- Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K
- Sony FX6
- Sony F EC 16-35mm T3.1 G Zoom
- Remote Production Using AJA Products
- Canon Sumire Primes — Episode 2
- Larry Thorpe on Sumire Primes
- Leica SL2-S
- Leitz Henri
- Panasonic DC-BGH1
- BGH1 on DJI Ronin RS 2
- SIGMA fp on DJI Ronin RSC 2
- —Otto Nemenz“
Just read your latest issue and I found it so facinating and well written. It was some of the best cinematography writing in recent history. Thank you.
”—Peter Lyons Collister, ASC“The only thing to read for professional information
”—Alexander Bscheidl, Vantage Film“I don’t know how I managed before without all the info of FDTimes
”—Philippe Ros, AFC, Member Imago Tech CommitteeView All Readers’ CommentsAbout Jon Fauer
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.
Cannes 2016
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.- DMG DASHDash Dot Dot / Dash Dash / Dash Dash Dot.That's Morse code for DMG as in DMG Lumiere.And now, DASH is the brilliant new pocket LED light fixture from DMG Lumiere by Rosco. It is housed in a rugged aluminum housing that can endure most production scenarios. DASH can all be controlled with the myMIX app for iOS, Android and APK. DASH is tiny (5" x 3.1" x 1.1") but powerful (up to 35 footcandles at 3.3 feet / 380 Lux at 1 meter.) read more...
- Jeff Cree 1951 – 2021
Jeffrey Allen Cree passed away on January 13, 2021 at home in Santa Clarita, California. He was born December 10, 1951 in Modesto, California. His first job ewas at KGO, an ABC owned and operated TV station in San Francisco. Next, Jeff traveled the world as an ABC news cameraman. His exploits became legendary and as his friend George Lang said, “Almost all of them are true." Jeff joined Sony in San Jose, California in the 1990s and then moved with the Sony team to New Jersey. His next excellent adventure continued at Band Pro Film & Digital in 2002 as CTO. There will be a Zoom tribute to Jeff on Wed Feb 24, 2021 at 4:00 pm PST. read more... - Nicol Verheem and Teradek at Sci-Tech Awards
Saturday, February 13. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored 55 individuals and 2 companies in a virtual Scientific and Technical Awards (Sci-Tech) presentation. Three of these recipients are well-known to FDTimes readers. They graciously endured interviews. Here is the first of three: Nicol Verheem is the Founder & CEO of Teradek and CEO of Creative Solutions. read more... - Greg Smokler – Teradek – Sci-Tech Award
Greg Smokler is Vice President of Cine Products at Teradek. He grew up in LA, worked as a camera assistant, DP and ICG Local 600 Camera Operator. He was co-founder of Paralinx, the wireless video company, that was acquired by the Vitec Group. Today, Greg is responsible for Vitec’s Creative Solutions Cine business unit, which comprises Teradek, SmallHD, and Wooden Camera. Greg discusses his Sci-Tech Award. read more... - Dr. Zvi Reznic discusses Amimon’s Sci-Tech Award
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Scientific and Engineering Awards (Sci-Tech Academy Plaques) honored Dr. Zvi Reznic, Prof. Meir Feder, Guy Dorman and Ron Yogev. In the following interview, Dr. Reznic says, "It is a great honor for us to receive this award. Usually, only the people who develop the technology are aware of its level of sophistication, while the users are simply enjoying its merits. In this case, the Academy realized that what is simply described as 'low-latency robust wireless video' encompasses an enormous set of innovations, robustness layers, and creative engineering. read more... - Sci Tech Awards to Teradek and Amimon
SCIENTIFIC & TECHNICAL AWARDS 2020 (to be presented Saturday Feb 13, 2021).
Announced today by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: February 2, 2021. LOS ANGELES, CA — 17 scientific and technical awards will be presented in a virtual Scientific and Technical (Sci Tech) Awards presentation on Saturday, February 13, 2021 on the Oscars® website beginning at 1 p.m. Pacific Time. You can go to the website now to read summaries of the awards. read more... - Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K Report
This Special Report about the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K camera is compiled from several editions of FDTimes. It is a free, printable, 36-page 11 MB PDF download.
The Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K costs less than $10K. It dares to defy a typical engineering riddle—pick any four of six: quality, resolution, easy data wrangling, size, weight, cost. Incredibly, URSA 12K gives you all six.
URSA 12K is a serious camera now shooting seriously stellar Super35 images at an astonishing 79.6 Megapixels per frame (12,288 x 6480) up to 75 fps in 2.39:1 (2.4:1), among many other aspect ratios, frame rates and resolutions. read more... - FDTimes Jan 2021 in the Mail
The Film and Digital Times January 2021 Print Edition, Issue 106, is now in the mail.
The latest text update v.01.03.21 is online. Still free for all as a 150 PDF. And, the high rez 300 dpi PDF is ready for online subscribers to read or print. read more... - Steven Manios Sr. 1938-2021
Steven Manios Sr., industry legend, optical wizard and former owner and president of Century Precision Optics, passed away on January 3, 2021 from complications of COVID-19. Steve's fifty-year career in Hollywood was the stuff of legends. He was part of an esteemed group referred to as Hollywood Royalty. Steve innovated and developed many lenses and optical devices. Among these were wide-angle lenses and adapters, swing-tilt and telephoto lenses, extenders, macro attachments and more. Most of these became essential ingredients of camera and lens packages on film and TV productions. read more... - 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...
