Cooke AP3 1.5x Anamorphic Lenses Released

Lens News

by Jeff LochMay 20^th, 2026

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Cooke has just released the AP3, a series of compact 1.5x anamorphic lenses that cover full-frame image sensors. At launch, three focal lengths are available: 35 mm, 50 mm, and 85 mm, all with a maximum aperture of T2.4, and user-interchangeable lens mounts for Sony E-Mount, Canon RF, L-Mount, and M-Mount mirrorless and cinema cameras. So, let’s take a closer look at these!

Back in September 2023, British manufacturer Cooke introduced their first “budget-friendly” cinema lenses, the Cooke SP3. The SP3 lenses made quite a splash because they were the company’s first lenses priced at one-third of their “entry-level” Panchro lenses, which start at $12,900. Indeed, by making smaller lenses for modern mirrorless digital and cinema cameras, Cooke has been able to reduce costs on the SP3s while still delivering the famous “Cooke Look” they are known for.

Three years later, the company is doing the same thing with the AP3, a series of compact 1.5x anamorphic lenses for mirrorless and cinema cameras.

Cooke AP3 – features

The Cooke AP3s are 1.5x anamorphic lenses. We are increasingly seeing manufacturers settle for 1.5x anamorphic lenses, such as the DZOFILM Arcana, the SIRUI IronStar, and the Blazar Viper 1.5x, to name a few. That 1.5x image squeeze is a good compromise between 1.33x and 2.0x anamorphic lenses, giving you the best of both worlds: a 2.6:1 image ratio on 16:9 image sensors and 2.25:1 if you’re shooting 3:2 Open Gate.

The AP3 series consists, at launch, of three focal lengths: 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm. All lenses have a maximum aperture of T2.4 and cover full-frame image sensors.

Cooke claims that the AP3 are “color-balanced and color-matched”. The company also notes that the “AP3 shares some characteristics with Cooke’s modern anamorphic S35 2x and FF 1.8x lenses. It also shares hardware architecture and lens coatings with the SP3, making it possible to creatively combine lens series across a production.”

The lenses come standard in Sony E-Mount. The lens mount is user-interchangeable, and each lens and lens set includes one extra lens mount of your choice at no extra cost. You can choose between Canon RF, L-Mount, and M-Mount. Of course, if you want all lens mounts, you can purchase them individually. Cooke has a helpful tutorial on their website showing how to swap lens mounts.

As always with Cooke, you can expect superb build quality. Indeed, the AP3s are made entirely of metal. Unfortunately, all lenses have different lengths/weight:

• 35mm T2.4: 1.27kg/2.8lbs with a length of 15.3cm/6.02in.
• 50mm T2.4: 1.17kg/2.6 lbs with a length of 14.2cm/5.59in
• 85mm T2.4: 1.41kg/3.1lbs. with a length of 15.9cm/6.65in.

However, all lenses have 0.8mod gears on the focus and aperture rings, uniformly placed, which makes swapping lenses faster because you won’t need to reposition your follow focus on your rig. The focus ring has a 160° focus throw and dual focus scales: imperial and metric.

Lens design

While Cooke doesn’t disclaim the lens design of the AP3s, the front diameter of the lenses is 87mm, which is fairly uncommon, and the front filter thread is 82mm. All lenses have nine aperture blades, which produce an interesting bokeh.

The minimum focusing distances are 50cm/20in for the 35 mm, 60cm/2ft for the 50mm, and 90cm/3ft for the 85mm.

Price and availability

The Cooke AP3 lenses are available now individually for $7,750/€6,700, or $22,250/€19,100 for the three-lens set.

I would not call them a direct comparison, but the SIRUI IronStar is $999 per lens, while the DZOFILM Arcana and Blazar Viper retail for $1,099 per lens.

For more information, please visit Cooke Optics’ website here.

What do you think about the AP3 1.5x anamorphic lenses? Have you ever shot with Cooke lenses? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!