Covering the core range of focal lengths that cinema professionals desire, Canon U.S.A. Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, is excited to announce the company's first set of seven cinema prime PL-Mount lenses, aptly named Sumire Prime. Pronounced"Soo-mee-ray," the word is of Japanese origin and is associated with a floral gentleness and beauty. Sumire Prime Lenses offer a unique artistically pleasing look with gentle and beautiful skin tones and smooth bokeh, designed for use with large-sensor cinema cameras, including 35mm full-frame cameras such as the EOS C700FF Cinema Camera.

In addition to bright T-stops and Canon's renowned warm-color imagery, a unique optical design introduces a nuanced look as the lens aperture approaches its maximum setting - subtly modifying the textural renderings of the human face closeup. It also smooths the transition to the fall-off portions of the scene resulting in a pleasing bokeh. This combination adds emotional expressiveness and provides creative flexibility to create a memorable scene.

"Sumire in Japan is the name of a flower, and like the petals of a flower, our lenses are most beautiful when fully opened. This is the inspiration behind the Sumire look," said Kazuto Ogawa, president and COO, Canon U.S.A., Inc. "The feedback from cinematographers is crucial and their voices have beenheard loud and clear -- they asked Canon to introduce a set of PL-mount cinema prime lenses. We went a step further and our new Sumire Prime Lenses produce the beautifully cinematic and unique images professionals desire. We can't wait to see how the lenses will contribute to the art of filmmaking."

The new set of seven Canon Sumire Prime Cinema Lenses include the following:

• CN-E14mm T3.1 FP X
• CN-E20mm T1.5 FP X
• CN-E24mm T1.5 FP X
• CN-E35mm T1.5 FP X
• CN-E50mm T1.3 FP X
• CN-E85mm T1.3 FP X
• CN-E135mm T2.2 FP X

All Sumire Prime lenses feature an 11-bladed iris and bright T-stops that allow users to capture images that feature a more natural circular-like bokeh from both maximum to minimum aperture. The use of an odd number of iris blades also helps to diffuse light rays and produce what is generally considered a more sought after, artistically pleasing and cinematic look with warmer colors. The lenses also achieve uniform color balance throughout the lineup, helping to reduce the need for post grading, even when a production is frequently changing lenses.

The highly durable Sumire Prime lenses feature the same outstanding operability and reduced focus breathing as Canon's well-established EF-Mount Cinema Prime Lenses. Manual operation provides users with the resistance they desire to make precise changes in focus. A 300-degree focus rotation angle and gear position is consistent across the entire Sumire Prime series of lenses - eliminating the need to adjust gear positions when changing lenses.

"The new Sumire Prime lenses are the perfect blend of science and art," says cinematographer Matt Porwoll, who shot the first U.S. footage with the lenses. "The bokeh comes alive in ways that weren't occurring with other lenses I've used. Lens flares have a dynamic feel to them, rather than behaving in a formulaic manner. I wish I had these on my last project!"

The Sumire Prime Lenses are compatible with the complete lineup of Canon Cinema EOS full-frame and Super 35mm 4K cameras, including the EOS C700 FF, EOS C300 Mark II and EOS C200. In addition to Canon cameras, the new lenses are also compatible with the latest full-frame and Super 35mm PL-mount cameras from leading manufacturers. Additionally, the mount on the Sumire Prime Lenses is interchangeable and can be converted from PL-Mount to EF-Mount at a Canon Factory Service & Repair center. A Canon representative will be able to perform the service or even revert back to original PL-mount upon request at an additional cost*.

Availability

The Canon CN-E24mm T1.5 FP X, CN-E35mm T1.5 FP X, CN-E50mm T1.3 FP X and CN-E85mm T1.3 FP X lenses are scheduled to be available in Summer 2019. The Canon CN-E14mm T3.1 FP X lens is scheduled to be available in Fall 2019. The Canon CN-E20mm T1.5 FP X and CN-E135mm T2.2 FP X lenses are scheduled to be available in Winter 2019/Spring 2020.

For more information, please visit: usa.canon.com/cinemalenses.

