Fujifilm Announces Two New Cinema Lenses: FUJINON MKX18-55mmT2.9 and FUJINON MKX50-135mmT2.9

Fujifilm announced today that two new cinema lenses – FUJINON MKX18-55mmT2.9 (MKX18-55mm) and FUJINON MKX50-135mmT2.9 (MKX50-135mm) will be added to the mirrorless digital camera X Series lineup in June 2018.

According to Fujifilm: “these lenses deliver high optical performance with the lightweight body of approximately 1kg and comfortable operability for professional video shooting. MKX18-55mm and MKX50-135mm are the first full manual cinema lenses to be compatible with the X Series interchangeable lenses. In the 35mm format equivalent, MKX18-55mm covers a focal distance from 27mm to 84mm and MKX50-135mm covers a focal distance from 76mm to 206mm. Combined with X Series’ unique color reproduction technology, MKX lenses further broaden the expression for professional video shooting”.

Main features of the MKX lenses:

(1) Advanced optical performance, packed into a compact and lightweight lens barrel

• MKX18-55mm uses an optical construction comprising 22 glass elements in 17 groups, with six super ED lens elements and two ED lens elements. MKX50-135mm uses 22 glass elements in 17 groups, with two super ED lens elements and two ED lens elements. These lenses offer advanced edge-to-edge optical performance across the entire zoom range.
• MKX18-55mm and MKX50-135mm have T2.9 aperture across the entire zoom range which facilitates the increasingly popular style of bokeh effect with shallow depth-of-field. This also cut out the need of lighting re-adjustment, contributing to saving shooting time.
• The MKX lenses achieve advanced optical performance despite their compact and lightweight body by incorporating the benefits of short flange focal distance of X Mount into optical design to the maximum extent. Also, good operability at shooting site accommodates shooting with a limited number of people.
• The electrical contact which allows communication between lens and camera not only corrects the distortion and the color/brightness shading, but also achieves various color expressions with Film Simulation modes.

(2) Optical and mechanical design optimal for shooting video

• The front focusing group of lens elements and the zooming group of lens elements are driven independently from one another to suppress focus shift while zooming, which cut out the need of re-focusing after zooming in or out. The optical and mechanical approach allows no time lag as seen in an electrical control system.
• The use of the front inner-focusing system controls lens breathing –the change of angle of view during focusing which achieves smooth focusing in an impressive scene.
• Manufacturing technology developed for award-winning FUJINON cine lenses is applied to control optical axis shift while zooming, achieving intended composition every time.

(3) Comfortable operability provided through dedicated cinema lenses

• The focus ring features a rotation of a full 200 degrees to facilitate precise focusing even when shooting with a shallow depth-of-field where a high degree of precision is required.
• The lenses feature three fully manual rings to enable independent adjustment of focus, zoom and iris (aperture). This enables intuitive operations which cannot be attained with an electrical mechanism that typically causes time lag.
• All the operation rings have a gear pitch of 0.8M, the same as all other FUJINON cine lenses, which allows the use of all standard third party accessories for video production such as Follow Focus that enable accurate and smooth focusing.
• The iris supports seamless adjustment that is free of clicking. This enables precise and silent exposure adjustment while also preventing camera shake caused by the clicking.

(4) Standardized design for ease of operation

• Since MKX18-55mm and MKX50-135mm adopt standardized design with the front diameter of 85mm and filter thread of 82mm, matte box and filer can be shared.
• The gears for the three rings are positioned in the same place so as to cut out the need of re-positioning accessories when switching lenses.
• The lenses have a macro function that allows shooting close-up to broaden the range of scenes that can be covered with one lens.
  MK18-55mm: Minimum Object Distance*5 of 0.38m (wide end)
  MK50-135mm: Minimum Object Distance of 0.85m (wide end)
• The lenses feature a Flange Focal Distance adjustment function*6 to achieve optimum camera and lens matching, bringing out the lenses’ full optical performance.

Find out more about the new MKX lenses in Fujifilm’s press release.

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