Moviemakers need strong images to tell moving stories. With its new Compact Prime line of lenses, optic specialist Carl Zeiss now places outstanding, highly precise tools in their hands, which enable impressive visual results even with a low budget. The major challenges of making movies can be reliably mastered with the new lenses—with high optical performance and durability.

The Compact Prime lenses are available in seven different focal lengths between 18mm and 35mm and are compatible with all standard digital and analog movie cameras equipped with a PL mount.

As with the Ultra Prime and Master Prime lines, the housing of the Compact Prime lenses is manufactured with absolute precision and tailored to the demands of professional cinematography. The focusing scale is individually calibrated for each lens. With the standard focal lengths, the Compact Prime lenses have the same dimensions, the focus and aperture ring are always positioned identically. If the lens is changed, the compendium, follow focus and lens motors thus remain in the same position. This allows moviemakers to work quickly and effectively. The compact, lightweight design makes lenses in this line flexible companions for handheld and Steadicam recordings.

Zeiss lenses are known for maximum optical performance. Movies filmed with these cameras—classics such as The Lord of the Rings trilogy—feature high contrast with minimal distortion even with wide-angle shots. As with all established Zeiss cine lenses, the new Compact Prime lenses feature standardized color characteristics and the Carl Zeiss T* anti-reflective coating. Furthermore, the Compact Primes possess very good stray light reduction. The lenses are equipped with a new aperture featuring 14 rounded shutter blades. This results in a bokeh effect which very harmoniously displays blurred light sources in the background.