Zeiss DigiPrime

Zeiss DigiZoom

Zeiss Sharp Max

Broadcast (2/3")

Zeiss Distagon Prime

S16 Super Speed

ARRI/Zeiss Zoom

Illumina Prime

Century Optics Prime

Angenieux 16mm Primes

Angenieux ST16 Zoom

Canon S16 Zoom

16mm Cooke Zoom

ARRI Ultra 16 Prime

16mm Primes & Zooms

Angenieux Optimo Primes

ARRI Zeiss Master Prime

ARRI Zeiss Ultra Prime

ARRI Signature Prime

Super Baltar I TLS

B&L Baltar | Angenieux "Retrofocus" Type R2 | ZØ

Canon K35 I TLS

Canon FD I TLS

Canon Rangefinder I ZØ

Canon Telephoto Prime

Cooke S4 & S4/i

Cooke 5/i

Cooke S7/i

Cooke Panchro Classic

Cooke Speed Panchro I TLS

Cooke Panchro 152mm Macro

Cooke SP3

Kinoptik I P+S

Laowa 9mm Zero-D

Laowa 12mm Zero-D Cine

Leica Summilux-C

Leica Summicron-C

Leica R I ZØ

Masterbuilt Classic Prime

Masterbuilt Soft Flare Prime

Masterbuilt Portrait Prime

Masterbuilt Anastigmat Prime

Nikon AI-S I ZØ

Nikkor Telephoto Prime

Olympus I ZØ

Sigma & Sigma/i Cine FF Primes

Tribe7 Blackwing T-Tuned

Tribe7 Blackwing B-Tuned

Zeiss Super Speeds

Zeiss Super Speeds | TLS

Zeiss Standard Speeds

Zeiss CP.2 Super Speed

Zeiss CP.2 Primes

Zeiss Supreme Prime

Zeiss Supreme Prime Radiance

35mm Primes

Angenieux Ultra 12x

Angenieux EZ Zoom

Angenieux Optimo Ultra Compact

Angenieux Optimo

Angenieux Optimo Style

Angenieux DP Rouge

Angenieux Vintage Zoom

ARRI Signature Zoom

ARRI Variable Prime

Canon CN-E Zoom

Cooke Varotal Zoom

ARRI / Fujinon Alura

Fujinon Cabrio

Fujinon Premista

Masterbuilt Close Focus Zoom

Sigma High Speed Zoom

Sony GM Zoom

TLS Morpheus

Tokina

Vantage Hawk Zoom

ZEISS CZ.2 Compact Zoom

35mm Zooms

Sony GM Prime

FF Primes

FF Zooms

Telephoto Primes

Vintage Primes

Vintage Zooms

Atlas Orion Anamorphic Prime

Cooke Anamorphic/i Prime

Elite Mk IV Anamorphic Prime

Hawk V-Lite Anamorphic Prime

Hawk V-Series Anamorphic Primes

Kowa Prominar Anamorphic Prime

Lomo Square Front Anamorphic Prime

Master Anamorphic Prime

Anamorphic Primes

Vantage Hawk V-Plus Zoom

Angenieux Anamorphic

Angenieux 25-250mm HR

Angenieux 17-102mm

Anamorphic Zooms

Macro Lenses

Atlas 1.6x LF Extender

ARRI Signature Zoom 1.7x Extender

1.4X Extenders

2x Extenders

Duclos PL Macro Tube

Adapters

Innovision Probe II

Laowa 24mm 2X Macro Probe

Laowa Pro2be 24mm 2x Probe

Century Periscope

P+S Technik Skater Scope

Cine Magic Revolution

Century Low Angle Prism

Kish Optics Front Mesmerizer

Specialty Lenses

ARRI Shift Tilt

Century Swing Shift

Century Tilt Focus

Shift Tilt Systems

Cooke

Browse 16mm Primes and Zooms in our Camera & Lenses department at Hand Held Films, a New York motion picture equipment rental house.

16mm Primes and Zooms NYC Camera and Lens Equipment Rental

16mm Primes and Zooms

ARRI

Rent ARRI digital cinema cameras in NYC from Hand Held Films. Browse camera bodies, power, media, monitors, and production accessories in Manhattan.

