- Leitz Park Tour, Leitz Cine Confab
- Leitz Lens Lines Compared
- Leitz LPL Mount for Sony VENICE
- Leitz Hugo Prime Lenses
- Leitz Hugo and Elsie
- Leitz LPL Mount for VENICE
- HUGO 75mm and 90mm: Eyes Wide Open at T1.5
- Cooke Varotal/i FF T2.9 Full Frame Spherical Zooms
- Cooke Varotal/i FF 19-40, 30-95, 80-215
- Cooke Looks at Industry City
- Mike Prickett on 100 Foot Wave, 50-1000mm Zooms
- Top Chef Buddha Lo seen through a Nikon Z 9
- Nikon Z 9
- Michael Cioni on Frame.io C2C and Partners
- Fujifilm X-H2S + FT-XH + C2C with Frame.io
- FUJINON 25-1000 F2.8-5.0 PL Mount Zoom
- Naomi Kawase, Director of TOKYO 2020
- Masaya Suzuki, Principal DP of TOKYO 2020
- Live Under Covid
- Ji-Sun Yoo, DP of D.P.
- SIGMA Classics on D.P.
- Fabian Weston, Protists and Pocket Cinema Cameras
- Francisco Campos-Lopez on DamBusters
- Darren Lew on The Car Stage
- Chrosziel Meta Mount (E to PL with Metadata)
- New ARRI Rental North America HQ in LIC
- Angénieux Optimo Ultra Compact FF & U35 Full Pack
- Aymeric Colas, Steadicamer on Athena
November 16, 2022
November 2022: Issue 117
FDTimes 96-page November 16, 2022 Issue 117. Final edition, proofed and updated.
Goes to press on Thurs Nov. 17.
Print-it-yourself 30 MB PDF download via login for Subscribers.
Click the Free Access button below for 14 MB PDF Complimentary Edition.
Best with Adobe Acrobat Reader, 2-page view, show cover page; or Apple Preview, View>Two Pages.
Titans of the Industry
Moguls
Executive Producers
Producers
Co-Producers
Assoc. Producers
Media Partners
Rental Houses
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Jon Fauer’s Film and Digital Times is published on paper, online and on iPad roughly every two months. Depending on events, introductions and technological breakthroughs, we sometimes combine issues into larger editions. Join us for the adventure and subscribe online. We talk about products and procedures in practical production—here’s the job at hand: how do we use tools and techniques to get the results we want?
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News
- FDTimes 117 November 2022 Latest Edition
- Cooke Varotal/i FF 19-40, 30-95, 80-215 Details
Download 14-page FDTimes 2.5 MB PDF article about the new Cooke Varotal/i FF 19-40 mm and 30-95, 80-215.
Cooke is back with more zoom lenses.
Two new Cooke Varotal/i FF Full Frame zoom lenses were introduced in November 2021 and released earlier this year: 30-95 mm T2.9 and 85-215 mm T2.9. And now, the duo becomes a trio. Please welcome the Cooke Varotal/i FF 19-40 mm T2.9. read more... - Cooke Varotal/i FF in Industry City Video
- “Top Gun: Maverick,” Miranda, Lenses, Cameras
The camera and lens list on TOP GUN: MAVERICK is long. As Admiral Cain, played by Ed Harris, asked, “Why is that?”
Claudio Miranda, ASC replied, “It’s one of life’s mysteries.” Seriously, Joe Kosinski, our Director, wanted to shoot Full Frame. SIGMA covered the wide end, and the Master Primes covered the long end. We were using the SIGMAs from 14mm to 50mm. The Master Primes in those focal lengths don’t cover Full Frame. But the 50, 75, 100 and 150mm Master Primes do cover Full Frame. In terms of sharpness and resolution, they’re pretty close. In grading, even if things are just a little bit off, you can kind of blend them all in.
read more... - September FDTimes Supply Chain
I thought supply chain delays involved semiconductors and electronics. Who expected paper to also be in short supply. So, the latest September edition of FDTimes hopefully ships next week. If you were at IBC, you may have picked up a copy of the EU edition printed in Amsterdam.
Please download the online PDF edition while waiting for printed copies. Sorry for the delay. read more... - How Hugo Looks – Wide Open, No Excuses
Sept 5 - 8, 2022. The nice folks at Leitz invited a coterie of cinematographers and camera assistants to visit Wetzlar for eyes-on time with Hugo, Elsie and Henri, along with factory tours, fine food and flowing refreshments.
Hugo is the new Leitz series of Leica Format (Full Frame) cine prime lenses: 21, 24, 28, 35, 50, 75, 90 mm — all T1.5. There is an additional 50mm T1.0 lens and an 18mm and 135 are in the works.
