News
Sigma Photo, Asia Week, The Met, Pop-Up
New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art celebrated Asia Week with a reception on March 25. In opening remarks, Margi Gristina, Chair of AWNY, thanked Sigma, a sponsor and partner of the event. Meanwhile, the Sigma’s NYC Pop-Up 2026 Space is open until April 4, from 10am – 6pm daily at 21 Spring Street. Meet the Full Frame, brilliantly fun, “beautifully foolish” BF camera from Sigma — designed for intuitive and direct engagement with the art of seeing. Sigma’s latest line of Art, Sports and Contemporary lenses are also there to try. read more…
Tags: Aizu, Asia Week, SIGMA, SIGMA BF Camera, Sigma Pop-Up, The Met
Cine Gear LA 2026 is at Universal
6/5/26 – 6/6/26
Cine Gear Expo 2026 Los Angeles: June 5 - 6 at Universal Studios Lot
Cine Gear Expo Los Angeles 2026 returns to the Universal Studios lot. Hurray!
This is Cine Gear’s 30th Anniversary. And the 21st birthday of Film and Digital Times. FDTimes is now grown up and old enough to drink. The adventure began at Cine Gear 2005.
Reserve flights, hotels and space early because the FIFA 2026 World Cup begins on June 11 at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, near LAX airport.
See you at Cine Gear. read more…
Pacific Northwest Lens Summit 2026
3/20/26 – 3/21/26
Pacific Northwest Lens Summit: PNW Lens Summit returns to Portland
Koerner Camera Systems hosts The Pacific Northwest Lens Summit again in Portland, Oregon.
This year, the Lens Summit will be located at Portland State University on March 20 – 21, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Registraton is free. Sign up now. https://www.lenssummit.com
More than 40 exhibitors are expected from around the world — providing hands-on time with their latest lenses and cine products: Ancient Optics, Angénieux, ARRI, Atlas Lens Co, Band Pro, Canon, Chrosziel, Cine Lens Manual, Cine Visuals, Cooke Optics, Creative Solutions, Denz, Duclos Lenses, DZOFilm, Film and Digital Times, Fujifilm and Fujinon, Hawk Anamorphic, IB/E Optics, Innerspace Cases, Iron Glass, Khan Optic, Kipon, Laowa / Venus Optics, Leitz Cine Lenses, Lensworks, Lindsey Optics, Nisi, Old Fast Glass, Pixboom, Revar Cine, Schneider-Kreuznach, Second Reef, Sigma, Sony, Tiffen, Tokina, Tribe7, True Lens Services, ZEISS, ZeroOptik. read more…
Blake McClure ASC on “Rooster” with URSA Cine 17K 65
Interview with Blake McClure, ASC about using some of the first Blackmagic URSA Cine 17K 65 cameras on Rooster, the new HBO series. “The 65mm format was chosen because of the nature of this show. It’s a comedy and it’s mostly about the dialogue. It’s about the medium shot. I knew it was going to be a personal, very heartfelt father-daughter story. Even in the first episode, the first page calls out for a New England campus. It’s warm, rich, and I thought medium format photography. With the Blackmagic camera, it became affordable. To be realistic, I haven’t yet done a television series where we could afford three or four expensive 65mm cameras. read more…
BSC Expo 2026
BSC Expo 2026 began by invitation on Thursday Feb 12 and ran for the next two days. As always, it felt as if the entire UK film industry arrived at the Evolution event space in Battersea Park in London for one the top events of the year — to see the latest products for motion picture production, meet friends and colleagues, and raise a glass or two at the bar and everywhere else.
Hot off the pre-production lines, some still hot from the soldering iron, there were many new items that missed the FDTimes print deadline. Tiffen launched their new Steadicam MAGIC with Volt3 for lighter payloads. NANLUX had a tiny LED tabletop and mini lighting kit. Lots of new lenses, accessories and more. read more…
Tags: BSC Expo 2026
DJI RS 5
There are many compelling reasons to rush out and get the new DJI Ronin RS 5. Like the dramatic beats that advance a screenplay, here are the important features that make this gimbal so enticing: RS Enhanced Intelligent Tracking Module, 6.6 lb (3 kg) payload, smoother moves, compatibility with more cameras, longer battery life and more. read more…
Tags: DJI RS 5
Updated PYXIS 12K Camera Report
FDTimes Blackmagic PYXIS 12K Camera Report—with photos, configurations, details, specs, sensor modes, accessories and more.
