Products
Denz Monitor/Finder Bracket
Two “D’s” — Denz and Deity. Here’s a very good Denz bracket to mount the superb Deity Mira eyepiece on a Canon C300/500 onboard monitor. The Denz handle replaces the Canon attaches to the top hotshoe of the C300/500 and replaces the original one from Canon. The other end of the Denz bracket has a female cold shot that holds the Canon audio/control… read more…
K-Tek ProShot
Tino Liberatore and Brenda Klemme Parker were carrying this intriguingly versatile ProShot rig around Cinec the other day. It’s a cool combination of monopod, baby legs, stabilizer, and shoulder rig–all in one and easily configurable without tools. A “secret” to its success is the special patent-pending 3.8 pound Hexweight at the bottom, which acts as a counterweight to stabilize cameras up to 20 pounds… read more…
Tags: K-Tek, Monopod, Stabilizer, Tripod
Denz BP12 Adapter for Alexa
Seen at Cinec, the latest Denz BP12 adapter attaches to the base of ARRI Alexas. The baseplate slides onto industry-standard bridgeplates. Denz bridgeplates come in lengths of 600, 440, 325 and 200 mm and have almost indestructible, Teflon-impregnated hard-coat which provides a smooth surface. www.denz-deniz.com
Sony 28-135 Zoom
At Photokina, Sony’s new 28-135 mm f/4 E-mount zoom is another hint of where I think things are heading for motion picture cameras and lenses. It’s a full-frame still format (24x36mm) zoom. And it has optical image stabilization. I had not realized that it was full-frame when I was at IBC. And I’m not yet sure if the price is a misprint…. read more…
Denz 90° Camera Bracket
Denz Digital Camera Bracket 90° (DCB 90) Portrait mode framing is increasingly popular. (Yes, it’s easier to hold the iPhone vertically to take pictures.) This will surely affect how we view and compose not only stills, but also video. To avoid cropping or pillaring the sensor area when rotating the aspect ratio vertically, Munich-based manufacturer DENZ, in cooperation with PhotoCineRent in Paris, developed a… read more…
Tags: Denz, PhotoCineRent
Canon C500 & C300 Updates
As Canon celebrates its 80th anniversary and delivery of 100 Million EF lenses, free firmware upgrades were announced for the Cinema EOS C500 4K and C300 cameras, to be released in November. Canon’s 30-inch Canon DP-V3010 4K display gets a new firmware upgrade: support for ITU-R BT.2020 color gamut (Rec. 2020) and ACES (Academy Color Encoding System) color management standard. read more…
Tags: Canon
ARRI Alexa 3.2K ProRes for UHD
ARRI will offer no codec before its time. That time is when the image and color scientists on Tuerkenstrasse declare picture perfection. In an upgrade announcement reminiscent of the famous Orson Welles line (“we will serve no wine before its time”), ARRI Alexa cameras will soon be able to record 3.2K ProRes for seamless up-rez to UHD/4K in post. FDTimes readers recently sent a salvo… read more…
Tags: Alexa, ARRI, ProRes 3.2K, UHD
ProRes UHD for AMIRA
A new software upgrade for ARRI’s documentary-style AMIRA camera will allow it to record ProRes UHD files offering future-proof headache relief. Producers, studios and companies considering the longevity of their programs wanted assurance that they would be suitable for UHD transmission, viewing, streaming or downloading. The old mantra of “we’ll just do the re-make when the next standard rears its head” is no longer credible. (Remember how long it took stations and studios to move from standard 16mm to Super 16mm, long after every new camera in the world was already fitted with a S16 gate?)
