Monthly Archive for April, 2010

Nila SL Space Light

April 29, 2010

Space Lights are an efficient way to light large studio sets with relatively even “sky light” from above. They hang like giant lanterns from the studio grid. Spaced roughly every 10 feet apart, they are helpful for lighting floor space in front of white cycs and blue or green screen setups.

A traditional tungsten Space Light consists of six 1000 watt tungsten bulbs inside a silk-like skirt. Typically, they get very hot. Nila Light president Jim Sanfilippo (left, at NAB) estimates that a studio will spend about $500 in air conditioning costs just to cool the place down for each Space Light used.

Enter the Nila SL. Its LEDs draw only 850 watts. This lightens the load, runs 80% cooler, and simplifies cabling. Available in Tungsten or Daylight. Onboard dimmer or DMX controlled. A powerfully cool idea.

Topics: Lighting

First Cooke 5/i Lenses at Clairmont

April 27, 2010

Clairmont Hollywood is the first US rental house with the new Cooke 5/i Primes. They are all T1.4, include /i Technology Lens Data, and have illuminated focus scales.

Focal lengths: 18, 25, 32, 40, 50, 65, 75, 100, and 135mm. The 5/i Primes are color-matched with Cooke S4/i, Cooke Panchros,  CXX 15-40 mm T2 Zoom, Cooke Zooms, and SK4 16mm Primes. Photo above courtesy Arturo Jacoby, Clairmont Camera.

Click here for instructions on the illuminated focus scales.

Click here for specs.

Data Sheet.

/i Techology Information.

Film and Digital Times Cooke IBC Special Article (12 MB PDF)

Topics: Clairmont and Cooke

Sony PL (Z35)

April 25, 2010

Alec Shapiro, Senior VP Sales and Marketing, Sony Broadcast and Production Systems (above), taking the wraps off a new Sony prototype camcorder with PL mount at the Sony NAB press conference. It is expected to be ready between the end of 2010 and NAB 2011. The size and shape looks something like a cross between an HVRZ7U and a PMWEX3, with a PL mount and unspecified sensor. For the moment, we’ll call it a Z35. The estimated price is expected around $19,000. Could it be an APS-C or APS-H size CMOS sensor, perhaps fabricated where they make Sony’s Alpha digital still camera imagers? No fan–it probably runs cool. Hopefully the eyepiece can detach from the rear, and mount forward of the top handle, for shoulder-resting. Like Panasonic and Canon, Sony is master of the 35mm camera trinity: making their own circuits, sensors and glass. I would expect stiff competition, and groundbreaking, game-changing cameras coming very soon.

Topics: General

Panasonic PL Camera

April 25, 2010

Panasonic was first out of the gate at NAB with PL-mounted, full-featured camcorder based on the DSLR phenomenon. Many expected something like this from Canon–but then, Panasonic was also first with the Lumix Micro Four-Thirds camera, which was quickly hotrodded by Illya Friedman and Hot Rod Cameras with a PL mount.

A prototype of the new Panasonic AG-AF100 Camcorder was shown at the day-before NAB press conference and under glass in their booth. It was shown with Micro 4/3 inch lens mount, but the press announcement along with a large array of PL mounted lenses in the case below the camera suggest that interchangeable PL and still camera lens mounts will be available.

The Panasonic AG-AF100 is an AVCCAM HD camcorder with a Micro Four Thirds inch 16:9 MOS sensor (18 mm x 13.5 mm). This comes reasonably close to a 35mm motion picture 16:9 format, and provides similar depth of field. The camera will accept the large array of standard Panasonic, Olympus and other Micro 4/3-inch lenses. An interchangeable lens mount on the AF100 will accommodate widely-available still camera lenses as well as PL cine lenses–and a Panavision mount would not be out of the question either, I would guess.

The camcorder records 1080/60i, 50i, 30p, 25p and 24p (native) and 720/60p, 50p, 30p, 25p and 24p (native) in AVCHD’s highest-quality PH mode (maximum 24Mbps), 60Hz and 50Hz switchable. It has built-in ND filtering and greatly reduced video aliasing. Standard professional connections include HD-SDI out, HDMI, time code recording, built-in stereo microphone and USB 2.0. Audio features include two XLR inputs with +48V Phantom Power capability, 48-kHz/16-bit two-channel digital audio recording and support for LPCM/Dolby-AC3.

This newest Panasonic AVCCAM camcorder is the take advantage of SDXC media card compatibility in addition to existing SDHC card support.  (SDXC is the newest SD memory card specification that supports memory capacities above 32GB —  up to 2TB). With two SD slots, the AF100 can record up to 12 hours on two 64GB SDXC cards in PH mode. With full 1080 and 720 capability, the camera offers native 1080/24p recording, variable frame rates, professional audio capabilities, and compatibility with SDHC and SDXC media. It has an advanced AVC/H.264 Hi Profile AVCHD codec compatible with a wide range of editing tools and affordable players.

