Kinoptik Tegea 9.8mm Prime by Zero Optik Rehoused, Specialty (vintage), available for cinema lens hire at The Front in Sydney Kinoptik Tegea 9.8mm Prime, view 2
Vintage Specialty

Zero Optik Rehoused

Kinoptik Tegea 9.8mm Prime

1 specialty lens 9.8mm T2.3 PL

A legendary 60-year-old ultra-wide rectilinear design famous for Kubrick’s use.

Not a fisheye. It produces dramatic, surreal corner stretching with rich contrast and a unique vintage glow. Zero Optik’s rehousing is the definitive version: new 12-blade iris, 7" close focus, and 320° buttery smooth focus throw.

Character profile

How this lens renders.

9.8mm rectilinear. Dramatic stretch.

Five axes plotting how this set behaves wide-open vs a neutral modern reference. Larger area = more pronounced trait.

Talking points

Why DPs pick this set

  1. The “Kubrick lens”: The Shining , A Clockwork Orange

  2. Rectilinear, not fisheye.

    Dramatic corner stretching without barrel distortion

  3. Zero Optik rehousing with 7" close focus and new circular iris

  4. Pairs with Kowa Prominars, Cooke Panchros, Zeiss Super Speeds, and many more vintage S35 sets

Technical

Full specifications

Focal Length
9.8mm T2.3*
Mount
PL
Front Diameter
114mm
Coverage
Super 35
Close Focus
7" (less than ½ inch from the front element)*
Iris
New 12-blade circular design
Focus Rotation
320°*

Some figures here are marked *. Our sources disagree on those, so we're checking them against the lenses themselves. Ask us and we'll measure it for you.

Shot on these

Notable credits

  • The Shining (1980)

    DOP John Alcott Dir Stanley Kubrick

  • A Clockwork Orange (1971)

    DOP John Alcott Dir Stanley Kubrick

Credits reflect productions historically shot on this lens family. Specific units may vary.

Heritage

  1. Origin

    The Kinoptik Tegea 9.8mm was designed in the 1950s by French optical house Kinoptik in Paris, a rectilinear ultra-wide that produces dramatic corner stretching without the fisheye barrel curve. Originally built for cinema cameras of the period; the PL mount comes from Zero Optik’s rehousing.

  2. Filmography

    Stanley Kubrick made this lens famous: The Shining (1980, DOP John Alcott) and A Clockwork Orange (1971, DOP John Alcott). The 9.8mm on S35 produced the surreal claustrophobic interiors that define those films.

  3. Build

    Zero Optik’s rehousing is now the definitive version: 12-blade circular iris replacing the original, close focus down to 7 inches, and a 320° focus throw with hand-engraved witness marks. Standard 114mm front, PL mount.

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