Atlas Orion 18mm, 135mm, and 200mm – First Look

by Francesco AndreolaApril 15^th, 2024

On the show floor at NAB 2024, we caught up with Dan Kanes – CEO and Co-Founder of Atlas Lens Co. – to have a first look at their recently-announced Orion 18mm, 135mm, and 200mm 2x anamorphic prime lenses.

Back at NAB 2022, Atlas Lens Co. introduced the Orion 21mm T2, which – at the time – was the widest lens in their popular 2x anamorphic lens series. On that occasion, Dan provided in-depth insights on the thought-process behind the development of the “Atlas Look”. As he describes it, it’s a carefully-calibrated balance between vintage aesthetics and modern mechanics. In case you missed it, I highly recommend watching this interesting talk here.

According to Dan, engineering the Orion 21mm was already a pretty daunting task. However, the company recently managed to “crack the code” and develop an even wider focal length – the 18mm T2 – which is currently on display at NAB Show in Las Vegas along with the new 135mm and 200mm. Let’s take a closer look!

Atlas Orion 18mm, 135mm, and 200mm – features

With the introduction of the 18, 135, and 200mm, the Atlas Lens Co. Orion series now consists of 12 focal lengths (18/21/25/28/32/40/50/65/80/100/135/200mm). Remarkably, all of them share the same fast aperture of T2, with the exception of the 135mm T2.2 and 200mm T3.2.

The 18mm is particularly interesting, as it’s being advertised as the widest 2x anamorphic lens in the world. Indeed, it provides an extremely wide horizontal field of view of 140°, if you factor in the 2x squeeze. On top of that, it has good close focus capabilities (about 45cm or 18”). I think that these features combined can result in pretty interesting close up shots that can appeal to many cinematographers.

Just like the other lenses in the set, the 18mm is a modernly-housed glass that packs a retro-inspired look. This includes organic streak flares, oval bokeh, and precisely fine-tuned barrel distortion that still looks pleasing to the eye.

On the other hand, the 135mm T2.2 and 200mm T3.2 nicely complement the series on the long range. As you can tell, these two lenses are huge, but provide a nice solution to create portraits that really stand out.

All lenses come standard with a PL mount (interchangeable to Canon EF), have unified position of focus and iris gears, and are designed to natively cover the Super35+ format. Moreover, they can also work on large-format cameras by using Atlas’ 1.6x or 1.4x expanders.

Price and availability

The new Atlas Lens Co. Orion 18mm is available to now for $17,995. The 135mm and 200mm can be pre-ordered for $14,995, require a deposit of $4,995 each, and should start shipping in about 4 weeks.

For more information on Atlas Orion lenses, please visit the company’s website here.

What do you think of this new wide angle and telephoto anamorphic options from Atlas? How do you like the “Atlas Look”? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!