Nisi Releases Athena Prime Rewind
The lenses are available individually and in a five-lens kit, which ships in a hard case with PL mount.
The Nisi Athena Prime Rewind series enables users to shift between vintage-inspired character and modern optical precision within a single lens system.
The five-lens kit — 14mm T2.4, 25mm T1.9, 35mm T1.9, 50mm T1.9 and 85mm T1.9 — ships in a hard case with PL mount. Wide open at T1.9, each lens produces a warm, vintage character with amplified aberrations, softened resolution and enhanced foreground and background blur, complete with halo effects on highlights. As the aperture is stopped down, these characteristics progressively diminish. By T2.8, users reach a sweet spot between stylization and sharpness, and by T5.6-T8, the lens behaves close to a “clean” modern lens.
At wide apertures, Rewind lenses produce distinctive bubble bokeh — bright edges with darker centers in out-of-focus highlights. This effect is most pronounced on the 35mm and 50mm focal lengths, and it fades controllably by approximately T4, giving filmmakers precise control over background rendering. Flare intensity is increased over the standard Athena Prime, delivering warm-toned flares that add atmosphere and energy to backlit scenes, practicals and direct light sources.
The Rewind maintains color rendering consistent with the standard Athena Prime set, enabling users to intercut between both sets of lenses without requiring extensive color correction in post. Unlike the Tuned variant, which shifts toward yellow-green tones, the Rewind preserves neutral color fidelity. The lenses provide full-frame coverage with a 46mm imaging circle, supporting the latest large-format cinema cameras.
Weight and physical dimensions match across all focal lengths, enabling lens changes without gimbal rebalancing or matte-box adjustments. Every lens in the set includes a 300-degree focus ring with fluorescent focal scales for precise focus pulls in low-light conditions, a rear filter mount, and minimal focus breathing. Chromatic-aberration levels remain unchanged from the standard Athena Prime.
Nisi Athena Prime Rewind lenses can also be purchased individually.
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