Chinese Cinema Lens company NiSi has announced a new line of cinema prime lenses known as the Athena series. It is their second lens line since announcing the F3 Cinema lens line in 2018.
The previous F3 line of cine primes didn’t seem to make much of a splash on the market, however, so the Athena line may be a marked improvement with lessons learned from the F3 line.
The Athena cinema prime lens line includes a 14mm T2.4 (the slowest of the set), a 25mm T1.9, 35mm T1.9, 50mm T1.9, and 85mm T1.9.
Image Credit – NiSi
The lenses have also been designed with the same 77mm filter thread and aperture and focus control rings aligned in the same position to make it easier to use with focus pulling apparatus’ when switching lenses on set.
That translates to no readjustments or positioning to realign them.
Image Credit – NiSi
Moreover, NiSi claims that the Athena series has been designed and engineered to allow for “almost no focus breathing” with lens coatings that provide high-quality images with low contrast and chromatic aberration kept to an absolute minimum.
The lenses will be available in Canon RF, Sony E, and Panavision PL lens mounts. There is also a drop-in filter mount included with the Sony E Mount which is used for ND filters and other creative filter inserts.
Image Credit – NiSi
NiSi is also known for a series of camera filters and holders, including the Swift VND line. Alongside the Athena lenses, the company has also announced a set of FS full-spectrum neutral density filters.
The eight-filter set has strengths that range from .3-2.4 and provides filtering across eight stops of light. NiSi states that they offer extreme color neutrality and even transmission of ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light wavelengths.
According to CineD, also the dimensions of the filter look to be 4×5.6 inches in size.
Outside of these scarce details, NiSi offers little more on either the Athena lenses or their FS filters.
Perhaps opting to keep other details, including pricing and availability, close to the vest until the lenses are showcased at the NAB Show in Las Vegas later this week. Look for them at booth C3335 from April 16-20th.
Users can sign up for more details at the NiSi website. NiSi is also planning on offering users a chance to win one of the Athena lenses if they sign up for their newsletter. The deadline for the contest is June 1, 2023.
[source: CineD]
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