News
Factory Tours
- Sony FX3: Cage-Free, Free RangeAnd now there are four. The FX3 is the latest addition to Sony’s growing Cinema Line of cameras. They seem to be multiplying at an impressive rate. VENICE, FX9, FX6, FX3. Sony explained the concept on Sept 2, 2020: “Cinema Line will deliver not only a coveted cinematographic look but also enhanced operability and reliability. The series will extend beyond traditional cinema camera and professional camcorder form factors.” Here’s a cinema camera with a decidedly different form factor. Inside, the FX3 acts quite like Sony’s a7S III hybrid still and video camera. Outside, the FX3 has lots of 1/4-20 threads in a unibody rugged steel skeleton. The cage-free design begs you to mount this camera in all kinds of places where a single mounting point and add-on cage wouldn’t dare to thread. read more...
- Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro
Three exciting things about the new the new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro should get your heart racing and your fingers dialing to buy one:
Built in Clear, ND.6, ND1.2 and ND1.6 filters.
5" LCD Monitor tilts up and down
Optional (essential) 1280 x 960 color OLED viewfinder.
Unless you have the enviable close-up vision of a 12-year-old prodigy pointillist painter, squinting at a camera’s rear monitor held at arm’s length in bright daylight may not be your idea of the best way to discern framing and focus. read more... - Chrosziel Lens Projection with Metadata
read more...Chrosziel will host Zoom meeting webinars about lens metadata read-out on the Chrosziel lens test projector--and more--on Feb 19 and Feb 22. Topics include a short introduction to Chrosziel P-TP7 II; Metadata display of Cooke /i, ZEISS XD, and ARRI LDS; Latest lens service products and accessories (MFT, RF, Leica M, Nikon F, USB-Adapter, Reticles); Newly updated Chrosziel Collimator with CLC Mount. - Panasonic LUMIX DC-BGH1
Panasonic calls it a box camera. Perhaps that is too modest a name for the LUMIX DC-BGH1. “Box” reminds me of the first Kodak box camera of 1888. It had a simple fixed lens and lacked controls. “You take the pictures, we do the rest.” Calling the BGH1 a box camera could be like comparing a Jiro (dreams of Sushi) Omakase experience to a box lunch. Yes, the LUMIX BGH1 is boxy on the outside, with sculpturally beveled and rounded edges. It will feel familiar for broadcasting, streaming, multi-cam and IP remote control. But the BGH1 is much more. read more... - SmallHD Indie 7 Monitor
Indie 7 is a new SmallHD 7" touchscreen monitor, well, for independent filmmakers and many others. Some call it an entry level model, but perhaps that is a bit modest for something so packed with helpful features. This is probably the affordable monitor you’ll want to tame your new KOMODO. Optional software upgrades provide touchscreen camera control of RED KOMODO and DSMC2 cameras. read more... - FUJINON Premista 19-45 mm T2.9
Jan 14. FUJINON officially launches their new Premista 19-45 mm T2.9 Full Frame zoom lens. This third member of the Premista zoom family was first announced as being in development on Sept 2, 2020. Now it is here and will be released on January 28, 2021 with an online presentation that day (details to follow.) The three FUJINON Premistas cover from 19 mm to 250 mm: 19-45 mm T2.9. 28-100mm T2.9. 80-250mm T2.9-3.5. read more... - Vocas Accessories for RED KOMODO
Vocas has a range of compact and handy accessories for the RED KOMODO.
With the side cage as the starting point, you can add components to build a complete cage with different top handles, handles, lens motors, microphone holder, additional 15 mm rods for mounting focus motors and shoulder supports. read more... - TILTA Kits for KOMODO
The TILTA Full Camera Cage for RED KOMODO protects the camera and provides 1/4-20 and 3/8-16 mounting threads for accessories. Handgrips attach to industry-standard Hirth-Tooth Rosettes in front and at the back of each side. A cold shoe on top accepts carrying handles. There are numerous configurations. The base of the cage has mounting threads to attach your camera to gimbals, drones and other places where balance is important. Several baseplates attach to the bottom of the cage for lens rods, Arca Swiss and Manfrotto as well as other quick release plates, and underslung battery plates. read more... - Teradek Bolt 4K LT
I have been singing the praises of 4K and HDR wireless video on set and location. But there was a concurrent chorus of users who wanted a more affordable alternative. Now Teradek adds their new Bolt 4K LT Transmitter and Receiver to their Bolt 4K line-up. “Bolt 4K LT represents the culmination of a massive effort at Teradek,” said Nicol Verheem, Creative Solutions CEO. “We’ve added considerable technology upgrades without raising the price to the end-user.” What’s this? Same price as previous Bolt 2K models? Why would I want to upgrade? And at half the price of the current Bolt 4K systems, what’s missing? Yes, Bolt 4K LT is the same price as earlier 2K models. You want to upgrade because the image quality and signal range is greatly improved compared to your older 2K Bolts. But you don’t have to ditch them. For example, you can use them for B camera or second unit. read more... - Cinematography Electronics /i Lens Display
Larry Barton, President of Cinematography Electronics, was on the other end of a Zoom chat in high resolution, with dramatic lighting and Full Frame shallow depth of field. It was time to learn about the Cinematography Electronics /i Lens Display. Larry said: “What we’ve done with our /i Lens Display was to take the iris, focus, focal length and other metadata from the lens—combined with information from the CINETAPE 2—and make the information more user-friendly for focus pullers and lens technicians at rental houses." read more...
New Products
Updated Jan 3, 2021
January 2021: Issue 106
This is v.01.03.21 going to press soon.
In this FDTimes 96-page January 2021 Edition:
Printable 25 MB PDF download for SUBSCRIBERS.
FREE ACCESS 15 MB PDF Edition for all.
Best with Adobe Acrobat Reader, 2-page view, show cover page; or Apple Preview, View>Two Pages.
Readers’ Comments
Titans of the Industry
Moguls
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Producers
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Media Partners
Rental Houses
Required reading for everyone in our company, shop, and rental departments
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