FDTimes January 2023 Issue Updated

There’s a new page 33. Dan Sasaki, Senior Vice President of Optical Engineering and Lens Strategy at Panavision goes into detail about lenses used by Autumn Durald Arkapaw, ASC on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Typos and errors were corrected, with thanks to readers and reps. And yes, the sun is 93 million miles away, not 239 thousand. read more…
Angenieux Special Report 2022

This 24-page Special Edition is a retrospective of FDTimes articles from previous editions about Angénieux Full Frame lenses: Type EZ zooms, Optimo Ultra 12x, Optimo Primes and Optimo Ultra Compact Zooms. read more…
ZEISS Cine Service Center in Korea

If you have been binging on beautifully photographed Korean movies and series lately, you may have been guessing which lenses were at work. To support one of the most vibrant film industries in the world, ZEISS and Saeki P&C announced the opening of a new ZEISS Authorized Cine Service Center in Seoul, Korea.
This is the fourth facility in the world equipped with genuine ZEISS measurement instruments and test equipment. Lenses brought to the Service Center will undergo the same level of care as if they were at the ZEISS Headquarters’ service department.
FUJINON 25-1000 F2.8 Zoom

New York. Dec 14. At an open house today, FUJINON showed the first working HZK25-1000mm F2.8- F5.0 PL Mount Box Lens on a Sony VENICE 2. Although officially called a “box lens,” you’ll find it on major motion picture sets in addition to its original intent as a 40x fast zoom for multi-camera concerts, events, broadcast and sports.
The thing that got my attention the most was its automatic breathing compensation. The 25-1000 can correct for breathing by compensating its focal length (zoom) in sync with focusing. read more…
Band Pro Open House 2022

Thursday December 8, 2022. On a crisp afternoon and evening in Burbank, more than 500 industry colleagues gathered inside a large tent for the annual Band Pro Expo and Open House. Amnon Band honored Otto Nemenz for his years of friendship and service to the industry. There was an A to Z list of exhibitors. The band played Stevie Nicks… read more…
Tags: Band Pro Open House 2022
AbelCine Sony x Vogue World
Tuesday, December 6 AbelCine is presenting a free evening event in partnership with Sony highlighting innovative use of Sony cameras on Vogue World, the fashion show and street fair that premiered during NY Fashion Week. This event will have two main components: A creative panel with some of the key members of the Vogue World production team in the theater… read more…
Band Pro One World Open House 2022

Band Pro’s Burbank Headquarters One World Open House. Thursday, December 8, 2022 from 1 to 8 pm. Admission is free with RSVP. >>Click Here to RSVP<< Band Pro’s Open House has technology, fine food and drinks. Attendees and exhibitors come from around the world. Band Pro’s exhibit space is rain and weather proof. (Hopefully the weather will be great.) There is… read more…
FDTimes 117 November 2022 Latest Edition

Late, Later, Latest Edition. Here is the proofed, debugged, no-longer beta release of Film and Digital Times November 2022 Issue 117.
Angénieux Optimo Ultra Compact FF & U35

Angénieux announces a “Full Pack” version of their Optimo Ultra Compact 37-102 and 21-56 Full Frame zoom lenses. The Full Pack includes each lens with both a Full Frame and an Ultra35 (U35) rear that can be changed easily to cover the entire sensor area of Full Frame cameras or the U35 (Open Gate) area of the ARRI ALEXA 35.
When equipped with the new IRO group, these lenses cover U35 (a.k.a. Ultra35 or Open Gate) with an image diagonal of 34.6 mm Ø and a gain in maximum aperture to T2.2. And so, Ultra Compacts with the U35 back become, respectively, a 28-76 T 2.2 and a 16-42 T 2.2. read more…
SLATE from Tribe7

Clapperboards haven’t changed much since Psycho.
Leave it to the team at Tribe7, innovators of Blackwing7 lenses, to come up with a new, exciting and innovative SLATE. It has familiar sticks that clap (heads or tails) and a board to mark with Dry Erase pens. But this is no ordinary writing surface.
SLATE has an e-paper display similar to a Kindle. Instead of a board with pre-engraved lettering or custom graphics that have to be ordered in advance, graphics and template text on SLATE can be changed immediately. read more…
Tags: BLACKWING7, Clapperboard, SLATE from Tribe7
Cooke Varotal/i FF 19-40, 30-95, 80-215 Details

Cooke is back with more zoom lenses.
Two new Cooke Varotal/i FF Full Frame zoom lenses were introduced in November 2021 and released earlier this year: 30-95 mm T2.9 and 85-215 mm T2.9. And now, the duo becomes a trio. Please welcome the Cooke Varotal/i FF 19-40 mm T2.9. read more…
Cooke Varotal/i FF in Industry City Video