UK PR

Canon Europe today announces the launch of its Sumire[i] Prime lens series -- a range of seven fast T-stop cinema prime lenses, all with an interchangeable PL mount, which can be modified to an EF mount[ii]. Bolstering its cinematography offering, the new lenses - CN-E14mm T3.1 FP X, CN-E20mm T1.5 FP X, CN-E24mm T1.5 FP X, CN-E35mm T1.5 FP X, CN-E50mm T1.3 FP X, CN-E85mm T1.3 FP X and CN-E135mm T2.2 FP X -- are compatible with any PL mount cinema cameras equipped with either a 35mm full-frame format sensor or a Super 35mm format sensor, including selective Cinema EOS cameras. With their newly designed cinematic look and unified warm colour tone, these prime lenses are designed to enhance creativity and operability in the cinema industry. The Sumire Prime series enters the market as cinematographers aim to meet increasing demands for high-quality content with a more creative, personal and expressive feel.

Optical excellence: Canon's newly designed cinematic look

Built with Canon's heritage of optical excellence at the forefront, the seven prime lenses offer new imaging capabilities for those working in the cinema industry. Devoted to detail, they feature a large diameter aspheric element and anomalous dispersion glass, offering a delicate, velvety nuance when the aperture approaches its maximum setting during shooting. This unique optical design results in solid and natural image rendering, bringing impressive image quality and warmer tones to cinema productions. Supporting an 11-blade iris, all the lenses feature precise manual control, providing cinematographers with richer levels of rounded bokeh for better impression of subjects and softer rays of light -- perfect for creating intimate shots that direct the viewer's attention to specific details. Thanks to their large lens diameter, a brighter T-number is possible, making these lenses an ideal choice for filming in challenging low light scenes -- as well as capturing the scene with a distinctive shallow depth of field -- when ambience and atmosphere is essential. 

PL mount with full-frame coverage

The Sumire Prime lenses come with an interchangeable PL mount, which can be changed to an EF mount and back to PL. This option offers widespread compatibility options for professional filmmakers using full-frame and Super 35mm cameras -- responding to the needs of the industry, shooting anything from drama productions to high-end cinema, either in studio or on location. The lenses' compatibility with Canon's world-renowned Cinema EOS System, Canon's flagship full-frame Cinema EOS camera -- the C700 FF -- and other third-party cinema full-frame cameras helps users produce future-proofed, premium quality footage.

Carefully designed for reliability and consistency

The Sumire Prime series lenses inherit the same subtle, warm colour tone as Canon's full Cinema lens range. Such compatibility makes it easier for cinematographers to interchange lenses on a production without affecting colour tone. Whilst shooting on busy sets, this unity reduces the need for time-extensive post-grading ensuring consistency across shots -- no matter what lens is used. All seven prime lenses adopt the 0.8 pitch lens gears for both iris and focus rings and are positioned consistently on the lens. In addition to this, the lenses have the same front diameter [iii], eliminating the need to adjust rigging accessories when replacing lenses. All lenses also have carefully developed focus resistance -- enabling delicate and fine focus adjustments which can be made over a 300-degree rotation angle. Cinematographers can rely on dependable framing when composing shots as the lenses control focus breathing, combating the perspective variation that sometimes arise when refocusing to another subject.

Stephen Hart Dyke, Professional Imaging Product Marketing Manager, Canon Europe, commented: "Rising competition in the cinema market and growing viewer demand for quality content has resulted in cinematographers facing increasing pressure to push their creative boundaries. As a result, there's a growing trend and demand for large 35mm full-frame sensor cameras and fast primes which can achieve a more dramatic look and higher image quality -- features which make productions stand out. However, the choice of 35mm full-frame cinema lenses is still relatively limited, which is where the Sumire Prime lenses now offer professional filmmakers additional choice, flexibility and consistency in their shooting, whilst allowing them to personalise their craft and enhance their creative vision with the hotly demanded 'cinematic look'."

For more information of the new Sumire Prime series, please visit https://www.canon.co.uk/latest-products/

These seven new prime lenses will be on display for the first time globally at NAB 2019 (8th -- 11th April), on the Canon stand -- Central Hall, C4425

Key features across the entire Sumire Prime series:

• Compact Cine Primes with a new creative cinematic look
• Interchangeable PL mount with full-frame coverage
• Same unified colour tone as the Cinema Lens range
• Bright T-number and an 11-blade iris
• Reduced focus breathing
• 300-degree focus rotation
• Consistent filter diameter and gear positioning