Irix has just announced their new 45mm f/1.4 “Dragonfly” manual focus lens which will be available in Canon EF, Nikon F & Pentax K lens mounts.
It will be the stills equivalent of the Irix Cine 45mm T1.5, which was announced in October last year.

We first discovered the Irix 45mm f/1.4 way back at Photokina 2016. It was just a lowly prototype hidden under a glass box back then. Irix was set to show the lens at this weekend’s, The Photography Show which has now been postponed until September.

The fast 45mm prime will join the 11mm f/4 Blackstone and 15mm f/2.4 super-wide-angles and 150mm Firefly macro in the Irix stills lens range. The lens is a manual focus only, with a focus ring that rotates through a full 140° to allow for critical alignment and for focus pull effects. A focus lock switch is also provided.

The lens features what Irix calls ‘Dragonfly’

Dragonfly is a combination of metal elements combined with composite components, making the entire construction not only strong but also lightweight. In addition to its reinforced construction, the lens is also weather-sealed in crucial points, which in conjunction with its internal focusing mechanism, means that you can use it without any difficulty in all environments and weather conditions.

Key features:

• 140-degree focus ring throw
• Internal focusing
• Focus Lock feature
• In-camera focus indicator
• Fast f/1.4 aperture
• Smooth bokeh
• Weather-resistant construction
• Aperture control straight from the camera
• Semi-automatic modes (PASM)
• All exposure parameters are saved in EXIF data
• 50-degree field of view
• Reinforced metal construction
• 77mm front filter thread

As we’d expect from Irix, the lens offers very minimal distortion, and they’ve included a chart showing exactly how much we can expect to see, and there’s virtually none at all.

One thing that isn’t mentioned in the press release is whether the Irix 45mm f/1.4 lens hood will feature the same notch that comes with the lens hood for the Irix 15mm f/2.4 lens which allows you to rotate polarizer or ND filters on the lens without having to remove the hood.

The date of launch and the price of the Irix 45mm f/1.4 lens will be published at a later date.

More info on Irix website.