Tokina Cinema first announced this zoom lens in May 2020. With an expandable image circle up to 8K VistaVision and swappable lens mounts, this new Tokina lens seems to be small in size and built to be a true cinema lens. Now, the time has finally come for the lens to hit the markets, and Tokina claims is “the pinnacle of modern cinema zoom lens design.”

“Using this lens is like having a bag full of high-quality primes in a single lens that is the perfect size. This new Tokina zoom has that magical quality of great resolution without being soulless – a characteristic only found on really good zoom lenses,” says the DoP Bob Gundu.

As Tokina Cinema states, the lens is a constant T2.9 throughout the range, with parfocal operation and good zoom tracking with minimal image shift. Lens breathing, distortion, and aberration should all be highly controlled. The lens fits between Tokina’s 11-20mm T2.9 and 50-135mm T2.9 cinema zooms. The 3x zoom range allows the lens to remain relatively compact by cinema zoom standards while attaining optical quality. These are not rehoused stills lenses. The 2kg weight and moderate size make it suitable for operation on professional gimbals, Steadicams, jibs, and other situations where a larger zoom lens would be inappropriate.

Here some sample image taken by DoP Bob Gundu:

The 25-75mm T2.9 covers S35 sensors with a slightly larger coverage circle of 36mm. It’s a good match mid-range zoom for cameras like the RED Komodo, Sony FS series cameras, and ARRI Alexa, Alexa Mini, and Amira. It also covers several larger sensor models like the RED Helium 8K, RED Dragon 6K, RED Monstro in 6K, Sony FX9 in DCI 4K crop, or the ARRI Alexa LF and Mini LF when shooting in their UHD crop mode.
The lens weighs in at 2kg and is 174mm long (PL Mount) with a 86mm filter thread and 95mm front diameter for common cinema accessories. It’s constructed of aluminum like the other Tokina Cinema lenses in the series. It features a nine-bladed iris for a smooth rendition of out-of-focus areas and has 0.8 MOD geared rings for focus, iris, and zoom. A nice feature is Tokina’s interchangeable lens mount system.

It’s available in PL, E-mount, MFT mount, and Nikon F mount options. Tokina also offers a 1.6x Expander in PL-to-PL or PL-to-E-mount that allows the lens to cover Vistavision-sized sensors, giving it the equivalent range of 40-120mm T4.

First shipments will begin in July 2021 and are now available to pre-order from authorized dealers for $4999 USD.
More info on Tokina’s website.