Author Archives: FDT Staff

Focus Puller at Work: Din

The focuspulleratwork.com community is an engaging forum for Focus Pullers around the world. Interesting topics include “10 Best Things in your Toolbag” and “10 Things for Desert Shoots” and “10 Questions about You.” To share your story with the community, you can do so on the forum. There is also a group interview with 10 questions and every member is… read more…

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Gods of Focus: Michael Burke

In this latest episode of “The Gods of Focus,” we focus on focus puller Michael Burke. Jon Fauer: You worked as First AC-Focus Puller on “Hunters” with William Rexer as DP.  I understand you used RED MONSTRO 8K VV, SIGMA Primes and the Preston Light Ranger 2. Michael Burke: The studio and handheld cameras had Light Rangers on them. We… read more…

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ARRI OCU-1 and Master Grips

Here’s a quick refresher course on the ARRI OCU-1 (Operator Control Unit)  for camera operators to recover control of focus or other lens functions. The OCU-1 lets you override and take back focus, zoom or iris control from the WCU-4 (Wireless Compact Unit) at the touch of a button, even when lens motors are attached. read more…

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Canon EOS C300 Mark III S35 Camera

Canon’s new Super35 4K EOS C300 Mark III camera was introduced on April 20 and should ship later this year. It records Cinema RAW Light and XF-AVC internally, has electronic image stabilization, and a Dual Gain Ouput Sensor with improved dynamic range. The Dual Pixel Focus Guide eyepiece display shows whether you’re near focused or far and when you’re right on, it glows green. There’s 4K 120 fps Cinema RAW Light internal recording and HDR support for both HLG and PQ. This article is a summary of features. read more…

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Canon CINE-SERVO 25-250mm T2.95-3.95 Zoom

Canon’s new CINE-SERVO 25-250 mm T2.95-3.95 weighs a mere 6.7 lb and is about 11 inches long. It comes in PL or EF mount. Usually you don’t handhold a 10:1 zoom. This one you can. It  covers Super35 and, with its built-in 1.5x Extender/Expander, Full Frame as well. In M.O.D. Mode, you can fill the frame with an image area about the size of a credit card. read more…

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AJA U-TAP for Webcam

The AJA U-TAP HDMI works as a great high-end webcam.  You can attach many video or still cameras with an HDMI connector. AJA also makes an SDI version: U-TAP SDI. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a webcam with a really good camera, a lens worthy of your attention and tighter than The Revenant?  Most likely, the built-in webcam on your laptop has the equivalent of 28mm Full Frame (18mm Super35) lens and the depth of field goes from here to eternity. The U-TAP changes all that. read more…

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Chris Sieniawski, S1H, Ninja V, ProRes RAW

Panasonic and Atomos recently worked with Chris Sieniawski on a short film to demonstrate  the Panasonic LUMIX S1H recording Apple ProRes RAW onto the Atomos Ninja V. The film is “Blind Love.” Dan Chung, Chief Marketing Officer of Atomos, was on a lock-down chat from London. We were joined by Krzysztof (Chris) Sieniawski in Warsaw. Here is an edited summary of our discussion. read more…

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Codex Compact Drive Dock for ALEXA Mini LF

Codex and ARRI introduce their new Thunderbolt 3 Compact Drive Dock. It can read ARRI ALEXA Mini LF Compact Drive Media up to 20 Gb/sec. That is 2.5x faster than the currently-shipping Compact Drive USB-C Reader.

The Codex Compact Drive Dock lets you offload ARRI ALEXA Mini LF data much faster than ever before. Combined with Codex Device Manager and HDE (High Density Encoding), downloads are easy and reliable. read more…

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“Into The Rising Sun” with Blackmagic Cameras

Scott Wilson and Andre Dupuis started Echo Bay Media 20 years ago to focus mainly on travel documentary TV production. Recently, they co-produced a mini-series about Japan. They shot with a Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, Pocket Cinema Camera 4K and URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2. The Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 was our main “A” Camera. Grading and post was completed with DaVinci Resolve Studio. read more…

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Australian Bigfoot and Blackmagic Camera

Attila Kaldy’s Track: Search for Australia’s Bigfoot is now streaming and on DVD. Produced by Sydney-based MoonLark Media, Attila takes us on a fascinating journey into the rugged Australian wilderness with an intrepid band of scientists and adventurers. Attila shot this documentary with the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, edited and graded in DaVinci Resolve Studio. read more…

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Mole LED Spacelites and 20K LED

The next generation of Mole-Richardson Co. LED Spacelites will debut in 2020 — the Varispace 2 and Varispace 4. With power draws of 350 watts for the Varispace 2, and 900 watts for the Varispace 4, they are designed as LED alternatives to the Mole 2000 watt and 6000 watt quartz Spacelites. read more…

