DZOFilm Pavo 55mm 2x Anamorphic T2.1 PL & EF Mount (S35) Blue

Recorded in 4:3 Super 35, a single take through the DZOFilm Pavo 55mm 2x Anamorphic T2.1 PL & EF Mount Blue yields both a 2.39:1 cinema master and a 16:9 version for television. De-squeezed, that frame measures 2.67:1, so the scope cut keeps about nine-tenths of the width and the 16:9 extraction two-thirds. The 31.5 mm image circle covers the area, and in DZOFilm's three-lens B kit this focal length sits between the 32 mm and the 100 mm. Its optics stack 14 elements in 13 groups around a 16-blade iris running from T2.1 to T22.

Speed paid off on VICTORIA, a New York thriller headed for cinema release. Cinematographer Jaime García kept the 55 mm in rotation with the 32, 65, 100, 135 and 180 mm on a RED Monstro VV, and the fast stops meant fewer lamps, shorter lighting setups and more freedom for the actors. After testing the Marlin 1.6x Expander (an 88 mm on full frame, about 1.5 stops slower), he and director Ray Hungría chose a 6K sensor crop to keep the frame the Pavos deliver natively.

The blue coating gives every horizontal streak one blue tone, independent of the light behind it. Producing one, though, calls for a hard source facing the lens: a forklift's headlamps in a logistics brand film or a lighthouse beam in a ferry operator's commercial. A night-time high street crowded with shop signs rarely shows a stray line. At 0.6 m from the sensor plane, the closest focus, a thumb rolling a lighter wheel fills the frame.

The lens leaves the factory in PL, with an EF bayonet, screws, shims and a screwdriver in the box. DZOFilm specifies no re-shimming, and a rear ring corrects flange depth by up to 0.2 mm either way on the camera. The focus ring sweeps 270°, scaled in metres, and the iris ring 63°; the 0.8 MOD gears sit in the same positions on every Pavo from 28 to 100 mm, so a lens change costs the focus puller no motor adjustments. The 95 mm front takes a matte box, M86 filters thread in, and with no data contacts, focal length and stop go on the camera report for VFX. In business terms, one 2x anamorphic prime delivers a scope look the client approves on the monitor, a 16:9 broadcast version from the same rushes, and one lens for PL and EF bodies alike.