Took a Look at Cooke Varotal/i FF Zooms
FDTimes looked at Cooke Varotal/i FF Zooms on VENICE 2 at Industry City, in Brooklyn, NY. You can see the 4K video on YouTube at: youtu.be/zF-5mThr0j0
and on Vimeo: vimeo.com/766754992 read more…
NAB Show New York 2022

Education: October 17-20, 2022
Exhibits: October 19-20, 2022
Javits Center in New York City
200+ Exhibitors
Show Floor Hours:
- Wednesday, October 19 | 10 m. – 6 p.m.
- Thursday, October 20 | 10 m. – 5 p.m.
“Top Gun: Maverick,” Miranda, Lenses, Cameras

The camera and lens list on TOP GUN: MAVERICK is long. As Admiral Cain, played by Ed Harris, asked, “Why is that?”
Claudio Miranda, ASC replied, “It’s one of life’s mysteries.” Seriously, Joe Kosinski, our Director, wanted to shoot Full Frame. SIGMA covered the wide end, and the Master Primes covered the long end. We were using the SIGMAs from 14mm to 50mm. The Master Primes in those focal lengths don’t cover Full Frame. But the 50, 75, 100 and 150mm Master Primes do cover Full Frame. In terms of sharpness and resolution, they’re pretty close. In grading, even if things are just a little bit off, you can kind of blend them all in.
September FDTimes Supply Chain

I thought supply chain delays involved semiconductors and electronics. Who expected paper to also be in short supply. So, the latest September edition of FDTimes hopefully ships next week. If you were at IBC, you may have picked up a copy of the EU edition printed in Amsterdam.
Please download the online PDF edition while waiting for printed copies. Sorry for the delay. read more…
How Hugo Looks – Wide Open, No Excuses

Sept 5 – 8, 2022. The nice folks at Leitz invited a coterie of cinematographers and camera assistants to visit Wetzlar for eyes-on time with Hugo, Elsie and Henri, along with factory tours, fine food and flowing refreshments.
Hugo is the new Leitz series of Leica Format (Full Frame) cine prime lenses: 21, 24, 28, 35, 50, 75, 90 mm — all T1.5. There is an additional 50mm T1.0 lens and an 18mm and 135 are in the works.
Leica optical designer Peter Karbe was there. “Shoot wide open, no excuses,” he said. And so I did, all wide open “with a wrench” at T1.5. To see how Hugo looks, here are some ungraded 4K portraits taken with the 90mm and 75mm Hugo primes. read more…
Leitz LPL Mount for VENICE

What is a DP or Rental House to do? You have a new set of Leitz Hugos or Elsies or other LPL mount lenses and want to use them on a Sony VENICE or VENICE 2. But VENICE cameras only come with a native E-mount and a PL mount that screws in front. (Recent ARRI ALEXA Cameras have LPL mounts.) Now, Leitz has designed and built an LPL mount for Sony VENICE and VENICE 2. It fits in place of Sony’s original PL mount and attaches with 6 screws. Lens metadata is fully functional; /i data is recorded directly by VENICE. read more…
Leitz Hugo Leica Format Cine Lenses

Hugo joins Leitz Primes, Elsie and Henri in the eponymous family of cine lenses and finders at Ernst Leitz Wetzlar.
Hugo Wehrenfennig, a talented mechanical engineer, helped design many early M Mount lenses and created the original Leica M Mount. Its four-pronged bayonet assembly was essential to Leica’s new M3 camera, introduced at Photokina in 1954. The M mount has connected Leica M cameras and M lenses to this day.
September 6, 2022. Ernst Leitz Wetzlar introduces the Leitz Hugo series of cine prime lenses. The initial set of 7 consists of 21, 24, 28, 35, 50, 75, 90 mm — all T1.5. There is an additional 50mm T1.0 lens in the series. They are expected in Q1 2023. read more…
ALEXA 35 Software Update 1.0.3 Revision 4

August 11, 2022. ARRI posted a new maintenance update for ALEXA 35 cameras today: ALEXA 35 SUP 1.0.3 Revision 4.
(Go to arri.com and navigate to Service >Firmware > Software and Firmware Updates for Cameras > ALEXA 35 SUP 1.0.3)
As stated in the notes: “ALEXA 35 SUP 1.0.3 Revision 4 is a maintenance release and contains important bugfixes and improvements to system stability (and is more recent than) ALEXA 35 SUP 1.0.3 Revision 3, which was installed on the first cameras that were shipped. There are no new features. We recommend updating for all customers.” read more…
Cine Fest West. Postponed

The folks who organize BSC Expo are heading to Santa Monica. Cine Fest West is planned for September 16-17 at the event space of Santa Monica Airport. Presumably it will be outdoors, in tents and under Easy-Ups. Claire and Rob Saunders said, “The festival will offer an exciting mix of festival, learning opportunities, networking, roundtable sessions, and product demos, all in one unique event, read more…
Tags: Cine Fest West