At IBC 2026 in Amsterdam, ELYSAS gave us a sneak peek at their upcoming MUSE Air Primes. These are essentially smaller and more compact mirrorless-mount versions of their MUSE LF primes.
At the show, they only had the 32mm F1.7, but the series will be available in the following focal lengths:
- 18mm F1.7*
- 25mm F1.7
- 32mm F1.7
- 50mm F1.7
- 75mm F1.7
- 100mm F1.7
- 135mm F1.7
- 200mm F1.7*
*These focal lengths will be coming in the future.
The MUSE Air Prime series will have the same image characteristics as the MUSE LF series, including what is being referred to as ‘Melted Bokeh ‘, where there are five zones of the frame – foreground, plane of focus, background, centre, edges- that are differentially controlled, and the aberrations are also claimed to be re-balanced.
Initially, they will be available in Sony E and Canon RF mounts. The company told me that they hope to also have Nikon Z and Leica L versions in the future.
As the MUSE Air Primes are still in development, there is no indication of pricing, but they should be available towards the end of the year.
If you are not familiar with the MUSE LF lenses, they are very compact and lightweight, and they feature larger-than-LF coverage, which even allows them to cover the full 16×9 frame on Fujifilm GFX sensors.
According to ELYSAS, they have a unique image that sits between vintage softness and modern sharpness. Out-of-focus areas are said to melt away and slightly swirl, letting the subject stand out in a pleasing way.
Currently, the set consists of seven lenses:
- 25mm T1.8
- 32mm T1.8
- 40mm T1.8
- 50mm T1.8
- 75mm T1.8
- 100mm T1.8
- 135mm macro T2.8
ELYSAS MUSE primes feature what is being referred to as ‘Melted Bokeh’: five zones of the frame – foreground, plane of focus, background, centre, edges – are differentially controlled, and the aberrations are re-balanced.
ELYSAS wanted to create a lens with solid, dependable mechanics and an industry-standard 95mm front diameter. The in-house team shaved off every excess gram of weight through mechanical design, optical redesign, and material science. The result is a lens that feels great in the hand, yet each focal length weighs less than 900g.
This makes MUSE PRIMES the lightest 95mm-front-diameter, T1.8 PL-mount large-format cine lenses on the market, which allows them to be used on a gimbal or Steadicam, on the shoulder, or on a drone.
For an additional cost, each lens body can be painted in a custom color to give a unique appearance, and the ‘Melted Bokeh’ logo can be dropped.
There is also the option to adjust the sharpness, bokeh shape, contrast, and flare character of each lens. Importantly, even the lens coatings can be changed to meet the cinematographer’s needs
All customisations are premium-cost services with a price on application.
The MUSE LF primes are around $2,399 USD each.