Scheduled to ship by the end of 2010, the AG-AF100 is expected to be extremely affordable at around $6,000. This is truly a game-changer.

Topics: NAB and Panasonic

Focus Optics Ruby 14-24 T2.8

April 25, 2010

Many of you know Stuart Rabin, who was a lens technician at Clairmont Camera and Panavision before founding his independent lens repair company in Tarzana, Focus Optics.  (www.focusoptics.com)

Stuart has completely redesigned the venerable Nikon 14-24 T2.8 zoom, reversed the focus marks so they travel in the “cine direction” we are used to, and put on a PL mount. Minimum focus is 1 ft. Focus travel is 126 degrees and has an anti-backlash spring for focus accuracy. Front diameter: 110 mm. Weight 3 lbs. Length: 138 mm. Price: around $15,000.

We just learned from designers Stuart Rabin and Ken Robings that the Ruby might fit directly onto Canon EOS cameras with a PL to Canon adapter — no PL modification to camera needed. Further testing today. Band Pro is the exclusive worldwide distributor for Ruby lenses.

Topics: Band Pro and Lenses

Aaton 4K Penelope-Delta

April 25, 2010

Eagerly awaited almost as long as Penelope herself, Aaton showed a working prototype of the Penelope-Delta Digital 4K “Magazine” at NAB. Expect working models at IBC 2010, and delivery probably this time next year. The large nautilus-looking sculpture where the film take-up inching knob used to be is a large silent fan—needed, as on most things digital, to cool the internal electronics. At 19 dBA, it’s even quieter than her film cousin’s 400′ 35mm magazine.  The digital back fits all Aaton Penelope film cameras, providing optical, mirror reflex viewing.

The astounding thing about Jean-Pierre Beauviala and company’s latest camera is how they were able to do what Dalsa could not: harness a greater-than-4K Dalsa CCD sensor into a small, hand-holdable 7.5 kg (16.5 lbs) cat-on-shoulder one-piece design. You’ll remember the original Dalsa and its storage were almost the size of a refrigerator, and the last version was almost Mitchell BNC in shape. Behind the upper battery, there’s a slot for an SDHC card that records DNxHD–36 (Avid) compressed files for immediate editing. These “offline proxy” files can be recorded at the same time as high-rez onboard files. The camera-right side screen displays essential information: timecode, ISO, battery voltage, fps and remaining ‘footage’ (also visible on Operator’s side).

There are 2 outputs at the top rear: HD422 (1.5GHz), HD444 (3GHz), and 1 input to sync 2 cameras for 3D.

DNxHD files can be recorded onto the onboard, slide-in 2.5” SSD DeltaPacks.

The lightweight (360gr) Aaton DeltaPacks are Codex Lab compatible.

Very fast boot-up: from no-power to REC-ready in less than 4 sec. The two onboard Li-Ion batteries run the camera from 3 to 6 hours. You can hot-swap batteries.

You can switch from Super 35mm to the DPX recording digiback in less than half an hour.  With the rotating mirror shutter, there are no rolling shutter artifacts. The bright and sharp optical viewfinder has extra peripheral coverage. The Dalsa CCD sensor has 13 stops dynamic range, with an 800 ISO basic sensitivity that can be reduced to 100 ISO (to help avoid having to use ND filters in bright sunlight.) There is very low noise at 3200 ISO equivalent.

There are two videos online: starring Martine Bianco of Aaton

and Mitch Gross of Abel Cine Tech.

Topics: Aaton and NAB

ARRI Alexa adds Apple and Avid

April 24, 2010

The crowds waiting for a date with Alexa at ARRI’s NAB booth were reminiscent of the beginning of the revolution fomented in a Red Tent in South Hall a mere four years ago. What they saw were working models of the entry-level ARRI digital camera: A-EV, to be delivered this June.

Missing was a bouncer at the entrance, although Bill Russell is certainly big and strong enough. (Left to right: Fred Horne, Jeff Reyes, Franz Wieser, Bill Russell.)

A big surprise was revealed behind the traditional-looking camera body door: slots for two SxS cards — familiar to anyone who’s used Sony XDCAM EX cameras. Even more interesting  is how ARRI has wrapped Alexa’s files in Quicktime, so each take is one familiar .mov file. This camera-to-edit convenience was pioneered by JVC last year with the introduction of GY-HM100U and GY-HM700U camcorders whose files could be edited directly in Final Cut Pro.

Alexa records ProRes 422 (HQ) and will soon support ProRes 444), with audio, metadata and Final Cut Pro XML files. She made her pilgrimage to Cupertino for certification and was anointed by Apple. Avid’s NAB announcement of Media Composer 5 with native support for QuickTime video formats, including Apple ProRes and H.264, was timely. The Quicktime files load directly into FCP or Avid Media Composer without the need for transcoding or log-and-transfer.

