Author Archives: Jon Fauer
Leica SL3-S for Cine & Stills
Cinematographers everywhere will love the new Leica SL3-S.
The SL3-3 takes amazing stills for location scouting or for pleasure, works not only as a Directors Finder or for pre-viz, but also records beautiful full-height (Open Gate) full-frame (Leica Format) moving images.
In a landscape where many cameras crop the sensor to 16:9 or less than full height, the SL3-3 covers the entire 24MP, 3:2 Open Gate sensor area (approx 35.64 x 23.76 mm) to record up to 6K internally and 6K RAW externally. read more…
Serra on SENNA
The 6-hour Netflix series SENNA follows the life of legendary F1 driver Ayrton Senna with white knuckle racing scenes, action, drama and stunning cinematography by Azul Serra, ABC and Kauê Zilli, ABC (Association of Brazilian Cinematographers). It was a huge production in Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina—including six ALEXA 35 cameras, four RED cameras, 266 cases of cameras, lenses and equipment – 2500 kgs of gear.” Here’s an interview with Azul Serra, thanks to Michael Keegan at Netflix and Ernesto Musitelli, Managing Director of Musitelli Film and Digital. read more…
Tags: Azul Serra ABC, Netflix, SENNA, Serra on SENNA
Kinefinity HDMI e-Viewfinder
Kinefinity continues to impress with great Electronic Viewfinders.They introduced their EAGLE SDI e-Viewfinder last July. Now there’s a wonderful HDMI version. It works with most cinema cameras, DSLRs and mirrorless cameras that have HDMI video outputs.
As with the SDI model, the new HDMI e-Viewfinder has a Micro OLED 1080P display. This is one of the most compact and lightweight EVFs on the market. It starts up quickly, has low power consumption and almost zero latency. It connects to video via a full-size HDMI port and is powered via a USB-C. read more…
P. Scott Sakamoto on A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
P. Scott Sakamoto, SOC talked about operating on A COMPLETE UNKNOWN: “I’ve worked on two movies with director Jim Mangold and he loves having the Steadicam. Often, when we rehearse a scene and he sees me setting up a dance floor for the dolly, he says, ‘I don’t want you to be on the dolly. I want you to be on the Steadicam.’ Because he often improvises the shot and doesn’t want camera moves to be restricted, he just prefers the freedom of a Steadicam. Jim and Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC have made several exceptional movies together and have a good rapport with each other. They know how to dance and tell a compelling cinematic story. It is a pleasure to come up with shots to advance that narrative at the right time with the right equipment.” read more…
Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC, GCA on “A Complete Unknown”
Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC, GCA and Sony’s Tanya Lyon were in New York for a pre-release screening of A Complete Unknown. (It opened on Christmas day.) We meet at a favorite restaurant—Sistina, across from the Met Museum. Storaro likes the table in the back corner of the back room where the light is always beautiful. Skylights above make it just… read more…
Band Pro Open House 2024
Band Pro One World Open House 2024 opened on Thursday December 12 from 1 to 8 pm in Burbank, CA.
Alice Brooks, ASC was the guest of honor. She has been flying a lot lately, on the wings of recently released WICKED, directed by Jon Chu. Band Pro’s Open House was packed. Exhibitors included Angénieux, Blackmagic Design, Bright Tangerine, Canon, Fujinon, Ronford Baker, SIGMA, Sony, 16X9 and many more. read more…
Tags: Band Pro Open House 2024
Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive Camera
Just when we thought Blackmagic was busy enough with their new 12K LF and 17K 65 URSA Cine Cameras, along comes this 2x 8K Stereo 3D camera for Apple Vision Pro. Blackmagic Design announced their new Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive Camera today. Designed to shoot Apple Immersive Video for the Apple Vision Pro — it’s expected to ship in 2025. read more…
ARRI ALEXA 265 Camera Report
Download the Film and Digital Times 32-page ARRI ALEXA 265 Camera Report.
Free 10 MB PDF.
ARRI ALEXA 265 is lighter and smaller than predecessors ALEXA 65 and 765. The 265 camera has a 65mm format sensor measuring a familiar 54.12 x 25.58 mm (59.86 mm Ø diagonal. 6560 x 3100 photosites.) The camera body is about the same size as an ALEXA 35–slightly wider to accommodate the bigger sensor, so most ALEA 35 accessories fit. Data wrangling is streamlined. fdtimes.us/alexa265 read more…
Cooke Panchro 65/i Lens Series
Who said there aren’t enough lenses for 65mm format?
November 12, 2024. Cooke Optics announced their Panchro 65/i Lens Series—designed specifically for 65mm Larger Format digital cinema cameras.
The Panchro 65/i series will include six focal lengths:
30mm T2.8, 40mm T2.8, 55mm T2.5, 75mm T2.5, 100mm T2.5, and 152mm T2.9.
They all stop down to T22 and are equipped with Cooke’s latest intelligent /i technology. The Panchro 65/i series is lightweight across the range (1.8 kg to 2.3 kg). read more…
ARRI Ensō Primes – Updated Report
This is an updated Special Report about ARRI Ensō Prime Lenses. In time for InterBEE in Japan (Nov 13-15), this report now includes a Factory Tour with new images of manufacturing, full specifications, details, travels in Suwa, Japan with Ensō Primes, and Tom Fährmann’s Ensō Launch Film. read more…
FDTimes Nov 2024 Edition Updated
Film and Digital Times November 2024 Issue 128 is updated and expanded from 64 to 80 pages. New articles include: DJI Ronin RS4 Pro with Focus Pro Hand Unit and LiDAR; Ronford-Baker Atlas Mini 7; ARRI Ensō Manufacturing; nittoh: from Silk to Cine Lenses; Tom Fährmann Up Close with Ensō; SIGMA Manual / Autofocus Cine Lens; additions, corrections and more. Download — https://fdtimes.us/nov24
Canon L Lenses with Iris & Zoom Marks
Canon continues an industry trend of hybrid still/cine lenses with manual iris and zoom marks as well as having autofocus and auto iris.