Download the free 22-page, 10 MB PDF.
Blackmagic Design’s PYXIS 12K is a rugged, compact, capable, cute cubist cube of a camera with a Full Frame 36 x 24 mm sensor that records up to 12288 x 8040, Open Gate, 3:2, Blackmagic RAW onto internal CFexpress cards. read more…
The Martini Shot
“The Martini Shot.”
“The next shot is in the Glass.”
But tabletop takes time. Art directors agonize over the perfect olive. Food stylists slice the perfect lemon. Property maestros coax bubbles.
Fortunately, the new Laowa Probe Zoom 15-35mm T12-T40 is waterproof and effortlessly takes you underwater or into a Martini glass, stirred not shaken, up to 2x Macro. For scarier underwater setups on nature documentaries, the Probe Zoom’s 13.75-inch waterproof barrel keeps you safely away from fangs that bite.
‘Twas the night before Christmas…
INT. NY OFFICE – DAY
Macro view on lemon ½ inch away. (Olive became soggy.)
Zoom out. Rack focus from Martini glass to infinity and
EXT. view of NEW YORK.
Do we see Ninja Reindeer rappelling outside the window, bearing gifts?
Happy Holidays! read more…
Band Pro Open House 2025
Band Pro opened their 2025 Open House on December 11.
It was the North American premiere of the new Angénieux Optimo Ultra 12x 65 for Larger Formats—paired here on an ARRI ALEXA 265.
First seen at IBC Amsterdam, the image is spectacular. This 46-556 mm T5.6 Zoom lens has a 60mm image circle that covers the entire ALEXA 265 sensor —and amply covers Blackmagic URSA Cine 65 and Fujifilm GFX ETERNA 55.
The guest of honor was Johanna Coelho, cinematographer on THE PITT. Naturally, this year’s event and expo had an ambulance/emergency room theme. read more…
Ronin 4D, Cooke SP3, Michelin stars, DP Harvey
“A Knife in the Valley” is a 15-minute short film about Gareth Ward, head chef and co-owner of Ynyshir in Wales. The restaurant has been named best in the UK, has two Michelin stars and its 30 course dinner lasts 5 hours. In this interview, cinematographer Brendan Harvey discusses using DJI Ronin 4D 6K cameras and Cooke SP3 lenses. “The reason for the Ronin 4D was a desire for the camera to always be moving — to signify the restlessness, the striving for perfection in the restaurant. The Cooke SP3 are my favorite spherical lenses to use on the Ronin 4D. For me, there’s nothing out there that’s nicer or more versatile to use. They are small and light enough for the 4D. They have nice focus fall-off—softening towards the edges of frame, and not too much contrast…” https://fdtimes.us/ynyshir read more…
Joe Dunton, MBE, BSC, GBCT 1945 – 2025
We lost another legend of our industry.
Joe Dunton, MBE, BSC was the consummate inventor, mentor and friend. He had a gift of laughter and the sense that the world of cinema was not mad but in constant need of repair or retrofitting.
“What if I we spread a rumor that I was going to buy Kodak?” Joe asked with a mischievous smile at BSC Expo in 2012. “Believable,” I said. “Joe, you never saw a camera company that you didn’t want to buy.” (Among his collections were Moy and Mitchell.)
“There would be a contagion of speculation if you dropped ‘If’ from the headline,” Joe said. “If….it would be run like a boutique. You would order quantities and emulsions for the production at hand. It would be bespoke Kodak: edge numbers with the name of the cinematographer indelibly etched, perhaps. Or rolls of professional still film with your name on the yellow box.”
And no, Joe did not buy Kodak.
One day, he proposed a new format to follow Super35. “What if I introduced 1-perf pulldown?” he joked. His career, credits and list of achievements are no laughing matter. read more…
Tags: Joe Dunton MBE BSC
Sigma Aizu Prime: Character on a Character
A selfie with the amazing full frame Sigma AIZU Prime 75mm T1.3, “wide open with a wrench.”
T1.3-T22; 46.3 mm image circle; Close focus: 2’5″; 13 iris blades; PL Mount or Sony E-mount; Compact; 95 mm front diameter; lightweight at less than 4 lb.
/i and eXtended Data via standard contacts in mount and external 4-pin Lemo.
The AIZU Prime Line core set is shipping now: 25, 27, 32, 35, 40, 50, 65, 75 mm, all T1.3.
