Tokina 135mm T1.5 Vista Prime Lens Announced

by Jakub HanSeptember 19^th, 2019

The Tokina 135mm T1.5 Vista prime cinema lens was announced as the seventh lens in Tokina’s Vista prime cinema lens lineup. It features the same physical specifications as the rest of the Vista series and it comes in PL mount, EF mount, Sony E-mount, Micro four thirds mount, and LPL mount. Priced at around $9,000 it should start shipping in January 2020.

Tokina cinema lenses portfolio includes the original Vista prime series, the Vista One prime lenses (announced earlier this year), 100mm macro lens, and few zoom lenses. At IBC 2019, Tokina showed its new 50-135mm T2.9 MKII cinema zoom lens and the Tokina 135mm T1.5 Vista prime. If you are interested in the new zoom lens, check our other article. In this article, we only focus on the new fast 135mm Vista prime.

Tokina 135mm T1.5 Vista prime. Image credit: cinema5D

Tokina 135mm T1.5 Vista Prime Cinema Lens

Tokina Cinema positions its Vista Prime series of lenses on top of their lineup as high resolution, large image circle, modern optics. All lenses from this series have a very fast maximum aperture of T1.5 and their 46.7mm image circle covers sensors well beyond full frame, like the RED Monstro 8K or ARRI ALEXA LF cameras.

Optical design of these lenses shows virtually zero focus breathing. Till now the Vista cinema lenses included six lenses with focal lengths from 18mm to 105mm. The newest addition Tokina 135mm T1.5 Vista is complementing the lineup and extending its reach from the previously longest 105mm lens. It features the same physical specifications as the rest of the lenses in Vista line. The 135mm lens weighs around 3kg. The focus and iris gear rings all match across the Vista line.

The Tokina 135mm T1.5 cinema lens will be available with PL mount, EF mount, Sony E-mount, and Micro four thirds mount. LPL mount version will also be available. The mount is interchangeable but should be performed at an official service center or local Tokina distributor.

Tokina 135mm T1.5 Vista prime. Image credit: cinema5D

Price and Availability

The price for the new Tokina 135mm T1.5 Vista Prime has been set to $9,000. That might seem like a lot of money, but it is actually quite affordable compared to its competitors (specs-wise) from Zeiss or ARRI. Tokina plans to start production of the lens at the end of this year with delivery to its first customers in January 2020.

What do you think of the new Tokina 135mm T1.5 cinema prime lens? Do you have experience with other lenses from Tokina’s Vista Prime cinema series? Let us know in the comments underneath the article.