# Cinematic Image Reimagined: Introducing Sumire Prime Lenses From Canon



## Canon Rumors Guy (Apr 3, 2019)

> Press Release:
> The Company’s First Set of PL-Mount Cinema Prime Lenses Merge the Art and Science of Cinematography
> MELVILLE, NY, April 3, 2019 – Covering the core range of focal lengths that cinema professionals desire, Canon U.S.A. Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, is excited to announce the company’s first set of seven cinema prime PL-Mount lenses, aptly named Sumire Prime. Pronounced “Soo-mee-ray,” the word is of Japanese origin and is associated with a floral gentleness and beauty. Sumire Prime Lenses offer a unique artistically pleasing look with gentle and beautiful skin tones and smooth bokeh, designed for use with large-sensor cinema cameras, including 35mm full-frame cameras such as the EOS C700FF Cinema Camera.
> 
> In addition to bright T-stops and Canon’s renowned warm-color imagery, a unique optical design introduces a nuanced look as the lens aperture approaches its maximum setting – subtly modifying the textural renderings of the human face closeup. It also...



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## CanonGrunt (Apr 3, 2019)

oooooh, ahhhhhh! 

but that price tag... ouch..


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## bsbeamer (Apr 3, 2019)

Almost $52K for the full set and there's not even a package to "get them all for $50K with a custom Pelican case"? Unfortunately will never be able to own them, but may even be out of the realistic realm of rental unless there's a super special anytime soon.


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## jeffa4444 (Apr 3, 2019)

Its the world I pay the rent in. Canon have seriously tough competition from Zeiss, Cookes, Leica, Arri, Vantage, Angenieux, Tamron, Sigma and the industry leader in optics, Panavision. 

Were see how they perform when we can get a set on our projector & MTF bench plus have shot some material.


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## HarryFilm (Apr 3, 2019)

Oh well.... They're at least a LOT CHEAPER than a set of Leitz Summilux-C where you're getting into the $260,000 U.S. range. Arri/Zeiss Master Primes are also getting up there into the $220,000 U.S. range!
I would say these are probably quite comparable to Schneider-Kreuznach Cine-Xenar-3 set of lenses which ARE BEAUTIFULLY MADE !!! They are about in the same price range and quality level.
See Cine-Xenar-3 link:


https://www.schneideroptics.com/ecommerce/CatalogSubCategoryDisplay.aspx?CID=1842


I DEFINITELY LIKE that the Canon's are T1.5 (i.e. they're FAST lenses!) so bokeh will be primo quality!

---

I should note though that some pretty severe competition is coming out pretty soon now, so Canon had better start delivering in terms of the price vs quality ratio!
.


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## Hector1970 (Apr 3, 2019)

Glad they listen to cinematographers. They could do at times with listening to photographers.
Would they be good as Photography lens (if money was no object)


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## maves (Apr 3, 2019)

Give us a stills version of the 20 1.5! An EF 20mm 1.4L has been high on my wishlist for some time!


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## RunAndGun (Apr 4, 2019)

Kind of surprised at the big jump in price. The Sumire's are basically double the price of my 'original' CN-E set.


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## HarryFilm (Apr 4, 2019)

RunAndGun said:


> Kind of surprised at the big jump in price. The Sumire's are basically double the price of my 'original' CN-E set.




I'm pretty sure Canon is using NEW optical formulas and glass compositions to ensure compatability with DCI 8K (8192 by 4320) pixel imaging which means you need a SHARPER LENS than what was/is on the Canon CN-E line-up. This means that the Canon C300 Mk3 PROBABLY is getting a new 6K and/or 8K sensor upgrade this year to take advantage of the new lenses. That also means a big jump in pricebecuase of all those newly require glass reformulations.
.


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## criscokkat (Apr 4, 2019)

maves said:


> Give us a stills version of the 20 1.5! An EF 20mm 1.4L has been high on my wishlist for some time!


It's a manual focus lens. You can already do it with several adapters already on the market for either.

Now, if you want an autofocus lens, then yeah, you'll need to wait a bit. I suspect we'll see some of these designs on the R-mount.


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## RunAndGun (Apr 4, 2019)

HarryFilm said:


> I'm pretty sure Canon is using NEW optical formulas and glass compositions to ensure compatability with DCI 8K (8192 by 4320) pixel imaging which means you need a SHARPER LENS than what was/is on the Canon CN-E line-up. This means that the Canon C300 Mk3 PROBABLY is getting a new 6K and/or 8K sensor upgrade this year to take advantage of the new lenses. That also means a big jump in pricebecuase of all those newly require glass reformulations.
> .



