NAB 2017: The Latest and Greatest Camera Lenses

We round up the latest camera lens announcements from NAB 2017.

NAB is in full swing, and news about new cameras, gear, and accessories continue to drop. While trying to sift through all the chatter from some of the biggest brands in the industry, we focus in on the latest announcements and anticipated releases in camera lenses. Let’s check out these new lenses and what we know about them.

Canon 70-200mm Telephoto Zoom Lens

Canon’s new 70-200mm is causing a stir at NAB as an ideal documentary or narrative workhorse for a variety of camera needs. Here’s an excerpt about the lens from Canon’s press release:

The new COMPACT-SERVO 70-200mm Telephoto Zoom Lens is a 4K lens and features autofocus and optical image stabilization (with compatible camera models), resulting in high-resolution imagery, with the ability to assist filmmakers in capturing the shot they envisioned. Compatible with EF-mount Super 35mm large-format cameras, the lens maintains brightness across the entire focal range at T4.4 (equal to f/4.0).

Cooke S7/i line of Full Frame Plus Primes

The full frame sensor-friendly lenses from Cooke Optics are also standouts at NAB. The whole S7/i family consists of eight different focal lengths: 18mm, 25mm, 32mm, 40mm, 50mm, 75mm, 100mm and 135mm. Each lens has a T-Stop of T2.0 all the way to T22. You can read more here or watch the demo below.

 Sigma 14mm & 135mm T2 FF High Speed Prime Cine Lenses

Speed is king, as we see in Sigma’s new high-speed prime cine lens series. Both the new 14mm and 135mm round out Sigma’s complete cine line-up. Here’s a writeup on the full family from Sigma’s press release:

The lineup ranges from 14mm to 135mm and covers T1.5 to T2. The lenses are compatible with full frame sensors and, while being more compact, can offer higher resolution than other high-end prime sets do. With the seven prime lenses from FF High Speed Prime Line, there is no need to change the lighting to shoot a variety of cuts, and it is possible to meet the demands that professional movie creation requires.

 Leica 8-18mm f/2.8-4

Panasonic has unveiled the second installment in their new LEICA DG  f/2.8-4 zoom lens line (the followup to their 12-60mm announcement at CES) with a new 8-18mm option. The line is designed for micro four-third mounts, so the 8-18mm will be closer to 16-35mm — yet still great for wide coverage. You can read more here or check out the review video below.

ZEISS CP.3 and CP.3 XD

As you can read in our quick hands-on review, ZEISS announced at NAB that they are updating their highly popular CP.2 lens series with a new family that includes the metadata-heavy XD updates as well. Here’s an excerpt:

The kit that we checked out included 18mm, 21mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm lenses. It offers full-frame coverage that consistently matches across lenses and previous generations. With the wide-open T-stops of T2.9 for 18mm-21mm and T2.1 for 25 up to 135mm, you can count on the best exposure compensations on set or in any environment. Plus, thanks to the interchangeable mount system, you can use them on a wide variety of cameras.

All prices are currently to-be-announced, but we will keep you posted as prices and specs roll out until all these lenses hit the market.

Be sure to check out the rest of our NAB 2017 coverage on the blog, and stay tuned for more updates.