Thereâs a secret sauceâa quiet, industry-guarded recipe known only to a small circle of âblue-chipâ wildlife cinematographers. Itâs not a color grade, or a new sensor technology, or even a drone trick. Itâs one lens, and one simple philosophy: put on a 20Ă zoom, and forget about lenses.
There are a handful of videos onlineâsome excellent technical breakdowns and field testsâbut few truly explore why this lens became the go-to choice for those who spend months in the wild capturing creatures in their natural element. In many ways, itâs the unicorn of modern optics: a lens purpose-built for nature, unrivaled in reliability, and revered by those who depend on it to deliver under the harshest conditions on the planet.
So why did this zoom become the definitive tool for wildlife cinematography? The answer lies in a rare confluence of engineering precision and practical design. Covering the Super 35 format with full 4K resolution, the CN20 balances an extraordinary 20Ă zoom range with remarkable optical performance. We also need to mention that it has 1.4x internal extender. Itâs large, yesâbut not for what it does. In fact, its size is roughly comparable to many long primes offering only a fraction of its versatility. Itâs built like a tank: fully weather-sealed, shock-resistant, and rigorously field-tested to survive the kind of punishment only the natural world can deliver.
And yet, despite its near-mythical reputation, the CN20 remains hidden in plain sight. It dominates a small, highly specialized kingdom, and with a price tag hovering around $50,000, itâs hardly a casual purchase. But make no mistake: the odds are that most of the close-up animal shots youâve admired in top wildlife series over the last decade were captured through this very lens.
Today, weâre lifting the veil on this unicornânot just the lens itself, but the entire ecosystem that makes it a killer combination in the wild: the rigs, supports, heads, and workflows that allow filmmakers to operate at the edge of endurance and still capture magic.
Richard Duquette: Why is the Canon 50â1000mm so revered among wildlife cinematographers?
Luka Sanader: Well, itâs really simple. When it came out around 2010, it was the first cine zoom that truly catered to the Super 35, 4K broadcast standard, and there was simply nothing like it on the market. But letâs forget the technical jargon for a momentâbecause the real story isnât just about resolution or coverage. Itâs about what happened when 35mm cinema cameras finally entered the wildlife arena.
Before the CN20, natural history work lived in a completely different world. It was shot first on 16mm, then later on broadcast television cameras. And then, almost overnight, when the BBC and other top-tier wildlife units began shooting in Super 35 with 4K slow motion, the entire field leapt forward a century in a single day. That was the turning point.
Everyone wanted that new âBBC lookââthose ultra-crisp close-ups with cinematic depth of field and smooth motionâbut lenses became the bottleneck. There were only a handful of options that could even attempt that level of reach and quality. Sure, you could strap on an AngĂ©nieux Optimo 24â290mm with a 2Ă extender, but at what cost?
The Optimo 12Ă is a phenomenal lens, but itâs a 25-pound monster with a 162mm front element, and once you rig it with three motors and a matte box, youâre in the world of painâphysically and logistically. CN20 is 10lb lighter and about 20 cm shorter than that combo…And still, youâre limited to a 12Ă zoom ratio.
The Canon, on the other hand, came in like a revelation: a 20à zoom, fully parfocal, servo-controlled, sharp across the range, and built for abuse. Suddenly, cinematographers had a tool that could bridge the gap between documentary efficiency and cinematic quality.
Richard Duquette: Tell me about stabilization. At 1000â1500 mm, how do you keep the image steady enough to be usableâlet alone beautiful?
LS:Â (laughs) First myth to kill: none of these long cine zooms have optical stabilization. Zero. So the challenge is brutal and very real. People donât appreciate how tiny inputs explode at those focal lengthsâa fingertip tap thatâd be invisible at 50 mm becomes an earthquake at 800â1000 mm. Yes, you can add a touch of stabilization in postâResolve can do wonders with a small cropâbut that should be your last resort. Even with a perfect setup youâll sometimes lean on post to polish micro-vibrations. Thatâs normal.
