Zeiss CP.3 XD 18mm T2.9 Cinema Lens with PL-Mount
Overview
The Zeiss CP.3 XD 18mm T2.9 Cinema Lens with PL-Mount is an ultra-wide spherical prime that covers Full Frame sensors. Ultra-wide coverage takes in a full setting from a short distance, which suits establishing shots, tight interiors, and vehicle work where the camera cannot be moved back. The lens opens to T2.9 and closes to T22. It uses a PL-Mount with manual focus. Zeiss eXtended Data passes lens metadata through the mount, including distortion and shading characteristics for post.
Features
Key Features
Ultra-Wide Full Frame Coverage
The lens covers Full Frame sensors, projecting a 43.3 mm image circle. An ultra-wide field of view keeps interiors, vehicle mounts, and establishing shots workable from close in, where there is no room to move the camera back.
T2.9 Maximum Aperture
The lens opens to T2.9 and closes to T22, a moderate maximum aperture suited to well-lit sets and to work that wants deeper depth of field.
300° Focus Throw
Its 300° focus throw is long, spreading distance marks widely for precise, repeatable pulls, with a slower full rack as the trade.
User-Interchangeable Mount
The mount can be swapped by the owner, letting one lens follow a camera package across bodies rather than staying tied to whichever mount it shipped with. That matters most to owner-operators buying into a system they expect to change.
Zeiss eXtended Data
Alongside focus and aperture, the lens reports its own distortion and shading characteristics. Post can remove and reapply those precisely, which matters when compositing into a frame the lens has bent.
Focus & Handling
11.8 in Minimum Focus
Mount & Rig Integration
PL-Mount
The lens mounts via PL-Mount, fitting industry-standard cinema cameras and adapting to most modern cinema and hybrid bodies.
0.8-Pitch Cine Gears
The lens carries 0.8-pitch cine gears, the standard pitch for follow focus units and lens motors. Compatibility with lens control systems lets a solo operator make consistent, repeatable focus pulls, or a camera assistant control the lens remotely.
95mm Front Diameter
The front element measures 95mm, which fits a compact matte box directly and steps up to a 114 mm clamp with an adapter ring. Matte box fit follows from this measurement rather than from the filter thread, since the clamp grips the outside of the barrel.