Articles
Manfrotto Manufacturing Tour

Lino Manfrotto was a photo journalist, based in Bassano del Grappa, Italy. He worked for Il Gazzettino and Il Giornale di Vicenza and also did industrial and advertising photography. By the late 1960s, he realized that his photo equipment was cumbersome, heavy and slow. There were many studio lights on the market, but Lino saw that they neglected the basic necessities. So, with the help of a colleague, Lino made his first product: a lightweight and a rugged lighting stand that extended high enough to be practical. Download our 11-page PDF Report of the Factory Visit to Manfrotto Manufacturing in Feltre. read more…
Tags: FDTimes in Italy, Italy, Manfrotto
FUJIFILM Factory Tour (PDF)

Here is a 20-page PDF preview of the cover story in April-June FDTimes Issue 81-82. It’s a report on the new Fujinon MK 18-55 T2.9 zoom, the imminent 50-135 T2.9, and a tour of the factory where they are made, along with X-T2 and GFX still cameras. How does FDT manage to get inside various companies’ highly sensitive chambers of secrets? Like set etiquette, there are several important factory-visit commandments, thou-shalt-nots, and don’t-becauses. Thou shalt not trip over anything or break stuff. Don’t slow down the assembly line. Don’t ask dumb questions. Don’t take pictures of things they tell you not to. Submit all photos for review lest you accidentally photograph a particularly proprietary process or part. read more…
Tags: Factory Tour, Fujifilm, Fujinon, renoir, Sendai
New Canon 70-200 Cine Zoom: EF, AF, AE, IS

Exactly a year ago at NAB 2016, Canon introduced a new cine lens for Super 35. The Compact Servo 18-80 mm T4.4 (CN-E18-80mm T4.4 L IS KAS) EF-mount zoom was a compelling hybrid that combined the best attributes of cine and still photography. Three different lines of Canon lenses intersect in the design: more than 60 L-Series EF lenses for professional still photography, Cinema Zooms with manual focus/iris/zoom barrels (15.5-47, 30-105, 14.5-60, 30-300 mm), and Cine-Servo (17-120, 50-1000 mm) zooms. Now, a year later at NAB 2017, Canon’s Compact Servo family gets a new sibling. The Canon 70-200 mm T4.4 (CN-E70-200mm T4.4 L IS KAS S) EF-mount zoom covers longer, essential focal lengths. And so, with just two lightweight, compact, affordable, high performance lenses, you can cover any angle from wide 18 mm to long 200 mm. An accessory 2x extender gets you to 400 mm. read more…
SIGMA Cine Full Frame T2 14 & 135 mm

SIGMA Corporation adds two more cine lenses at NAB. Covering incredibly wide and extremely tight, the new cine lenses in the SIGMA FF High Speed Prime Line are 14mm T2 FF and 135mm T2 FF. Download 4-page FDTimes PDF article, including visit to SIGMA Headquarters and interview with lens designers. There are now seven prime lenses in the SIGMA FF High Speed Prime Line: 14, 20, 24, 35, 50, 85, and 135mm. All these cine lenses come with PL, EF and E-mounts. (Only the 24-35 T2.2 FF Zoom lacks a PL mount option: it comes in EF and E-mount only.) SIGMA offers a mount conversion service. read more…
Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro & 4.6K Guide

As a preview to FDTimes’ April-June Double Issue 81-82, download our 22-page PDF FDTimes Introduction to Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro and Quick Start Guide to URSA Mini 4.6K. The new URSA Mini Pro has built-in ND filters, interchangeable lens mounts, camera left-side outside LCD display and control panel, thoughtful ergonomic switches and dials for faster and easier operating. The body is the same size as URSA Mini 4.6K, so all the existing accessories will fit and work. URSA Mini 4.6K has the same Super35 (25.34 x 14.25 mm) CMOS sensor that can record files internally onto inexpensive CFast 2.0 Cards—from HD through 4.6K CinemaDNG RAW or UHD ProRes. read more…
LEICA Portugal Factory Tour (PDF)

This is the story of a city, a river, a region, wine, craftsmanship, transportation, lenses and cameras. They are all connected. Porto is the second largest city in Portugal, a 3-hour drive north of Lisbon. Seventy miles upstream by boat or car, vineyards cling to the terraced hills of the Douro Valley. For centuries, boats called barcos rabelos carried the wine……
SIGMA Cine Lens Factory Tour (PDF)

Aizu is 300 km north of Tokyo: two hours by high speed Shinkansen and then a scenic hour on a local railway. The train winds through high mountain passes and follows the foot of 5,968’ high Mt. Bandai. Skiing in winter is superb, as are the soba noodles and sake from the many Aizu breweries that benefit from the pristine mountain……
Tags: Aizu, SIGMA, Sigma Cine Lenses
ARRI SkyPanel Software Update

