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

Restrained flare and faithful colour define the DZOFilm Pavo 55mm 2x Anamorphic T2.1 PL & EF Mount Neutral, the middle focal length of the Pavo B set alongside the 32 and 100 mm. New York cinematographer Nick Dabas, who shoots fashion, advertising and music videos, favours neutral tones and sparing flare with anamorphics, and the minimal flaring impressed him in his first look at the series. Because the neutral coating adds no tint of its own, a horizontal streak borrows the colour of whatever causes it, and one rarely forms unless a bright light points straight at the front element. A magenta neon on a club set stays magenta; the warm bulbs around a make-up mirror in a beauty commercial stay warm.

Its 31.5 mm image circle matches Super 35 sensors. Among the T2.1 Pavos, only this one uses 14 elements in 13 groups, a formula shared with the 100 mm, and its 16 iris blades leave background lights as tidy ellipses. On a 4:3 Super 35 frame, a face and shoulders fill the height from roughly 1.5 m, handy for dialogue in a cramped flat. Close focus is 0.6 m, sensor to subject, tight enough for a pen signing a contract in a corporate film, no diopter needed.

Out of the box it wears a PL mount. Converting to EF takes the supplied bayonet, screw packs, shim set and screwdriver. The shims can stay in the case: DZOFilm's manual states the mount change itself needs none. If infinity drifts on a given body, a rear flange-back ring holds ±0.2 mm of adjustment, set without dismounting. Focus throw is 270°; iris throw, 63°. Its 0.8 MOD gearing occupies positions common to the whole Pavo range, so moving to the 32 or 100 mm involves no re-rigging of focus and iris motors. Snap-on matte boxes fit its 95 mm front, filters screw into the M86 thread, and scales read in metres.

For a production company, the return comes from utilisation. One 2x anamorphic close-up lens serves PL and EF cameras in the same week, and the barrel is light enough for a gimbal on a music-video day. Mated to DZOFilm's optional Marlin 1.6x Expander, it reaches full-frame and VistaVision bodies as an 88 mm, opening to roughly T3.4, so the lens keeps earning once larger sensors join the fleet.