As DPs, we often decide whether our project should be shot with primes or zooms based on the desired look and logistics of the shoot. However, there are plenty of times when we need to use both. Maybe we are handheld, shooting outside for some scenes, so zooms make the most logistical sense. Yet for other portions, we are shooting portraits or interviews, and we want the added optical quality, control, and stop of a prime. Then, our main objective becomes making sure the lenses match and will cut together cohesively.

Most cinema cameras today can work with lenses designed for cinema use, as well as those designed for still photography, but there are still important differences between these lenses. I teamed up with Snehal Patel from Zeiss to answer the question "what makes a lens a cinema lens"?

Zeiss has just starting shipping their new CZ.2 28-80 Compact Zoom lens. This lens joins their family of Compact Zooms, which also contains the 70-200 CZ.2 and their newly announced 15-30 CZ.2. The Compact Zoom lens family is similar to the Compact Primes in that these zooms cover the large full frame sensors that are found on cameras like the Canon 5D Mark III, 1D C, and also the large sensor area of the Red Epic Dragon at 6K. They also have interchangeable lens mount systems (PL, EF, F, MFT, E). These features make the lenses unique in the zoom world, as well as future-proof.

Zeiss has begun deliveries of their first Compact Zoom, the CZ.2 70-200 T2.9. This lightweight lens is a sister to the Compact Prime lens family, which means that it shares versatile traits such as Full Frame 35mm coverage (it'll cover the Canon 5DM3 and 1D C) and professional cine style gearing and marking.