Monthly Archives: July 2017

Keslow Camera Acquires Clairmont Camera

Keslow Camera announced today that it is acquiring Clairmont Camera in Hollywood and its Vancouver and Toronto operations. The move will more than quadruple Keslow Camera’s anamorphic and vintage lens inventory, and add a substantial range of custom camera equipment.  Clairmont founder Denny Clairmont, one of the industry’s most respected talents in front and behind the camera, announced his retirement. Clairmont Hollywood will eventually be consolidated to Keslow Camera’s headquarters in Culver City. The acquisition is expected to be completed on or before August 4. The end of an era. The beginning of a new one. read more…

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Full Frame Matters of Life and Depth

Hundreds of millions of Leica, Canon, Nikon and other still camera users have been playing in the fields of Full Frame for almost a century, ever since Oskar Barnack turned standard 35mm motion picture sideways and introduced the 24x36mm format. Full Frame 24x36mm format (FF) for Cine is barreling towards us. Sony recently launched the new a9 still camera that does quite decent video. At Cine Gear, Sony announced an imminent Full Frame cine camera. RED VV 8K, ARRI Alexa 65 and Panavision DXL are already dazzling directors and DPs with the allure of compelling, larger formats. Lots of Full Frame and Large Format cine lenses are already here: from Leica, Cooke, ZEISS, Sigma, Angenieux, IB/E Optics, Panavision, ARRI, Schneider, Canon, Sony and others. read more…

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Canon Burbank Grand Opening

The beautiful, new  Canon Hollywood Professional Technology and Support Center is now officially open in Burbank. It is located at 3400 West Olive Ave., Burbank, Calif. — near Warner Bros, Disney and The Burbank Studios. The new location is much more convenient than Canon’s previous, colorful 6060 Sunset Boulevard facility. Visitors will appreciate underground parking in the building. read more…

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Jason Joseffer’s Pinhole PL Lens

Looking for a vintage look? Tired of decoating or recoating precious cine lens optical elements? San Francisco cinematographer Jason Joseffer machined his own pinhole lenses with PL mount for the music video “On The Road”. Jason has been intrigued by Pinhole photography for a long time. Applying it to motion pictures is now helped by new, low-light cameras. The dreamy aesthetic of pinhole and its timeless quality were well-suited for the music video “On The Road,” written and performed by Seth Lael  about his experiences as a production sound mixer and the people who work in film. read more…

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DENZ Full Frame Portable Lens Projector

There are different methods to test a lens. One of the simplest and most effective is to reverse the “normal” process: the camera lens becomes a projector lens. Lens test projectors have been around for quite some time. But here’s something new. The Portable Lens Checker (PLC) from DENZ is a lightweight, small and versatile test projector for all lenses… read more…

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No Humbug: Australian Photo Review Digitized

The complete run of the Australian Photo Review from 1894-1956 has been digitized and made available by the State Library of New South Wales.  The description of the editor, Edwin J. Welch, is something FDTimes might consider: “Bluntness is also one of his strong points, combined with a fluent facility of expression when he gets badly aggravated; he likewise abhors humbug and discerns it from afar.”

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