Have you looked at the demo’s? “Anti-Sharpness” was the priority with these. They have less contrast and ”halate” on purpose wide open. “Resolving” more detail for higher resolution sensors was not the priority. I’d also have to see some definitive documentation that these are a completely new design. If they are, they missed a good opportunity to align(or at least close the gap on the extreme ends) the set with regards to aperture speed. Especially the 14mm. They seem like a very specialized design/specific purpose use instead of something like the original CN-E’s or Ultra Primes or Master Primes or Sigma’s, etc. where it’s a clean lens and if you need to ‘dirty it up’ you can easily do it with filtration. I understand that the soft, low-contrast, highly-susceptibile-to-flare look is en-vogue right now(Tokina just introduced a speciality version of their Cinema Vistas with just a single coating on the front element to reduce contrast and make the lens flare), but eventually people will want ‘clean’ glass again. I’m sure some great work will be done with them and I can see their use in the right situation/context/mood, etc., but I’d personally rather own a clean lens that can be made “soft” with filtration than a lens that is always going to be like that. I guess I’ll just stick with my set of original CN-E’s. 

All I really wanted was a set of CN-E’s with a user swappable mount to go from EF to PL. Canon says that the mounts can be swapped on the Sumire’s, but it has to be done by Canon or an authorized service center AND both the PL and EF mounts are dumb(no date contacts).


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## maves (Apr 4, 2019)

criscokkat said:


> It's a manual focus lens. You can already do it with several adapters already on the market for either.
> 
> Now, if you want an autofocus lens, then yeah, you'll need to wait a bit. I suspect we'll see some of these designs on the R-mount.



It's also $7000. Many of these lenses share their optical formulas (or close enough to) with their EF counterparts, it just surprises me that Canon has a functional full frame formula that is available on EF mount (CN-e) but hasn't translated that into an L series prime. But I guess it's only been out for a year, maybe the RF development has put them off releasing a still version.


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## jeffa4444 (Apr 5, 2019)

By industry standards these are the cheaper end of the spectrum. Personally I agree going with the best lens from a resolution point of view and then dumbing it down with filters is better for owner / operators. For rental companies its just another tool in the box.


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## HarryFilm (Apr 8, 2019)

RunAndGun said:


> Have you looked at the demo’s? “Anti-Sharpness” was the priority with these. They have less contrast and ”halate” on purpose wide open. “Resolving” more detail for higher resolution sensors was not the priority. I’d also have to see some definitive documentation that these are a completely new design. If they are, they missed a good opportunity to align(or at least close the gap on the extreme ends) the set with regards to aperture speed. Especially the 14mm. They seem like a very specialized design/specific purpose use instead of something like the original CN-E’s or Ultra Primes or Master Primes or Sigma’s, etc. where it’s a clean lens and if you need to ‘dirty it up’ you can easily do it with filtration. I understand that the soft, low-contrast, highly-susceptibile-to-flare look is en-vogue right now(Tokina just introduced a speciality version of their Cinema Vistas with just a single coating on the front element to reduce contrast and make the lens flare), but eventually people will want ‘clean’ glass again. I’m sure some great work will be done with them and I can see their use in the right situation/context/mood, etc., but I’d personally rather own a clean lens that can be made “soft” with filtration than a lens that is always going to be like that. I guess I’ll just stick with my set of original CN-E’s.
> 
> All I really wanted was a set of CN-E’s with a user swappable mount to go from EF to PL. Canon says that the mounts can be swapped on the Sumire’s, but it has to be done by Canon or an authorized service center AND both the PL and EF mounts are dumb(no date contacts).




My suggest is to goto Duclos Lenses and get on their Cine-Mod program where you can get photographic lenses such as the SUPER SHARP Zeiss Otus or Sigma Arts series STILL photo lenses turned into real cinema housings which will fit on Super-35 systems (i.e. C200, C300mk2, etc).









CINE-MOD®


The Cine-Mod is a modification process developed by Duclos Lenses that improves Leica R, Zeiss, Contax, Nikon, Rokinon, and many more lenses in several ways, making them more useable for motion picture




www.ducloslenses.com





You supply the lenses for modding or you buy them already finished from Duclos. I actually believe that that when the Zeiss Otus lenses ($5000 per lens) are cine-modded that they are actually SHARPER than the Zeiss/Arri Master Primes (which much more expensive at $220,000 to $260,000 for a set!) You're getting ULTRA SHARP cinema glass in a package that $200,000+ cheaper! What a deal!


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## RunAndGun (Apr 9, 2019)

HarryFilm said:


> My suggest is to goto Duclos Lenses and get on their Cine-Mod program where you can get photographic lenses such as the SUPER SHARP Zeiss Otus or Sigma Arts series STILL photo lenses turned into real cinema housings which will fit on Super-35 systems (i.e. C200, C300mk2, etc).
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I don’t really need any Cine modded lenses. I’m pretty happy with the lenses I have now: a set of CN-E primes and the 17-120. My comment wasn’t really about needing super sharp lenses, it was that Canon actually designed the Sumire’s to actually be “less sharp”, if you will.

And yes, I’ve heard that the Otus lenses are ridiculous. I’ve also had the Sigma Cine 105 T1.5 for a demo, which is based on the 105mm f/1.4 ART, I believe, and it’s another awesome lens.


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