NAB '12: Canon EF Cinema Zooms

The two Canon Compact Cine Zoom lenses, 15.5mm-47mm and 30mm-105mm, offer high performance with great flexibility. They each cover an extended range in a small, lightweight package. Both lenses focus very closely and do not distort the image throughout their range. Even with fast T2.8 apertures, they offer high resolving power with excellent contrast.

Canon supplied one of the first production CN-E 30-300 Cinema Zooms for AbelCine's optical technicians to evaluate. We put the lens through our usual battery of tests, and we were very impressed. The 30-300 has excellent contrast and sharpness, with very low flaring and high corner-to-corner resolution and brightness.

Canon’s CN-E Compact Zooms have been a great addition to documentary cinematography since their release five years ago. The image quality is superb and is a great choice for higher-end productions. They offer a comfortable size and weight, with a fast, consistent T2.8 aperture. This pair of lenses offers a great focal length range that will cover you in most shooting situations. Let’s take a deep dive into the look and feel of these two lenses.