High performance cinema lenses for FUJIFILM X Series announced: MKX18-55mmT2.9 and FUJINON MKX50-135mmT2.9

FUJIFILM Corporation (President: Kenji Sukeno) is proud to announce that a new FUJINON MKX18-55mmT2.9 (MKX18-55mm) and FUJINON MKX50-135mmT2.9 (MKX50-135mm) will be added to the mirrorless digital camera “X Series” interchangeable lens lineup in June 2018. These lenses deliver high optical performance 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 lens lineup. 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 enhance the range for professional video shooting.

The rapid growth in popularity of movie and video production shared on the internet has increased the opportunity for shooting relatively small budget movies using digital cameras. With this in mind, Fujifilm released the “FUJIFILM X-T2” in 2016 which supports 4K video recording. To further support increased demands for video production, the “FUJIFILM X-H1” has recently been announced, which will feature a range of new or upgraded video functions such as a “5 axis in body image stabilization (IBIS) which has a maximum 5.5 stops^*1, the new “ETERNA” Film Simulation, ideal for shooting movies and “1080/120P high-speed video mode”.

Growth of video production has created a demand among videographers and cinematographers for lenses optimized to shoot. Traditionally, cinema lenses were typically large, heavy and expensive compared with photographic lenses required to meet the needs of videographers. In February 2017, Fujifilm released MK lens for E-mount^*2 cameras which have been praised for their ease of handling thanks to the compact and lightweight design. Despite their affordable price point and lightweight design, the E-mount lenses offer the same optical performance and operability as expensive cinema lenses. The new MKX lenses keep the same design concepts featured on the E-mount MK lenses but are now compatible with Fujifilm’s X Mount cameras within the Fujifilm X Series. The new MKX lenses have an electrical contact to communicate with the camera, which not only corrects the distortion^*3 and the color/brightness shading, but also achieve various color expressions with Fujifilm’s Film Simulation modes.

“MKX18-55mm” and “MKX50-135mm” cover 18-135mm, which is the most frequently used focal length in video production and achieve a constant T2.9^*4 aperture across the entire zoom range, enabling a shallow depth of field as well as a beautiful bokeh effect. The lens designs are optimized for shooting videos as they minimize focus shift and optical axis shift while zooming, and reduce lens breathing (the change of angle of view during focusing). The lenses also feature three rings to enable manual and independent operation of focus, zoom and iris (aperture), all with the gear pitch^*5 4 of 0.8M (module). The focus rings can rotate fully up to 200 degrees to facilitate precise focusing. These features make the lenses very comfortable and convenient to operate.

Fujifilm’s FUJINON lenses won the 69th Engineering Emmy® Award in 2017 and have been used at movie / CM / TV production sites around the world, thanks to their advanced scene-depicting capability. Tapping into its optical, high-precision processing and assembly technologies that have been nurtured over the years in the cutting-edge field of movie production, Fujifilm will introduce the “MKX lens” series to the current X Series interchangeable lens lineup to meet the diverse needs at the movie production frontlines.

^{*1 When using the XF35mmF1.4 R. *2 Lens mount format developed by SONY Corporation. *3 Phenomenon in which an image formed through a lens becomes partially contracted or extended at the edges. *4 T-stop value is an index that indicates brightness of a lens based on its F-stop value and transmission rate. The smaller the value, the greater amount of light the lens transmits. *5 Distance between gear teeth}

1．Main features of the MKX lenses：

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.
• They 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 eliminates the need to re-adjust lighting, contributing to shortening 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. This accommodates shooting with a limited number of people.
• The electrical contact to communicate with the X Series camera not only corrects the distortion and the color/brightness shading, but also achieves various color expressions with Film Simulation modes.

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 eliminates the need to re-focus after zooming in or out. The optical and mechanical approach means there is no time lag as seen in an electrical control system.
• The use of the front inner-focusing system controls lens breathing (change of angle of view during focusing which achieves smooth focusing in an impressive scene.
• Manufacturing technology developed for conventional FUJINON cine lenses is applied to control optical axis shift while zooming, achieving intended composition every time.

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, e.g. 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.

Standardized design for ease of operation

• Only one matte box between the lenses is needed with a 85mm front diameter.
• Only one filter size between the lenses is needed with a filter thread of 82mm.
• The gears for the three rings are positioned in the same place so as to eliminate the need to re-position 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*6 of 0.38m (wide end)
  MK50-135mm: Minimum Object Distance of 0.85m (wide end)
• The lenses feature a Flange Focal Distance adjustment function*7 to achieve optimum camera and lens matching, bringing out the lenses' full optical performance.

^{*6 Distance from the image-forming plane to a subject}

^{*7 The position of lenses' image-forming plane can be adjusted according to each camera's flange focal distance (distance from lens mounting reference plane to sensor)}

2. Main features：