Products
Sigma and the Last Samurai
Sigma lenses are manufactured in Aizu, Japan. Almost every component, from tiny screws to large diameter front elements are made in-house. 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. It looks like Sun Valley (3′ shorter) rising above jade-green rice… read more…
Tags: SIGMA, SIGMA Lenses
Panavision 8K Millenium DXL Camera
Thank you JetBlue for WiFi while flying from NY to LA today. The emails, news, specs and photos were flying in from Panavision during the trip. Introducing at Cine Gear Expo: the new Panavision 8K Millenium DXL Camera. The camera is a collaboration of Panavision, Light Iron (color science) and RED (8K sensor) — and the result is a Panavised (in the best sense… read more…
Vantage One 120mm T1 at Keslow
Keslow Camera has received the new 120mm Vantage One T1 spherical prime lens. So has Camtec. This is the ninth focal length in the Vantage One wide aperture set, available for rental. The Vantage One set now consists of: 17.5, 21, 25, 32, 40, 50, 65, 90 and 120 mm, all T1, and all close-focusing. read more…
Tags: Keslow Camera, Vantage One 120mm
Ronford-Baker at Cine Gear
Ronford-Baker will be exhibiting in their own booth (60C) this year at Cine Gear Expo. Among the products from this venerable British company will be: Atlas 7 Fluid Head, Atlas 40, Fluid Head, Modular Bazooka Base System, Slider and Motorized Slider. read more…
The Projectionists of Cannes
Films at the Cannes Film Festival are assured some of the projection in the world. You may not like the films, but you will love the way they are presented. Although one of the leading contenders for the Palme D’Or runs “a posterior-numbing two hours and 42 minutes,” (per a BBC review) at least you can be assured that the exhibition on the huge… read more…
Tags: Best Projectionist, Cannes 2016, CST
Metal Jacket and PL Mount for Leica SL
Dante Cecchin’s Lockcircle Company sits above the shores of Lake Como, steps from the world-famous Hotel Villa D’Este and 10 minutes via Riva Aquarama speedboat from George Clooney’s lakeside estate. Dante is a Director, Cinematographer, Photographer and Master Craftsman/Designer. When he sees the need for products that do not exist, he builds them–beautifully. His latest creation will premiere at Cine Gear in LA. It’s the Metal Jacket Cinematic Production Cage for Leica SL (Typ 601). read more…
Tags: Dante Cecchin, Leica SL, Lockcircle
Servicevision 0.81x Wide Angle Adapter
Want to go wider with your Leica Summilux-C, Summicron-C, or other 95mm front diameter wide prime lens? Servicevision, who also make Scorpiolens Anamorphics, introduced an 0.81x Wide Angle Adapter at NAB. With this adapter, a 16mm Summilux-C is approximately equivalent to a 12mm. read more…
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
Softpanels
Kevin Baxter and Ken Fisher are at it again. Kevin was CTO at Litepanels. Ken was President of Litepanels, and before that, founder of Fisher Light (huge, soft sources that were great for studio car lighting) and the the Fisher LED Ringlite (gorgeous Obie that encircled the lens). Now they are making SoftPanels LED Lights — innovative, large and soft lighting fixtures with a built-in color meter that matches this light to any other source–or all sources– on your set. Here’s a chance to get in on the ground floor via Kickstarter. read more…
Tags: Ken Fisher, Kevin Baxter, SoftPanels
Brilliant Bright Tangerine Filter Tray
How many times have you skinned your frozen fingers on wintry locations pulling up on filter trays with those dastardly abrasive knurled posts? Bright Tangerine showed a brilliantly better filter tray at NAB. Instead of pulling up on a post to release the filter, you gently squeeze two levers. Simple, clever, and why didn’t anyone think of this before Andy Subratie… read more…
Schaller, artemis and Trinity at ARRI
Artemis stabilizers, Trinity and Curt Schiller have all moved from Sachler – Vitec to ARRI. Trinity is a stabilizing rig combining Maxima gimbal and body stabilizer. Curt Schaller, BVK is a camera operator turned inventor who designed artemis and is head of the product line.
