Canon Interview – 20-50mm and 45-135mm Full Frame Cinema Zoom Lenses

by Slavik BoyechkoApril 25^th, 2022

At NAB 2022 we spoke with Canon’s Dirk Fobker about the new CN-E20-50mm and CN-E45-135mm full frame cinema zoom lenses. According to Canon, the, lenses which were announced only a week ago have already seen a lot of interest from rental houses and individuals.

If you want a refresher on these lenses, here’s our previous article about their announcement: Canon CN-E20-50mm and CN-E45-135mm T2.4 L F/FP Full-Frame Cine Zoom Lenses Introduced.

These two lenses are Canon’s first full frame cinema zoom lenses, and as Dirk says in his interview, Canon purposefully wanted to keep both the weight and price of these lenses down as much as possible. So instead of designing one lens with a wide to telephoto range, Canon decided on splitting the range between two lenses, 20-50mm and 45-135mm.

The weight of the lenses are very close, around 7.5lbs each, and they share the same gearing for easy swapping. The lenses will come in either EF or PL mounts. When asked about RF mount, Canon’s Dirk Fobker says they have no plans to make these lenses with RF mount.

Both lenses have a constant aperture of T2.4, and promise to exhibit very little breathing. So as Dirk says in his interview, these two lenses could become adequate replacements for cinema prime lenses, giving you more framing options throughout their zoom range.

As for color characteristics, Dirk says these new full frame cine zoom lenses are a tinge warm with an emphasis on exceptional skin tones.

What do you think about Canon’s new full frame cinema zoom lenses? Let us know in the comments below!