News

Andrew Tiffen named President of Tiffen Co.

New York, March 15. Andrew Tiffen (at right, above) has been named President and COO of The Tiffen Company. He is responsible for the operations of the company, including manufacturing, marketing, sales, R&D and Product Development.

Steven Tiffen will remain as Chairman and CEO.

The company’s brands include Tiffen Filters, Steadicam, Lowel, DOMKE, Davis & Sanford, Stroboframe and Zing. read more…

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Cine Gear NY 2024

It was a beautiful, warm spring day for a walk to the opening of Cine Gear Expo exhibits in Industry City. And there are many other choices of where to get off and take a subway, cab or car service.

Here’s a brief slideshow of the exhibits in Box Factory Hall, an 1900s historic industrial space with massive windows and gorgeous available daylight. read more…

Tags:

Band Film & Digital Europe

BAND PRO FILM & DIGITAL INC. REOPENS EUROPEAN OFFICE

Band Pro Film & Digital Inc., located in Hollywood, has been supplying the production industry with high-quality cameras, lenses and new technology for 40 years. This reopening of a new branch in Europe is a continuation of Band Pro’s expansion.

Band Film & Digital Europe GmbH is located in Hohenbrunn, near Munich. read more…

Tags: , , ,

Nikon acquires RED

“HOLLYWOOD (March 6, 2024) – RED Digital Cinema (RED.com, LLC) announced that it will be acquired by Nikon Corporation (Nikon). The agreement with Nikon, reached with RED’s Founder Jim Jannard and President Jarred Land, signifies a new strategic partnership that brings together Nikon’s history and expertise in product development, image processing, optical technology and user interface, with RED’s innovative digital cinema cameras and technologies.”

Flashback to NAB in April 2006. FDTimes wrote, “Customers were holding a $1000 casting with serial number representing a refundable reservation for a RED One Camera. read more…

Tags:

BSC Expo Feb 2024

BSC Expo 2024 exhibitors enjoyed 14-degrees-globally-warmed weather during setup days. Flowers blossomed in Battersea Park. The grass was a super-saturated green you probably would have dialed out in a grading suite. This being London, temperatures dropped, the clouds sputtered and a fresh 20-25 mph westerly breeze blew down the Thames in time for BSC Expo VIP and visitor days, Feb 15-17. Opening day was as  packed as the Lexington Subway Line in New York at rush hour. It was a great, big, really busy expo. read more…

Tags:

Cine Gear Expo NYC 2024

3/14/24 – 3/16/24
Cine Gear Expo NYC 2024 in Industry City: Cine Gear Expo returns to NYC for 2nd year

Who said New York is a tough town for motion picture trade shows? After a great launch last year, Cine Gear Expo NY returns to Industry City in Brooklyn New York on March 14-16.

Register here—free through March 9.

This is not a convention center where, to misquote Truffaut, if prisoners were forced to eat the food inside, they’d rebel. You will not go hungry in Industry City. In fact, you will want to linger longer and enjoy the area, sometimes called Brooklyn’s playground or backyard.

Industry City in Brooklyn is a trendy, interesting, fun 137-acre area with offices, shopping, events, dining and more. Japan Village has a huge Japanese market with food stalls, an Izakaya restaurant, sushi, sake and Japanese groceries.  Moore Brothers Wine Company has some of the best selections in the city and is cooled to 55 degrees F.

In between seminars and hands-on equipment exhibits at Cine Gear Expo NYC, wander around the businesses in Industry City. Buy a Volvo or Porsche. Furnish your home at West Elm or the Design Within Reach outlet store. Buy a computer, SSDs and media cards at Micro Center. read more…

Tags: ,

BSC Expo 2024 London – Feb 16-17

2/16/24 – 2/17/24
BSC Expo London: At Battersea Park Evolution, Feb 16-17

See you at BSC Expo 2024 at Battersea Evolution in London on Feb 16-17.

The  Feb 2024 BSC Expo Printed Edition of Film and Digital Times will be there as well.

BSC Expo in London is one of the most important events of the year to see and try the latest cine equipment.

There will also be 2 days of presentations and panel discussions in the seminar theatre. read more…

Tags: ,

The Life of Trevor

Trevor Steele passed away in Paris on Dec 20, 2023 He was a beloved, influential, innovative pillar of the cinema industry. Trevor was the center of attention, an optical centering, the life of the party wherever he went. He could explain technical details, and almost anything else, with great clarity, charm and wit.