ARRI Camera Rentals in NYC

Recent advancements in lenses, film stock, and post-production have elevated the Super 16 format, making it a popular choice for television, feature films, commercials, and documentaries. This format provides notable benefits, including the aesthetic appeal of film, wide exposure latitude, natural color accuracy, and portability. A key innovation is the Ultra 16 lenses, which offer high-speed performance at a T1.3 aperture, enabling a shallow depth of field and adaptability in challenging lighting situations. These lenses set new standards by combining exceptional optical quality with high speed, surpassing earlier fast lenses that often compromised clarity.

The Ultra 16 lenses are compatible with Super 16 and ARRI cameras, ensuring consistent optical performance and color balance. They are engineered to reduce common optical flaws such as chromatic aberration and flaring, using advanced glass and innovative manufacturing techniques. Their design includes aspherical elements that preserve image purity and straight lines, improving cinematic quality. Additionally, these lenses are Super Color Matched for a unified color palette when paired with other ARRI lenses, like the Ultra and Master primes. They also feature standardized sizes and focus/iris barrel positions for smooth operation, allowing cinematographers to focus on creativity without worrying about matching lenses during post-production.

ZEISS

Angenieux

Canon

Rent Canon digital cinema cameras in NYC from Hand Held Films. Browse camera bodies, power, media, monitors, and production accessories in Manhattan.

Canon Camera Rentals in NYC

Century Precision Optics

Lomo

Master Prime lenses, developed by Zeiss & ARRI, are renowned for their exceptional optical performance and versatility in professional filmmaking. These lenses are engineered to deliver uncompromising image quality, with minimal distortion, exceptional sharpness, and vibrant colors across the frame. Designed for modern digital cinema cameras, Master Prime lenses offer high resolution and contrast, capturing every detail with stunning clarity and precision.

One of the standout features of Master Prime lenses is their consistent T-stop aperture across the entire focal range, ensuring uniform exposure and facilitating seamless lens changes during production. This consistency allows filmmakers to maintain consistent lighting setups and exposure levels throughout a shoot, enhancing workflow efficiency and creative flexibility.

Master Prime lenses are also renowned for their precise focusing and smooth bokeh, allowing filmmakers to achieve precise focus control and create beautiful background blur effects. Their robust construction and advanced lens coatings ensure durability and resistance to flare and ghosting, even in challenging lighting conditions.

Browse 35mm Primes in our Camera & Lenses department at Hand Held Films, a New York motion picture equipment rental house.

35mm Primes NYC Camera and Lens Equipment Rental

Ultra Prime lenses, crafted by ARRI, epitomize precision and optical excellence in cinematography. These lenses are designed to deliver unparalleled image quality, consistency, and versatility, making them a staple in the arsenals of professional filmmakers worldwide.

Optically, Ultra Prime lenses feature state-of-the-art spherical lens elements with high precision and low dispersion, resulting in exceptional sharpness, clarity, and color accuracy. These lenses are meticulously corrected for various optical aberrations, such as chromatic aberration, coma, and spherical aberration, ensuring optimal image quality across the frame and throughout the entire focal range.

Ultra Prime lenses also incorporate sophisticated multi-coating technology to minimize internal reflections, flare, and ghosting, thereby enhancing contrast and preserving image integrity, even in challenging lighting conditions. Furthermore, Ultra Prime lenses feature a consistent T-stop aperture design, providing precise exposure control and uniform light transmission across the entire lens series. This consistency facilitates seamless lens changes during production, maintaining visual continuity and streamlining workflow efficiency on set.

The Cooke 5/i series represents a significant leap forward in lens technology, offering an ultra-fast T1.4 aperture that excels in low-light conditions and provides incredible control over shallow depth of field. This makes the 5/i lenses a perfect choice for capturing dramatic, atmospheric shots with striking focus effects, allowing cinematographers to isolate subjects while gently blurring the background. The illuminated focus markings are an added benefit, making focus pulling easier even in the darkest environments—an essential feature for complex and fast-paced shoots.

Optically, the 5/i lenses build on the classic 

, maintaining the signature smoothness in out-of-focus areas but with an increased level of sharpness and slightly higher contrast. This balance allows them to deliver images that are both finely detailed and aesthetically soft, striking a perfect middle ground for cinematographers seeking both precision and cinematic warmth. The enhanced contrast adds depth and dimension, bringing out the richness of scenes without sacrificing the organic qualities that Cooke lenses are known for.

