Close Menu
    EOSHD Shooter’s Guides
    • New EOSHD Pro Color 5 is out now, for all Sony mirrorless cameras including the A7S III!
    • EOSHD C-LOG and Film Simulation Picture Profiles for Canon
    X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    EOSHD.com – Filmmaking Gear and Camera Reviews
    STORE
    • Forum
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    • 𝕏
    • PRO COLOR 5
    • EOSHD C-LOG
    • Store
      • The EOSHD 5D Mark III 3.5K RAW Shooter’s Guide
      • The EOSHD 50D Raw Shooter’s Guide
      • The EOSHD Anamorphic Shooter’s Guide 2nd Edition
      • The EOSHD Sony A7 Series Shooter’s Guide to Full Frame Lenses
      • The EOSHD Panasonic GH4 Shooter’s Guide
      • The EOSHD Panasonic GH3 Shooter’s Guide
      • The EOSHD Panasonic GH2 Shooter’s Guide
      • The EOSHD Sony A7R II Setup Guide
      • The EOSHD Samsung NX1 Setup Guide
    • Cart
    • Contact
    • More
      • EOSHD Reviews
      • EOSHD Cinematography
      • About EOSHD / Andrew Reid
      • Blog RSS Feed
      • Facebook
    EOSHD.com – Filmmaking Gear and Camera Reviews
    You are at:Home » Zeiss CP.2 without the price tag? A look at cinema modified Zeiss ZE lenses

    Zeiss CP.2 without the price tag? A look at cinema modified Zeiss ZE lenses

    Andrew Reid (EOSHD)By Andrew Reid (EOSHD)June 24, 2012 News 3 Mins Read

    Cinematics Zeiss ZE Compact Prime CT.2

    Spot the difference! Those crafty Chinese are at it again!

    See the lenses on eBay here

    Cinematics have started offering ‘film lenses’ which are Zeiss Compact Prime copies – cinema modified Zeiss ZE (Canon mount) full frame lenses at up to one quarter of the price of a real Compact Prime. Optically they remain the same as standard ZE but as you can see from the image above a CP.2 style housing is added (left) to create a “CT.2”.

    This includes gearing for a follow focus, T-stop marks instead of F-stop, cinema standard front thread size as well as a stepless aperture ring.

    First a HUGE disclaimer. I’ve not handled one of these lenses. I have no idea what the build is like. I don’t recommend these over renting a set of real CP.2 lenses for pro work. I certainly don’t think the build of these modified lenses is in any way approaching that of a real cinema lens. Optically they all breathe, so for a lot of focus racking when stopped down your framing will shift.

    However for budget filmmakers who just want their follow focus to be more closely integrated with the lens, these look to be a very good deal. Their price list does not contain the kind of mark up you’d expect for such an extensive mod of the lens housing, let alone the added value in the features you’re getting.

    Cinematics CT.2 ZE Zeiss film lens

    There’s some very nice ZE glass on the list, in particular the 35mm F1.4, 28mm F2 ‘Hollywood’ and the 85mm F1.4. All will mount on the 5D Mark III, Blackmagic Cinema Camera, FS100 and GH2.

    Here’s the price list for the modified Zeiss ZE lenses in full…

    Wide angle

    Distagon T* 18mm/3.5 – $2229
    Distagon T* 21mm/2.8 – $2910
    Distagon T* 25mm/2.8 – $1690
    Distagon T* 28mm/2.0 – $1940
    Distagon T* 35mm/1.4 – $2709
    Distagon T* 35mm/2.0 – $1752

    Standard

    Planar T* 50mm/1.4 – $1065
    Planar T* 85mm/1.4 – $2183

    Macro

    Makro-Planar 50mm/2 – $1847
    Makro-Planar 100mm/2 – $3083

    These prices don’t include the modified aperture ring. The geared aperture ring is an extra $30 and stepless aperture is an extra $47 so an extra charge of $77 altogether.

    By comparison the real CP.2 cinema lenses from Zeiss are variously $3,990 to $4,900. You only have to compare the 50mm prime ($1065) or the lovely 28mm F2.0 at $1940 to realise Cinematics are offering huge value to filmmakers here. Value that simply wouldn’t be possible outside of China due to labour and manufacturing costs.

    Whether the mod is any good however, remains to be seen! It is possible they have pulled a stroke of genius of the bag here and done a high quality mod. The Cinematics matte box was pretty good after all for the price.

    cinematics compact primes cp2 ct2 lenses matte box ze zeiss
    Andrew Reid (EOSHD)
    • Website

    British filmmaker and editor of EOSHD. On this blog I share my creative and technical knowledge as I shoot.

    Related Posts

    Camera prices – Have the Japanese taken leave of their senses?

    Read More

    What to expect from Nikon’s first RED mirrorless camera, the Nikon Zr

    Read More

    The Panasonic S1 II pricing is wrong – so is the entire product strategy

    Read More

    EOSHD Pro Color 5 for All Sony cameras

    EOSHD C-LOG and Film Profiles for All Canon DSLRs

    EOSHD Z-LOG for Nikon cameras

    Articles by category
    • Anamorphic
    • Featured
    • Filmmaking
    • Interview
    • Lens
    • News
    • Opinion
    • RAW Video
    • Reviews
    • Rumors
    • Satire/Opinion
    • Shooter's Guides / LUTs / Colour Profiles
    • YouTube
    Blog post archives
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    © 2025 Andrew Reid / EOSHD

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.