The menu, display and buttons are simple to use. Remarkably, it only takes about 5 minutes to learn how to use Alexa, and its film camera style controls and layout are logical and as intuitive as a Nokia or Apple menu. My only quibble is the video baseplate, because I prefer the smaller, simpler Sachtler/Ronford/Euro Style Touch and Go plate. But we’ll see…200,000 video camera operators using video baseplates on ENG cameras can’t be wrong.

Alexa’s Super 35 format CMOS sensor is rated at EI 800 — although Bill Bennett, ASC rated it at 1200 in tests.

You can dial in an exposure index from EI 200 to EI 1600.

The sensor’s 3.5K pixels provide HD (1920 X 1080) and 2K files. The first two models (A-EV and A-EV Plus) record 16:9. The OV (Optical Finder) will record the full 4:3 sensor. My guess is that there will be a 4th iteration: an A-EV Plus that also records 4:3.

Topics: ARRI and NAB

NAB Wrap-Up

April 24, 2010

NAB 2010 was truly the beginning of a new era. As usual, it was not what was initially intended. The initial spin was 3D from Camera to Couch (Panasonic) and Lens to Living Room (Sony). 3D rigs were everywhere, along with 3D monitors, controllers and 2D to 3D conversion tools. But beyond the 3D, we got a glimpse of where things are heading. We saw a staggering abundance of new cameras, lenses, storage devices, support equipment and accessories. And we got a glimpse of NAB 2011: Penelope-Delta, a digital “magazine” with Dalsa 4K sensor and internal 4K RAW DPX recording. Sony had a 4K “whisper” room that practically shouted with their Hershey bar sized 1 TB solid state storage module and 4K sensor for a Sony 4K camera to be shown as a prototype in 2011.

It was a PL world. ARRI debuted Alexa. Abel unveiled Phantom Flex. Panasonic had a prototype $6,000 Super-Lumix digital motion picture camera, and Sony showed a super-sized EX3 prototype with PL mount. Hot Rod, FGV and Denz had PL Canon conversions. Red showed Epic out of competition to huge crowds. And then there were lenses. Lots of lenses. ARRI announced two ARRI/Fujinon Alura zooms. Fujinon showed their complete set of four Fujinon PL gold-banded zooms. “Leaping lizards!” Band Pro unleashed the Mystery Primes as Leica lenses. There were lots of lenses with convertible mounts. The ZEISS Compact Prime 2 set can be converted from PL to Canon or Nikon mount in minutes (by a qualified lens technician). Same with the Schneider and Unique Optics primes. Angenieux had doublers for their Optimos.

Or is it a PL world? Maybe not. The grass is always greener. Alexa comes standard with PL mount, but the press-briefing Powerpoint pointed to mounts for Canon, Panavision and others. Angenieux showed Optimos and ZEISS showed a Lightweight Zoom with Canon mounts.

Let’s begin our tour of NAB for everyone who skipped NAB, and anyone interested in our take on it. We begin randomly, with blank dual 30″ monitors daring us to make sense of it all for our upcoming after-NAB/pre-Cine Gear issue. We’ll post items that caught our attention at the show as we unpack and sift through a shipping case full of literature, data, USB sticks and  45 GB of pictures taken by Yousef Linjawi, Dorian Weber, Oli Laperal and moi. Fasten your seat belts and start your engines.

Topics: Film and Digital Times and NAB

Lots of Lenses at NAB

April 11, 2010

Although 3D is one of the major themes of NAB, the abundance of new lenses is certainly remarkable.

In addition to the new Arri/Fujinon Aluras (18-80 T2.6, 45-250 T2.6), there are four other new Fujinon HK (for momentary lack of a better name) PL zooms: 14-45 mm T2.0; 18-85 mm T2.0; 24-180 mm T2.6; 75-400mm T2.8-3.8. I saw them being set up in Fujinon’s booth C-7425 and at Band Pro C-10308.

Also at Band Pro, we’ll see Stuart Rabin’s new Ruby wide zoom, and news that they are exclusive US distributors of the FGV PL Canon 7D. We’ll see new primes from Schneider C10337. The new set of Compact Prime 2 lenses with interchangeable mounts will be at the Zeiss booth C6345. More Cooke 5/i and Panchros at Cooke C5347, and some new surprises at Angenieux C6037.

Topics: Lenses

Alexa and Alura

April 11, 2010

The alluring apparition at the DGA premiere of Alexa cameras with Alura lenses completes the alliteration of the alleged favorite trinity of Haskell Wexler, ASC: cameras, cars and chicks.

The two new Arri/Fujinon Alura PL zooms are 18-80 mm and 45-250 mm T2.6. They will be marketed and distributed by Arri. Check out Alexas and Aluras at Arri’s booth at NAB: C-6737.

Topics: ARRI and Fujinon