The 5/i lenses are well-suited for a range of productions, from visually rich dramas to high-detail commercial work. Their combination of low-light performance, ultra-shallow depth of field, and cinematic color rendition makes them a favorite for capturing intimate moments or bold visual statements. TV shows like 

 (2015) have leveraged the 5/i’s unique characteristics to create visually arresting imagery, where the lenses’ ability to highlight fine details in both well-lit and low-light environments is key to establishing mood, enhancing the drama, and elevating the visual storytelling.

The Cooke Panchro Classic lenses are a modern revival of the legendary Cooke Speed Panchros, faithfully recreating their signature look while incorporating modern optical precision and mechanics. Designed for cinematographers who want the warmth and character of vintage glass without the quirks of aging lenses, the Panchro Classics bring a nostalgic cinematic aesthetic into contemporary filmmaking.

Optically, these lenses deliver the smooth, organic rendering that made the original Speed Panchros so beloved. They produce warm color reproduction, gentle contrast roll-off, and natural skin tones, avoiding the harsh sharpness of modern lenses. Their all-spherical design ensures a soft yet detailed image, with slightly elliptical bokeh and graceful focus fall-off that creates a strong sense of depth. Subtle aberrations and a touch of edge softness wide open add to their painterly, filmic quality, making them perfect for period pieces, intimate dramas, and projects that demand a classic Hollywood feel.

Unlike their vintage counterparts, Panchro Classics incorporate modern coatings that improve flare control while preserving the characteristic halation and glow that make older lenses so appealing. Wide-open performance is significantly improved, delivering cleaner, more consistent images across the frame, while maintaining that signature Cooke warmth. The focus mechanism is smoother and more precise, allowing for reliable focus pulls without the quirks of older mechanics.

With a full range of focal lengths from 18mm to 152mm, Panchro Classics offer versatility while maintaining a cohesive look across the set. Whether used alone or mixed with Cooke S7/i, 5/i, or even rehoused Speed Panchros, they provide a timeless, organic image with a perfect blend of vintage character and modern reliability.

The Cooke Panchro Classic lenses have been embraced in modern productions seeking a classic aesthetic, with notable projects including 

The Cooke S4/S4i lenses are a cornerstone of cinematographic excellence, known for their distinctive visual qualities that have made them a go-to choice for high-end film productions. With coverage for Super 35mm sensors and a T2.0 aperture across all focal lengths, these lenses provide consistent exposure and depth of field control, ensuring seamless transitions between focus points. The Cooke Look inherent in the S4 series is marked by several key visual characteristics that are highly prized by cinematographers.

One of the most celebrated features of the S4 lenses is their smooth and creamy bokeh, which contributes to a visually pleasing and organic background blur. This smooth out-of-focus rendering ensures that the subject remains the focal point, while the background subtly fades, adding dimension to the composition. This is particularly important for portraits and close-up shots, where skin tones are rendered with exceptional warmth and accuracy, capturing the natural nuances of human features.

The S4 lenses also feature a gentle highlight roll-off, providing a smooth transition from bright areas to shadows without abrupt contrast shifts. This allows cinematographers to capture a greater range of detail in both highlights and dark areas, giving the image a natural, filmic quality. Their warm color rendition results in rich, vibrant hues that enhance the cinematic feel of the footage, giving each frame a timeless, artistic look. Additionally, the lenses are designed with minimal focus breathing, ensuring that the subject remains sharp and undistorted when transitioning between focus points.

For productions requiring modern workflow integration, the S4i version offers "i Technology", which transmits lens metadata for focus mapping and VFX integration, streamlining post-production processes. This added functionality makes the S4i lenses especially suited for high-end commercial work and visual effects-heavy films.

Notable films shot with Cooke S4/S4i lenses include 

 (2024), where the lenses’ ability to capture precise detail, natural skin tones, and cinematic lighting has played a crucial role in the storytelling.

The Cooke Speed Panchro lenses are some of the most revered cine lenses in history, originally developed in the 1920s and refined through the mid-20th century. Their influence spans decades of filmmaking, having been used in classics like 

 (2023). Even in the modern era, these lenses remain in demand, with our TLS rehoused set offering the same vintage optical character with updated mechanics.

Optically, Speed Panchros are defined by their fast apertures, allowing for excellent low-light performance and a shallow depth of field that beautifully isolates subjects. Their all-spherical optical design creates a naturalistic rendering, avoiding the overly sharp, high-contrast look of modern glass. Instead, they produce warm color reproduction, soft highlight roll-off, and gentle contrast, resulting in a cinematic, organic image. The bokeh is smooth and painterly, with slightly elliptical out-of-focus highlights, while the overall sharpness is balanced—clear but never clinical. Flare is subtle, often appearing as a soft glow rather than aggressive streaks, contributing to their signature dreamlike aesthetic.

