Cooke just announced their new AP3 anamorphic lenses. These new Cooke AP3 1.5x anamorphic lenses will bring the classic Cooke look of warm skin tones, organic contrast, dimensional rendering, and that unmistakable cinematic falloff into a smaller package aimed directly at today’s full-frame mirrorless cameras.

The initial Cooke AP3 launch lineup includes:

• 35mm T2.4
• 50mm T2.4
• 85mm T2.4

All three lenses cover full-frame sensors and feature interchangeable lens mounts. The Cooke AP3s will come with an E-Mount, and one can order an RF, L, and M mount.

The Cooke AP3s 1.5x delivers the anamorphic characteristics we all love while keeping in mind these new lenses are built for a world with full-frame sensors, where a 2x anamorphic squeeze can be a bit too much, resulting in cropping the left and right sides of the frame to fit the image into a common anamorphic aspect ratio. The 1.5x anamorphic will allow full-frame filmmakers to have the anamorphic look with minimal cropping.

The Cooke AP3s’ bokeh is apparently a new design that renders out-of-focus elements with a painterly quality that isn’t distracting. The AP3’s flare character looks to be an anamorphic look we’ve come to love. These flares are consistent across the three lenses.

I remember a while back, probably 10 years ago, at CineGear, we spoke to the then head of Cooke, and in his opinion, full-frame anamorphic lenses were not needed, and that less expensive lenses were not of interest to him. He has since retired, and Cooke has gone on to make full-frame anamorphic lenses, less-expensive SP3 lenses, and now the less-expensive full-frame anamorphic AP3s. Adapt or die, right?

I’m looking forward to trying out the Cooke AP3s, and I believe these lenses are landing at just the right time. At $7,750 per lens, or $22,250 for the three-lens set with a hard carrying case, it is a reasonable price for the Cooke Anamorphic look.