Additional focal lengths are in the works: 18, 21, 100, 125 mm, all T1.3. read more…
Cooke Panchro/i 65 on Fujifilm GFX ETERNA 55
Cooke Panchro/i 65 prime lenses have an image circle at least 60mm Ø, so they elegantly cover the Fujifilm GFX ETERNA 55’s largest sensor mode: GF 4:3 (1.33:1), Open Gate, 3840×2880, 43.8 x 32.9 mm (54.78 mm Ø) image area. There are two GRAB buttons on the camera to get still frames in the same resolution as the camera is recording video. That’s how these two frames of Fujifilm’s John Blackwood were grabbed. fdtimes.us/panchro65-eterna read more…
Otto Nemenz 1941 – 2025
Today would have been Otto Nemenz’s 84th birthday. He passed away on November 1 at his home in Maui. This story is very difficult to write. If anyone has additions, anecdotes, corrections or more photos, please add comments or send.
Otto was a friend, mentor and colleague. We spoke on the phone every couple of weeks. His office was often the first place to visit on landing in LA. The second destination was the Otto Nemenz table by the window at Chinois on Main restaurant, opened by fellow Austrian Wolfgang Puck in 1983. read more…
Euro Lens Summit – London 2025
The European Lens Summit returned for its second year at CVP’s Brentford facility on July 12 and 13. Bianca Halpern wrote the following. Picture this: An event focused entirely on Cinema Optics, where you can talk one-on-one with cinematographers, camera assistants, rental house staff, lens technicians, lens designers and users… read more…
Garrett O’Brien Waltzing with Brando
Los Angeles architect Bernard Judge published his memoir Waltzing with Brando: Planning a Paradise in Tahiti in 2011. It is the amazing story of a young Los Angeles architect who winds up working for Marlon Brando in the 1970s at the actor’s atoll in the South Pacific.
The movie Waltzing with Brando is now playing in theaters. It is scheduled to be released on streaming services in November. Written and directed by Bill Fishman, adapted from Bernard Judge’s book, the movie stars Billy Zane as Marlon Brando and Jon Heder as Bernard Judge. Garrett O’Brien was the cinematographer. Here is an interview with Garrett. read more…
Nikon ZR Camera
Here’s the new Nikon ZR camera — a slim, stylish, lightweight, Full Frame collaboration from Nikon and RED. The ZR records internal 6K REDCODE RAW with its 24.5 Megapixel sensor and has an enormous rear display.
With the flip of a switch, the camera goes seamlessly from Video to Photo mode. Its partially stacked CMOS sensor may be familiar to users of Nikon’s Z6 III—but this is a lighter and even smaller camera for cinematographers craving internal R3D, N-RAW, ProRes RAW or ProRes recording, with 15+ stops of dynamic range,.
The new 12-bit R3D NE RAW codec supports Log3G10, REDWideGamutRGB gamut and RED color science. read more…
Tags: Nikon, Nikon ZR Camera, Red
IBC 2025 Brief Debrief
Brief bursts of sunshine punctuated daily rain with drenching gusts during IBC 2025 in Amsterdam. The pre-party was Fujifilm’s GFX ETERNA 55 launch at the Amsterdam EYE Film Museum. IBC began on Friday September 12 and lingered through Monday. 43,858 visitors arrived from 170 countries. Click any image below to begin slideshow. Hover for caption:
Next FDT goes online Friday Sept 12
The 112-page Film and Digital Times PDF goes online here on September 12 at 10:00 am Amsterdam time. Go to fdtimes.com for in-depth articles about all the latest new cameras, lenses, lights and products. Download using the links at the top left of the page.
The 64-page IBC 2025 Print Edition will be distributed when the show opens.
Our 80-page Worldwide Print Edition ships this week. read more…
Abraham Martinez on Optimo Primes and The Lincoln Lawyer
Abraham Martinez was Cinematographer on Season 2 and Season 4 of The Lincoln Lawyer. Here is an interview about his use of Angénieux Optimo Prime lenses. There are 12 lenses in the Angénieux Optimo Prime lens series (18, 21, 24, 28, 32, 40, 50, 60, 75, 100, 135, 200 mm). They are all T1.8, except the 18mm T2 and 200mm T2.2. Optimo Primes are compact and lightweight and, best of all, you can custom tailor the look with Angénieux’s IOP system. Abe begins: “The subjective and technical performance of lenses in alignment with the story speaks for you as an advocate for your show. You’re translating the script. You stand in the gap between the rental house and the director, using a certain kind of language and grammar…” read more…
