The new lens impressed us with its compact size, light weight, and (as usual where Canon CINE-SERVOs are concerned) stunning image quality. But what was most striking was its staggering 100° field-of-view, when set at its widest setting of 11mm. It's hard to overstate the utility of being able to get this wide both in such a compact package and with no observable distortion to boot — truly an impressive achievement.
With the lens mounted on a Canon EOS C400 body (set to its Super 35mm sensor mode) we took the opportunity to visit a few of AbelCine's neighbors* here in Brooklyn's Industry City (formerly known as Bush Terminal throughout the 20th century). We were struck by how flexible our camera package was in conjunction with the new 11-55mm CINE-SERVO. We tried it any number of ways: on sticks, suspended from an Easyrig, handheld, etc. And though we didn't have a rig (or operator) handy, we see the 11-55mm/C400 combo being right at home flown on any full-size Steadicam for broadcast/live or documentary work.
The new CINE-SERVO sports a 5x zoom ratio, with gentle (all but unnoticeable) ramping of its maximum aperture from T2.95 at the wide end to T3.95 at full telephoto. A 1.5x extender is also on tap, which effectively makes the lens a 16.5-61.5mm at T4.4-T5.9. As with other extenders in the CINE-SERVO line, activating it also expands the lens' image circle to cover full format/full-frame. Minimum object distance is 2 ft., which works about to be only about 1 ft. from the front element (with the lens' 10.6" length and PL's ~2" flange-depth taken into account). Lens data, incorporating both Cooke/i Technology as well as ZEISS eXtended Data, can be passed to cameras via the mount or the 20-pin Hirose connector.
Above all of the new CINE-SERVO's many features, we most appreciated the uniquely wide field of view at 11mm as well as its merciful sub-3kg weight (less than 6.5 lbs.). To see the new lens in action, check out the video above.
*Special thanks to local businesses Fort Hamilton Distillery, Standard Wormwood Distillery, and Frying Pan's newly re-opened Industry City Game Room for graciously providing access to our crew.
