AbelCine celebrated 25 years in New York. The place was packed. Seminars, raffles, auctions, demos, and discussions.

The major companies presented their equipment and latest developments. Canon’s new 7D Mk II, Panasonic’s latest VariCam 35, Sony F55 and FS7 and the latest E-mount lenses, ZEISS, Convergent Design, Phantom, and many more.

There were some notable first sightings. Jean-Marc Bouchut showed what I think is the first Angenieux 30-72 sS  Anamorphic Zoom in the USA. It was a working prototype, with deliveries anticipated in the coming months. Superb image, no geometric distortion even at the wide end.

Steve Weiss showed Zacuto’s new EVF: Gratical HD Micro-OLED EVF. Image is sharp, bright, and easy to focus. It’s a very well conceived finder that will be welcome on many cameras, including Canon Cinema EOS, Blackmagic URSA, and AJA CION.

There was a nice memory lane in the showroom with an early Aaton LTR and A-minima — along with many of the first users swapping tales and checking who had the lowest serial numbers.

Video by Mark Forman of 25th Anniversary Cake and Speech.

Food was fine and plentiful. How often do you get superb sliders at craft service? Drinks flowed faster than workflow. Colleagues reconnected faster than an HMI re-strike. Congratulations Pete and Rich Abel and all the AbelCine family, friends, and staff.

Photos below by Canon G7X, 3200 ISO, 1.0-inch, 20.2 MP CMOS sensor. Click on first image for slideshow.