DZOFilm Catta Zoom 70-135mm T2.9 Black Sony E Mount (FF)

Long-lens coverage on full-frame Sony cameras, without losing a stop as the zoom moves in, is what the DZOFilm Catta Zoom 70-135mm T2.9 Black Sony E Mount brings to a kit. It sits at the telephoto end of DZOFilm's full-frame cine zoom trio. A 43.5 mm image circle covers full frame, and the aperture holds at T2.9 through the 1.9x range, so exposure stays put during a zoom on air. On APS-C or Super 35 bodies it frames roughly like a 105–200 mm.

Place the camera 8 m from a conference stage: at 70 mm a speaker appears full-length with about 4 m of set around them, while 135 mm narrows the frame to roughly 2 m. Because the optics are parfocal, that move works live once back focus has been set with the shims supplied in the box. Breathing is kept minimal, which counts on the second angle of an interview or when a focus pull crosses from moderator to panellist. On documentaries it also earns its place as a slider-mounted second camera. Close focus sits at 0.76 m from the sensor, near enough for a technician's hands on a circuit board in an industrial film.

Inside are 17 elements in 11 groups. A 16-blade iris keeps out-of-focus bulbs and LED walls behind a stage round rather than polygonal. Every ring is cut with 0.8 MOD gears, with a 270° focus throw, 100° for zoom and 80° for the iris. The 70-135 shares its mechanical layout with the Catta 35-80, so gear positions line up and a lens change on a motorised rig leaves motors and follow focus where they were. Colour is matched across the series as well, which shortens the grade on multicam jobs.

A support base and rod come with the lens, and they are worth fitting: a long cine zoom on a mirrorless body should not hang from the bayonet alone. Up front, the 80 mm diameter suits clamp-on matte boxes and the M77 thread takes screw-in filters. At the rear, a slot accepts optional Catta COIN inserts, for example an ND to stay at T2.9 on a sunny sports sideline. Its glass-fibre-reinforced polycarbonate shell keeps a three-axis gimbal simple to trim. The Sony E mount fits FX and Alpha bodies directly; swapping in an optional RF, L, X or Z bayonet lets the same lens go out on whatever camera a client specifies.