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Scheider Cinema Lens Review by David Adler /CSI Rentals 

Schneider Cine-Xenar III Lenses

Overview

            Renowned lens designer and manufacturer Schneider Optics released the third iteration of their Cine-Xenar 35mm cinema lenses in 2013.  These lenses were inspired by the promise to deliver the same incredible optical quality as the second iteration of Cine-Xenar lenses but with updated hardware and mechanics to meet the standards expected of professional cinema lenses.  To that degree, they certainly have delivered on those expectations, these lenses are certainly built to be used in professional contexts be them commercial, narrative, or otherwise.  And since they come in a set of six lenses ranging in focal length from 18mm to 95mm, they cover the most commonly used focal lengths and then some.  But how do their build and optical quality stand up in practice?  I had the opportunity to use from CSI Rentals the 25mm (t-2.2) and 50mm (t-2.0) on a documentary shoot recently, the review that follows reflects the experience that I had with these lenses.

Build Quality

            The build quality of these lenses is certainly up to professional standard.  Every part of the lens casing is solid aluminum, the lens mount is reinforced stainless steel and interchangeable to be either Arri PL or Canon EF-S (available separately).  The only downside to this is that the lenses are rather heavy and in the case of the EF-S mount versions, will actually outweigh most Canon camera bodies.  While this was the case for the Canon C100 cinema camera from CSI Rentals New York that I shot the footage on, the camera mount was able to support the lenses adequately, however I recommend lens support if available.  The lenses themselves unfortunately do not have any support hardware built in so a universal lens support (like the one available from Wooden Camera) would be needed.  On the other hand the PL mount being what it is should be able to support these lenses without a problem.

            Because of the new mechanical design, the size of these lenses have increased compared to earlier versions.  Their new design compensates for the movement of the focusing lens groups and keeps the lens size consistent from close focus to infinity.  This fixes the main issue with the Cine-Xenar II lenses whose focusing mechanisms involved the outer shell and focus gear moving as the focus was pulled, changing the size of the lens and rendering rod mount matte boxes and standard follow focuses unusable in many cases.  Not only is this issue a thing of the past with the redesign but now all the focal lengths in the set share common dimensions to save time on set, all focusing equipment and matte boxes can remain in position while lenses are switched.  The larger size is not without other mechanical benefits, the smaller, older lenses had a helicoid focusing mechanism (similar to the Zeiss CP.2 and Canon CN-E lenses) and the Cine-Xenar III lenses have been outfitted with a geared cam focusing mechanisms (similar to Cooke S4 lenses and Arri/Ziess Master Primes) for more precise focusing.  The reason for this is that the focusing mechanism no longer has to be linear so the lens can feature more distance markings as it reaches infinity.  In addition, the cam has a very positive feel when operated further exemplifying the superior build quality.

Image Quality

            What good are well built lenses if they don’t perform optically?  The previous generation Cine-Xenar II lenses were noted for their superb optical performance so Schneider didn’t really have to change much in this regard for the Cine-Xenar III lenses.  They kept the 18 bladed iris (I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a lens which has more) for consistently circular out of focus highlights and other out of focus elements.  The optics in the Cine-Xenar lenses were designed with digital sensors in mind.  Schneider made the lenses very tele-centric.  This means that light travels in straighter lines between the back of the lens and the image plane (a.k.a. the sensor in digital cameras).  This eliminates excessive vignetting from less tele-centric lens designs (most compact vintage lenses).  The only possible disadvantage to such a design is the size due to the complexity of the lens, but as I stated above, these lenses are rather manageable despite their heft.  With that tradeoff considered, I commend them or choosing the superior optics as these lenses are made to be used with grip equipment and other accessories so that renders the size issue to a moot point.

            Aesthetically speaking, these lenses offer a very balanced image tonality, although to my eye the lenses lean towards the warmer end of the spectrum accentuating skin tones well but not giving the image a color cast.  As expected the lenses are plenty sharp, rendering details any lens within this price range should with very little detail loss towards the edge of the (16x9 super-35mm) frame.  This is probably due to the fact that Schneider smartly over engineered their lenses’coverage to provide a sweet spot for the standard super-35 frame size.

Conclusion

            I think that Schneider have really created a wonderful lens set.  Even though I only used the 25mm and 50mm lenses, their set covers every standard focal length and then some from 18mm to 95mm all with decently bright similar apertures.  The construction of these lenses are superb and their image quality stands up to that same standard.  Overall, I think that these lenses are a great option for narrative and commercial filmmaking and are really worth considering at their current price point.

At CSI Rentals Rent Canon Zeiss Schneider Cinema Lenses Available locations in New York City and Brooklyn NY