Love at First Shot: Our New ZEISS Nano Prime Lens Set
If you've spent enough time around geeky cinematographers, you may have heard the term "date the body, marry the lens." We behind-the-camera people are so fond of this saying because it is true: in the ever-changing world of professional photography, the right equipment can make all the difference. To make the biggest difference in the quality of our visual media, investing in good lenses is paramount.
While camera bodies come in and out of style every few years, getting engaged to the right set of lenses can provide superior crisp video for decades into the future. That's why we are overjoyed to have the opportunity to get our hands on the new Sony Zeiss Nano Prime lens set. Although this set of lenses costs an entire limb when paired with our workhorse Sony FX9 cinema camera, we forget all about our empty pockets and instead focus on the jaw-dropping pieces of art these lenses are capable of producing.
In this blog, we will nerd out on all our favorite details surrounding the Nano Primes, and how our new photography equipment has enabled us to shoot some of our best work yet.
About Tucker/Hess Productions: We are a production company based out of Los Angeles and the Bay Area, offering independent and commercial film production. Trusted by big names such as Google, Oracle, and Vans, our work is acclaimed and loved worldwide. Your Hollywood director may see you as a client, but we see you as a partner, and we are excited to work with you every step of the way.
Tucker/Hess Productions offers:
Full-service production services
Copyrighting
Video Branding
4k cinematography, 8k cinematography
Drone videography
Post production services
Animation
And more!
Our trust in Zeiss
When we unload the truck at any new shoot, the box that requires the most care is by far our little black Pelican, with an even smaller Zeiss badge on the side. This unassuming case is unloaded and sat down like it's on eggshells, and we have someone watch over it 24/7 when staging our gear. That's because inside, sits our 18mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm, and 100mm Zeiss Nano Primes, enough focal range to cover every application in our day-to-day.
The Zeiss Nano Primes are made with professional cinematographers in mind, and fit Sony's E-mount full-frame mirrorless cameras. For those wondering:
Full frame means the camera sensor is the exact size of a slide of 35mm, in other words, very big.
Mirrorless refers to how there is no mirror present in the camera to reflect light onto a sensor, instead, light hits the sensor directly.
E-Mount is Sony's proprietary mounting system for mirrorless cameras and their respective lenses.
Designed to deliver superior optical performance, these lenses are a testament to Zeiss's commitment to innovation and lens technology. They promise to redefine the standards of professional photography, and we have to agree. Like a finely tuned Porsche, German engineering truly shines through these lenses, with compact sizing and incredibly delicate 280-degree focus pulling.
Why are they so expensive?
A single Zeiss Nano Prime retails for around $4,500, meaning you could buy ten of Sony's more consumer-orientated video lenses for the same price. A set of 6, like what we use, runs you as much as a freshly polished 2024 Toyota Corolla. We feel incredibly grateful to be at the stage in our careers where we can have such gear, and therefore provide you with the absolute best film and video available, period. But what about these lenses justify the price tag, and why were we some of the first filmmakers to get our hands on them?
The price of a lens is dependent on a couple of factors: glass and build quality, zoom, speed, and brand. Most of these are obvious, Zeiss lenses have that sought-after Zeiss feel and quality guarantee and are built to the highest standards. What truly sets these lenses apart is the speed, with all six of our Zeiss lenses boasting a T1.5 speed. How quickly a lens performs is based on its aperture, or how wide it can open when filming. T1.5 is about as wide and bright as a cinema lens can get, and this speed applies for every length, even up to 100mm. A 100mm lens wide open at T1.5 is almost unheard of, meaning we had to have it for ourselves.
Zeiss Nano Prime Review
The result? More smiles on faces. We let every client sit behind our monitor while shooting and see the shot for themselves, and we have to say, these Zeiss lenses are a crowd favorite. Even after shooting with them for a few months, we can't help but crack a smile while behind the FX9, and with perfect lighting the bokeh is unlike anything we have produced before. Bokeh is how well the out-of-focus background feathers and balls up, and even to an untrained eye, can bring a new air of professionalism to a shot.
At our recent shoot at Gilroy Gardens, the Nano Primes showed their worth as the sun set on the first day on set. We are obsessed with the incredible depth of field on the above screengrab, and it really shows how you can make a lot with a little. Believe it or not, we only had five or so crew members on set that day, and the results came out Hollywood-level. Of course, the image is resized on this blog for quality reasons, but on a big screen, it is tack-sharp.
The lenses are easy to pop on and off and are weighted perfectly. They are durable and compact, small enough to put up with all the situations we throw them in. Above is a close shot of a mother on a hot air balloon ride, which required us to squeeze inside handheld on an EZ Rig to grab the shot. The Primes allowed us to get close to the subject, whereas a longer lens would have caused us to back off and miss the shot. Paired with the stabilization on the FX9, these lenses produced a very smooth shot.
Conclusion
In case you couldn't gather from our ramblings, we are plenty satisfied with our new purchase. Not only are they a joy to use, but more importantly, they are a no-compromise solution to producing the best works possible for our clients. Zeiss has really outdone itself with this set, and we can look past the price tag when reading the positive feedback from recent shoots.
If you want your commercial or film project to look like it was made on a blank-check budget, we'd be more than happy to put our new Zeiss primes to work for you. Tucker/Hess Productions has offices in Monterey California, and Los Angeles California, yet we travel across the world to film top-tier works for aviation, business, and creative industries. We are always looking to expand our client base, and offer drone videography, video editing, and other postproduction tasks to allow you to focus on being your most creative self. Don't hesitate to reach out for a quote and browse our page to see for yourselves why we are the most trusted filmmakers on California's Central Coast and beyond.
Thanks, and with love always,
Tucker/Hess Productions
