News
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.
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…
“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…
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
Jean-Marie Lavalou: March 9, 1946 – July 15, 2022
Jean-Marie Lavalou passed away on July 15 at the age of 76. Jean-Marie Lavalou was the co-creator of the first remote control camera system for the motion picture industry, the LOUMA.
Jean-Marie was born into the family of La Fromagerie Lavalou in Le Bourg-Saint-Léonard, Normandy, France. With a passion for film from an early age, he went to Paris to attend the prestigious film school École nationale supérieure Louis-Lumière (ENS Louis-Lumière), graduating in 1968. During his national service in the French navy film department, Jean-Marie met Alain Masseron. Together, they created previously unseen camera movements while making a film inside a submarine by attaching the camera to the end of a wooden pole and tracking through the narrow vessel. Jean-Marie received the Sci-Tech Academy Award of Merit in 2005 with his co-inventors. read more…
Webb Space Telescope’s first full-color images
James Webb Space Telescope’s first full-color images. Streaming July 12:
Four SmallHD Monitors for Focus Pullers
As focus gets more critical, you may want more pixels or a larger screen. Here’s a rundown of 4 SmallHD Monitors for Focus Pullers and other people: Cine 7, Cine 13, Cine 18, Cine 24. Cine 7 is a high-bright HD touchscreen monitor. The 13, 18 and 24 are high-bright 4K monitors. And with PageOS 5 software, they get the EL Zone exposure tool by Ed Lachman, ASC.
ECU, 4K, Full Frame, 135mm prime wide open at T1.4. Your 7-inch monitor is great, but you may want a larger 4K monitor of size and resolution to guide you in the realm of eyelash-thin, millimeter depth of focus. As depth gets smaller, focus-pullers get larger monitors.
These monitors are not just for Focus Pullers, of course — DPs, Camera Operators, Directors, DITs, Producers and Clients love them as well. read more…
Darius Khondji, ASC, AFC receives Angénieux Cinematography Tribute at Cannes
Angénieux hosts the “Pierre Angénieux Tribute” every year at the Cannes Film Festival to celebrate an exceptional cinematographer’s career. Darius Khondji ASC, AFC receives the ninth Pierre Angénieux Cinematography Tribute this year at Cannes on May 27, 2022.
Previously, Darius appeared on the cover of the February 2012 edition and in an interview about Midnight in Paris; in a February 2013 article about Philippe Parreno’s Marilyn; an ALEXA 65 article in June 2017; and an article by Chris Silano and Olga Abramson about focusing for Darius on Uncut Gems in July 2020.
We spoke a few weeks ago. read more…
FDTimes June Issue #115 Goes Online May 31 @ 12:05pm EDT; 9:05 am PDT; 6:05 pm CET
You may ask, why was FDTimes serially missing from BSC Expo and AFC Micro Salon and NAB? Some of you mischievously bestowed virtual awards for the most minimalistic, unoccupied booth at NAB. A new ARRI camera is the reason why.
The 96-page camera report goes online here, top left of the home page on Tuesday, May 31, at 12:05 pm EDT; 9:05 am PDT; 6:05 pm CET. read more…
ZEISS SP15: Rectilinear in Grand Central Terminal
The new ZEISS Supreme Prime 15mm T1.8 is faster, lighter, narrower and shorter than many wide lenses. And so, what better place to try it than the 35,000-square-foot Main Concourse of Grand Central? The SP 15 is rectilinear, meaning that straight lines stay straight, not curvilinear. Walls, buildings and architectural details do not curve inward. Geometric, barrel or pincushion distortion is minimized. April 5, 2022. ZEISS adds a 15 mm T1.8 lens their series of Full Frame ZEISS Supreme Prime lenses. ZEISS Supreme Primes were introduced in June 2018. In the beginning there were 5 focal lengths and the initial roadmap showed 13. New focal lengths were added like clockwork. Now the set consist of 14 ZEISS Supreme Primes. read more…
Designing Angénieux Optimo Ultra Compacts
Clément Mondésert is the Project Manager for Angénieux Optimo Ultra Compact Zooms. He started at Thales LAS France in Saint-Héand three years ago, first as project manager for head-up displays and small zooms for helicopters and drones. Clément joined the glamour and excitement of the cine team about a year ago. We discussed the new Angénieux Optimo Ultra Compact 37-102 Full Frame Zoom. read more…
John Brawley, ACS, URSA 12K, “Desperate Hour”
“The Desperate Hour” is one of the first features where a Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K was the “A” camera. Actually, there were four URSA 12K cameras on the film. Cinematographer John Brawley, ACS discusses cameras, Supreme Prime and Angénieux lenses, lighting, equipment and more. “The Desperate Hour” was directed by Phillip Noyce and stars Naomi Watts. read more…
Si Bell on “A Very British Scandal”
Happy Boxing Day, Sunday Dec 26, 2021. “A Very British Scandal” premieres today on BBC One in the UK.
Si Bell’s previous appearance in FDTimes was February 2020 in which he talked about his work on Peaky Blinders.
Si Bell discusses the film: “A Very British Scandal stars Claire Foy and Paul Bettany. It’s about the Duchess and Duke of Argyll in the 1960s. Quite dramatic, it was about their very messy divorce and it was one of the first times a woman was really shamed by the mass media because she was a celebrity…” read more…
Estelle McGechie, ATOMOS CEO
A Business of the Business conversation with Estelle McGechie, Chief Executive Officer of ATOMOS. Among many topics, Estelle talked about democratization: “ATOMOS makes high quality, professional, cost-effective products to democratize filmmaking, game streaming, and all other forms of content creation. ATOMOS has evolved the core product line to develop next-generation, adaptable, multi-function devices. Our products help our creative customers access the same high-quality options that are required by Hollywood blockbuster productions. That we can make that technology affordable and put it in the hands of every filmmaker is very important to our vision of democratization.” read more…
Angenieux Ultra Compact Zoom Ships
This contradicts FDTimes’ axiom of 9 months from first product sighting to first delivery. Announced at Cannes in July, presented in New York by Band Pro in September, Angénieux begins shipping the first 37-102 Full Frame Optimo Ultra Compact Zoom lenses from their factory in Saint-Héand. The 37-102 will be followed by a 21-56 mm Ultra Compact Zoom. So, the… read more…
