A New and Customizable Angenieux Experience

Isabella Dominguez
1 hour ago
9 min read

**The Pitt TV SHOW Shot entirely on Optimo Lenses**

Angenieux zooms are undoubtedly the most widely used contemporary zoom

lenses in the world. They offer an unparalleled range of wide, medium, and telephoto

zoom lenses covering both Super 35 and full frame formats. In recent years, they have

also started to make lenses that offer the familiar Angenieux look and optical

performance at a more affordable price, starting with the well-regarded Optimo Style

series and culminating in the versatile EZ zoom series, which are undoubtedly the most

requested cinema zoom lenses in Scheimpflug’s inventory. They have also taken the

leap into high-end prime lens design with the Optimo prime series of lenses, which

combine the silky zoom Angenieux look with a number of customizable features unique

to this series. The Optimo Prime Series represents a major leap forward in lens customization. Through Angénieux’s proprietary Integrated Optical Palette (IOP) system, cinematographers gain direct control over the optical personality of their lenses. Rather than relying solely on external filtration or post-processing, IOP allows filmmakers to physically modify the lens’s internal components to sculpt the image at its source.

For the first time in the PL world, cinematographers can have a complete, unified, color-matched prime and zoom package for full-frame from a single brand. The Angenieux Optimo primes are a set of 12 high-speed (T1.8) prime lenses equipped with i/data that bring the coveted Angenieux look to fixed focal length lenses. They are color-matched to the Ultra 12x and Ultra Compact lines thanks to having a similar reddish-green coating. They also have smooth, even, perfectly round bokeh that looks striking and cinematic at all T-stops. Angenieux has gone with a classical optical design that prioritizes a pleasing image texture and incredibly vivid and lively skintones. The lenses have fantastic dimensionality and really stand out at night at wider T-stops where you can really appreciate the character these lenses have.

**Scheimpflug is now stocking an oval iris and various filters for the Angenieux Primes**

While the Optimo Primes are incredibly beautiful lenses out of the box,

Angenieux has given us the ability to customize these lenses on a number of different

levels. Angenieux calls it the IOP (Interchangeable optical palette) program and it allows

users to subtly change the characteristics of the lens internally in order to change the

overall look. The lens set is supplied with a tool kit that allows you to remove the front

group of each lens in the set. Underneath the front optics and in front of the iris

assembly is a platter that contains a provision for a round filter. This filter can be

changed to any common diffusion filter offered by Tiffen in IOP size. Scheimpflug keeps

its set with a Glimmerglass 1⁄8 installed inside each lens. We have found that this

creates a really pleasing image, softening faces just a bit and adding a glow to

highlights while preserving overall resolution. The internal filter can be changed during

testing with advanced notice, so any DP can adjust the overall look of the lenses for a

particular project.

IOP consists of three customizable optical zones:

Internal Filters – Detuning elements that allow diffusion or special effect filters to be placed inside the lens, directly in the optical path. This ensures consistent image character across all focal lengths, preserving sharpness while subtly shaping contrast, highlight bloom, and texture.

Rear Filters – A rear-mounted 40.5mm filter thread allows fast and simple optical experimentation without back-focus adjustments, ideal for creative flare effects, contrast tuning, and rapid on-set customization.

Interchangeable Irises – The heart of the system, allowing the cinematographer to physically reshape the lens’ aperture — and with it, the emotional character of the image.

This modular design transforms the Optimo Primes into not just lenses, but creative instruments, capable of adapting to the visual language of each project.

In addition to the internal filter tray, there is also a 40.5mm filter thread on the

rear protective cone just behind the PL mount. This filter can be easily changed without

needing to disassemble the lens. We have experimented with making custom filters for

the Optimos in order to create colorful flaring and unpredictable fall-off. There is also a

replacement iris module set that can be installed with a 3-blade iris for a Zeiss B-speed

look, or an oval iris for a faux-anamorphic look. The limits of customization are only the

limits of one’s imagination. As a bonus, during testing, we found that the Optimo primes

cover much more than full frame. In fact, they can be used on the open gate of the

medium format Fuji GFX series with minimal fall-off or vignetting! We have shot a

number of projects with this configuration and we look forward to seeing our customers

use these lenses on larger sensors with no compromises.

