DZOFilm Vespid Prime 40mm T2.1 PL Mount + EF (VV/FF)

A full-frame sensor measures 43.3 mm corner to corner, and a focal length that close to the diagonal renders depth and scale much as an onlooker beside the camera sees them. The DZOFilm Vespid Prime 40mm T2.1 PL Mount + EF (VV/FF) puts that standard view into a full-frame cine prime. Added in 2022 alongside the 21 mm, it projects a 46.5 mm image circle that covers VistaVision as well as full-frame sensors. On Super 35 its angle of view matches roughly 55–60 mm on full frame, good for an interview single from a polite distance.

The 40 mm is absent from DZOFilm's five- and seven-lens Vespid sets, so owners of either kit add it as a single lens. Nothing on the rig needs to move: its 0.8 MOD gears line up with those on the 35 and 50, and the 80 mm front fits the same matte-box back. A 270° focus rotation and a 68° iris arc across T2.1–T22 complete the controls, while the M77 thread takes a screw-in polariser on a stripped-down gimbal build. One more focal length, no extra prep time.

It leaves the factory in PL with an EF mount in the box. Flange depth (52 mm in PL, 44 mm in EF) is reset with shims between 0.02 and 0.3 mm, the same pack DZOFilm uses on its Pictor and Catta Ace zooms, so one kit services a mixed inventory. Optional Octopus adapters take it onto a RED KOMODO in RF, or Sony E, L-Mount and Fujifilm X bodies; an LPL conversion kit is also sold. Fully mechanical, the barrel has no contacts to clean or firmware to track.

Ten elements in nine groups follow the series' APO correction, so a laptop's aluminium edge against a bright window shows no purple outline. Breathing stays low: a rack from the interviewer's shoulder to the guest's face barely moves the frame. Centre detail is crisp at T2.1, and corners firm up towards T5.6, a sensible stop for wide establishing frames. Contrast is gentle, skin keeps its texture, colour cuts cleanly against other Vespids, and the sixteen-blade iris stays near-circular through the middle stops. At 0.3 m from the sensor, a smartphone in an actor's hand fills most of the frame for an app commercial. Observational documentary, employer-branding films and showroom fashion lookbooks all suit this 40 mm cine lens.