SIGMA Unveils Aizu Prime Lenses: World's First Full Lineup of Large-Format T1.3 Cinema Primes
- By Sarah Gross
- Jun 4
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 1
SIGMA has just announced its groundbreaking Aizu Prime Line of large-format cinema lenses, which the company claims is the world's first complete series to achieve a remarkably fast T1.3 aperture across all focal lengths. This new lineup of 12 cine lenses maintains a consistent T1.3 aperture throughout the entire range, from 18mm to 125mm.
The initial release includes eight lenses, covering essential cinematic production needs with focal lengths from 25mm to 75mm. These will soon be followed by 18mm and 21mm wide-angle lenses, as well as 100mm and 125mm telephoto options.
Key Features and Optical Design
According to SIGMA's press release, the Aizu Prime Line boasts several key features:
Consistent T1.3 Aperture: This uniform, wide aperture across all focal lengths allows for an exceptionally shallow depth of field and graceful bokeh, providing cinematographers with extensive creative control over focus and background separation.
Dedicated Cinema Optical Design: Each lens in the Aizu Prime lineup features an optical system developed exclusively for cinema applications. While delivering modern sharpness, these lenses are designed to avoid rigid or harsh depictions, instead producing a natural, organic appearance. This design ensures quiet elegance and depth in the image, with distortion and focus breathing carefully minimized to maintain visual consistency, even in dynamic scenes.
Available Mounts: The Aizu Prime lenses will be available in both PL Mount and Sony E-mount options, catering to a wide range of professional cinema cameras.
Consistent Look, Large Format Coverage, and Workflow Integration
SIGMA emphasizes that this family of lenses ensures a consistent color balance, contrast, and flare characteristics throughout the entire lineup, fostering a harmonious visual narrative across different shots and scenes.
The lenses offer a large ⌀46.3mm image circle, providing full coverage for full-frame and Super 35 formats, as well as supporting the latest large-format cameras like the ARRI ALEXA LF (Open Gate) and VistaVision systems.
Despite their expansive large-format coverage and rapid T1.3 aperture, the Aizu Prime lenses maintain a surprisingly lightweight and compact design. This combination of speed and mobility offers significant flexibility for various shooting scenarios, including Steadicam, gimbal, or handheld operations.
Additionally, the Aizu Prime lenses offer support for ZEISS eXtended Data, providing real-time lens metadata during shooting. This feature also facilitates the export of distortion and shading correction data, streamlining workflows for VFX productions.
