Products
Panavision Primo 70
Panavision officially announced their long-awaited Primo 70 series lenses — for 35mm digital motion picture cameras. Presented in proof of concept Powerpoint in a SMPTE paper last year for a 70mm camera, these lenses are now offered for specially Panavised 35mm motion picture cameras with new Panavision 70 mount: ARRI Alexa, RED Dragon, Sony F55, Phantom 65. I have seen some of these lenses… read more…
Tags: Panavision
Sony F55 ENG & Doc Dock
Sony introduced a totally new F5/F55 shoulder dock. From the people who brought you many shoulder-resting ENG camcorders—this kit provides familiar camcorder functions to the F5/F55. Basically, it’s a base and rear that attaches to the bottom of the camera. It gets power and signals through the rear multi-pin connector where the AXS-R5 Recorder previously plugged in. The top… read more…
Tags: Doc Dock, ENG & Doc Dock, F55, Sony
Sony α7s 4K Camera
My favorite part of Sony’s annual NAB press conference is the new product unveiling. This year, it was Mr. Shigeki Ishizuka, Sony Deputy President of Imaging Products (he’s in charge of still and motion picture cameras) who announced the new Sony α7s camera. Saying that the two worlds of consumer and professional imaging are merging, he introduced this third member of… read more…
ARRI Ultra Wide Zoom 9.5-18 mm
More details on ARRI’s UWZ 9.5-18 mm T2.9 Ultra Wide Zoom. But first some thoughts on where it might be used, and on what kind of scenes: underwater, aerials, POVs from trains, planes, automobiles. The 8R is a wonderful lens, but sometimes we have the irresistible urge to zoom in slightly or change focal length during the shot–especially when the… read more…
Tags: ARRI, Wide Angle Zoom
Angénieux Style & Servos
Angénieux Style Zoom Lenses Angénieux introduces a new line of lenses and the Angénieux Servo Unit (ASU) at NAB. The new Optimo Style series will consist of 3 zooms: 2 handheld, 1 full size. The 16-40 and 30-76 are lightweight at 4.2 lb each and well-balanced for shoulder or handheld shooting. The 25-250 is an all-purpose, classic-range zoom for most… read more…
Canon 17-120 T2.9-3.9 w/ Servo Grip
This is Canon’s first 35mm zoom lens with servo handgrip for documentary, handheld or ENG. Canon’s 17-120 mm T2.9-3.9 zoom seems impossibly small for a lens that can deliver superb image quality with so much range. The servo focus/iris/zoom handgrip detaches with 3 screws. When re-installed, there’s no need for manual re-alignment. I tried out a prototype 17-120 at AbelCine… read more…
Tags: Canon, Canon 17-120 T2.9-3.9, Servo Handgrip
Fujinon Cabrio 25-300 T3.5
Lens announcements are heating up today. Fujinon announcement for NAB: a new 25-300 mm joins the growing Cabrio series PL zoom lens family. Its range extends beyond the familiar 10:1 ratio — offering a 12:1 zoom in a comfortable size and weight. It is intended to be used as an all-around zoom lens for exteriors, locations, action, aerials, sports, cars,… read more…
ARRI/ZEISS Master Anamorphics
The new ARRI/ZEISS Master Anamorphic 135 mm MA will be shown at NAB. The set made their debut at IBC Amsterdam in September 2012 with a 50 mm T1.9. The MA 35 mm T1.9 and 75 mm T1.9 were unveiled at NAB 2013, followed by the 100 mm T1.9 at IBC 2013, then the 40 mm T1.9 and 60 mm… read more…
Pegasus2 R4 Thunderbolt JBOD
Use the 4 drives from your old Mac Pro with your new Mac Pro in a new Thunderbolt enclosure from Promise. The Promise Pegasus2 R4 “Diskless” System lets us remove the 4 drives from an old Mac Pro tower and put them into the 4 drive trays of the Pegasus2 for Thunderbolt access on new Mac Pros and MacBook Pros…. read more…
Tags: JBOD, Pegasus, Pegasus2 R4 Thunderbolt, Promise
Codex Action Cam
