DZOFilm Pictor Zoom 50-125mm T2.8 Black PL & EF Mount (S35)

Interview close-ups, stage singles and sideline detail all sit between 50 and 125 mm on Super 35, and the DZOFilm Pictor Zoom 50-125mm T2.8 Black PL & EF Mount (S35) covers that span at a constant T2.8. Its 31.5 mm image circle fills Super 35 and APS-C sensors, where the horizontal view narrows from about 28° to 11°, like a 72–181 mm on full frame. As the tele end of the Pictor line, it can keep a second camera on one barrel for a whole session.

From a riser 6 m back from a three-person panel at a business forum, 50 mm frames roughly 3 m, all three chairs included; at 125 mm one speaker fills a waist-up shot about 1.2 m wide. As a parfocal cine zoom, it makes that push-in live with no focus correction, once flange depth is set with the supplied shims. A floating focus structure keeps breathing negligible: a pull from a singer's microphone to the drummer behind leaves image size steady.

Inside are 18 elements in 13 groups. Sharpness is gentle, colour slightly warm, and the 16-blade iris draws defocused lights as clean circles. Chart tests found distortion strongest at 50 mm and easing towards 125 mm, worth noting before lens correction in post. Focus turns 270°, zoom 100° and iris 72° from T2.8 to T22, about 12° per stop for fine exposure rides, all on 0.8 MOD gears for follow focus and wireless motors. Close focus is 0.8 m from the sensor; at 125 mm that gives 0.184x, a frame about 13.5 cm wide, tight enough for a hand of cards on a poker livestream.

PL comes fitted, with an EF bayonet, shims, zoom lever and caps in the box. In EF mount it suits EF cinema and mirrorless bodies; DZOFilm rules out EF DSLRs, whose mirror cannot swing clear. The 95 mm front and M86 thread match the other Pictor zooms, so matte box and filters stay put through a lens change, and Octopus adapters reach E, RF, L and X cameras. Most third-party PL extenders collide with its rear baffle, but DZOFilm's Marlin 1.6x is matched to Pictor optics: for about 1.5 stops it becomes an 80–200 mm covering full frame and VistaVision, so the lens stays productive if your next camera body has a larger sensor.