News
BSC Expo 2024 London – Feb 16-17

See you at BSC Expo 2024 at Battersea Evolution in London on Feb 16-17.
The Feb 2024 BSC Expo Printed Edition of Film and Digital Times will be there as well.
BSC Expo in London is one of the most important events of the year to see and try the latest cine equipment.
There will also be 2 days of presentations and panel discussions in the seminar theatre. read more…
The Life of Trevor

Trevor Steele passed away in Paris on Dec 20, 2023 He was a beloved, influential, innovative pillar of the cinema industry. Trevor was the center of attention, an optical centering, the life of the party wherever he went. He could explain technical details, and almost anything else, with great clarity, charm and wit.
Andrew and Ben Steele sent a call out to friends and colleagues for WWW—When did you first meet Trevor, Why did you meet him, and What happened. The response was amazing, really a who’s who of the industry remembering a beloved colleague. read more…
Tags: EMIT, The Life of Trevor, Trevor Steele
DJI Ronin 4D Flex

DJI Senior Product Line Manager Paul Pan suggested trying the Ronin 4D Flex as one of the world’s smallest Full Frame 6K camera remote heads. And so Lucas, Prince of Darkness, rides again—so named for its 1992 vintage electrical system, “Darkness by Lucas,” (a gentleman does not go motoring about at night.) read more…
Tags: DJI Ronin 4D Flex
Preston All-Points Lens Mapping

Geographers and map-makers in the Dutch Golden Age worked at an intersection of art, science, commerce, engraving and publishing. They were in great demand.
These vintage maps, like vintage lenses today, required careful updates as new routes were discovered and new waypoints found.
Another industry flourished in the Netherlands of the 17th century— optics, grinding optical elements and manufacturing lenses.
Although vintage cine lenses are decidedly not four centuries old, the two disciplines of lenses and mapping converge today, as Howard Preston explains Preston Cinema Systems’ new All-Points Lens Mapping.
C. Kim Miles ASC CSC on THE BROTHERS SUN

Going into The Brothers Sun, you might have imagined the studio pitch that sold it: “Michelle Yeoh is the star—it’s Sons of Crouching Tiger meet Everything Everywhere and Crazy Rich Triads.” The opening sequence of this Netflix gangster series quickly dispels any preconceptions. But we’re here to discuss cinematography, not spoilers, with C. Kim Miles, ASC. read more…
Farewell Trevor Steele

Trevor Steele passed away in Paris on Dec 20, 2023 He was a beloved, influential, innovative pillar of the cinema industry. Trevor was the center of attention, an optical centering, the life of the party wherever he went. He could explain technical details, and almost anything else, with great clarity, charm and wit. Trevor will be missed by so many of us. read more…
Tags: EMIT, Trevor Steele
Daniel Band named President of Band Pro

This article about succession was initiated by Dominique Rouchon, Deputy Managing Director, Angénieux International Sales-Marketing & Communication. Passing the mic Amid the celebration, partying, demos and gathering at the annual Band Pro Open House 2023, there was an important announcement. Amnon Band took the stage and said, “I joined this industry in 1981. I opened Band Pro in 1984. Band Pro… read more…
Nobu Takahashi on Sony BURANO

Interview with Nobutatsu (Nobu) Takahashi, General Manager of Professional Imaging Technology Business Unit, Sony Corporation (Sony Cinema Line), about the new BURANO Camera. read more…
DJI Inspire 3

DJI Inspire 3 is like a hovercraft camera, a flying dolly, magic carpet, tripod in the sky. 8K Full Frame with a DJI 18mm prime. “Munn Point” on YouTube and Vimeo: read more…
Tags: DJI Inspire 3
Van Zuylen and Erkens buy Camalot

Camalot is a cine equipment rental company in Amsterdam. It was founded in 1997 by Philippe Vié and Bernd Lesscher. They had a habit of being the first in line to buy the latest new equipment. That legacy continues today. Since January 2023, Sebastiaan van Zuylen (above right) and Yke Erkens (above left) are the new Managing Directors and owners of Camalot, with Philippe and Bernd exiting the company. Camalot provides high-end cameras, lenses and accessories to the European market for feature films, streaming series, television dramas, commercials and documentaries. read more…
Tags: Camalot, Sebastiaan van Zuylen, Yke Erkens
Merten, Dooley & Smokler on ARRI CCM-1

Fred Merten, Sean Dooley and Greg Smokler discuss the ARRI CCM-1 (Camera Control Monitor). read more…
Guillaume Dubois: Angénieux EZ-3 68-250 Zoom