What truly sets Speed Panchros apart is their dimensionality and focus fall-off, which create a tangible sense of depth that many modern lenses struggle to replicate. Skin tones appear natural and flattering, with a slightly lower micro-contrast that smooths out harsh details while retaining character. The older uncoated versions exhibit more pronounced halation and veiling glare, while later coated versions—like the Series III—maintain the same warmth but with improved contrast and reduced flare. Their ability to soften digital sensors while preserving detail makes them a favorite for cinematographers seeking a timeless, filmic look.

Laowa

Leica

The Zeiss Super Speed lenses are a legendary series of manual focus prime lenses manufactured by Carl Zeiss for cinematography. Renowned for their exceptional optical performance and fast aperture, these lenses have become iconic in the world of filmmaking.

Optically, Zeiss Super Speed lenses are celebrated for their outstanding image quality, characterized by impressive sharpness, clarity, and contrast. These lenses deliver images with stunning detail and vibrant colors, capturing the essence of the scene with remarkable fidelity. They are known for their minimal distortion and chromatic aberration, ensuring consistent and uniform performance across the frame.

One of the standout characteristics of Zeiss Super Speed lenses is their fast aperture, which allows for shooting in low light conditions and achieving shallow depth of field for creative effects. This feature makes them particularly well-suited for low-light cinematography and achieving a cinematic look with selective focus.

High-grade aluminum and stainless steel body construction

Fujinon

Browse 35mm Zooms in our Camera & Lenses department at Hand Held Films, a New York motion picture equipment rental house.

35mm Zooms NYC Camera and Lens Equipment Rental

Canon Servo Zoom

Sigma

Duclos

Vantage

Atlas

The Atlas Mercury Series is a full-frame anamorphic lens line with a 1.5x squeeze ratio, delivering classic anamorphic characteristics including oval bokeh, streak flares, geometric distortion, and field curvature with frame fall-off. The lenses feature vintage sun-tinged golden flares, near-apochromatic color correction, and a fast T2.2 aperture through most of the range.

Designed for versatility across sensor sizes and aspect ratios, the Mercury Series offers close-focus capability with near-zero chromatic aberration. They are lightweight and compact at half the size and weight of most pro-anamorphic lenses, with a standardized 95 mm front diameter, ARRI PL mount, consistent gearing, and an aperture range of T2.2 to T16.

Browse Anamorphic Primes in our Camera & Lenses department at Hand Held Films, a New York motion picture equipment rental house.

Anamorphic Primes NYC Camera and Lens Equipment Rental

Broadly compatible with all film and digital systems and delivery formats:



-16mm Film
-35mm Film (3 Perf and 4 Perf)
-35mm Digital and (S35 and APS-C formats)
-VistaVision Film (36mmx24mm open gate)
-Full Frame Digital such as the Arri Alexa Mini LF, Sony Venice 2, BlackMagic Design Ursa Cine 12K LF and more
-Beyond Full Frame Digital Systems like the Arri Alexa 265, BlackMagic Design Ursa Cine 17K, and new FujiFilm Eterna.
Universal Delivery Aspect Ratios:
-2.76:1
-266:1 Open Aperture Cinemascope
-2.40:1/2.39:1/2.35:1 Widescreen
-2:1 Storaro Univisium / Netflix
-1.89:1 / 1.85:1 WideScreen / DCI
-16:9/17:9 TV Formats
-1:1, 4:3, 4:5, 9:16 New Territory and Social Media

Atlas Mercury Series Anamorphic Prime

*Covers full-frame (FF), large format (LF) or VistaVision with the 1.6x LF Extender

 for more information on the 1.6x LF Extender.

For anamorphic cinematography, the Cooke Anamorphic/i and Cooke Anamorphic/i SF ("Special Flair") lenses deliver a true 2x squeeze, offering classic oval bokeh, organic focus breathing, and a smooth roll-off into out-of-focus areas. These lenses retain Cooke’s naturalistic skin tones while introducing controlled barrel distortion and lateral chromatic aberration, which contribute to their rich, filmic character. The SF versions enhance the flare characteristics, producing bolder, more stylized anamorphic flares, while still maintaining optical integrity. The Anamorphic/i series is designed for both film and digital capture, offering exceptional performance with minimized astigmatism, reduced lateral color, and a 2.4:1 aspect ratio.

