Introduction: I dropped my photo lens in salt water in the Beginning of December, so I purchased a new one since I liked the lens so much. I picked up the cine lens from amazon because it was only $270. The two lenses are the same inside, but have some differences on the outside. The image quality is excellent on both lenses.
The 67mm filters fit nicely with the lenses.
Differences: The cine lens is made to be used with a follow focus system. The focus ring and aperture ring have gears to accommodate a follow focus device. The cine lens has a de-clicked aperture ring meaning that you can make smooth and precise adjustments to the aperture. The photo lens only lets you change the aperture by half-stops. The aperture of the cine lens is measured by t-stops while the photo lens is measured by f-stops; however the aperture is still the same size on both. The cine lens is 0.2oz heavier than the photo lens.
Notice how the cine lens markings are on the left side. (Note: The right camera is a flipped image).
Build Quality: Both lenses have a metal lens mount and the exterior is high-quality plastic. The cine lens has well-dampened and smooth aperture and focus rings. The photo lens’s focus ring is too dampened and the aperture ring is too small in my opinion. With the cine lens, it’s easy to change the focus or aperture by turning with the gears.
Final Thoughts: The photo lens is more aesthetic because it does not have gears protruding from the body. The gears on the cine lens make it a bit clunky and bigger, but make it easier to change focus and aperture. The markings for focus and aperture on the photo lens are on the top, while the markings on the sine lens are on the left side. I prefer the cine lens because it is easier to use and it has a de-clicked aperture.