Normally I'd probably not get too excited about this. But Matthew Duclos is involved with it! (Matthew Duclos runs the BEST blog on the internet about cinema lenses!)

To quote from their Kickstarter page: "6). Matthew Duclos appeared in our video and was involved in the design specification for these lenses. Duclos lenses will offer these lenses for sale/service but is not involved in the manufacture of these lenses."

So this would at least give me some confidence about the project being successful, though of course like any Kickstarter project it will carry substantial risks.

But my budget level is still too constrained to get this on a whim. But I can imagine others would, given how very cheap they are going to be relative to other cinema level lenses

What's the reason making a decent m43 cine lens requires a kickstarter project? Given the amount of existing lens manufacturers, what keeps them from making the same kind of lens?

I think it's a great idea and the price point puts them in the ballpark for a large group of GH4 shooters. I'll be interested to see more tests.

Well @B3Guy, these Zeiss CP.2 Compact Primes are T2.1 or more: http://www.ducloslenses.com/collections/zeiss-primes/products/zeiss-cp-2

While these Cooke Mini S4 primes are T2.8: http://www.ducloslenses.com/collections/cooke-primes/products/cooke-mini-s4i

@douglashorn

One of the big reasons is very minimal focus breathing w/ cinema lenses like this. This means that as you rack focus, the composition doesn't change. Just try it out with most still lenses out there. As you focus back and forth, there's a slight shift in the entire scene, which can be pretty noticeable.

I believe even the Rokinons focus breath.

Here are more reasons to choose cine lenses that have been designed from the ground up as cine lenses as opposed to still lenses adapted for video use:

"Every cinema quality necessary detail has been brought to reality in these lenses including a smooth 300 degree focus range, constant T Stop, 9 blade iris for a round pleasing bokeh, high quality aluminum housings, plated brass mount for long term durability, 77mm filter threads for easy filter changes, and mattebox compatible 80mm front diameter for all lenses."

I'd also add more extensive & consistent witness marks (the distance engraved on the lens) that are on the sides of the lens for focus pullers.

@fotosiamo

Yes, but CP.2s are for fullframe, and Cooke minis are for APSC/S35. If we're talking DOF-equivalent f-stop, these are slow. In a market where several companies offer small format manual prime lenses at f0.95, I'd think that at least f1.4 would be doable.

There's a reason folks use focal reducers and still photography primes like Zeiss C/Y, Canon FD, Nikon AiS. Are they cinema? No. But some of them get awfully close.

Just playing devils advocate a bit, no hard feelings.

Instructions for buying untested gear on Kickstarter:

1. wait

2. wait until the lenses are out

3. wait until the lenses are tested

4. read about service and warranty procedures

5. compare the lenses, for example, compare the 12mm to the new Pro fixed zoom or 12mm prime

6. Buy the best one, based on a comparison

Instructions for buying untested gear on Kickstarter

You need to make it more general and we put it into some FAQ. :-)

Today M4/3, tomorrow the world! Hail Veydra!

I could see using these on the Digital Bolex with a MFT to C Mount Adapter as well. If they made this for FF Canon the price and size would be way too high for many MFT users. Like DrDave said, Wait, but I am very excited about these things.

I'm actually very impressed by these lenses so far. I do wish they were APS-C tho.