The obvious place everyone looks is the fluid head, and theyâre rightâbut itâs only half the story. The tripod and the ground youâre standing on matter just as much. Long glass turns your rig into a wind sail; a gust hits the matte box or rain cover and the whole system starts to âbreathe.â
For me, the gold standard head is the OâConnor 2575. Iâve also had great results with the Ronford Atlas 50 and Cartoni Maxima. But remember: the best head on a flimsy set of sticks is a waste. You want heavy-duty studio legs with a spreader you can lock hard, spikes that bite, andâif the terrain allowsâsandbags on the center spider. You are lucky when you shoot from a Land Rover with a bolt on Michell mount đ
Where most folks go wrong is lens support. A single yoke on 15 or 19 mm rods is not enough at 1000 mmâthe rods flex. You must add a mid-span brace (long-lens support brace) that ties the rods back to the dovetail/bridge plate, effectively turning the rails into a single, rigid beam. Do that, and the whole front end suddenly goes from âJack Russell terrierâ to rock solid. Also, 18-inch dovetail is the minimum. Honestly, 24âł is better.
Even with all that, there will be daysâwind on a ridge line, permafrost harmonicsâwhere you accept that a few seconds need gentle post stabilization. The goal is to minimize what you fix later by building a mechanically rigid, wind-aware system up front.
RD: So how do you control the lens if youâre saying âhands offâ? Is that servo any good?
LS:Â Thatâs the trickâand itâs what makes the CN20 such a game-changer. The servo unit is phenomenal, and I donât say that lightly. Itâs not some afterthought bolted to a broadcast lens; Canon designed it from the ground up for cinema. The zoom servo is smooth, fully variable, and repeatableâyou can feather it so gently it feels like an organic zoom, or you can rip across the full 20Ă range in a few seconds if the shot demands it.
LS: Focus, however, is another story. The CN20 has only about 180° of focus throw, which is quite short by cinema standards. But thatâs intentionalâitâs built so you can rack focus fast when needed. In practice, though, you canât be fiddling with the lens while rolling; any touch introduces shake, and at 1000 mm, thatâs instant disaster.
So the workflow changes: I usually shoot at T11, T16, even T22, and weâre often working at 300 yards or more. At those distances and stops you have enough hyperfocal depth to survive without constant pulling. When you do need precision focus, itâs motorizedâno way around it.
To be honest, Iâve never relied on Canonâs own focus servo enough to form a strong opinion. Itâs designed for broadcast-style controllers, and my muscle memory just isnât there. The problem is itâs not directly compatible with ARRI or Preston systems, so integrating it into a cinema workflow can be clumsy.
I know this will sound like heresy to some, but I use an ARRI ZMU-3 or ZMU-4 to drive focus in those situations. Itâs an odd pairing, but it works for meâthe ergonomics and response feel natural after years of using them.
Itâs a hybrid workflow: broadcast ergonomics meet cinema discipline. When used right, that servo is buttery smoothâno steps, no lag, no noise. People underestimate it because they assume âservoâ means ENG-level performance, but this is a different league. You can run manual cine control when you need critical focus pulls for narrative inserts, then switch to servo control when chasing unpredictable wildlife action.
And honestly, thatâs the secret. You have to trust the servo. The moment you start touching the lens, youâre fighting your own stability. The CN20âs grip isnât just a convenienceâitâs a stabilization strategy in itself.
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RD: Why is this new 20Ă such a âgame changerâ? There are some top wildlife shooters using 60â600 mm lenses and getting stunning results. Is the range factor overplayed?
LS: Look, 20Ă isnât some revolutionary concept. Back in the 1970s, AngĂ©nieux already had the legendary 12â240 mm for 16 mm filmâthatâs a 20Ă zoom that shot more documentaries than we can count. Kubrick even used it on Barry Lyndon, extended 2Ă to make it a 24â480 mm. Broadcast TV cameras of that era had 20Ă zooms too.
Whatâs new with the Canon 50â1000 is that it brought that kind of range into the Super 35 world, in a package thatâs rigid, compact, and genuinely cinematic. CN20 also inherited the ENG style internal converter and that is not a small thing. at a flip of the switch you reach up a bit further or cover FullFrame in 16:9 mode. its a big deal! Thatâs the real leap.
Now, how important is that range? From my perspectiveâitâs everything. If I donât have the eyes of the animal, I donât have a story. Sure, I can park on a 1200 mm prime if Iâm filming eagles in a nest; thatâs perfect for one static setup far from you. But I canât change that lens mid-sequence, can I?
