Tokina Vista-C 85mm T1.5 Cinema Sony E

Tokina Vista-C 85mm T1.5 Cinema Sony E – Fast T1.5 full-frame prime with vintage-inspired character

Tokina Vista-C 85mm T1.5 is the perfect choice for filmmakers seeking a combination of vintage aesthetics and modern technology. With its Sony E mount, this lens is designed to deliver a distinct and characterful image, making it ideal for use with large format and full-frame cameras. The fast aperture of T1.5 allows for impressive shallow depth of field, giving a cinematic feel to every project.

Optical character and rendering

The optical design of the Vista-C lens provides a refined vintage aesthetic with mild field distortion and natural light fall-off. This creates a soft and organic image, perfect for film production. The lens also delivers a smooth and pleasing bokeh, making it excellent for situations where shallow depth of field is desired. The contrast is intentionally slightly lowered, providing warmer tones and reducing green hues, while producing expressive blue and red flare tones. Despite its vintage-inspired design, the lens maintains high central resolution, making it compatible with modern digital cinema cameras.

Coverage, aperture, and focusing characteristics

The Vista-C series has impressive coverage for both full-frame and large format sensors, with an image circle larger than 46.7 mm. It supports sensors up to 65 mm, including ARRI ALEXA 65 Open Gate. With a fast maximum aperture of T1.5 and a minimum aperture of T22, this lens gives filmmakers great control over depth of field and the ability to experiment with different lighting conditions. Tokina has also tuned the lenses to minimize focus breathing, ensuring a smooth and consistent angle of view during focus changes, which is crucial for narrative and commercial productions.

Mechanics and handling

The mechanical construction of the Vista-C lenses is robust and made of metal, providing durability and reliability during production. The lenses are designed with consistent external form factors, including a shared outer diameter of 114 mm, making it quick and easy to swap lenses. They also feature a focus rotation of approximately 300°, allowing for precise manual control. With a 9-blade curved iris, the lens provides soft, rounded highlights when stopped down.

Main features

• Fast maximum aperture: T1.5 with minimum aperture T22 across the series
• Coverage: Full-frame and large-format with image circle >46.7 mm, suitable for sensors up to 65 mm and ALEXA 65 Open Gate
• Vintage-inspired rendering: Softer edges, reduced contrast, natural light fall-off, and subtle field distortion
• Flare tones: Warm red and blue hues with redesigned coatings to minimize green bias and enhance color rendition
• Focus breathing: Almost no focus breathing and high central resolution for modern film production
• Mount: ARRI PL mount with 0.8 MOD focus/iris gears and approximately 300° focus rotation
• Outer diameter: Shared 114 mm

Frequently asked questions

What type of mount does the Tokina Vista-C 85mm T1.5 Cinema have?
It has a Sony E mount.

What is the maximum aperture for this lens?
The maximum aperture is T1.5.

What kind of image quality can one expect from the Tokina Vista-C 85mm T1.5?
One can expect a vintage-inspired image quality with mild field distortion and natural light falloff.

How much focus rotation does the lens have?
The lens has a focus rotation of approximately 300°.