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ERM Wireless Range Extenders for ARRI

Seen at BSC Expo 2020, ERM Radio Modules by FoMa Systems let you work with ARRI and cmotion hand units, as well as SRH Remote Heads, at greater wireless distances from the camera. The ERM system works in pairs: one as a transmitter and the other as a receiver, using spread spectrum frequency-hopping technology for a long range and secure conncection. The rugged housings are built to withstand rough setups and car rigs, as they did on “Ford v Ferrari” and “Fast & Furious 9.” read more…

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Steve Holleran on C300 Mark III + 25-250

This article first appeared in FDTimes April 2020 Issue 101.   Jon Fauer: I understand you were probably one of the first people to use both the new Canon C300 Mark III and the new 25-250 T2.95-3.95 zoom lens. How did this happen? Steve Holleran: About a month and half ago, Tim Smith from Canon approached me about pitching a… read more…

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Teradek Bolt 4K

Dennis Scully, Focus Puller, said, “With everybody wanting to shoot wide open and super shallow depth of field, it’s not even a matter of choosing the right eye or left eye. It’s whether you want the eyelashes or the eyeball to be sharp. If you’re on something like a 135mm at T1.3 on a tight choker, God help you. Unless you’re viewing on a 4K monitor.” In this shallow new world of focus, Teradek’s 4K Transmitters and Receivers will surely become required ingredients of any 4K, or more K, camera package. read more…

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Gods of Focus: Dennis Scully

To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of Super35’s demise may have been exaggerated. God of Focus Dennis Scully discusses the new Canon EOS C300 Mark III camera, pulling focus on Steve Holleran’s Boneyard Ballet, Preston Cinema’s Light Ranger 2, his Tactical Motion Focus Wheel, Canon’s new CINE-SERVO 25-250 zoom lens, Bright Tangerine and Wooden Camera accessories, Teradek 4K wireless video, Atomos and Canon Monitors, and lots more. read more…

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ARRI EF Mount with LBUS

More than 130 million EF lenses are out in the world from Canon, along with countless others from SIGMA, Tokina, Tamron, ZEISS, Fujinon, Samyang and others.

Wouldn’t you want to try some of these on your ARRI ALEXA Mini or ALEXA Mini LF camera?

Now you can, with the new ARRI EF Mount (LBUS) for large-format and Super 35 lenses. Yes, there was an earlier ARRI EF Mount, but it did not have an LBUS electronic connector and it vignetted certain Full Frame lenses. read more…

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Cooke S7/i FF+ 60, 90, 150 mm Macro 1:1

Cooke Optics announced a new branch of the S7/i family—the 60mm, 90mm and 150mm 1:1 Full Frame Macro lenses. They include /i lens metadata. By the way, 1:1 Magnification in a Full Frame Macro means you can focus down to fill the frame with an object that is about 36×24 mm or 40 x 20mm actual size. read more…

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Jeromy Young, Atomos CEO, on ProRes RAW

Normally, this discussion about Atomos, Apple ProRes RAW and the Lumix S1H would be in person. But the new normal in our Full Frame 4K world is a sometimes fuzzy video image of dubious resolution, beloved by, among many others, exercise-at-home Zumba instructors and bunkered executives. One of these executives, Jeromy Young, CEO of Atomos, was on screen from Melbourne, the far side of the world where many of us hunkered down here would prefer to be. Dan Chung, Chief Marketing Officer of Atomos, was also online. read more…

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Panasonic S1H Concept + Design

Masanori Koyama: In recent years, there has been increased demand for more creative flexibility in post-production. Panasonic considered RAW recording to be an ultimate goal. Atomos has a deep understanding of Apple ProRes RAW recording. They quickly implemented Apple ProRes RAW recording via SDI with our EVA1 camera. Now, we have achieved Apple ProRes RAW recording via HDMI for the S1H as well, with the kind cooperation and innovative work of Atomos. read more…

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LUMIX S1H, Atomos Ninja V + Apple ProRes RAW

Panasonic LUMIX DC-S1H Full-Frame mirrorless cameras will soon record Apple ProRes RAW on the Atomos Ninja V. It will be available in a free firmware update on May 25, 2020.

You can then shoot 5.9K RAW (5888×3312) Full-Frame, 12-bit, 16:9, at 23.98, 25 or 29.97 fps and record in Apple Apple ProRes RAW on Atomos Ninja V 4K HDR monitor-recorders. With this firmware update, the S1H camera can also shoot Super35 4K 17:9 12-bit and Super35 Anamorphic 3.5K 4:3 to be recorded in Apple ProRes RAW on the Atomos Ninja V. Here is a reprint from April 2020 FDTimes. read more…

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