Atlas Lens has announced the imminent release of its new Mercury 1.5x anamorphic cine lenses. At the time of the announcement, only the 42mm cine lens was shown in the final design. The new Mercury series lenses offer full frame coverage, 1.5x aspect ratio with improved bokeh, significant reductions in physical size and weight (relative to standard anamorphic optics).
Atlas Lens has announced the imminent release of its new Mercury 1.5x anamorphic cine lens series. At the time of the announcement, only the 42mm cine lens was shown in the final design. The new Mercury series lenses offer full frame coverage, 1.5x aspect ratio with improved bokeh, significant reduction in physical size and weight (relative to standard anamorphic optics), more dynamic geometric optical design and warm vintage tones compared to Atlas Orion lenses.
Bokeh is really a subjective assessment of the quality of objectively out-of-focus areas of an image. An image where out-of-focus areas look good and add aesthetic value is called «good bokeh». An image where an out-of-focus area is distracting or detracts from the aesthetic can be said to have «bad bokeh».
All Mercury series lenses have either T2.2 or T2.3 apertures, the series will consist of the following focal lengths:
• Atlas Mercury 36mm T2.2
• Atlas Mercury 42mm T2.2
• Atlas Mercury 54mm (no aperture data)
• Atlas Mercury 72mm T2.3
• Atlas Mercury 95mm (no aperture data)
Only 36mm, 42mm and 72mm will be available at launch. Another focal length will be added in 2023. There is no information on aperture for 54mm and 95mm lenses yet.
Key Features of Mercury Series Anamorphic Optics:
• Cover a full frame sensor with 1.5x anamorphic ratio.
• Aperture T2.2 — T2.3 for Mercury series.
• Horizontal field of view 78°.
• Minimum manual focus distance 56 cm.
• High optical performance with vintage geometric personality.
• Golden highlights, pleasant barrel distortion, chromatic aberration close to zero, according to the manufacturer.
• The entire series is lightweight and compact cinema lenses: half the size and weight of most professional anamorphic lenses, says the manufacturer.
• Arri PL mount for use on professional cine and mirrorless cameras via PL adapter.
• Standardized gears and filter thread diameters with 95mm front diameter.
• Focal lengths: 42mm, 36mm, 72mm initially offered. 54mm, 95mm and another additional focal length, an unnamed telephoto lens will be announced in 2023.
With the release of the Mercury anamorphic optics, Atlas Lens Co. says they really wanted to push the boundaries in quality and design, balancing the vintage character with the modern performance of today’s camera sensors. Mercury lenses deliver classic anamorphic barrel distortion, smooth bokeh transitions, and a pleasing separation of foreground and background objects.