The new RF24mm F1.4 L VCM and RF50mm F1.4 L VCM primes are fast (f/1.4), compact (3.9 inches long) Full Frame RF-mount lenses.
Things get really interesting with Canon’s new RF70-200 F2.8 L IS USM Z zoom lenses. read more…
ARRI Ensō Prime Lenses
ARRI Ensō Primes are affordable Large Format (Full Frame) lenses, with focal lengths from 10.5mm to 250mm. Most of them have a maximum aperture of T2.1 and they come in LPL mounts with LDS and /i lens metadata. ARRI’s acronym is “EP.”
The initial core set—shipping in November 2024—consists of 18, 24, 32, 47, 75 and 105 mm. It includes an Ensō Vintage Elements Kit of 6 diopters that attach magnetically to the rear of the lens.
Next year, the 10.5, 14, 21, 28, 40, 58, 150 and 250 mm primes will be added, along with a 1.4x and 2x tele extender. read more…
Tags: ARRI Ensō Prime Lenses
NAB Show NY 2024
10/8/24 – 10/9/24
NAB NY 2024: NAB NY at Javits Convention Center
NAB Show New York will return on October 9-10 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Many new products and product launches are planned. And about 50 first-time exhibitors will be there. Registration is open for attendees.
Tags: NAB Show NY 2024
Cine Gear Atlanta 2024
10/4/24 – 10/5/24
Cine Gear Atlanta : At Trilith Studios, 400 Veterans Pkwy Fayetteville, GA 30214
Cine Gear returns to Atlanta on October 4-5 at Trilith Studios (where Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis was done). 400 Veterans Pkwy Fayetteville, GA 30214 Registration is free. There are exhibits, events and seminars. See the schedule.
Tags: Cine Gear Atlanta
IBC 2024 Slideshow
IBC 2024 in Amsterdam attracted 1,350 exhibitors and 45,085 attendees from September 13-16. With good running shoes, that meant 55 seconds to visit each booth. It’s like real-life 3D Goggle search, bouncing between scheduled meetings and trying to see as much as possible.
There are 12 halls, covering 29 acres (116,200 sq meters) in the RAI convention space. It’s about 1km from Hall 12, where most of the cinema companies traditionally exhibit, to Blackmagic and AJA in Hall 7. New Balance and Apple Watch app showed 10 miles per day.
Here’s a slideshow. read more…
Tags: Amsterdam, IBC, IBC 2024, IBC 2024 Slideshow, RAI
iodyne Pro Mini: smart drive
If you’re a DIT, DP, AC, creator or crew rushing to download the day’s footage onto an off-the-shelf SSD, you know that heat can also slow transfers down, often to a frustrating crawl.
Now there’s a super fast SSD that can take the heat: iodyne Pro Mini. Incidentally, iodyne is the company that also makes Pro Data Thunderbolt storage (NVMe 12/24/48TB 5 GB/s SSDs.) The name iodyne comes from “i/o” like in/out, and “dyne,” a unit of force, as in dynamic.
Pro Mini is iodyne’s smart drive, about the size of your iPhone, developed specifically for cinema production and photography. Think of it as a Thunderbolt shuttle drive with sophisticated features—speedy, sustained read/write speeds; Passkey authentication, security and encryption, digital labeling and Find My tracking. It comes in 4TB or 8TB capacities. read more…
Wooden Camera AKS for Canon Cinema EOS C80
The Canon Cinema EOS C80 just arrived, and wouldn’t you know it — Wooden Camera has an Elite Accessory System for it:
Top Plate, a new ARCA Riser Plate, NATO Side Rail, Canon ¼”-20 Ridge Plate, Gold and V-Mount Battery Slide power options, a Core Accessory System letting you use Canon’s Carry Handle, and lots more. read more…
Canon EOS C80 – RF mount Full Frame
Download 8-page FDTIMES PDF Report on the new Canon Cinema EOS C80 Camera at fdtimes.com
Canon introduces the new Cinema EOS C80 Camera.
Full Frame, RF mount, compact and lightweight, it has a 6K (26.67 Megapixel) sensor that measures 36.0 x 19.0 mm (40.7 mm diagonal). And look—it has a 4K 12G SDI Output BNC!
You could say this is the inevitable successor to the Cinema EOS C70 Camera that came out four years ago—September 2020. The C70 was the first RF mount Cinema EOS Camera. It became a breakthrough success because its Super35 4K sensor was similar to the Canon EOS C300 Mark III and yet it came in a much smaller body, albeit with fewer capabilities. read more…
Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF & 17K 65
Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF Review and Preview of Blackmagic URSA Cine 17K 65
Download this free 16-page 6MB PDF standalone special report now.
This report is a hands-on look at the Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF Camera.
The article will appear in Film and Digital Times September 2024 Issue 127 and the IBC Edition printing in Amsterdam and available at the show.
There’s also a brief preview of the Blackmagic URSA Cube 17K 65 Camera.
https://fdtimes.us/URSA-Cine-LF read more…