FDTimes begins a few online teasers and excerpts from our upcoming 96-page NAB edition. Codex gets into the camera business. At NAB 2014, Codex Digital introduces Action CAM, a tiny camera with big potential. Why is this so interesting and how is it different from itty bitty cameras that have come before? Look at the picture above and see… read more…
Tags: Codex
Cooke Anamorphic Lens Designers
I visited Cooke Optics in Leicester, England the other day for a tour of the factory and to find out more about the Cooke Anamorphic lenses coming up at NAB. The result is an in-depth study in the April issue of FDTimes on how these anamorphic lenses are made — with a look at the teams who design, manufacture and… read more…
Tags: Cooke, Cooke Anamorphic Lenses
Lentequip USB Charger for iPhones
…And not just iPhones. How many times are we on set, desperately running low on power for iPhone, iPad, camera, GoPro, RED Remote—all those essential gadgets that charge with a USB cable? But we’re surrounded by camera batteries. If only we could plug into one of them. Lentequip’s iOS compatible USB charger connects to any 8-32 Volt DC power source… read more…
Tags: Lentequip, USB Charger
Aaton Cantar-X3
Aaton’s eagerly anticipated new Cantar-X3 audio recorder premiered in prototype at the AFC Micro Salon in Paris. This successor to the Cantar-X2 has a new GUI and display designed by Transvideo. It promises more inputs and tracks, has a water resistant and dust proof housing, and color-coded controls. Pre-orders begin after NAB2014 for delivery later this year. (Aaton is now Aaton… read more…
RED Dragons in Paris
RVZ Rentals in Paris had their new RED Carbon Fiber Dragons at the AFC Micro Salon the other day. One was dangling from a MoVi and fitted with Leica Summicron-C primes (they cover the >34mm 6K image circle). Back at the RVZ shop, Samuel Renollet showed the Dragon with Leica mount and his Leica Noctilux 50mm f/1.0 Still Camera… read more…
Panasonic 4K 35mm VariCam
Panasonic held a pre-NAB press conference today in New York. Although a nuts and bolts camera was not handed around, we were enticed with this image of a 35mm 4K VariCam that will be shown at NAB 2014. Steve Cooperman, Product Manager, outlined some of the main features: 35mm MOS sensor PL mount Dockable / detachable recorder can be tethered… read more…
Cooke Anamorphic Tests
At Micro Salon in Paris last week, Cooke Optics presented test films shot by John de Borman, BSC and Patrick Blossier, AFC. The Paris test is online on Vimeo. The framegrabs above show some differences between a Cooke 75 mm anamorphic at T2.8 and a Cooke S4/i 40 mm at a T2.0 – 2.8 split. The Cooke anamorphic has “classic” oval… read more…
Tags: Anamorphic, Cooke, TSF
Cooke Optics
Tour of Cooke Optics (Leicester, England) and a look at the team designing and building Cooke lenses and the new Cooke Anamorphic primes — coming in our NAB edition. read more…
ARRI Amira $39.9K
As expected, ARRI announced the price of Amira cameras today. The camera with viewfinder base price is $39,999.00. A large and varied list of accessories and options allow the camera to be customized. The Amira, in case anyone missed the demos at IBC and elsewhere, is a documentary-style, shoulder-resting, 35mm HD and 2K camera. The ergonomics are superb, remind me… read more…
French FDTimes Online
Just in time for the AFC annual Micro Salon in Paris, our 28-page FDTimes Special Edition in French is now online and free to download. 28 Pages, 5.5 MB. This and all French editions can be downloaded free: fdtimes.com/french
Cree LED Practicals
I was looking for good LED practicals shaped practically like regular lightbulbs. Something to replace the venerable 75 watt tungsten 211 bulb inside a paper Chinese lantern without the thrill of fire hazard or incineration. And to replace the tungsten and CFL bulbs in the office and at home. Jim Sanfilippo, President of NILA, makers of Zaila, Varsa, Boxer and… read more…
Tags: A-Type Bulbs, Cree, LED, Lighting
