[tcbyrd]

That may explain the “expensive” part but it doesn’t explain the “huge” part. Could Fujinon make their huge lenses cheaper? Maybe. But as the video points out there’s practical reasons the equipment has to be the physical size that it is, and yes the market for productions that have the team and budget to support and operate the equipment is relatively small. And those cameras are usually a 5+ year investment.

[kayfox]

Its huge because of two things:

1. The lens elements are really large to gather a lot of light so that it can work well in a wide range of lighting conditions. The front most element is as large as the front hood.

2. Every set of lens elements, some being just one lens, is moved individually, there is a controller that calculates the proper position for each lens and moves them based on input from the operators controls and the camera. This allows the lens to zoom really fast without loosing focus.

[tcbyrd]

I’d recommend you watch the video. There’s a lot more to it than just the lens and it’s not just “to gather a lot of light”. You can gather a whole bunch of light on an f0.8 lens in way less weight. The video does a great job with the details of the physics.