Just like they did with their first generation VDSLR cine-vized primes, and later the Cine DS line, Rokinon/Samyang a well known budget lens maker, have this time set their sights even higher - with the brand new XEEN lenses line-up.
This line-up consists of a matched set of 24mm/50mm/85mm focal lenghts at this time with more coming soon. The first thing to notice here is that those lenses are rated at T1.5, which means extremely fast for low-light situations. The new XEEN lenses from Samyang (sold in the US under the name Rokinon) feature robust cine housings, and and will be available from August 13th onwards in either Canon EF, Sony E, Nikon F, Micro Four Thirds and PL mounts. The latter addition is very important, as it is the most common professional mount in the industry today.
Just like all other Samyang products, these lenses are priced very aggressively for what they do - all at $2,495 at the moment (with UK pricing still not confirmed).
The XEEN lenses features a 114mm front diameter, an all-metal body, just as you'd expect from any high-end cinema lenses, with dual focus and iris scales, and a solid mechanical feel. The best thing for me personally is that these cover cover full frame sensors and are suitable for 4K and 6K capture. This means that your Canon 5D Mark III, Sony A7s or if you feel like going high resolution with a RED EPIC you'll be just fine even at 6K.
The XEEN lenses from Samyang will be a nice alternative for budget oriented DoP's who are moving up from using stills lenses and are ready to make the plunge and invest in cinema glass. It is obvious that Rokinon/Samyang are going head to head with competing products from established glass manufacturers like Ziess and their CP.2's, which are fantastic lenses, but more expensive, and so are the CN-E primes from Canon. Not convinced, take a look at their marketing campaign below.
Now, despite the fact that optically these are the same as the Cine DS line, having all the benefits of a proper cine housing plus brand new coatings and 200 degree focus rotation will feel a lot better than using cine-vised lenses or stills lenses for video.
For more information keep your eyes peeled on the blog here as we bring you more details about these lenses as they become available. You can find XEEN on
facebook here, and their
official website.