 image circle of 31.1mm. The image circle of and ARRI Alexa Mini is 33.59mm. So unfortunately this lens will not cover that sensor. You will need a full frame lens in order to do this.

Q: 4. Is there a servo available with this Zeiss lens?

A: A servo controller is not available for the ZEISS Lightweight Zoom LWZ.3.

Q: 5. Does the lens data contain lens distortion information?

A: The Cooke 21mm T2.2 Panchro/i Classic Prime Lens uses /i Technology which is a metadata protocol that enables film and digital cameras to automatically record key lens data for every frame shot. /i Technology data includes focal length, focus distance, zoom position, near and far focus, hyper focal distance, T-stop, horizontal field of view, entrance pupil position, distortion and shading data.

Q: 6. Does it have a 1/4 -20 thread on the bottom for a lens support?

A: The ZEISS Light Weight Zoom features a 3/8 support collar for lens support.

Q: 7. Have they fixed their aperture communication problem with Sony? Loxia lenses have issues with bodies newer than A7iii

A: The Zeiss Nano Primes do not share components with Loxia, and are fully compatible with all Sony E-mount cameras. Zeiss has tested them extensively on everything from an A7IV to the Burano & Venice and they have discovered no compatibility issues.

Q: 8. How does the focal length of these lenses on a full frame body like the LF compare to master primes on super35mm?

A: This lens can cover a full frame sensor. If used on a camera that is Full Frame it will give you an 18mm view. If you use it on a camera that has a Super 35mm Sensor it will give you a 27mm field of view.

Q: 9. Will the E mount version crop on the sony FS7? Or does it remain 20-100mm?

A: The ZEISS Lightweight Zoom LWZ.3 is designed to cover an APS-C / Super 35 sensor size, which is the same as used on the Sony FS7 camera. So there are no crop issues with this lens and camera combination.

Q: 10. Can lwz.3 cover whole red weapon's 8k sensor?

A: The ZEISS LWZ.3 does a good job of covering the RED Helium 8K Super35 sensor. If you record in either 8K WS (1.85:1) or 8K HD (1.78:1) mode in the camera, then the 21-100 image circle is large enough to project a complete image, with slight darkening of the edges when in the widest zoom setting. When in the 8K FF (Full Frame) setting, you will see vignetting around the top and bottom of the frame. If you go past 23mm to 25mm, the image becomes quite clean from edge to edge.