I was kicking off the season and knew I’d be shooting ARRI35 Anamorphic 2:1. The form factor and quality fo these lenses was spectacular. How the wide angle can be so lightweight, so fast and with so little curvature on the wide end appears to defy the physics of lens manufacture.

I was often wide open, never closed on T4 and they were sharp, but not abrupt at every stop. Rounded off with great bokeh and quality flare characteristics they were in use everyday on the production.

Ultimately after my 5 week block the 3 subsequent DP’s on the season’s blocks all requested to keep the lenses on and continued to use them throughout, a testament to their performance and quality, both optically and mechanically. I look forward to using them again on my next anamorphic show.

The Proteus Zooms are very special in regards to what’s available on the market. Over the years I’ve had directors push for zooms on films where we are using anamorphic primes and we typically have to use spherical zooms or move the camera with primes.

Somehow Laowa has managed to make 2x anamorphic zooms that are smaller than some 2x anamorphic primes. Our director really wanted to zoom instead of moving the camera and wow did we get lucky with the timing of these lenses! These lenses were exactly what our narrative needed. The focal ranges of the lenses worked well with our need for ultra slow creeping zoom shots. The lens’ parfocal ability was crucial to getting the shot in our tight schedule and less moving factors saved us from burning through countless takes on set.