ARRI Announces New Anamorphic Ultra Wide Zoom 19-36/T4.2

ARRI has done it again - bringing out a lens that not that long ago many though wasn't possible to achieve. A wide angle anamorpic zoom! Cinematographers working in the documentary and film world would love the new possibility brought by this incredible new lens from ARRI. The new ARRI Anamorphic Ultra Wide Zoom AUWZ 19-36/T4.2 is a unique lens that perfectly complements the ARRI/ZEISS Master Anamorphic lenses by extending the range to cover extreme wide-angle focal lengths between 19 mm and 36 mm, without any sacrifice in image quality.

The ARRI Master Primes have long been the staple and premiere choice for Hollywood DP's and big feature films, and at NAB just last week ARRI announced they are expanding the Anamorphic range with a new wide angle anamorphic zoom lens - the AUWZ 19-36 T4.2. This is a really useful wide angle zoom range, and DP's have long been longing for a unique lens like this to get those sublime wide perspectives in that supreme anamorphic look. 

Possibilities for wide-angle compositions when shooting anamorphic have been strictly limited in the past, due to a lack of high-quality lenses. Compromises such as heavy distortion, pronounced breathing and poor resolution and contrast have always been major problems with existing lenses on the market. Now, for the first time, anamorphic productions can incorporate visually stunning wide-angle perspectives into their storytelling.

A few companies out there are attempting to give filmmakers the beloved anamorphic looks by manufacturing adapters that go in front prime lenses, however those can be cumbursome to opearte in the field as they require focusing at both the adapter and the taking lens. Usually those anamorphic adapters or just projector lesnes that were never meant to be used with cinema or photographic lenses can be quite bulky and require focal lenghts of 35mm and longer, thus eliminating the wide angle view completely. Those adapters can be useful for experiemental work, enthusiasts, and those brave enough and armed with incredble amounts of patience, however for professional productions, DP's who are after a wide anamorphic look, would prefer to go with a brand that does this best. Hence, this is where ARRI come in again. 

The telecentric optical design of the AUWZ means that it has highly uniform field illumination, from the center to the very corners of the image. With the anamorphic elements positioned at the rear of the lens, focus breathing is virtually non-existent, distortion is kept to an absolute minimum and straight lines stay straight, even at close focus. The patented, cutting-edge lens technologies built into the AUWZ render an inverted image at the sensor plane -- a side-effect of the unique design that is overcome with the simple press of a button on most high-end digital cinema cameras.

With a minimum object distance just beyond the front lens element, the AUWZ allows dramatic and highly emotive anamorphic close-ups that simply haven't been possible before. Flares, which are very well controlled by the multilayer, anti-reflective lens coating, generate a creaminess around highlights that gives night shots an ethereal and magic quality. Built-in ARRI Lens Data System (LDS) functionality provides precise lens metadata for zoom, focus and aperture settings, simplifying complex shot-making on set and smoothing visual effects workflows in post.

Director/cinematographer Jonathan Yi recently took the AUWZ out on a test shoot and commented, "Being primarily a documentary filmmaker whose favorite films have mostly been shot spherical, I've never really been a fan of anamorphic lenses. However, I was really impressed with the AUWZ. It is a wider lens than I ever usually shoot with and I expected it to be unflattering to faces, so I was genuinely surprised at how great people looked under this lens. Crucially, it was just as easy to use as a spherical lens and didn't slow down my shoot or change the style in which I work. The AUWZ seemed to elevate the image quality to something gorgeous without any added distortions or gimmicks; I'm excited about using it on future projects."