The China-based lens manufacturer ZY Optics, which released its first Speedmaster lens in 2014, has announced four different T/1.0 cinema lenses that it claims are the world’s first at that speed: the 17mm and 25mm in Micro Four Thirds mount; 35mm in Canon RF, Fujifilm X, Sony E, and Micro Four Thirds mount and most importantly, 50mm in Canon EF and Arri PL Mount.

The company says that the new lenses are relatively compact and lightweight, well built with a budget-friendly price, professional and affordable for any filmmakers. All 4 focal lengths have different coverage and are designed for different cameras, making these focal lengths accessible to a variety of users and needs.

Mitakon Speedmaster 17mm T1.0

• Aperture Range: T/1.0 to T/16
• Stepless, Silent Aperture Control
• Manual Focus Design
• 9 blade Aperture
• MFT

Optically, the 17mm is made up of 12 elements in 9 groups and touts a minimum focusing distance of 30 cm, which is a similar close focus to the Sigma 18-35 High-Speed Zoom. There is no autofocus support, but there are standard 0.8m gears for aperture and focus. The front of the lens has a 77mm filter thread, a feature that’s shared with the 25mm and 35mm lens. The 17mm is only currently available in MFT.

Mitakon Speedmaster 25mm T1.0

• Aperture Range: T1.0 to T16
• Stepless, Silent Aperture Control
• Manual Focus Design
• 9 blade Aperture
• MFT

The 25mm T1.0 is optically designed from 11 elements in 8 groups. It has a minimum focusing distance of 9.84″ (25 cm), the same 0.8m gears are available for focus and aperture. Like the 17mm, it’s only available in MFT mount.

Mitakon Speedmaster 35mm T1.0

• Aperture Range: T1.0 to T16
• Stepless, Silent Aperture Control
• Manual Focus Design
• 9 blade Aperture
• Super 35

The 35mm T1.0 is available in Canon RF, Sony E, Fuji X, and MFT mounts. ZY Optics does group the 17mm, 25mm, and 35mm as an MFT trio at a discount of $1,119. Out of the group, the 35mm is probably the most versatile with a Canon RF mount, as it can be easily paired with Canon’s mirrorless cameras, RED Komodo, or easily adapted to Sony E, Fuji X, or MFT.

The lens has a minimum focusing distance of 35 cm, a decent focus throw of 112.5mm, and shares the same 77mm filter thread and 9 blade aperture as the wider focal lengths.

Mitakon Speedmaster 50mm T1.0

• Aperture Range: T1.0 to T16
• Stepless, Silent Aperture Control
• Manual Focus Design
• 9 blade Aperture
• Full-frame

What’s great about the 50mm T1.0 is that it comes in ARRI PL mount, which can easily be adapted to several camera bodies. The other available amount is Canon EF, and while there are more Canon EF lenses on the planet than any other mount, Canon RF is the future. We’re surprised ZY Optics doesn’t have a Canon RF option on the 50mm. Again, maybe more mounts will be rolled out soon. The 50mm T1.0 is designed from 12 elements in 6 groups with a minimum focusing distance of 65 cm. Its filter thread is 105mm.

Here are some key features of the lenses, according to ZY Optics:

• Buttery smooth & refined bokeh rendering
  The ultra-fast T1 aperture and close minimum focusing distance enable the lens to produce buttery smooth and refined bokeh rendering. 9-blade circular aperture mechanism contributes to a pleasing round bokeh when the lenses are used wide-open. Perfectly separating the subject from its background, the lenses enable a creation of a look unparalleled by conventional lenses.
• Professional cinema housing
  A unified front diameter and gear position of the 17 / 25 / 35mm lenses make the work with focus motor and matte box much easier. Operators are thereby free from frequent re-adjustment of the settings. The internal focus design means the physical size of the lens stays unchanged throughout the entire focus throw. The seamless lens gear and long focus throw with precise scale markings allow accurate control of focus point even with extremely shallow depth of field at T1.0.The 50mm has a relatively bigger form factor with its full-frame coverage and longer flange design. It is specially designed to match with professional large format cinema cameras in PL / EF mount.
• Minimal focus breathing
  The Zhongyi T/1.0 series lenses are designed to suppress the focus breathing to the minimum, allowing focus pull without compositions changed. The ultra-fast T1 aperture also facilitates shooting at low-light conditions.
• Premier image quality and cinematic look
  The color contrast and sharpness of the images are much more well-defined than other lenses with similar specifications and price ranges. The T1.0 lenses offer a pleasant rendering of a cinematic look. This series strikes to give natural colors with a hint of vintage vibes. And the color is consistent for different focal lengths.
• First-ever T1.0 native lens for Red Komodo & Canon C70 users
  The 35mm T1.0 in Canon RF mount is the world’s first ultra-fast cinema lens on the market, standing out especially in the limited amount of native RF cine lenses. The Zhong Yi 35mm T1.0 RF perfectly covers the entire sensor of Red Komodo and Canon C70 cinema cameras, making them a handy combo for run-and-gun shooting.

Visually, all four lenses sport a uniform black design and the 17mm weighs 597 grams, the 25m, the lightest lens in the line-up, weighs 535 grams, the 35mm weighs 615 grams, and the larger 50mm weighs significantly more at 1800 grams.

The 17mm, 25mm, and 35mm, starting from $449 individually or as a $1,199 Micro Four Thirds lens combo set, are readily available on ZY Optics website, while the 50mm is expected to ship in late June. ZY Optics reveals that the company is working on adding more focal lengths to this line-up and more details will be released soon.

More info on ZY Optics’ website.