At NAB, ARRI showed the latest software update to the LED SkyPanels. There are 10 new features. The control panel now shows a gel filter library. You can select a color with a familiar Rosco or Lee filter name or number. The library is organized into familiar categories: color corrections, Storaro selection, Rosco Calcolor, Cinelux, Lee Color Correct, Lee Cosmetic Series, etc. The SkyPanel color “engine” generates the colors, but instead of having to define RGBW values, you can now pick colors by their popular and familiar names. This is much easier. Watch the video in this post. read more…
Tags: ARRI SkyPanel
Cannot Destroy a Rosco LitePad Vector

Frank Lambrechts, Visual Content Manager at Rosco and his crew in Belgium attempt to destroy a Rosco LitePad Vector in this terrific equipment video: Terminator meets Good, Bad and the Ugly meets Next Level. read more…
Tags: Rosco LitePad Vector
Easyrig Vario 5 Strong

Johan Hellsten demonstrates his new Easyrig Vario 5 Strong for camera payloads of 30 – 55 lb. A year ago at NAB, Johan presented Vario 5, an adjustable version of his wildly popular Easyrig. For the past year, he and his crew in Northern Sweden have been busy working on a new, heavier payload model. At NAB 2016, they introduced the Vario…… continue reading
ARRI Artemis Trinity Stabilizer/Gimbal Video

Video of ARRI Artemis Trinity: a rig combining Maxima gimbal and body stabilizer. Curt Schaller, BVK, camera operator turned inventor-designer of artemis has taken the product line to its new home at ARRI. read more…
Visiting Vitec’s OConnor Factory in Costa Rica (PDF)

“How would you like to build an OConnor 2575D?” Steve Turner asked. Being the consummate geek, I immediately accepted. “Meet your professors,” John Hill said as he introduced me to the grinning OConnor assembly group. Were they smiling because this was a crazy idea? Would I manage to emerge unscathed, with all fingers and toes intact? Could I actually help build a finished fluid head from the 635 parts arranged in bins to our left—with names like Sector Drag Assembly and Upper Wiffletree Bearing? Download our 22-page PDF Report of the Factory Visit to Vitec Videocom Costa Rica. read more…
Camerimage 2015

Article by Jan Grobliński. EXT. BYDGOSZCZ – EVENING Chilly. Dark figures in the background of the illuminated entrance to the Opera Nova. Evening fog and steam. Lively conversations in different languages, accidental meetings of old acquaintances, world-famous cinematographers passing by, a group of students hurrying to watch a film in the Main Competition… That could be a scene from a…… continue reading
Tags: Camerimage, Camerimage 2015
ZEISS Factory Tour 2015 (PDF)

ZEISS Factory Tour 2015, Museum of Optics, Interviews, Lenses. 7 MB PDF Free Download. Newly updated September 2015. This is a free online PDF reprint from FDTimes September 2015 Edition along with back issues. 50 pages. read more…
Tags: FDTimes ZEISS Factory Tour, ZEISS
ARRI Alexa Mini Factory Visit

I visited ARRI in Munich this May to get a first-hand look at assembly of the Alexa Mini. This is a reprint from the report in FDTimes Issue 70 — June 2015. read more…
Tags: Alexa Mini, ARRI, FDTimes
Canon HDR Monitors

At NAB, Canon showed a prototype HDR 4K monitor. That led to some questions for Mr. Shinichi Yamato, head of the Display Product Business Unit of Canon Inc, Japan, and Mr. Hitoshi Doi, Future Product & Solution Group at Canon U.S.A. read more…
Steadicam M-1, Steadicam 40th Anniversary, Cartoni 80th Anniversary

Tiffen introduced the new Steadicam M-1. Its modular, ultra-rigid design and innovative features make it the most hotly anticipated “big rig” in decades. AT NAB, Steadicam celebrated their 40th Anniversary and Cartoni celebrated their 80th Anniversary. read more…
Dan May, BMD Pres, on URSA Mini and more

It’s always good to spend time with Dan May at NAB for an interesting guided tour. He puts things in perspective and explains not only the what and how of new equipment, but why. read more…
Tags: Blackmagic, Blackmagic URSA, FDTimes, Micro Cinema Camera, NAB
Hawk65 from Vantage Film

On February 9, 2015, Vantage Film announced three new sets of lenses for 65mm format. Since then, other products and pieces of the puzzle have come together. RED introduced the RED Weapon 8K camera, with its 21.60 x 40.96 mm sensor at NAB. ARRI announced an alliance of Alexa 65 with IMAX. I met with Peter Martin in Los Angeles. Peter is CEO of Vantage Film and leads technical development along with CEO Wolfgang Baumler.
Tags: FDTimes, Hawk, Hawk65, Vantage Film