Products
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…
Sony AXS-R7 RAW Recorder
Sony Headquarters, Shinagawa, Tokyo. Sony F5 and F55 get a new onboard RAW Recorder: AXS-R7. It attaches to the camera the same way as the previous model, AXS-R5, with an additional metal top plate to add stability. There are two slots on the camera left side for slim AXS memory cards. The new R7 recorder is slightly larger, and gives F5 and… read more…
Tags: Sony AXS-R7 RAW Recorder, Sony F5, Sony F55
Decoated NAC ZEISS Super Speeds
NAC Inc Rentals in Tokyo is busy removing the anti-reflection coatings of front and rear elements on some of their ZEISS Super Speed lenses. The result is a nice, less contrasty, flare-ier, flairy, look. Careful–without the coatings the elements scratch easily.
Tags: NAC, ZEISS Super Speed lenses
March of the Penguins — Part III — Costa Rica
The day after the ASC Awards, Steve Turner and I (photographed by Tobias Keuthen) made our way through Tapanti Rainforest, an hour away from Cartago, Costa Rica, and the high tech Vitec OConnor – Sachtler factory. When I heard Costa Rica, I thought eco-tourism, hiking, surfing, volcanos, rainforests and coffee. Little did I know that this country, which ranks 1st in the world for sustainable tourism, is also home to many high tech companies like Intel, HP, Glaxo, Baxter, and of course, Vitec. read more…
Tags: Costa Rica Factory, OConnor, OConnor 2575, Vitec
Panasonic VariCam LT
Panasonic launched the VariCam LT — LT as in Lite (Bud Lite, Arricam LT…) It’s a lighter, smaller, lower-priced version of the VariCam 35. Same 4K sensor, same dual native 800/5000 ISO, smaller body. It looks like Mr. Miyagi’s Panasonic team, with Taka Mitsui and Barry Russo and many others, came up with a very appealing camera. The Panasonic VariCam LT (official model number AU-V35LT1G) weighs about 6 lb. It will be at home on Steadicams, rigs, gimbals, drones, cranes, remote heads, handheld or shoulder-resting. It could be an indie A camera or big budget B camera. Actually, with cameras multiplying on big shows, I can imagine it being part of an arsenal of 10-20 cameras ready to roll. read more…
Tags: Panasonic, VariCam LT
VariCam LT LA Launch
Last night we joined hundreds of industry professionals at the Directors Guild of America LA building for a well-run presentation of the VariCam LT. After a nice sizzle reel of VariCam 35 projects and testimonials from filmmakers, Mr. Miyagi, Director of Panasonic’s Professional Video Business Unit, unveiled the new camera with unmistakable enthusiasm. read more…
Panasonic Yamagata Lens Factory Tour
Tendo City, Yamagata is a one-hour flight north from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. The mountainous area is known for its hot springs, ramen and soba noodles, and factories that make most of Japan’s Shogi (chess) sets. We are here to visit a different kind of factory: Panasonic’s Yamagata Lens Factory. A year earlier, Panasonic’s principal lens designer Mr. Kazutake Boku had suggested a visit to their optical factory. “It’s like nothing you’ve ever written about before,” he said. So here we are. read more…
Linus Sandgren, Re-Coated and Vintage Glass
LINUS SANDGREN: “For “Joy,” I worked with CamTec Motion Picture Camera Rentals. Kavon Elhami and the crew there have been experimenting with vintage lenses for a long time. In our current digital era, we cinematographers need to find ways to make the image interesting. The trend to use vintage lenses has been booming…” read more…
Heated Gear
If your teeth start chattering while watching “The Hateful 8” and “The Revenant,” or the thought of frigid locations this winter make your blood run cold, now you’ll be able to stay warmer with cordless heated jackets: Milwaukee M12 Heated Gear. Probably the most versatile jacket for a camera operator sitting on a freezing crane all day is the Heated 3-in-1 Ripstop Jacket & Heated Ripstop Vest. read more…
AJA Ki Pro ULTRA
It was like science class at InterBEE — where AJA introduced their new Ki Pro Ultra. AJA’s Andy Bellamy starred as your favorite physics teacher (with Eric Hamilton simultaneously translating to Japanese). The Ki Pro Ultra is the latest member of the family. It’s a 4K Recorder/Player with 4.8″ HD Monitor and two AJA Pak Media SSD slots. read more…
Tags: AJA, AJA Ki Pro Ultra
IB/E Optics Macro Full Frame – Updated
The Full Frame (24×36) Cine format race is heating up and focusing closer. A new line of FF Macro Cine Lenses were introduced at the Band Pro Open House on December 10 in Burbank by IB/E President Klaus Eckerl and Band Pro President Amnon Band. The first focal lengths in the new IB/E Macro FF lens family are 100mm T2.9, 150mm T2.9, and 180mm T2.9. They all cover Full Frame (24×36 mm / 44 mm diagonal). Close focus is 1:1 magnification.
Sumo Tenba Cooper Messenger Bags
Sumo wrestling in Japan began as a Shinto ritual and became a sport in the Edo period (1603 – 1868). The original wrestlers may have been samurai or rōnin (freelance samurai). Somewhat like ronin cinematographers or ronin camera assistants who supplement their incomes by designing things. Cooper bags from Tenba were designed as luxury camera bags that can withstand the rigors of abuse on location as… read more…
gold cmotion hand unit auction
Better than the famous Golden Snitch in Harry Potter, here’s a chance to get a custom cmotion golden cvolution hand unit and lens control system. It’s being auctioned by cmotion for a very worthy cause–100% of proceeds go to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). read more…