Tags: ARRI, artemis, curt schaller, trinity
HAWK V-Lite 1.3x Vintage ’74 Anamorphic
Fueling the fires of anamorphic and vintage looks, Vantage introduces their HAWK V-Lite 1.3x Vintage’74 Anamorphic lenses. read more…
Tags: Hawk anamorphic
Cooke 45-405 T4.5 Anamorphic/i Zoom
At a famous Cooke NAB Dinner in 2015, after swearing the entire conclave to secrecy, Les Zellan had a surprise. After giving details about the new 35-140 Anamorphic/i lens that would be the first of two zooms in the Cooke Front Anamorphic series, he said, “A second zoom—a long, front anamorphic—should be revealed in 2016.” True to form, exactly one year later,… read more…
Canon 18-80 T4.4 Zoom
Canon’s new Compact Servo 18-80mm T4.4 EF-mount zoom for Super 35 cine format may be the harbinger of a new family of cinema lenses: hybrid zooms whose heritage spans cine and still photography. EF mount. Optical image stabilization, something not often seen in cine lenses. Autofocus compatibility with the EOS C300 Mark II and EOS C100 Mark II cameras. The servo handgrip attaches with one screw. When removed, an electronic module containing the lens servo motors remains, along with its own redundant zoom rocker switch. Suggested price: $5,500. read more…
Tags: Canon, Compact Servo 18-80
Fujinon 20-120 T3.5 Cabrio XK Zoom
Fujinon will have a new S35 format zoom lens at NAB: the Cabrio XK6x20 20-120 mm T3.5 zoom. It’s positioned for a new market of performance and affordability. In other words, if you can give up 1 mm on the wide end and half a T-stop, have a slightly smaller image circle (16:9 instead of 4:3), but want but want to zoom in tighter, then here’s an alternative. This 5th member of the Cabrio line shares the same features as the rest of the family: detachable, auto-centering servo drive, flange focal distance adjustment, Macro, LDS and i/Technology compatible. read more…
Tags: 20-120 Cabrio XK Zoom, Fujifilm, Fujinon
Cooke 35-140 Anamorphic/i Zoom
The new Cooke 35-140 mm Anamorphic /i Zoom (2x squeeze) anamorphic will be unveiled at NAB 2016. It is a front anamorphic design, with familiar oval bokehs and familiar Cooke Look to match the rest of the Cooke Anamorphic/i family. Cooke Anamorphic /i 180 and 300 mm primes will also be shown at NAB 2016. read more…
Tags: Cooke, Cooke 35-140, Cooke Anamorphic /i
Angenieux 44-440 Anamorphic Zoom Update
At NAB 2016, Angénieux introduces their third anamorphic zoom lens, the Optimo 44-440 A2S long range anamorphic T4.5. Three years earlier, at NAB 2013, Angénieux unveiled their first anamorphic zoom: the Optimo 56-152 A2S T4. Their second anamorphic was announced at IBC 2014: the Optimo 30-72 A2S T4. The timing is auspicious. Almost half of all successful films released in the US last year were anamorphic. The Optimo 44-440 A2S zoom lens has a dedicated rear group with cylinders and spherical elements that provide a traditional 2x horizontal squeeze with superb optical performance, minimal distortion and negligible breathing. The aperture is T4.5 across the entire zoom range. It can be used wide open without concern about loss of quality. Close focus is 4’ 1” (1.24m), and it is relatively lightweight at 16.6 lb (7.55 kg).
Angenieux Anamorphic 44-440 T4.5 Zoom
Here’s a new lens: the Angénieux Optimo 44-440 A2S T4.5 long range anamorphic zoom, to be shown at NAB. This is the 3rd A2S anamorphic zoom from Angénieux. The other members of the family are the Optimo 56-152 A2S T4 and the Optimo 30-72 A2S T4. The Optimo 44-440 A2S zoom lens has a dedicated rear group with cylinders and spherical elements that provide a 2x horizontal squeeze with high optical performance, minimal distortion and negligible breathing. There’s almost no geometric distortion or chromatic aberration. The aperture is T4.5 across the entire zoom range. It can be used wide open without loss of quality. Close focus is 4’ 1” (1.24m), and it is 16.6 lb (7.55 kg). read more…
Tags: anamorphic zoom, Angénieux, Angenieux 44-440, FDTimes
Cooke Anamorphics with “Flair” at CamTec
CamTec is one of those rental houses with a love of tweaking and experimenting on cameras and lenses—like many of their DP customers with similar symptoms of Retrofit Syndrome. CamTec’s workshop benches, adjacent to their busy rental checkout area, are scattered with a vast array of lens elements, mechanical parts and test equipment. Jay and Kavon Elhami and their crew… read more…
Foolcontrol RED from Apple Watch
FOOLCONTROL inventor and DP Mikael Lubtchansky has come up with a way to control WiFi enabled RED cameras with an Apple Watch connected to iPhone or iPad. Foolcontrol iOS(downloadable from Apple Store) lets you record and play back. It also comes with an impressive set of camera controls, tools, looks, curves, slate info, metadata, lens and menu navigation. It also works as focus/iris control for lenses with internal servos (Canon EF). read more…
