Lens in Focus: Donal Boyd’s Choice of DZOFilm Catta Zoom Lenses

As a wildlife photographer and conservationist, I’ve long been interested in producing and directing short films that compliment my photographic missions by highlighting nature and wildlife through moving picture. Over the past six months, I’ve been working on YouTube series for AdoramaTV titled In the Field with Donal Boyd. The series follows several of my photographic projects around the world. 

For the first six episodes of the series, I worked with my highly skilled cinematographer Frank Nieuwenhuis to filmusing the Sony FX6 coupled with DZOFilm Vespid Prime Lenses. We chose to work with DZOFilm lenses because other cinematographers had suggested they were the best value cinema glass.

The Base Cinema Lens Kit – Primes

Sony FX6 Full-Frame Cinema Camera

DZOFILM Vespid Prime 25mm T2.1

DZOFILM Vespid Prime 35mm T2.1

DZOFILM Vespid Prime 50mm T2.1

DZOFILM Vespid Prime 75mm T2.1

Impressions

For use in the field, the prime lenses are a slim and solid build. For me, the level of resolving detail, focus fall-off, and color depth exceeded my expectations — especially for skin tones. You can see some screenshots from the series below:

Because of the lowkey profile of each lens, consistent wide-open aperture, and focus wheel positioning, it was fairly easy to switch between lenses when needed. The prime lenses performed amazingly. Although, the inherent limitation of a singular focal length did present a few difficulties at times when we needed to switch lenses quickly.

The New Cinema Lens Kit – Zooms

Sony FX6 Full-Frame Cinema Camera

DZOFILM Catta Zoom 35-80mm T2.9 Full-Frame Cine Lens

DZOFILM Catta Ace Zoom 70-135mm T2.9 Full-Frame Cine Lens

These lenses are also available in a bundle:

Because of the nature of my work and the locations in which the series takes place, I’ve recently decided to start using DZOFilm Catta Zoom cinema lenses. While shooting the first six episodes of the AdoramaTV series, I found that we switched lenses often to capture a mixture of wide and tight shots. This was fine when we were shooting from a safari vehicle and didn’t move much away from the vehicle.

To learn about how I plan my excursions, check out How to Plan a Safari Photography Trip.

The primes always exceeded my expectations of what we could capture. But, at the same time, I wanted to increase the overall flexibility of the kit. Flexibility would be helpful if we need to hike, or move greater distances, while keeping a similar look and feel. As soon as I could, I incorporated the Catta Zooms into the kit. These are now the primary lenses for the series. The lenses come in both black and white. I opted for the black version to remain a bit more conspicuous when filming wildlife and nature.

So far, after filming two episodes in one of the most remote locations in Iceland, the lenses have again exceeded my expectations. I’ve included some highlights of why I think these lenses are the best value on the market right now. This is based on my experience of using them to film in the field along with cinematographer Frank Nieuwenhuis. 

Focal Length & Weight Comparison

The Vespid Primes are epic for shooting in more controlled settings. Although, it was more efficient for us to use zoom lenses since we were filming scenes with wildlife and nature. Currently, each of the two Catta Zooms replaces 3 Vespid Primes in terms of focal length. For example, the 35-80mm T2.9 Catta Zoom lens covers the 35mm, 50mm, and 75mm DZOFilm T2.9 Vespid Prime lenses. 

For me, in terms of weight, there’s a clear winner when considering how to pack a bag for a hike. If you need to pack light but want to cover from 35mm- 135mm, the Catta Zooms are an excellent option.

Build Quality

The look and feel of the lenses are also high quality. They’re built using high-grade polycarbonate with a fiberglass shell. Overall, the build quality standard is excellent across all of the DZOFilm lenses that I’ve used for filming. 

Keeping Focus While Zooming

The Catta Zoom lenses are parfocal. This meaning that when you zoom in or out, the focus does not shift. This is a huge advantage for countless scenarios where you might need to capture the action of a subject at multiple focal lengths, or you’re doing an in-camera zoom while filming. The focus remains static, which not all lenses can boast. For me, this further distinguishes these lenses as high performing cinema glass.  

Focus Breathing

If you’re a filmmaker that has not yet purchased any cinema-specific glass, one of the main factors to consider is focus breathing. Focus breathing is the subtle but visible change in focal length as the focusing distance changes. It’s an optical phenomenon. If you’re using photography lenses for filmmaking, one of the disadvantages is that focus breathing is much more prominent because photographic lenses don’t really need to account for it, since the goal is to only capture a single static image. If you’re using photographic lenses, in some cases, it can be very distracting. One of the advantages of using cinema-specific glass is that focus breathing is minimized or unperceivable as the lenses are optimized to account for this optical effect.

So far, in my own tests of the Catta Zooms — and across the entire Vespid Prime range that I’ve tried — the focus breathing of these lenses are outstanding and totally imperceivable.

Aperture

I wanted to make a small note about the aperture difference between the Vespid Primes and the Catta Zoom lenses. To me, the trade-off of having flexibility of focal length outweighs the minor depth of field increase and light capture ability of having a lower aperture lens.

Final Thoughts

For the continuation of my series with AdoramaTV and for future documentary film projects, I will definitely use the Catta Zooms. This is primarily because of the flexibility in being able to shoot multiple focal lengths, framings, and aesthetics without having to switch lenses.

If you’re looking for a lens setup that is lightweight, flexible for unpredictable fieldwork, and at an epic price point, I highly suggest investing in the DZOFilm Catta Zooms. 

As I continue to use these lenses out in the field, I’ll be sharing more behind-the-scenes footage on my Instagram stories and through AdoramaTV. Be sure to follow along with by watching In the Field with Donal Boyd series as new episodes are published in the coming weeks and months. 

You can watch the first episode in the series, In the Field with Donal Boyd, below: