ARRI has debuted its new Ensō Prime lens series.
The range of 14 lenses aims to extend ARRI’s traditional market reach, enabling commercial and corporate content creators and early-stage owner-operators to shoot on sets with either conventional or minimal lighting, said the company.
To facilitate close-up work, Ensō lenses feature a magnification ratio of 1:4 on most focal lengths, equivalent to 10″ close focus on the 32mm, which, said the company, is only 3.7″ from the front element. Minimised breathing ensures focus racks have no discernible impact on framing, said ARRI.
A range of six interchangeable optics – Ensō Vintage Elements – attach magnetically to the lenses, providing external lens tuning, providing sharper images in the centre enabling ease of focus, with a stronger detuned effect at the frame edges.
Encoded chips relay focal length shift, T-stop and focus metadata from the camera to on-set monitors and post production. Compensation for focus scale changes caused by Vintage Elements can be automated with the ARRI Hi-5 hand unit, regardless of whether lens shims are used. Additionally, the kit includes an Ensō Creative Adapter, enabling users to define their own Elements for personalised lens tuning. Three retaining rings allow different thicknesses of glass or other material to be securely held in place.
Gear rings are in the same position on all 14 focal lengths, most of which are T2.1 with a front diameter of 95mm. Wide-angle 10.5 and 14mm focal lengths and a telephoto 250mm (350/500 mm with included 1.4x/2x extenders) allow extreme visual demands to be met.