Both lens series are optimized for Super 35mm sensors and feature a T2.3 aperture, ensuring sharpness across the frame while maintaining the signature Cooke Look. The Anamorphic SF lenses intensify the flare effects, making them perfect for filmmakers who want to amplify the nostalgic, cinematic look of anamorphic lenses, especially in scenes involving light sources or bright highlights.

These lenses have been used on notable films and TV shows, including 

 (2018) with the Cooke Anamorphic series, and 

 (2023) with the Cooke Anamorphic SF lenses.

Elite

Hawk V-Lite lenses, a subset of the esteemed Hawk anamorphic lens series by Vantage Film, feature an advanced anamorphic optical design engineered to accommodate a wide aspect ratio while preserving superior resolution and image integrity. These lenses exhibit consistent sharpness, negligible distortion, and exceptional contrast, maintaining image clarity and detail even when projected onto wider screens. Their distinctive optical characteristics include oval-shaped out-of-focus highlights and characteristic horizontal lens flares, contributing to their cinematic appeal.

Kowa

The Kowa Prominar Anamorphic lenses are an ideal choice for those seeking a vintage anamorphic aesthetic with a modern form factor. Originally manufactured in Japan in the late 1950s, these lenses offer a 2x squeeze factor, delivering the iconic anamorphic look with a cinematic widescreen aspect ratio (2.39:1). With low contrast and rich, warm colors, they create a soft, dynamic image with smooth, creamy textures, perfect for capturing naturalistic, vintage visuals.

These prime lenses feature warm, purplish horizontal flares, especially when light hits near the lens opening, and oval bokeh that contributes to their nostalgic feel. The softness, distortion, and focus breathing are hallmark characteristics that enhance the vintage look, creating a beautifully organic, almost dreamlike image. Smaller and lighter than many other anamorphic lenses, they maintain the signature features of anamorphics, including relatively easy flaring and the classic anamorphic aesthetic.

As part of Kowa’s legacy, a company founded in 1946 in Japan, these lenses are a reflection of Kowa’s commitment to precision optics. The term "Prominar" represents the company’s focus on producing high-quality lenses known for crisp clarity and vibrant color reproduction. Crafted in Japan, the Kowa Prominar lenses continue the country’s tradition of high-quality optical craftsmanship.

Though not as widely known as other major brands like Panavision or ARRI, Kowa’s Prominar Anamorphics are recognized for their high performance and affordability, offering filmmakers a solution that delivers warmth, character, and the classic anamorphic aesthetic. They have been used in notable productions such as 

 (2018), where their distinctive visual qualities enhanced the storytelling and cinematic atmosphere.

The Lomo Square Front 2x Anamorphic Prime lenses were manufactured in St. Petersburg between the 1970s and 1980s by the Leningrad Optical-Mechanical Association (LOMO). Part of the Soviet Union's contribution to cinematic optics, these lenses were crafted with precision to capture the expansive, wide-screen look of anamorphic cinematography. They're highly regarded for their historical significance and unique optical characteristics. Featuring a 2x squeeze factor and a 31.3mm image circle, the lenses offer a distinctive 2.25:1 ratio, delivering a wide cinematic aspect. The anamorphic element at the front of the lens assembly contributes to noticeable lens breathing and dynamic focus shifts, enhancing the character of the shot. The square front design gives the lenses their iconic look, while their shallow depth of field and horizontal flare—sometimes with a purple or blue hue—add dramatic flair to the imagery.

Known for their vintage softness and subtle distortion, these lenses produce a dreamy, organic feel that imparts a nostalgic, cinematic touch to any scene. They're particularly favored for their smooth anamorphic bokeh and soft light flares, making them an excellent choice for filmmakers looking to evoke a timeless, old-world cinematic quality. Now modified to accommodate a clip-on matte box, these lenses remain a prized set for those seeking the unique rendering of Soviet-era glass, blending historical craftsmanship with a distinct, filmic look.

Lenses included in this set: 35mm, 50mm, 75mm in metric standard witness marks.

Rent cinema lenses in NYC, including spherical, anamorphic, vintage, full-frame, zoom, macro, broadcast, and specialty lenses.

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16MM COOKE ZOOM

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