Denz Anamorphic Viewfinder
Here’s an anamorphic update on the venerable DENZ optical viewfinder. The OIC 35-A from Munich-based Denz is can switch back and forth between spherical and anamorphic viewing. The ground glass holder has been adapted from the OIC 35 and allows use of all previous Arriflex 435 ground glasses. The new OIC 35-A Anamorphic/Spherical Viewfinder has an adjustable eye-piece (+/-3 diopter), removable eyecup, and comes… read more…
Tags: Anamorphic, Denz
Blackmagic Camera Updates
Blackmagic Design announced a discount for their Pocket Cinema Camera, previously US $995, now $495. Limited time: sale ends August 31, 2014, subject to limited availability. Price reverts back to original rate, or (pure speculation–is a new model coming for IBC?) read more…
Tags: Blackmagic
Adam Wilt’s Cine Meter II
Adam Wilt has done it again. His new Cine Meter II is an essential app for every cinematographer. I just downloaded it from the Apple App Store. Adam’s original Cine Meter app for iPhone and iOS was brilliant. This one is even better. The new Cine Meter II app turns your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad into a shutter-priority reflected light meter, an RGB waveform monitor, and a false-color… read more…
Tags: Adam Wilt, Cine Meter II
Nikon D810
Nikon revealed the new D810 full-frame (FX) DSLR camera today. It has an OLPF-less 36.3-megapixel (7360 x 4912) CMOS sensor. As photosite count increases, dreaded moiré decreases, and there’s less need for an optical low-pass filter to “smudge” the image. Sensor Size: 35.9 mm x 24 mm ISO: 64 -12,800 (Lo to 32, Hi to 51,200) Approx. Weight: 31.1 oz. (880 g) camera body only Video: Full HD 1920 x… read more…
Tags: Nikon
Fauer Face-Friendly 4K Filter Factory
The idea arrived with the first bottle of Kanzler 2011 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir and Ahi tuna tempura sashimi at Chinois on Main yesterday. By the time the Shanghai Lobster with curry sauce came with a second bottle of Pinot, Howard Preston had the name: “Fauer Face-Friendly 4K Filter Factory.” The company was born. Venture capitalists were salivating and circling. Dr. Hubert Nasse, Senior Scientist of… read more…
Camtec Lens Tests
Here’s an interesting test from Camtec with some of their popular modern and vintage spherical lenses. The tests were shot with an ARRI Alexa XT Plus in ProRes 4444 Log-C. Framegrabs were exported from FCP 7 as high-rez .PNG files. Note this is a test mostly of flare, contrast and hightlights—not a test of skin tones or how portraits are handled…. read more…
Tags: Camtec
Preston Light Ranger 2
Light Ranger 2 from Preston Cinema Systems — premiering at Cine Gear–could be the most important invention of the year for motion picture production. It is an innovative tool that graphically divides a monitor into zones and intuitively guides your focus pulling in the correct direction. The system consists of two units. The sensor unit sits atop the camera, preferably above the lens. Using parallax correction found in the on-screen menu, it can be placed anywhere that’s convenient. A quick setting calibrates the offset.The Video Interface box attaches easily to the back of almost any monitor. It receives focus information from both the Light Ranger 2 and the Preston FIZ HU3 Hand Unit. read more…
Denz Denzhead Dutch Head
Here’s an updated and improved Dutch Head from Denz. The new Denzhead “dutches” your camera by pitching it 180° around the optical axis. That’s 90° off horizontal in either direction. The Denzhead normally would be attached on top of your regular fluid or geared head—but it can also be fastened to car mounted, remote heads and rigs. You can quickly… read more…
Tags: Denz, Denzhead, Dutch Head
NAB 2014 Camera Reports
Here is a whirlwind review of NAB 2014 cameras in pictures and brief text. Click on an individual thumbnail to enlarge and navigate as a slideshow. Sony’s annual press conference on the Sunday before opening day was all about 4K, and not just in the usual places. A new Sony α7s camera was unveiled: with a 24×36 mm full frame sensor, E-mount and… read more…
Leica-T Camera
One hundred years after the introduction of the Ur-Leica, Leica Camera launches their new Leica T-System today. Designed in collaboration with Audi Design, the Leica T-System is an APS-C format mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses. I was fortunate to try it briefly at NAB. It was almost as if the spirit of Oskar Barnack was smiling down on this latest, essentially elegant Leica camera, with intuitive… read more…
Tags: Leica, Leica T camera
Toshiba 4K laptop
Toshiba’s new 3840 x 2160 UHD SatelliteP55t goes on sale next week in the US. 15.6-inch diagonal Ultra HD touchscreen display native 3840 x 2160 resolution — 282 PPI (pixels per inch) display. (In comparison, my MacBook Pro 15″ Retina display is 288 x 1800 resolution at 220 ppi.) Color management is licensed by Technicolor Iincludes a full version of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5 …. read more…
Tags: Toshiba 4K laptop
Best Unexpected Product of NAB
Sometimes the most unexpected thing pops up at NAB, and success surprises even its own manufacturer. True Lens Services rolled out a newly re-housed Cooke Series 1 to go with their updated cam-focus PL mount rehoused Panchro series 2 and 3 lenses. But the buzz was also all about their new PL rear lens caps in clear polycarbonate and an… read more…