Leica optical designer Peter Karbe was there. "Shoot wide open, no excuses," he said. And so I did, all wide open "with a wrench" at T1.5. To see how Hugo looks, here are some ungraded 4K portraits taken with the 90mm and 75mm Hugo primes. read more... - Leitz LPL Mount for VENICE
What is a DP or Rental House to do? You have a new set of Leitz Hugos or Elsies or other LPL mount lenses and want to use them on a Sony VENICE or VENICE 2. But VENICE cameras only come with a native E-mount and a PL mount that screws in front. (Recent ARRI ALEXA Cameras have LPL mounts.) Now, Leitz has designed and built an LPL mount for Sony VENICE and VENICE 2. It fits in place of Sony’s original PL mount and attaches with 6 screws. Lens metadata is fully functional; /i data is recorded directly by VENICE. read more... - ALEXA 35 Software Update 1.0.3 Revision 4
August 11, 2022. ARRI posted a new maintenance update for ALEXA 35 cameras today: ALEXA 35 SUP 1.0.3 Revision 4.
(Go to arri.com and navigate to Service >Firmware > Software and Firmware Updates for Cameras > ALEXA 35 SUP 1.0.3)
As stated in the notes: "ALEXA 35 SUP 1.0.3 Revision 4 is a maintenance release and contains important bugfixes and improvements to system stability (and is more recent than) ALEXA 35 SUP 1.0.3 Revision 3, which was installed on the first cameras that were shipped. There are no new features. We recommend updating for all customers." read more... - Cine Fest West. Postponed
The folks who organize BSC Expo are heading to Santa Monica. Cine Fest West is planned for September 16-17 at the event space of Santa Monica Airport. Presumably it will be outdoors, in tents and under Easy-Ups. Claire and Rob Saunders said, "The festival will offer an exciting mix of festival, learning opportunities, networking, roundtable sessions, and product demos, all in one unique event, read more...
View All NewsTook a Look at Cooke Varotal/i FF Zooms
FDTimes looked at Cooke Varotal/i FF Zooms on VENICE 2 at Industry City, in Brooklyn, NY. You can see the 4K video on YouTube at: youtu.be/zF-5mThr0j0 and on Vimeo: vimeo.com/766754992 read more...Factory Tours
- Cooke Tour 2020
This was my 4th tour of Cooke Optics in Leicester, England. The factory has come a long way since previous visits in 2006, 2009 and 2013. It is now a state-of-the-art, modern facility with clean rooms, the latest machines, and many more technicians. As Les Zellan described it, “The glass manufacturing area is cleaner and neater and there are many... read more... - ZEISS Supreme Primes Special Report
FDTimes Factory Tour and Special Report about the new ZEISS Supreme Prime lenses. Download 44-page 11MB (high rez) PDF. ZEISS Supreme Primes cover a FULL FORMAT image area up to 46.3 mm diagonal. They are incredibly small, lightweight and fast. The focus barrel has a unique, advanced square helical thread that is as smooth as cams and even more rugged. There are 13 lenses planned so far. read more...
View All Factory ToursEvents
12/8/22 
Band Pro One World Open House 2022
View All EventsThursday, December 8, 2022 from 1 to 8 pm.
New Products
- Angénieux Optimo Ultra Compact FF & U35
- SLATE from Tribe7
Clapperboards haven’t changed much since Psycho.
Leave it to the team at Tribe7, innovators of Blackwing7 lenses, to come up with a new, exciting and innovative SLATE. It has familiar sticks that clap (heads or tails) and a board to mark with Dry Erase pens. But this is no ordinary writing surface.
SLATE has an e-paper display similar to a Kindle. Instead of a board with pre-engraved lettering or custom graphics that have to be ordered in advance, graphics and template text on SLATE can be changed immediately. read more... - Leitz Hugo Leica Format Cine Lenses
Hugo joins Leitz Primes, Elsie and Henri in the eponymous family of cine lenses and finders at Ernst Leitz Wetzlar.
Hugo Wehrenfennig, a talented mechanical engineer, helped design many early M Mount lenses and created the original Leica M Mount. Its four-pronged bayonet assembly was essential to Leica’s new M3 camera, introduced at Photokina in 1954. The M mount has connected Leica M cameras and M lenses to this day.
