NiSi 50mm T1 Cine Prime Unveiled – LPL Mount and Large-Format Coverage

by Johnnie BehiriApril 26^th, 2026

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NiSi has unveiled a 50mm T1 cine prime at NAB 2026, an LPL-mount full-frame lens that also covers larger sensors, including the FUJIFILM GFX ETERNA 55 in open gate and the Blackmagic URSA Cine 17K 65. The lens forgoes aspherical elements in favor of a smoother bokeh, integrates a non-linear cam focus mechanism designed to make T1.0 work practical for first ACs, and is priced at $2,799 with deliveries scheduled for August.

We previewed NiSi’s other NAB 2026 cine release earlier this week: the 65 PRIME 16mm T2.9, a rectilinear ultra-wide built specifically for large-format sensors. At the time, NiSi described a 50mm T1 in its booth as a “pretty well kept secret.” It is no longer secret. Where last year’s AUREUS PRIME T1.4 series brought a color-matched full-frame set to NiSi’s growing cine line, the new 50mm pushes considerably further into ultra-fast territory and onto a different mount entirely. We caught up with Kenji Arai from NiSi at the show floor to walk through what the lens is actually trying to do, and what it is not.

A T1 lens that’s actually meant to be shot wide open

The headline figure here is unambiguous. T1, not T1.2 or T1.4 with rounding. The harder claim, and the one we will want to verify in our own testing, is that the lens stays usable wide open. According to Kenji, sharpness holds across the frame at T1.0 with low chromatic aberration and a clean, modern rendering rather than the heavy aberrations that have historically defined ultra-fast primes. Our brief look at the lens on an ARRI ALEXA Mini LF, with a model lit by practicals at the booth, showed sharp detail in the eyelashes and brows, alongside soft, rounded specular highlights without obvious edge artifacts. We had time only for a quick eyeball test, not a measured one, but the first impression was that NiSi has built a wide-open lens rather than a wide-open lens with caveats.

A meaningful design decision sits inside the focus barrel. Rather than spreading the 300-degree focus throw evenly across the distance scale, NiSi uses a cam-driven mechanism that devotes roughly half of the rotation to the distances at which the first ACs are most likely to be pulling. That non-linear distribution gives pullers more usable real estate at the close and mid range, where T1.0 depth of field lives, rather than wasting throw on long-distance travel. It is a sensible response to the practical reality of T1.0 focus pulls, where a fraction of a millimeter at the barrel translates into a perceptible shift at the marker. Whether ACs prefer that geometry over a strictly linear scale is a question of taste and habit, but the intent is clearly to keep the lens shootable on real productions, not just impressive on a test bench.

No aspherical elements, by design

Internally, NiSi has avoided aspherical elements entirely, a choice Kenji described as an intentional optical challenge. Aspheres can simplify aberration control but often introduce onion-ring artifacts in out-of-focus highlights, particularly on very fast primes. Skipping them is harder to engineer, but the trade-off, NiSi says, is a smoother bokeh without the textured concentric rings that have become a signature flaw of some otherwise excellent ultra-fast cine glass. The lens uses 18 aperture blades, which helps keep highlights round as the iris closes down, supporting the same goal of clean, organic out-of-focus rendering.

In hand, the 50mm T1 is substantial. It weighs 2.29kg (5.04lb), has a 95mm front diameter, and feels every bit a modern LPL prime built around very fast glass. Color rendering is intended to match the NiSi AUREUS family rather than the slightly cleaner ATHENA line, which means cinematographers running an AUREUS set should be able to drop this 50mm in for low-light scenes without an obvious color shift. The image at T1.0 will not look like the same lens at T1.4, of course, but the underlying signature is meant to stay consistent across the family.

Coverage well beyond full frame

The image circle is where this lens gets unusual. NiSi quotes coverage of just over 46mm, which clears full frame comfortably, but the more interesting figure is what happens on larger-format sensors. The 50mm T1 covers the FUJIFILM GFX ETERNA 55 in open gate, where the diagonal stretches to roughly 55mm, and it also covers the Blackmagic URSA Cine 17K 65. It does not cover the ARRI ALEXA 265, but among current-generation cinema cameras, that is about the only exception worth noting. Readers following our coverage of the 65 PRIME 16mm T2.9 will notice the 50mm T1 lands on a similar family of sensors, though with a slightly smaller image circle than that of the dedicated 65 PRIME lens.

There is a fun consequence on the ETERNA. NiSi calculates that, when the 50mm T1.0 is mounted to the ETERNA’s open-gate sensor, the effective look approximates roughly T0.79 in full-frame equivalence terms. That is a depth-of-field statement, not a light-gathering one, but the practical takeaway is that pairing this lens with a sensor larger than full frame yields separation that is hard to replicate with any conventional spherical prime. Whether that level of shallow rendering is desirable for a given project is a different question. For narrative work where the photography needs to feel painterly, it is a striking option; for documentary or run-and-gun shooting, it is the kind of lens that demands a focus puller and a clear plan.

Mount strategy and adapters

The 50mm is LPL native, not PL. Kenji noted that PL is too narrow at the rear to accommodate the large rear element, which is why NiSi committed to LPL for the entire T1.0 line. That is a material decision for anyone planning to adapt the lens to mirrorless bodies. NiSi was showing prototypes of an LPL-to-G mount adapter at the booth alongside additional LPL-to-mirrorless options, with more to follow at launch. The company already produces a comprehensive ATHENA-branded PL adapter range covering Sony E, L, Canon RF, and FUJIFILM G, so it is reasonable to expect a similarly wide LPL adapter family at the time of release.

For ARRI users, the lens drops onto an ALEXA 35 or ALEXA Mini LF without any adapter. For everyone else, the adapters become part of the cost of entry, and NiSi is using NAB to gauge which mount priorities cinematographers want them to ship first.

Future focal lengths under consideration

The 50mm is the first lens in what NiSi intends to be at least a three-lens T1.0 series. The leading candidate for the next focal length is 35mm, with discussion at the booth pointing toward a third option around 75mm rather than the more conventional 85mm. Kenji emphasized that NiSi is using the show to collect input from cinematographers on the shape of the rest of the family, mirroring the company’s approach with the 65 PRIME line, where roadmap focal lengths are being decided in part by user feedback. Shooters with strong opinions on what a T1.0 cine prime should look like at 35mm, 75mm, or 85mm have an open invitation to make their case before the optical formulae are locked.

Pricing and availability

The NiSi 50mm T1 LPL is set to ship in August at $2,799. For context, that is the same launch price as the 65 PRIME 16mm T2.9, and it sits well below where most existing T1-class primes from established cine manufacturers live. NiSi has built much of its cine reputation on undercutting traditional cinema glass without obviously sacrificing build quality or image character, and a sub-$3,000 T1.0 LPL prime is the most aggressive expression of that strategy to date.

How well the lens delivers on its claims, particularly the promise of clean, usable performance wide open, is something we hope to test in more depth once review samples are available. For now, NiSi has put a genuinely uncommon set of specifications into a price bracket that very few competitors can credibly answer.

An LPL T1 prime priced under $3,000 with large-format coverage is a striking spec sheet. The real test is what it delivers wide open in the field. Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!