Cooke Macro/i FF T2.5 3-Lens Set (PL/LPL)
Industry leading image performance from infinity to 1:1 macro focus across a perfectly matched high-speed full frame lens set.
Place an Order60mm T2.5
90mm T2.5
150mm T2.5
Cooke Macro lenses
Macro lenses offer a fascinating window into the world of the tiny and less observed. With their powerful ability to focus sharply on subjects at extremely close distances, macro lenses reveal intricate details and textures that are often overlooked by the naked eye.
For filmmakers, macro lenses provide opportunities to add visual interest and depth to scenes by capturing extreme close-ups that immerse viewers in the finer details of a story. Whether it’s showcasing the subtle expressions on a character’s face or emphasizing the minute elements of a setting, macro lenses can enhance storytelling and evoke emotions in powerful ways.
Cooke Optics’ range of three dedicated 1:1 Full Frame Macro lenses afford the discerning cinematographer these creative opportunities, supported by ground-breaking construction and full frame imager coverage.
Perfectly Matched
Three complementary perfectly matched high-speed full frame macro 1:1 cine lenses, all created to the same exacting standard and hand-crafted to the same exceptional quality and reliability.
Colour matched to modern Cooke spherical primes, at T2.5, including the S8/i FF and Varotal/i FF zooms. These powerful lenses are equally at home for principal photography as well as specialist macro work and shots can be intercut without issue.
Usability
It is challenging to maintain the performance of a lens at close focus distances, as such speciality macro lenses have come about. The trade-offs can be having more compressed focus scales in the “normal” working distances and additionally they often expand in length considerably as they are focused closer.
Cooke usurps these expectations with fully internal focus mechanisms and matched front diameters of 87mm meaning there’s no issues around using clip on matteboxes.
Matched iris and focus gear positions also make lens changes easier and advanced cam-followers allow for incredibly precise focusing from infinity all the way to 1:1 – these lenses are equally at home for principal photography as they are for table top product close-up shots.
1:1 Magnification
A true macro lens allows for a 1:1 magnification ratio meaning if we had a 24mm high image sensor (such as the Sony VENICE), an object that was 24.5mm tall and placed at the lens’ minimum focus distance would fill slightly more than the whole height of the imager.
Power of a Macro set
Having a range of macros to utilise is invaluable, especially if incorporating them with other shots in a sequence and attempting to avoid too much of a jump in style. Cooke’s three lens range of 60mm, 90mm and 150mm offers great flexibility in this regard.
It’s regularly beneficial to use a longer focal length for macro work as it allows more working space around the subject for lighting – particularly in the case of product work.
At 1:1 macro, the plane of focus measured from the lens front is 1.8 inches for the 60mm, 3.6 inches for the 90mm and 6.7 inches for the 150mm giving the cinematographer a range of options when it comes to setting up a shot.
Design principles
Like Cooke’s other modern lenses these macros utilise all-spherical design principals. Aesthetic imaging is produced with both film and digital cameras, and the lenses exhibit controlled flare and low residual aberrations, including distortion.
The lenses are optimised to maximise overall image performance and capture the elegant skin tones and texture that one expects of Cooke whilst also overing incredible illumination and definition across the whole frame which is incredibly beneficial for macro work.
Bokeh is organic, natural, smooth and velvety. A nine-leaf linear module iris assembly assures it’s also symmetrically pleasing and matching in shape to other Cooke lenses.
Minimised stop loss
To achieve a closer plane of focus the focusing components of a lens are moved further away from the imager. The image circle is spread out and this results in a loss of light. In ordinary circumstances this range of change is negligible; however in the macro world to reach extremely close focusing distances and 1:1 magnification this change is more significant. Stop loss with macro lenses then is inevitable.
In general, the rule of thumb is that a macro lens will lose two stops of light when set to 1:1 focus. However, Cooke’s lenses surpass this and other competitor’s offerings, with stop loss ranging from 1.4 to 1.8 stops depending on the focal length.
The focus markings on the barrel change from being in distance to being in ratio as a way of clearly depicting when stop loss needs to be considered by the cinematographer.
/i Technology inside
Cooke’s /i ‘Intelligent’ Technology is a metadata protocol which enables film and digital cameras to automatically record key lens and camera data for each frame shot, at speeds of up to 285fps, which can then be provided to post-production teams digitally.
Equipment identification is by the serial number and lens type, with data including focal length, focus distance, near and far focus, hyper focal distance, T-stop, horizontal field of view, entrance pupil position, distortion and shading data.
The electronics inside each /i lens connect to resistive sensing strips calibrated in absolute values. As soon as power is applied, the data is available instantly without the need for an initialization procedure. /i Technology streamlines both production and post – saving valuable time and cost whilst eliminating the need for guesswork.
Full Frame coverage
With an image circle optimised for a diameter of 46.3mm Cooke’s macro lenses comfortably cover large sensor modern digital cinema camera formats. The cinematographer doesn’t need to window into their sensor for specialist macro shots and can deliver these at a consistent resolution to the rest of the sequence.
Handcrafted Precision
Modern and traditional grinding and polishing techniques are combined to achieve the highest level of precision. Sophisticated thin film equipment and traditional cementing processes are utilised to ensure optimum coatings. Finally, lenses are meticulously assembled, exhaustively tested, checked and re-checked.