September 6, 2022. Ernst Leitz Wetzlar introduces the Leitz Hugo series of cine prime lenses. The initial set of 7 consists of 21, 24, 28, 35, 50, 75, 90 mm — all T1.5. There is an additional 50mm T1.0 lens in the series. They are expected in Q1 2023. read more... - Teradek RT MDR.S Motor Driver
Teradek RT MDR.S is a tiny receiver+control unit to drive lens motors. I guess the "S" in MDR.S could stand for small or stylish. You can control a single motor or daisy-chain up to 3 motors—for focus, iris and zoom. Short cables minimize clutter. MDR.S works with Teradek's CTRL.1 single channel or the CRTL.3 three channel hand unit. Maximum line-of-sight range is 5,000 ft. MDR.S is ridiculously lightweight: a mere 2.4 oz. read more... - Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K G2
June 23, 2022. G2 is for Generation 2.
Blackmagic Design launched their Pocket Cinema Camera 6K G2 today, the second generation of the original Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K introduced in October 2019.
What's different?
The new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K G2 is almost the same as the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro (launched in February 2021) — lacking only the internal Clear, ND.6, ND1.2 and ND1.6 filters. The body is the same. Both cameras have an adjustable, tiltable 5-inch 1500 nit 5” 1920 x 1080 LCD touchscreen display. They both accept Blackmagic's superb Pocket Cinema Camera Pro OLED EVF.
read more... - SIGMA 16-28mm F2.8 DG DN | Contemporary Zoom
SIGMA's optical prowess continues to impress. Their new 16-28mm F2.8 DG DN | Contemporary Wide-Angle Zoom Lens (at left) is almost the same size and weight as its companion 28-70mm F2.8 DG DN | Contemporary Zoom (at right). If the best lens is the one that's light and small enough to put in your jacket pocket, and has exceptional imaging quality, then the 16-28 is the wide zoom you'll want to join the 28-70 that was released in March 2021.
Both lenses are for Full Frame mirrorless cameras and come in Sony E-mount or Leica/ SIGMA/Panasonic L-Mount.
Wide and fast zoom lenses are usually not this petite. The 16-28mm F2.8 DG DN | Contemporary maintains sharpness to the edges, with no shading (darkening of the edges). A few weeks ago I was gushing over the rectilinear, unbending lines of SIGMA's 20mm F2 DG DN | Contemporary prime. Now, here's a lens that's wider, is almost as small, and is a zoom. read more... - AbelCine Spring Tech Showcase NY
The AbelCine Spring Tech Showcase, at their Industry City, Brooklyn location took place on Saturday, May 21. It was an enjoyable, focused, not-massive, local event — a full day of exhibits by the major camera, lens and lighting manufacturers, panel discussions and tech sessions. It was the premiere of the new BLACKWING7 amber skin lens variant from TRIBE7. Jay Holben was there, signing his definitive and encyclopedic The Cine Lens Manual. Canon showed their new T2.4 Flex Full Frame zooms. Tim Smith showed how seamless and simple it was to customize Angenieux Optimo Primes with their swappable internal element, swappable irises, front and rear filters. Motion Impossible's remote controlled, modular, motorized Agito dolly glided through the halls, navigated by Ben Dair, Chief Product Officer. read more... - Koerner PNW Lens Summit 2022
Koerner Camera Systems hosted the 4th 2022 Pacific Northwest Lens (PNW) Summit on May 13-14 in their large Portland, Oregon rental headquarters. Michael Koerner, the company owner, called it "A celebration of cinema-lens technology and education." Cooke's Danny Haikin, who flew in from London called it "A wonderful, massive lens geek-out."
Around 30 exhibitors displayed their products, mostly lenses. More than 300 industry visitors arrived from as far away as New Zealand.
A day before the main event, lens technicians attended hands-on lens training classes taught by lens maestros. Instructors donated their time, so the technicians attended the training for free. read more... - SmallHD Cine 18 Monitor
These are the shots that try focus-pullers souls.
ECU, 4K, Full Frame, 135mm prime wide open at T1.4. Which eyelash do you focus on?
Your 7-inch monitor is great, but seeing such fine detail requires the eyesight of an eagle. What you may want is a larger 4K monitor of size and resolution to guide you in the realm of eyelash-thin, millimeter depth of focus.
As depth gets smaller, focus-pullers get larger monitors.
The new SmallHD Cine 18 4K High-Bright Monitor addresses the sweet spot between your favorite Cine 13 on a stand and the Cine 24 that sits on an Inovativ cart. read more... - Phantom Droll Booth – FDTimes at NAB
FDTimes will be at NAB 2022. Pick up copies of the April 2022 edition in the publication bin at the entrance to Central Hall.
Make yourself at home in our unoccupied FDTimes booth # C6244. But, unfortunately I will not be there nor will it be staffed. Too busy preparing the June 2022 edition. See you soon! read more...
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