Cooke S7/i 16mm Full Frame Plus and Anamorphic/i 135mm FF+ Introduced

by Olaf von VossSeptember 26^th, 2019

If you value endgame-performance and money is nothing to worry about, Cooke has everything you need when it comes to cine lenses. At this year’s IBC, the company had two new lenses on display: The Cooke S7/i 16mm T2.0 Full Frame Plus (spherical) prime and the Cooke Anamorphic/i 135mm T2.3 cine prime. High-end glass for the high-end cine market.

The new Cooke S7/i 16mm T2.0 cine prime (spherical). Image Credit: cinema5D

Yeah, I know. I won’t spend a cool $25.000 on a single lens, either. But there is a high-end, money-no-object market in which you just want to get that perfect shot. Check out the shotoncooke.com website for a brief overview of productions shot on Cooke glass. Do you want that Cooke-look? Well, you better get some Cooke glass, then! At this year’s IBC, Cooke introduces two new primes to their lineup.

Cooke S7/i 16mm T2.0 Full Frame Plus

Complementing their already impressive set of Full Frame Plus capable S7/i series of cine primes, the new 16mm T2.0 stays true to Cooke’s standards: It is a beast of a lens! Tipping the scale at 4 kg (8.82 lbs), you certainly know what you get for your dollars.

All in all the S7/i lineup now covers the following focal lengths:

• 16mm T2.0
• 18mm T2.0
• 21mm T2.0
• 25mm T2.0
• 27mm T2.0
• 32mm T2.0
• 40mm T2.0
• 50mm T2.0
• 65mm T2.0
• 75mm t2.0
• 100mm t2.0
• 135mm T2.0

The 16mm T2.0 Full Frame Plus is the 13th lens and it won’t be the last one eventually. According to Cooke, they will develop and build every possible focal length as long as there is enough demand for it.

Another aspect of the popularity of Cooke Cine Glass is the already mentioned Cooke Look, of which Cooke is quite proud (and rightfully so). It takes the edge of modern sharp and clean digital images and adds some warmth to the image, which is particularly desirable when reproducing skin tones. And that distinct look and feel are consistent through all the lenses since the very early days of the company, which is quite impressive. You can mix’n'(colour-)match them with all Anamorphic/i, S4/i, miniS4/i, 5/i and Panchro/i Classic lenses. Obviously, the new S7/i 16mm 2.0 includes the /i technology for recording all kinds of lens date (per frame), just as all the other lenses on the S7/i line, hence the name S7/i. All S7/i Full Frame Plus cine primes cover an image circle of at least 46.31 mm (RED Weapon 8K). These lenses come in PL mount only.

Cooke Anamorphic/i 135mm T2.3

There’s another new lens in town, and it’s an anamorphic one. The Anamorphic/i 135mm T3.2 also sports the /i technology, and it is the 4th lens of the Anamorphic/i Full Frame Plus lineup.

Cooke Anamorphic/i 135mm T3.2. Image Credit: cinema5D

The complete Anamorphic/i FF+ lineup now covers the following focal lengths:

• 32mm T2.3 (not yet available)
• 40mm T2.3
• 50mm T2.3
• 75mm T2.3
• 100mm T2.3
• 135mm T2.3
• 180mm T2.3 (not yet available)

These anamorphic prime lenses cover the so-called Full Frame Plus, which translates to a 24 x 36mm sensor coverage. The Cooke Anamorphic/i FF+ line of cine primes offer a 1.8x squeeze and again, they can be mixed and matched to all other Cooke lenses for painless post-production (especially grading) workflow.

The iris and focus markings come two-fold on this lens, both full stops and 1/3 stop increments are engraved on each side of the lens barrel. The same is true to the S7/i lenses, of course.

Price and Availability

Yeah, this might hurt a little. But there is good news, too. Both the new Cooke S7/i Full Frame Plus 16mm T2.0 and the Anamorphic/i FF+ 135mm T2.3 will be available very soon, that’s the good news. Then there is the price and the sheer numbers target these lenses more towards rental houses, I guess: S7/i comes in at around  $27,000 and the Anamorphic/i 135mm at $32,000. ‘Nuff said.

If you want to learn more about Cooke and great cinematography in general, you might want to head over to cookeoptics.tv, where A-list DPs talk all things cinematography (not only with Cooke lenses).

Links: cookeoptics.com | shotoncooke.com | cookeoptics.tv

What do you think? Did you ever shot something on a Cooke? Share your experiences in the comments below!