ZEISS Horizon Anamorphic First Look – 2x Full-Frame Lenses With Internal Motors

by Alexandra ThompsonJune 10^th, 2026

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The ZEISS booth at Cine Gear 2026 was unusually crowded, even by show floor standards. Part of that attention came from the company’s new Horizon Anamorphic lenses, a futuristic-looking 2x full-frame anamorphic prime series with a design that looks noticeably different from a conventional cinema lens. Johnnie caught up with Sundeep Reddy from ZEISS to talk through what makes the Horizon Anamorphic lenses unusual, especially the internalized motors for focus and iris, the electronic control options, and the way ZEISS is approaching both reliability and lens character.

A 2x anamorphic series for full frame

The Horizon Anamorphic series consists of seven 2x anamorphic prime lenses designed to cover full frame. Most of the set opens to T2.3, while the 200mm is T2.9.

Sundeep said ZEISS deliberately chose a 2x squeeze rather than a milder 1.3x or 1.5x ratio. The stronger stretch is still popular with many DPs and cinematographers because of the spatial separation and sense of depth it can create. He added that this is not meant as a criticism of other squeeze ratios, but simply the look ZEISS wanted for the Horizon series.

Internal motors, but not in the usual way

The headline feature is the internalized motor system. These lenses do not use an external motor mounted to the lens barrel in the traditional way, and Sundeep was also clear that the internal movement is not a geared system as people might imagine it.

Instead, the optical group moves back and forth on a gimbal. The lens elements are not spinning. That distinction matters because one of the first concerns with an internally motorized cinema lens is durability.

According to Sundeep, the lenses include electrical protection at both ends: at the PL mount, which is also how the lens is powered, and at the Lemo connector on the opposite side. Both have surge protection. The motor itself uses Maxon motor technology, which Sundeep compared to motor technology used on the Mars helicopter and described as designed for mission-critical use.

Johnnie pushed on the obvious question: what happens after the lenses have been in the market for a year or two? Sundeep said the lenses were specified for 50,000 cycles, with one cycle moving from minimum focus to infinity and back. In ZEISS testing, the motors reached 100,000 cycles before the test was stopped because the test kit was needed elsewhere. He clarified that this is part of the design and test parameter for the lenses, not a process every single production lens goes through before shipping.

Display, firmware, and control

Each Horizon Anamorphic is a prime lens with motorized focus and iris. A small illuminated display on the lens gives access to the menu system, including feet/meters, display brightness, focus scale options, and language settings.

Sundeep also said ZEISS plans to add more features over time. Firmware can be updated through the Lemo connector, and he described this as something ZEISS expects to use fairly often.

There is also a way to control the lens through an app, although this should not be understood as a wireless consumer app at this stage. For now, the control connection is wired and proprietary. Sundeep said ZEISS may release a customer-facing version as development continues.

A neutral base with room to detune

ZEISS is positioning the Horizon Anamorphic with a relatively neutral baseline look. According to Sundeep, the idea is to give cinematographers a clean starting point, then let them shape or break the image in the way they want.

To support that, ZEISS is developing an interchangeable look system. The lens ships as LPL, and the look system uses a rear element to detune the base image. Rather than focusing on changing flare color, Sundeep described the system as a way to overcorrect or introduce spherical aberrations, adding more character to the image.

Out of the box, the Horizon lenses have mild horizontal blue streaks, which Sundeep described as light, mellow, and not heavily saturated. The flare color is not currently designed to be user-changeable. Close focus is also focal length dependent, with Sundeep mentioning the 40mm as having the closest minimum focus in the set, at around 2.46 feet.

Built around the focus puller

One of Johnnie’s final questions was whether focus pullers should worry about lenses like these. Sundeep’s answer was clear: absolutely not. He said focus pullers are at the heart of this lens technology, and that lens control integration is one of the main reasons ZEISS built the system this way.

At this stage, the Horizon Anamorphic lenses work with ARRI’s ecosystem, including the Hi-5, as well as cmotion’s cPRO/cube ecosystem and Preston. Sundeep had a Preston Hand Unit 4 with him during the interview and also mentioned the new ALC.

ZEISS is also talking to other lens control system companies, including Teradek, and Sundeep said the company is open to working with other manufacturers that want to integrate with the lenses. The goal is not to remove the focus puller, but to reduce external motor clutter while keeping the lens inside established professional workflows.

Price and availability

Pricing has not been finalized yet as the lenses are still somewhat under development, but more information is expected soon.

Given the technology, format, and likely rental-market positioning, these are clearly not aimed at the low-budget end of the lens market. The open questions now are pricing, availability, and how the internal motor system performs once the lenses are in regular production use.

What do you think of ZEISS taking a more electronic approach to anamorphic lens control? Would you prefer a cleaner anamorphic base look with adjustable character, or a stronger built in lens personality from the start? Let us know in the comments!