Take something like baboons. I filmed a troop onceâtheyâd go from the ground to the trees and back down in seconds. One moment theyâre fifty yards from the camera, the next theyâre deep in the canopy. If youâre on a long prime, youâre doneâyou canât keep up. You need width; you need to show behavior, context, movement.
And when youâre filming predators, it becomes absolutely essential. You want to track the huntâwide enough to follow the chaseâbut then you want to punch in for the kill. Thatâs where the 20Ă earns its place.
Filming birds in flight is where the 20Ă zoom truly proves its mastery. You need to go wide fast to find the bird against the sky, and then zip in instantly once itâs framed. Thatâs where the Canonâs servo shinesâit can take you from 50 to 1000 mm in about three seconds, with no ramping or lag. When a raptor dives or a flock turns in perfect symmetry, that speed isnât just convenienceâitâs survival.
Of course, there are specific low-light situations where youâd prefer a 400 mm f/2.8 or a 600 mm f/4. But those are isolated shotsâone or two scenes per project. The rest? Itâs all zoom.
Can you shoot great footage with a Sigma 60â600 mm? Absolutely. Add a 1.4Ă extender and youâre in the 84â840 mm range for about $3,000, with autofocus and image stabilization. But if youâre racing professionallyâif youâre betting on a once-in-a-lifetime momentâyou donât pick a Subaru over a Ferrari.
The 20Ă zoom gives you command over so many unpredictable situations, and in wildlife workâwhere the success rate is painfully lowâevery single chance matters.
RD: Letâs talk about cameras. Pairing a 50â1000 mm lens isnât a casual choiceâyouâre dealing with weight, balance, and resolution demands. What camera systems make sense for this lens today, and how do you decide what to bring into the field?
LS: Thatâs a tricky question, and thereâs really no single right answer. For me, itâs simpleâARRI all the way. But in fairness, the world of natural history is mostly RED territory. Everyone has their own workflow, and mine comes from a narrative background; I transitioned from shooting 35 mm film into digital with the Sony F55âand honestly, that was a dreaded experience.
My first real digital setup for wildlife was a pair of RED Heliums, and as always, you use what you have. I shot exclusively on Heliums for a good two years, and for a time that setup was the gold standard. Even today, Helium or the newer Rhino sensor are probably the best way to extract maximum resolution from the CN20. When youâre in 8 K S35 modeâand if Iâm not mistaken, around 5.5 K in Super 16 cropâthe CN20 effectively becomes a 1800 mm lens.
But for me personally, RED has its limitsâmainly in camera build. The lack of internal ND is a nightmare. If youâre shooting raptors, youâre constantly juggling exposure: swapping Revolva cartridges in the rain, dust getting in, fumbling with filters, and dealing with a lens mount that isnât really designed to support something as front-heavy as the CN20. EVF optiso are sub par and you cant shoot nature without EVF or with a bad viewfinder. Then there is low base ISO and so on.
In an ideal world, Iâd go with an ARRI Alexa 35 (or the Alexa 35 XTreme, even better), paired with the Canon CN20, ARRI ZMU-4 hand unit with cforce motors for focus, on an OâConnor 2575 head with heavy-duty sticks, custom rigging, plate-style lens support, and a long dovetail. That setup feels like homeâbalanced, solid, predictable.
Everything beyond thatâpower solutions, weather protection, rigging accessoriesâdepends on the assignment. The philosophy is simple: less is more. Both the Alexa 35 and Venice 2 can be built surprisingly compact for fieldwork if you respect that principleâno over-engineering, just reliability and balance.
LS (highlight):
*âThree things changed wildlife cinematography forever: pre-recording, high-speed slow motion, and accessible drones.
Pre-recordingâor cache recordingâgave us a time buffer, sometimes twenty seconds or more. Instead of endlessly rolling and waiting for something to happen, we can now constantly ârecordâ and simply save the moment when it does.
High frame ratesâanything above 100 fpsâopened new ways of seeing animal behavior. Back in the film era, the 16 mm ARRI SR3 HS could only shoot one minute and forty seconds on a 400-foot roll. Slow motion was precious, expensive, and rare. Today we can shoot all day at 240 fps, with pre-record running the whole time.
