7Artisans Launches $2,000 Sprite 24-96mm T2.9 Super35 Cine Zoom

Jul 31, 2024

Jeremy Gray

A 7Artisans 24-96mm T2.9 cine lens with a Super 35 format. The lens features various focus, aperture, and zoom rings, along with numerical markings on the side for precise adjustments. Its sleek black design is accented with a vibrant red ring at the mount end.

Earlier this year, Chinese lens maker 7Artisans launched the Sprite 24-96mm T2.9 cinema zoom lens for Super 35 cameras on Kickstarter. The lens is now available to everyone, delivering a roughly 35-150mm equivalent focal length with a constant T2.9 aperture.

The 7Artisans Sprite 24-96mm T2.9 lens offers four times zoom and promises a parfocal design with “imperceptible” focus breathing. 7Artisans claims the lens delivers consistent, accurate focusing performance throughout the zoom range and ensures edge-to-edge sharpness.

Close-up of a 7Artisans 24-96 mm T2.9 camera lens resting on a dark-grey surface. The lens features multiple dials and markings, with a sleek black finish and a red ring near the mount. The background is dark.

The manufacturer says that the S35-format lens meets the needs of “most scenes” thanks to its four times optical zoom and constant T2.9 aperture. The aperture can be stopped down to T22 throughout the focal length range. The diagonal angle of view ranges from 66 to 18 degrees as the user zooms from 24mm to 96mm.

The lens includes 21 elements arranged across 16 groups and sports a 13-bladed aperture diaphragm. Given that it is a cinema lens, it should come as no surprise that focus, aperture, and zoom are controlled manually via on-barrel controls.

Close-up shot of 7Artisans 24mm T2.9 cinema lens mounted on a camera rig with focus, zoom, and aperture rings shown. Labels indicate focus ring throw at 240 degrees, zoom ring throw at 100 degrees, and aperture ring throw at 90 degrees. — Focus, zoom, and aperture rings feature standard cine-oriented designs and gearing.

The smoothed aperture ring has 90 degrees of throw, while the focusing ring has 240 degrees of rotation. The zoom ring rotates 100 degrees from 24 to 96mm. The minimum focusing distance is one meter (3.3 feet)

7Artisans says the lens, comprised of a metal barrel, is 225 millimeters long (8.86 inches) and weighs about 2.3 kilograms (just over five pounds). It accepts 86mm threaded filters.

The cine zoom is compatible with a specially designed adapter ring, enabling it to be used across a wide range of common camera systems, including E, Z, RF, and L-Mount. However, only the PL version is compatible with the mount adapter — the EF version is just for EF-mount cameras.

Close-up of two advanced camera setups on stabilizing rigs. The camera on the left has a large lens and multiple attachments, while the one on the right is mounted on a Ronin rig and positioned indoors near a window with shades and green plants in the background.

The 7Artisans 24-96mm T2.9 S35 Cine Zoom lens is available to purchase now for $1,999 through multiple retailers, including 7Artisans itself, AVShutter, and B&H. Purchasing the lens alongside the adapter will add $95 to the total cost, and the lens ships with front and rear caps, a filter adapter, and a protective case.

As far as cinema zoom lenses are concerned, the $2,000 price point puts the 7Artisans Sprite 24-96mm T2.9 squarely in the “budget” category, joining other recent “affordable” cinema zoom lenses like the Laowa Ranger S35 and OOOM Cine Zoom lenses released in May.

Image credits: 7Artisans