Andrew and Ben Steele sent a call out to friends and colleagues for WWW—When did you first meet Trevor, Why did you meet him, and What happened. The response was amazing, really a who’s who of the industry remembering a beloved colleague. read more…

Tags: , ,

DJI Ronin 4D Flex

DJI Senior Product Line Manager Paul Pan suggested trying the Ronin 4D Flex as one of the world’s smallest Full Frame 6K camera remote heads. And so Lucas, Prince of Darkness, rides again—so named for its 1992 vintage electrical system, “Darkness by Lucas,” (a gentleman does not go motoring about at night.) read more…

Tags:

Preston All-Points Lens Mapping

Preston HU4 Focus-Iris-Zoom Hand Unit

Geographers and map-makers in the Dutch Golden Age worked at an intersection of art, science, commerce, engraving and publishing. They were in great demand.

These vintage maps, like vintage lenses today, required careful updates as new routes were discovered and new waypoints found.

Another industry flourished in the Netherlands of the 17th century— optics, grinding optical elements and manufacturing lenses.

Although vintage cine lenses are decidedly not four centuries old, the two disciplines of lenses and mapping converge today, as Howard Preston explains Preston Cinema Systems’ new All-Points Lens Mapping.

  read more…

Tags:

C. Kim Miles ASC CSC on THE BROTHERS SUN

Going into The Brothers Sun, you might have imagined the studio pitch that sold it: “Michelle Yeoh is the star—it’s Sons of Crouching Tiger meet Everything Everywhere and Crazy Rich Triads.” The opening sequence of this Netflix gangster series quickly dispels any preconceptions. But we’re here to discuss cinematography, not spoilers, with C. Kim Miles, ASC. read more…

Tags: , , ,

Farewell Trevor Steele

Trevor Steele passed away in Paris on Dec 20, 2023 He was a beloved, influential, innovative pillar of the cinema industry. Trevor was the center of attention, an optical centering, the life of the party wherever he went. He could explain technical details, and almost anything else, with great clarity, charm and wit. Trevor will be missed by so many of us. read more…

Tags: ,

Daniel Band named President of Band Pro

  This article about succession was initiated by Dominique Rouchon, Deputy Managing Director, Angénieux International Sales-Marketing & Communication. Passing the mic Amid the celebration, partying, demos and gathering at the annual Band Pro Open House 2023, there was an important announcement. Amnon Band took the stage and said, “I joined this industry in 1981. I opened Band Pro in 1984. Band Pro… read more…

Tags: , , , , , ,

Nobu Takahashi on Sony BURANO

Interview with Nobutatsu (Nobu) Takahashi, General Manager of Professional Imaging Technology Business Unit, Sony Corporation (Sony Cinema Line), about the new BURANO Camera. read more…

Tags: , , , , ,

DJI Inspire 3

DJI Inspire 3 is like a hovercraft camera, a flying dolly, magic carpet, tripod in the sky. 8K Full Frame with a DJI 18mm prime. “Munn Point” on YouTube and Vimeo: read more…

Tags:

Van Zuylen and Erkens buy Camalot

Camalot is a cine equipment rental company in Amsterdam. It was founded in 1997 by Philippe Vié and Bernd Lesscher. They had a habit of being the first in line to buy the latest new equipment. That legacy continues today. Since January 2023, Sebastiaan van Zuylen (above right) and Yke Erkens (above left) are the new Managing Directors and owners of Camalot, with Philippe and Bernd exiting the company. Camalot provides high-end cameras, lenses and accessories to the European market for feature films, streaming series, television dramas, commercials and documentaries. read more…

Tags: , ,

Merten, Dooley & Smokler on ARRI CCM-1

Fred Merten, Sean Dooley and Greg Smokler discuss the ARRI CCM-1 (Camera Control Monitor). read more…

Tags: , , ,

Guillaume Dubois: Angénieux EZ-3 68-250 Zoom

Guillaume Dubois is a Product Manager of Cine Lenses at Angénieux. He started at the company in 2009 and worked in the production line as a process engineer, working on big lenses like the Optimo 24- 290, Optimo 17-80 and Optimo Ultra 12x. He joined the design and industrialization team for the EZ-3. We discussed the latest EZ-3 68-250 mm  Full Frame Zoom. read more…

Tags: , , ,

Emmy to SmallHD for Monitors

Eight Emmys were awarded by the Television Academy on October 18 at their Saban Media Center in the LA NoHo Arts District “for engineering and technical achievements by an individual, company or organization that enhance the television storytelling process by their innovation or their improvement on existing methods.”

Jeffrey Gray, Russell Hocken, Barrett Phillips, Greg Smokler were honored with an Emmy for the SmallHD Monitor System. read more…

Tags:

Teradek Bolt 6 approved for 6GHz in EU & UK

The EU and UK have officially approved the 6GHz frequency band to be used in Teradek’s Bolt 6 series of products. This means low-interference, zero-delay wireless on-set video for European productions. Existing Bolt 6 users can now update their systems with a free firmware upgrade. This enables immediate operation in the newly-approved 6GHz frequency band while preserving compatibility with Bolt 4K systems in 5GHz. read more…

Tags: , ,