Our set of 6 x ARRI Zeiss Ultra Prime lenses available for rental includes 16mm, 24mm, 32mm, 50mm, 85mm, and 100mm—all with a maximum aperture of T1.9 and Imperial measurement markings (ft / in). This listing is for three Ultra Prime lenses from the following focal lengths:

• 16mm T1.9
• 24mm T1.9
• 32mm T1.9
• 50mm T1.9
• 85mm T1.9
• 100mm T1.9

We also have the ultra wide-angle 14mm Ultra Prime T1.9 available, which is not part of our regular 3-lens or 6-lens Ultra Prime sets. The 14mm Ultra Prime can be provided for an additional $150 per day or $450 per week.

Developed over years of collaboration between ARRI and Carl Zeiss in Germany, the Ultra Primes are legendary lenses. A large team of mathematicians and physicists translated the latest scientific research to create lenses that unify optimal characteristics such as focus, contrast, color saturation, color uniformity, compactness, and high speed with very low aperture-induced focus shift.

Focus, contrast, color saturation, color uniformity, compactness, and high speed with very low aperture-induced focus shift were the characteristics the Ultra Prime lenses were designed and built to optimize. Additionally, close-focus performance was on the optimization list, where historically conventional optical lens designs had been weak.

Generally, lenses achieve peak performance at the focus setting they were designed and optimized for, usually infinity. Less than infinity reduces optical performance, increasing image area curvature and aperture aberrations. Due to these reductions in peak performance, lens manufacturers limit the minimum close-focus setting mechanically to prevent users from pushing the lens too far into the area of reduced performance. However, Ultra Prime lenses do things differently. ARRI and Carl Zeiss perfected Floating Elements, a design where lens groups move in relation to each other during focusing, correcting image area curvature. This technology significantly impacts the overall optical design and highly precise construction of the mechanical lens components, allowing for outstanding close-focus distances.

Instead of moving the entire internal optical assembly with a large drive gearing mechanism, only small and lightweight lens groups move inside the lens, delivering substantially increased focus sensitivity and precise control. New materials were developed specifically for Ultra Prime lenses to perfect the suppression of stray light and increase color saturation. The end result is pure and intense colors, even at full aperture.

A crucial characteristic in the optical design was a high MTF value of 10 line pairs per mm, directly linked to the crispness of the image. The entire range of Ultra Prime lenses features over 90% MTF at this spatial frequency, delivering uniform brightness across the complete image area and increasing image crispness and sharpness.

For the first time in lens design history, Ultra Prime lenses were corrected for close-focus and infinity, not just infinity. The result is the highest quality optical standard and performance across the entire focus range. Ultra Primes feature a new iris design, practically free of hysteresis distortion. Featuring a nine-blade design (ten-blade for 135mm) with finer rounded aperture contours, this delivers a finer and more rounded shallow bokeh, resulting in a more natural and less mechanical depiction of unsharp light sources.

KEY FEATURES