ZEISS CP.3 XD Cine Compact Prime Lenses Have ZEISS eXtended Data, the Metadata Technology, to Enable Correction of Distortion & Shading: Low-Budget Productions Can Employ Hollywood-Style Visual Effects

The following video presents ZEISS Compact Prime CP.3 and CP.3 XD lenses:
“Tailored for today’s cinema and beyond.“

Zeiss recently announced the CP.3 XD Cine Lens Family has equipped its new ZEISS CP.3 XD compact lens family with ZEISS eXtended Data.

• The Zeiss CP.3 XD Cine lens family consists of ten prime lenses between 15 and 135 millimeters covering full-frame.

• ZEISS eXtended Data:
  • A unique technology that provides information about the lens’ distortion and shading characteristics in real time to speed-up the workflow on set and in post-production
  • Lens settings are digitally captured on every frame, avoiding the need to manually record the lens settings for every shot
  • Documentation of the lens’ characteristics enhances creativity by allowing more complex shots to be handled in post-production
• The maximum speed of the seven focal lengths between 25 and 135 millimeters is T2.1, the 15, 18 and 21 millimeter lenses have a speed of T2.9.
• With a front diameter of 95 millimeters, the lenses are light-weight and compact.
• They are well-suited for hand-held filming or shooting with gimbals, Steadicam or drones.
• Manual focus is now noticeably smoother. It is comparable with the ZEISS Master Primes and can also be operated with a small motor.
• The focus rotation angle is 300°.
• The lenses are equipped with an interchangeable mount so that they can be used on almost any camera.

Also available, ZEISS CP.3 is the version without metadata.

• Zeiss CP.3 lenses have advanced lens coatings, painted lens rims and special light traps within the barrel to eliminate unwelcome veiling glare and flares. “The result is higher contrast, richer blacks and more saturated colors.”

Ranging from 15 mm to 135 mm, the ten focal lengths available in the ZEISS Compact Prime CP.3 or CP.3 XD series cover all applications from wide-angle to telephoto.

• Initially, a limited number of ZEISS CP.3 XD and CP.3 lenses will be available at dealers.

PRESS RELEASE

ZEISS CP.3 XD

New ZEISS CP.3 XD Cine Lens Family: “Hollywood Technology for Everyone”

The ten compact prime lenses provide metadata and enable the correction of distortion and shading. For the first time, even low-budget productions can employ visual effects.

OBERKOCHEN/Germany, 24/04/2017.

No matter if it is Star Wars, Harry Potter or Avatar: these days, just about every film features special effects. For many small film productions, having visual effects in their movie would be a dream come true. Unfortunately, making the image fit the look of the footage has required expensive tools – until now. At the NAB Show in Las Vegas, ZEISS presented new metadata technology that makes this possible: the company has equipped its new ZEISS CP.3 XD compact lens family with ZEISS eXtended Data.

ZEISS eXtended Data supports and enhances /i-Technology

What exactly is this? “ZEISS eXtended Data is the first metadata technology which stores the lens distortion and shading – for every single frame,” explains Christophe Casenave, Product Manager at ZEISS. “Moreover, all /i-Technology metadata are recorded, including the focus distance, aperture value and depth of field, which is supported by most cameras.” This makes the technology ideal for working with visual effects: by using the metadata, it just takes a few clicks to modify the image generated on the computer to fit the lens characteristics, and to then splice it together with the footage to create a realistic image. Distortion and shading can be corrected or even amplified in post-production.

“It used to be that only big blockbusters could take this approach,” says Casenave. “Cine lenses that provide metadata are relatively expensive and, up until now, distortion and shading had to be manually measured – a time-consuming and expensive process.” However, since ZEISS has incorporated the technology into its compact CP.3 XD cine lens family, low-budget productions can now take the same approach to creating their own special effects. “With ZEISS eXtended Data, we are offering Hollywood technology for everyone, providing small film teams with new creative opportunities.”

An end-to-end solution: cooperation with Ambient and Pomfort

With the ZEISS CP.3 XD, ZEISS not only offers the lenses with metadata, but has also given thought to storage and processing. It has teamed up with partners in the industry: the company Ambient has developed the MasterLockit Plus system together with ZEISS. It records all metadata along with a time code in case the technology is not supported by the camera. “This way truly everyone can work with ZEISS eXtended Data, no matter what equipment they use,” says Casenave.

Thanks to the cooperation with the software developer Pomfort, distortion and shading can be modified on the set in real-time using the Pomfort tool LiveGrade Pro. The film crew already gets a sense of what the final look will be during the shoot. The film clips and lens data can be consolidated and organized with Silverstack, Pomfort’s file manager.

ZEISS plans to further expand the new metadata technology in the future. “Our customers will then be able to upgrade to the new version, making the CP.3 XD a long-term investment,” says Casenave.

Compact and light-weight

In addition to the metadata, filmmakers have even more reasons to get excited about the new lens family: the ten prime lenses between 15 and 135 millimeters cover full-frame. As is typical for ZEISS, the image has a clean, crisp look, and ZEISS says the image quality is excellent. “These lenses deliver outstanding results, even in light situations with a large dynamic range, i.e. highlights and shadows within the same scene,” says Casenave. The maximum speed of the seven focal lengths between 25 and 135 millimeters is T2.1, the 15, 18 and 21 millimeter lenses have a speed of T2.9. With a front diameter of 95 millimeters, the lenses are light-weight and compact. They are particularly well-suited for hand-held filming or shooting with gimbals, Steadicam or drones. ZEISS has also improved focusing: the manual focus is now noticeably smoother. According to ZEISS, it is comparable with the ZEISS Master Primes and can also be operated with a small motor. The focus rotation angle is 300°. The lenses are equipped with an interchangeable mount so that they can be used on almost any camera. In addition to the ZEISS CP.3 XD, there is also a version available without metadata: the ZEISS CP.3.

Price and availability

Initially, a limited number of ZEISS CP.3 XD and CP.3 lenses will be available at dealers.

ZEISS CP.3 XD

ZEISS CP.3

Technical Data

You will find additional information on the ZEISS CP.3 XD and CP.3 at www.zeiss.com/cine/cp3

You can find image material here herunterladen.

Videos:
Produktvideo
Showreel (Langversion)
Showreel (Kurzversion)

The following video presents NAB Show 2017: ZEISS CP.3 and CP.3 XD lenses:
“Watch our Product Manager Christophe Casenave introducing the new ZEISS Compact Prime CP.3 and ZEISS Compact Prime CP.3 XD lenses at NAB Show 2017. Join us at booth C8247 in central hall and learn more about the new prime lenses. Video was shot with the ZEISS Lightweight Zoom LWZ.3 and ZEISS Milvus 2/100M by Jem Scofield and Team (www.thec47.com).“

Please support this site. Special Order / buy the ZEISS CP.3 XD Cine and Zeiss CP.3 Cine Lenses from our Trusted Sponsor B&H Photo-Video, the Professional’s Source, satisfying millions of customers for over 35 years (prices are in USD):

• ZEISS CP.3 XD Cine Lenses
• Zeiss CP.3 Cine Lenses