High Speed
The speed of the new Ultra 16 lenses is a super fast T1.3, which allows the crea- tion of a shallow depth of field, a look that is often sought after in other formats. Especially for wide angle lenses in Super 16, a maximum aperture of T1.3 helps in creating a cinematic look. In addition, T1.3 facilitates shooting on tight lighting budgets or under a lot of time pressure, common in TV drama or independent fea- ture films. The fast speed is one of the outstanding features of these new lenses, unmatched by any other Super 16 cine lens.
Optical Quality
Fast lenses are nothing new, but cinematographers used to pay dearly for high speed with reduced optical performance and a greater propensity to flaring. The Ultra 16 lenses, like the Master Primes, change all that by combining fast speed with outstanding optical performance at all T-stops across the whole focus range. This previously unattainable goal was made possible through new manufacturing techniques, the use of exotic glass materials and large diameter aspherical and radically shaped spherical glass surfaces. The Ultra 16 lenses exhibit high con- trast, high resolution, almost no chromatic aberration (color fringes) and a great resistance to flaring. They are designed as close focus lenses, and so retain their outstanding optical qualities even at minimum object distances.
Incorporating aspherical glass surfaces in a lens design requires ultra-high pre- cision in manufacturing and a complex holographic measuring process which was developed specifically for the Master Primes, now benefiting all new ARRI lens designs. The aspherical glass surface located close to the iris inside the 12, 14, 18 and 25 mm Ultra 16 lenses helps in reducing spherical aberration (the inability to focus all light rays from a point source onto a point on film). The aspherical front surface of the 6, 8 and 9.5 mm keeps the image free of geometrical distortions; straight lines stay straight, from infinity to close focus.
