LockCircle X-OT Introduced – Cine-Modded Zeiss Otus Lenses

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by Olaf von VossMay 11^th, 2018

Italian based company LockCircle has done it again. They’ve managed to transform the glorious (and expensive) line of Zeiss Otus photographic lenses into filmmaking devices. Meet the new LockCircle X-OT line of lenses.

Take a high quality photo lens and transform it into a cine lens. An Italian Job! LockCircle has done this before with their Prime Circle line of cine-modded lenses. Now, they have taken aim at the Otus line of photo lenses. De-clicked aputure rings, standard 95mm front mounts, 0.8 gears for focus and aputure, it’s all there.

LockCircle X-OT

The new line of cine-modded lenses, complete with custom hard case, is called X-OT. The OT stands for Zeiss Otus while the X could indicate the modding process that the original lens has gone through to become a X-OT cine-modded lens.

All LockCircle X-OT lenses share the same standard 95mm front mount which makes it easy to swap lenses without fiddeling with your matte box. The aputure rings are de-clicked and damped. The focus ring is equipped with an original Zeiss 0.8mm gear ring, too. You’ll get custom made front and rear caps (complete with focal length graphics) with your new LockCircle X-OT lenses, too.

The LockCircle X-OT lenses come with a heavy duty stainless steel EF mount but it’s interchangeable with the original Nikon F mount. All three focal lengths are available: 28mm, 55mm and 85mm, all three share a fast f/1.4 aperture.

Pricing and Availability

Since we’re talking Zeiss Otus here, the flagship line of Zeiss photographic lens offerings, this cine-modded set lenses is not cheap. Pricing for one LockCircle X-OT lens ranges from $ 3.719 (€ 3.099) for the 55mm version, $ 4.079 (€ 3.399) for the 85mm lens and a whooping $ 4.439 (€ 3.699) for the 28mm f/1.4 lens.

If you want to go all in, you can get  the full set, including a custom made protective hard case for $11.599 (€ 9.990). You save about $1.000 if choose the full kit.

The Zeiss Otus line of photographic lenses is one of the finest pieces of glass you can get for your money so this cine-modded line of LockCircle X-OT lenses might be worth a closer look if you want to get the most out of your camera.

If you already own a Zeiss Otus lens, you can send it in and LockCircle will transform it into a X-OT lens for you.

Original Zeiss Otus vs. LockCircle X-OT

One funny thing here is the fact that you can get original Zeiss Otus lenses for the same price than the LockCircle X-OT cine-modded lenses. They seem to have made a good deal here!

Check out the buy links below but beware: These are the original Zeiss Otus lenses (with EF mount) – NOT the LockCircle X-OT cine-modded lenses. We’ll add buy links once we have them. You can check out the LockCircle store by following the link below.

Links: LockCircle.com

What do you think? Might this be your next lens kit? Did you ever shot with a Zeiss Otus lens? Let us know in the comments below!