Guillaume Dubois is a Product Manager of Cine Lenses at Angénieux. He started at the company in 2009 and worked in the production line as a process engineer, working on big lenses like the Optimo 24- 290, Optimo 17-80 and Optimo Ultra 12x. He joined the design and industrialization team for the EZ-3. We discussed the latest EZ-3 68-250 mm Full Frame Zoom. read more…
Emmy to SmallHD for Monitors

Eight Emmys were awarded by the Television Academy on October 18 at their Saban Media Center in the LA NoHo Arts District “for engineering and technical achievements by an individual, company or organization that enhance the television storytelling process by their innovation or their improvement on existing methods.”
Jeffrey Gray, Russell Hocken, Barrett Phillips, Greg Smokler were honored with an Emmy for the SmallHD Monitor System. read more…
Teradek Bolt 6 approved for 6GHz in EU & UK

The EU and UK have officially approved the 6GHz frequency band to be used in Teradek’s Bolt 6 series of products. This means low-interference, zero-delay wireless on-set video for European productions. Existing Bolt 6 users can now update their systems with a free firmware upgrade. This enables immediate operation in the newly-approved 6GHz frequency band while preserving compatibility with Bolt 4K systems in 5GHz. read more…
L-Mount Alliance welcomes Blackmagic Design

Blackmagic Design has joined the L-Mount Alliance. It did not go unnoticed at yesterday’s launch that the new Full Frame L-Mount Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K has an L-Mount.
Andreas Kaufmann, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Leica Camera AG, said, “We’re welcoming our new member in the L-Mount Alliance—Blackmgic Design. With the L-Mount, first shown in the Leica T (Top 701) 2014, photographers and cinematographers have the most versatile choices in lenses ever! Welcome to the club, dear friends at Blackmagic!” read more…
Fujifilm GFX100 II Larger Format Camera

FDTimes September-October Issue 122-123 goes live at 10:15am EDT. Go to www.fdtimes.com for more information on the new Fujifilm GFX100 II and more.
Stockholm, Sweden. September 12, 2023. Fujifilm launches their newly designed 102 Megapixel GFX 1000II. It has enough new features to astonish even the most laconic attendees at the Fujikina launch in Sweden, land of Garbo, Bergman, Easyrig, Ljud & Bildmedia, Saab, Smörgåsbord, ABBA and, it does not go unnoticed, Hasselblad.
The new GFX 100II is not much larger than a Full Frame camera. Call it “Medium Format” and you might think its 8K, 4K, FHD multi-format 43.8 x 32.9mm sensor would be smaller than so-called “Large Format” 36 x 24mm Full Frame, once known as Leica Format.
I think we should call it “Larger Format,” as originally suggested off the record by a Fujifilm executive. read more…
Graham Cassely, Cooke Optical Designer on SP3

Graham Cassely is an optical designer at Cooke. He described the SP3 project, “When we started on the Panchro/i Classic project about 8 or more years ago, we did a lot of digging through lots of paperwork at Cooke to find the original Speed Panchro designs. We found the old prescriptions—the optical designs written down by hand. The SP3 series are essentially another variation of the Speed Panchro design. In terms of the look of the lens, we tried to keep it very similar to what a Speed Panchro or a Panchro/i Classic would look like. We’re using the same types of single layer coatings that they would have used back in the 50s or 60s… read more…
Bob Richardson, ASC on AIR

Bob Richardson, ASC seems to have a habit of being first to shoot with new prototype cameras. AIR was the first feature that I know of to use the ALEXA 35. Pre-production models, of course.
Bob explained, “When we heard about the ARRI ALEXA 35, I was instantly attracted to it. Not only was it receiving interesting reports from DITs I knew, but I was also doing research. I thought, ‘Okay, let’s go see this.’ Ben Affleck and I went to test it for AIR and we just said, ‘This is beautiful. Let’s try to get this camera.’ The added advantage of the ALEXA 35 camera was that it was Super35, not Large Format, so now it opened up a wide range of lensing.” read more…
Claudio Miranda, ASC on DJI Inspire 3

The new DJI Inspire 3 can work like a hovering dolly with repeatable waypoints and 1 cm accuracy.
That’s Claudio Miranda, ASC out of focus on the cover. He shot a 2 1/2 minute launch film for the new Inspire 3. It is a spirited sand-and-sandals epic chase through an ancient Roman marketplace.
EXT. Imperium Romanum Market – DAY.
Wide crane shot moves into CU of a pickpocket snatching the purse from a vintage vegetable vendor. Wait, wait—this cannot be a crane shot because the camera keeps moving along a narrow alleyway. Centurions pursue pickpocket, jumping over carts, skirting columns and obstacles, under beams, through a torch-lit interior, culminating in a fun anachronism of an ending as the camera soars from extremely close to very, very wide. read more…