OPTICAL QUALITY A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE
With the Ultra Prime 8R, the latest technological advances
have been used to maintain the high optical and ergonomic
standards of the Ultra Prime family in an extreme wide angle
lens. This was no easy feat since the wider a lens gets, the
more difficult it is to keep image quality at an optimum.
Building the Ultra Prime 8R was only possible through new
optical design techniques and the use of special optical glass
with anomalous partial dispersion, exotic glass materials, a
radical aspherical lens surface and a floating element.
As a result, the Ultra Prime 8R shows maximum contrast and
resolution consistently over the entire focus range, includ-
ing unrivaled close focus performance. It shows minimized
chromatic aberration and almost no geometric distortion.
The unique look of the Ultra Prime 8R is based on its
rectilinear design (the "R" in its name stands for "rectilin-
ear"). In contrast to the typical distortion of a fisheye lens, a
rectilinear lens keeps straight lines straight. The Ultra Prime
8R is the widest rectilinear lens ever built that covers the
entire Super 35 frame.
What is the T* XP anti-reflex coating?
Anti-reflex coatings ensure that the maximum
amount of light reaches the film instead of being
reflected away from the lens surfaces or, worse,
bouncing around inside the lens. They are also an
important contributor to proper color balance.
The new multi layer T* XP (Extended Performance)
anti-reflex coating developed by Zeiss has been
used on the Ultra Prime 8R to ensure maximum
light transmission in a wide spectrum of wave-
lengths. The T* XP coating, which is also used for
the Master Primes and other ARRI/Zeiss lenses,
has been optimized with respect to the spectral
sensitivity of motion picture film and the sensitivity
of the human eye. In addition, a sophisticated new
application process assures uniform performance
across the whole lens surface. This is especially
important on lenses with large, strongly curved
surfaces, such as those used in the Ultra Prime 8R.
When compared to conventional multilayer coat-
ings, the T* XP coating has up to five times better
transmission at the edges.
The result is higher contrast, deeper blacks and a
great reduction of false light effects such as inter-
nal reflections, veiling glare, flare and narcissism.
Thus the Ultra Prime 8R can catch subtle tones
in the deepest shadows and fully utilize the high
dynamic range of modern film stocks.