- AJA ColorBox
- Teradek Bolt 6
- SmallHD Cine 5 Series
- Leitz Hugo Prime Lenses
- RED V-RAPTOR XL
- Leitz LPL Mount for VENICE
- Atlas Mercury Anamorphic Lenses
- Sony VENICE Rialto 2
- SIGMA 65mm Cine Primes
- SIGMA 20mm and 24mm F1.4 DG DN | Art Primes
- SIGMA 16-28mm F2.8 DG DN | Contemporary Zoom
- Blackmagic Cloud Storage
- Canon 20-50 & 45-135 T2.4 Full Frame Flex Zooms
- Atlas Mercury Anamorphic Lenses
- Nanlite Forza 720B, 720, 60C, 60
- Vocas Accessories for ARRI ALEXA 35
- Leica SL2-S with Atomos NINJA V and V+
- Leica M11
- BLACKWING7 Amber Skin Program
- Easyrig STABIL G3
- SmallHD Cine 5, 7, 13, 18, 24, OLED 27
- EL Zone & SmallHD Monitors with PageOS
- Teradek RT MDR.S Motor Driver
- The 13 Lords of the Shogun
- ZEISS Supreme Prime Lenses
- Film and Delicious Times: Sawayaka
- Darius Khondji, ASC, AFC: Angénieux Tribute at Cannes
- Angénieux at Cannes
- Evelin van Rei: Angénieux Encouragement Award at Cannes
- Randy Wedick’s Optimo Prime IOP Seminar at Cannes
- Creative Solutions September 2022 News by Greg Smokler
- SmallHD Monitors for Focus Pullers and Everyone Else
- Lighting with Paint and Tiffen Diffusion
- Tiffen Looks at the Museum
- Claudio Miranda, ASC on Top Gun: Maverick
- Otto Nemenz International — New Facility
- AbelCine Spring Tech Showcase
- Sam Nicholson, ASC on Our Flag Means Death
- CVP Belgium
September 2022
September 2022: Issue 116
FDTimes 96-page September 2022 Issue 116. Paper Edition shipping now and in many locations at IBC Amsterdam.
Print-it-yourself 33 MB PDF download via login for Subscribers. Click the Free Access button below for 17 MB PDF Edition.
Best with Adobe Acrobat Reader, 2-page view, show cover page; or Apple Preview, View>Two Pages.
New Products
News and Interviews
Titans of the Industry
Moguls
Executive Producers
Producers
Co-Producers
Assoc. Producers
Media Partners
Rental Houses
Readers’ Comments
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”About FDTimes
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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Jon Fauer, ASC is an award-winning cinematographer and director who has written 12 bestselling books, famous for their user-friendly way of explaining things as if you’re right there on location with him.
Over 120,000 of his books on cameras, cinematography, film and digital video have been printed. Think of this bimonthly Journal as Fauer’s next book — arriving a year early, with up-to-the minute information brought to you in episodic format.
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News
- “Top Gun: Maverick,” Miranda, Many Lenses, Multiple Cameras
- 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... - Jean-Marie Lavalou: March 9, 1946 – July 15, 2022
Jean-Marie Lavalou passed away on July 15 at the age of 76. Jean-Marie Lavalou was the co-creator of the first remote control camera system for the motion picture industry, the LOUMA.
Jean-Marie was born into the family of La Fromagerie Lavalou in Le Bourg-Saint-Léonard, Normandy, France. With a passion for film from an early age, he went to Paris to attend the prestigious film school École nationale supérieure Louis-Lumière (ENS Louis-Lumière), graduating in 1968. During his national service in the French navy film department, Jean-Marie met Alain Masseron. Together, they created previously unseen camera movements while making a film inside a submarine by attaching the camera to the end of a wooden pole and tracking through the narrow vessel. Jean-Marie received the Sci-Tech Academy Award of Merit in 2005 with his co-inventors. read more... - Webb Space Telescope’s first full-color imagesJames Webb Space Telescope’s first full-color images. Streaming July 12:
- Four SmallHD Monitors for Focus Pullers
As focus gets more critical, you may want more pixels or a larger screen. Here's a rundown of 4 SmallHD Monitors for Focus Pullers and other people: Cine 7, Cine 13, Cine 18, Cine 24. Cine 7 is a high-bright HD touchscreen monitor. The 13, 18 and 24 are high-bright 4K monitors. And with PageOS 5 software, they get the EL Zone exposure tool by Ed Lachman, ASC.
ECU, 4K, Full Frame, 135mm prime wide open at T1.4. Your 7-inch monitor is great, but you may want 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.
These monitors are not just for Focus Pullers, of course — DPs, Camera Operators, Directors, DITs, Producers and Clients love them as well. read more...
View All NewsFactory 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 ToursNew Products
- Leitz Hugo Leica Format Cine Lenses
- 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... - Canon 20-50 & 45-135 T2.4 FF Zooms
- DJI Ronin 4D 6K Updates
Here are additions and changes to the FDTimes November 2021 report on DJI’s Ronin 4D. New firmware, when the camera ships soon, will let you: Use the Remote Monitor to view and control the main monitor interface with “Mirror Control Mode.” Stream a clean video feed via HDMI and SDI ports on the Remote Monitor Expansion Plate with no overlaid... read more...
View All New ProductsCanon announces "the launch of a new series of lenses for the company’s EF Cinema Lens lineup — the Flex Zoom Lens series." Watch what they say: "The first lenses in the series are the CN-E20-50mm T2.4 L F/FP wide-angle zoom lens and the CN-E45-135mm T2.4 L F/FP telephoto zoom lens." Does "first lenses in the series" mean that more Full-Frame Zooms are on the way? I would guess yes. You won't have to flex your muscles to work with these new Canon Flex Zoom Lenses. They are very light (less than 7.5 lb / 3.4 kg). They are very compact: shorter than 9.7" / 246.4 mm. And they are amazingly fast for compact Full-Frame zooms: T2.4 maximum aperture for both, without ramping. The Flex zooms come in EF or PL mount, designated by the product name of F for EF, and FP for PL. The EF mount provides electronic shading and chromatic aberration correction when used on Canon's EOS R5 C with an EOS RF-to-EF mount adapter. The PL mount has the latest /i3 Technology.
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