Angénieux’s Oval Iris is not just a technical innovation, It transforms the lens from a passive recording tool into an active storytelling device. It empowers cinematographers to sculpt emotion, depth, and texture directly in-camera, reinforcing the idea that optics are as expressive as lighting, blocking, or camera movement.

The mighty center of our Angenieux line-up is the Optimo Ultra 12x zoom. This

28-lb, 162mm-wide titan is the follow-up to the world-renowned original 24-290mm

which became the standard of the industry upon its release in 2000 and is the bar by

which all other long zoom lenses are measured. The Ultra 12x preserves the constant

aperture and excellent sharpness of the original lens while adding the ability to swap the

rear lens group in order to change the image circle of the lens for different formats.

Angenieux’s IRO (Interchangeable rear optics) technology allows a qualified lens tech to

configure the Ultra 12x in S35 (24-290 T2.8), U35 (26-320 T3.1) or FF35 (36-435 T4.2)

modes. The conversion takes less than an hour and allows the lens to precisely cover

whatever sensor is in the camera its mounted to. A recently announced fourth IRO

group will even allow the Ultra 12x to cover 65mm-sized sensors. Thus, the Optimo

Ultra 12x is the most future-proof all-in-one zoom lens on the market and will continue to

pair beautifully with almost every camera available from 35mm film cameras to large

format digital cinema devices.

**Actor Luke Fowles frames up with the 75MM on the set of the film “Frank & Edna Take On Lemans.”**

The more modestly sized and priced Optimo Style zooms are designed to

provide color-matched accuracy and prime-level sharpness across a full range of focal

lengths. The Style series were originally the budget versions of the three well-known

Optimo zoom, but have become equally as desirable due to having nearly equivalent

performance despite being half the price. The Optimo Style series is available in

16-40mm T2.8, 30-76mm T2.8 and 48-130mm T3.

These lenses cover the Super 35mm with good performance at all focal lengths and apertures with some minimal pincushioning visible at the start and end of the focal range. They are a functional replacement for a full set of primes on jobs that require speed and flexibility and don’t allow for the storage requirements of multiple boxes of prime lenses. They are equally capable on documentary and narrative sets thanks to their standardized mechanical design and interchangeable mounts (PL and EF available).

The new Optimo Ultra Compact zooms represent the future of lightweight zoom

lens design. They are the spiritual successors to the Optimo zooms, combining

prime-quality performance with future-proof multi-format design. Scheimpflug owns a

37-102 T2.9 and it is one of the sharpest and best performing light zoom lenses in our

inventory. On full frame sensors, it is a lens you can shoot an entire project on. From the

medium-wide end to the portrait telephoto end, the 37-102mm has warm, flattering color

reproduction, near zero distortion and minimal veiling glare with smooth and

natural-looking bokeh. It is one of the best-looking lenses Angenieux has ever produced

and a worthy companion to the Ultra 12x in the Angenieux line-up.

The EZ zooms are a constellation of ultra-reliable, easy-to-use, highly versatile

and very affordable lenses that cover multiple formats and lens mounts. The set of three

EZ zooms come with interchangeable rear elements for each lens that can be switched

between Super 35 and full frame in 15 minutes. There is an EZ1 (30-90mm T2 S35 or

45-135mm T3 FF), EZ2 (15-40mm T2 S35 or 22-60mm T3 FF) and EZ3 (45-165 T2.3-3

S35 or 68-250 T3.5-4.5 FF). Being Angenieux’s first lenses born in the mirrorless

cinema camera era, the EZ series is available in native E-mount in addition to standard

PL and EF mount. The EZ zooms in full frame mode with E-mount screwed on are the

ideal match for our vast inventory of Sony FX6 and FX9 cameras.

From the minute they showed up on our door, EZ zooms became the lens of

choice for a large portion of our clients shooting in the web content and documentary

spaces.

They have the familiar Angenieux look beloved by cinematographers, but with a

bit flatter color rendering and contrast and a tiny bit more distortion. This is the only

concession they make to being Angenieux’s budget line of lenses. Otherwise, they offer

the best price-to-performance value on the market. Although they are marketed as

budget-friendly ENG lenses, the EZ zooms have found a lot of acceptance on feature

film sets and are regularly deployed on large multi-camera shoots such as Gladiator II,

which used up to a dozen cameras all equipped with Angenieux zoom lenses.