Zeiss CP.3 XD 28mm T2.1 Cinema Lens with PL-Mount
Overview
The Zeiss CP.3 XD 28mm T2.1 Cinema Lens with PL-Mount is a wide-angle spherical prime that covers Full Frame sensors. Wide-angle coverage takes in more of a location than the eye does, which suits establishing shots, landscapes, and interiors where the space carries the scene. A fast T2.1 aperture lets camera operators separate subjects from their backgrounds or get the most out of available lighting when filming in darker environments, and the lens 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
Wide Full Frame Coverage
The lens covers Full Frame sensors, projecting a 43.3 mm image circle. A wide-angle field of view holds a subject and its surroundings in one frame, which is what establishing shots, interiors, and landscape work call for.
T2.1 Maximum Aperture
At T2.1 the lens separates subjects cleanly from their backgrounds and gets the most out of available lighting when filming in darker environments. It closes to T22.
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
9.4 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.