Guido Cartoni, above, is examining a Focus fluid head from the assembly line. An interesting feature of the Focus head is that it supports cameras from 0 to 10 Kg (0 to 22 lbs). Most heads begin with a minimum required load–this head starts at zero. It tilts straight up and straight down, and works with all kinds of cameras thanks to continuously variable drag, sliding baseplate and wide-range counterbalance system.
We’re visiting the impressive Cartoni factory at Via di Portonaccio. No outsourcing here. Almost everything is made in-house, from milling solid blocks of aluminum on state-of-the-art CNC machines to molding the handles.
Of course, the Cartoni company is known for its huge array of heads, tripods, supports and accessories. The latest head, introduced at Cine Gear, is the Lambda Twin 3D head, which cleverly combines two Lambdas for even weight distribution and elegant moves with almost any conceivable 3D rig–from small to huge and heavy.
Watch for more information about Cartoni, a company history, and a filmmaker’s fine-dining guide to the restaurants of Rome by our intrepid reviewer, Buona Forchetta, in FDTimes’ September IBC/Cinec special FDTimes Rome report.
Why am I wandering in Wetzlar, sneaking around Solms? I’ve been invited to spend a couple of days visiting Leica to learn more about the company, and especially the imminent, new Cine Lenses distributed by Band Pro. (above: the team working on the Cine Lenses. Anyone waiting for the first batch: rest assured, we did not stop the production line. This picture was taken during the mid-morning break.)
Leica Camera began 161 years ago as the “Optical Institute Wetzlar,” founded by Carl Kellner. In 1865, Ernst Leitz became a partner in the company.
In 1954, the legendary Leica M3 was introduced, with its quick-change bayonet mount.
The Leicaflex was introduced in 1965: the first Leica SLR. In 1966, Leica came out with the Noctilux 50mm f/1.2. It was the first lens with a production aspherical lens element. This is important, because it helps explain the use of aspherical elements in the new Cine Lenses, and why Leica has the grinding and polishing tools to achieve this.
The Leica M8 – the first digital M – came out in 2006, followed by the Leica S-System (larger format) in 2008. The next year, 2009, was very busy. 10 new products were introduced, including the M9 (the world’s first digital rangefinder camera with a full-format 24×36mm sensor) and the X1, a high-aperture compact digital camera with APS-C sensor.
The Cine Lens project is the first time in Leica’s long history that motion picture lenses are being made. We reported about that in our last issue. Some readers wrote in asking whether these were really Leica products, and the answer is yes. The aspherical lens elements are polished on computer-controlled machines to tolerances that I believe are better than 1 micron, and mechanical parts are machined to tolerances better than 10 microns. That’s impressive, when you consider that the size of one photosite on a digital sensor is around 10 microns. We’ll have a full report, with lots of pictures, in our IBC/Cinec issue.
INT. BANK VAULT – DAY
Small town somewhere in Germany. Secure location undisclosed. Two matching keys open a safe deposit box. The drawer is placed on a clean, white table. A black velour cover reveals a small wooden case. We put on white gloves. Dr. Rudi Spiller, CEO of Leica Camera (below), carefully removes the first Leica ever made: the original 1913-1914 Oskar Barnack prototype 35mm still format camera, worth around 4 million dollars. No wonder it’s in a vault.
It was the first small, portable, 35mm still format camera. Oskar Barnack was head of microscope R&D at Ernst Leitz Optical Works in Wetzlar. In his spare time, beginning 1911, he began work on a prototype still camera for cinematographers to test exposures using existing 35mm motion picture film. “Aha,” he must have said. “This is a lot easier to use than schlepping around a big, heavy view camera. The standard 35mm motion picture negative is 18 x 24mm, and the film travels vertically. But, turn the camera on its side, and we can get a larger 24 x 36 mm negative. And, instead of contact-printing huge view camera negatives, we can use a projector to make larger prints. Oskar shot lots of stills with his prototype camera. Here’s one of the first, taken in Wetzlar’s Eisenmarkt (Iron Market):
And here’s what it looks like today:
The first Leica A cameras went into production in 1925. The rest, as they say, is history.
Any movie, anywhere, anytime is still an elusive goal. Slow (or no) connections frustrate. See this excellent New York Times article on TV Online by Paul Boutin.
Congratulations to Philippe Ros: recently admitted as active member of the AFC (Association of French Cinematographers). Philippe was the brains behind our “Oceans” issue, and of course, spent five years working on the film itself.
You’ll recognize the Audis here from the previous post, where they were under the hot lights of a stage display. Here, they are mirroring the reflected sky and surroundings of magic hour–a far more desirable environment.
While magic hour in tropical latitudes lasts a few minutes and quickly become happy hour early in the evening, magic hour in northern Europe (above 50 degrees north) lingers much longer. If you’re lighting cars in a studio, the ceiling becomes the sky. That’s why seamless fabrics are so sought after, whether used as a bounced muslin or canvas surface or a translucent silk or gridcloth with light from above.
But, it’s hard to beat natural, beautiful, available, magic hour light.
