What are the best lenses to use with Cinefade?

There is no such thing as a ‘correct’ Cinefade effect, as it is a very subjective storytelling tool that depends on the narrative and motivation behind its use. Due to the novelty of the effect there is no right way of using a variable depth of field in film and therefore lends itself to experimentation.

However, it could be argued that a good Cinefade effect is one in which the exposure stays constant and the bokeh or background blur are pleasing to the eye without any distracting image artefacts.

Cinefade works with all cine-lenses

All cine-lenses are compatible with the Cinefade system as long as they have a geared manual aperture ring and accurate lens markings.

In our experience the following lenses work well with our system because they are fast, which produces a very shallow depth of field, have accurate lens markings, which are important for lens mapping and calculating a consistent exposure and finally cinematographers like using them because they are aesthetically pleasing and perform well optically.

  • Leitz Summilux-C T1.4

  • Cooke S4/i T1.4 and S7/i T2

  • ARRI Zeiss Master Prime T1.3 (visible optical shading)

  • ARRI Signature Prime T1.8

  • Panavision Primo 70 Series T2

Please feel free to contact us for more details or if you have any further questions.

Leitz Summilux-C T1.4 lens series for Cinefade
Cinefade, Cinematography, cmotion Cinefade VariND, Education, FAQ, Filmmaking, Variable depth of fieldOliver Janesh Christiansenlens, cinematography, Leica, Leitz, Cooke, Arri Zeiss, Panavision, accurate lens markings, bokeh, background blur effect