And then there are dronesâonce pure science fiction, now indispensable tools. Theyâve changed how we perceive movement, space, and habitat. Together, these three innovations reshaped not only how we film wildlife, but how we understand it.â*
RD: Is there any real application for the CN20 outside of natural history work? Logical question for youâhave you ever shot 35 mm film with this lens? Will it clear the mirror on a film camera?
LS: For sure, itâll clear the mirror shutter on a 35 mm film camera. The rear end of the CN20 is identical to most cine 10Ă zooms, so thereâs no risk of collision. Optically, itâs absolutely up to the taskâsharp enough to hold its own even on film. In fact, if you compare it to the zooms that ruled Hollywood in the 1970s and â80s, the CN20 would outperform nearly all of them in resolution and contrast and low CA.
Where things get tricky is exposure. The 50â1000 is a slow lens, and shooting around T11 on film can be demanding. Forget low-light or duskâthis zoom wants daylight. But for daytime exteriors, itâs fine, and realistically, youâd never use it indoors anyway.
Weâve talked about doing some tests on Super 16, though, and I think that could be a hidden gem. The effective reach would be monstrous, and the grain structure might actually complement the lensâs sharpness beautifully.
Beyond wildlife, I know TV , sports and broadcast crews use the CN20 a lot. The lens has also become popular with automotive cinematographersâIâve seen some stunning high-end car commercials shot with it. The ability to go from a wide beauty angle to an extreme tele in seconds gives directors incredible flexibility for dynamic vehicle work.
That said, we should be realistic when evaluating the CN20. There are plenty of zooms that will outperform it in speed, clarity, or characterâthey just wonât give you a 20Ă range. Fujinon, for example, built an ultimate 40Ă box zoom for Super 35 thatâs almost 60 lb and costs around $150,000. Different beast entirely.
The 50â1000 Canon is the king of its own dominionâpurpose-built, rugged, and unmatched in versatility. Itâs not the sharpest or the fastest lens on the planet, but in the environment it was designed for, itâs the right tool for the job, and itâs worth getting to know a tool that powerful.
RD: So to wrap it upâwhatâs the takeaway here?
LS: The takeaway is simple: weâre lucky to have this tool, and even luckier to have it in full working and vertically integrated system . At Cineground, we donât just have a CN20 on the shelfâweâve built an entire turnkey ecosystem around it. That means a ready-to-go, production-tested solution for any wildlife, nature, or documentary assignment.
Itâs not just about the lens. Itâs about the complete rig, the heads, the power, the camera integration, and the support gearâeverything dialed in and tested in the field. You can walk in with your project brief and walk out with a fully prepped system capable of shooting from the Arctic to the Sahara.
The Canon 50â1000 mm may be a niche tool, but in the right handsâand with the right setupâitâs one of the most expressive lenses ever built. It bridges the worlds of cinema and natural history, where patience meets precision, and preparation meets instinct.
At Cineground, we take pride in keeping that tradition alive. Weâre here not only to rent gear but to enable storiesâthe kind that demand endurance, control, and a deep respect for the craft. The CN20 might be the â
At Film Solutions, weâre proud to stand alongside Cineground in offering international filmmakers a true, end-to-end solution for wildlife and nature documentary production in Canada. Through our partnership we provide not just exceptional optics like the Canon CN20 50â1000 mm, but an entire suite of high-end cinema toolsâARRI Alexa 35, Sony Venice 2, RED Raptor XL, RED Helium Monochrome, along with cinema zooms, rain deflectors, and underwater housings.
For remote and demanding assignments, Film Solutions offers a fully rigged Mercedes Sprinter 4Ă4 camera vanâa self-contained mobile production platform powered by solar energy and equipped with satellite communication. Designed from field experience and refined through years of client feedback, it enables crews to stay mobile, autonomous, and productive no matter how remote the location.
In addition, Film Solutions can supply all essential outdoor and survival gearâwildlife blinds, camouflage shelters, camping kits, protective clothing, and specialized equipment crucial for filming in extreme conditions. Every item is field-proven and curated for durability and performance.
Whether youâre filming along the rugged coasts of Atlantic Canada, exploring the national parks of Alberta, or venturing deep into the Northern Territories, we can get you thereâand keep you shooting at the highest technical standards.
Our mission is simple: to make sure your crew, your cameras, and your vision are supported by the most capable tools availableâso you can focus on what truly matters:Â capturing the untamed beauty of the wild.
