Jon Fauer, ASC - Imago

Jon Fauer, ASC April-July 2009 Issue 22-24
3D Cinematography
George Eastman House
New PL Mount Lenses
New Cameras
Accessories
Support
Sci-Tech Awards
Lighting and More

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The 2009 Sci-Tech Awards, l to r: Howard Preston, Jacques Delacoux, Jon Fauer
Life on location can be harder than quaffing champagne at the
Academy’s Sci-Tech Awards, but the stories are better.
We were filming in a rough western town. It was 110 degrees
in the shade, shelter being a figure of speech. There were five
saloons on Main Street. When it was finally a wrap, we headed
for the nearest one. The trick was to look like you’d done this
before, or had studied the way it was done in the movies, as you
entered through the swinging front doors. The saloon was so
tough, the stools were bolted to the floor. No breakable objects
were within reach, except the long necked bottles of beer in the
hands of most patrons. In fact, the usual display of spirits was
conspicuously absent. Sidling up to the stained and splintered
wooden bar, we tried to be cool as every head turned to judge
the newly arrived city folk.
“Grey Goose on the rocks, please” said the director.
“Bottle, can or draft,” the grizzled bartender growled.
“Ah, well then, I’ll have a Heineken.”
“Bud. Bottle, can or draft.”
An ancient cowboy was perched on a stool next to us. He kept
repeating, “Change the mag. Change the mag.” I asked if he had
been a camera assistant. We never found out, but I think he was.
“Eleven minutes to reload,” he said. “Change the mag.”
Change the mag. This issue of Film and Digital Times appears to
be a different kind of magazine, a paper one, with a longer load
than the sixteen page Newsletter it set out to be. When we began
this journey to journal, our greatest fear was the blank page, the
dreaded cursor on a screen of white. Like the writer’s blocked
director Guido Anselmi, played by Marcello Mastroianni in
Fellini’s autobiographical 8½, that fear might have been just the
thing to keep these pages filled. And fill they have.
There doesn’t seem to be an end in sight for new material, ideas,
equipment, techniques and innovation. We planned this issue to
be sixteen pages; we wound up with ninety-six. Rest assured, we
will steadfastly remain a Sporadical, flexible in timing and size
Apr-Jul 2009
www.fdtimes.com
to accommodate news, new tools and new techniques as they
evolve.
With the NAB deadline looming, companies raced to get their
products ready both for NAB and these pages. It reminded me
of our end of term day at Dartmouth as film students, feverishly
editing our final cuts on a Steenbeck while the screening room
projector was already relentlessly taking up the slack. It’s similar
to the Slumdog Millionaire story contributed by Stefan Ciupek,
where the camera was still being built a day and a half before
principal photography.
The big thing is lenses. Early warnings of new PL mounted
lenses from Zeiss, Cooke and Fujinon contributed to a stack of
Non Disclosure Agreements and Embargoes so thick that we
considered delivering this issue to NAB in an armored truck.
The only logic to the order in which the articles are presented is
when the information became available.
Stereoscopic 3D is another big story, and we have articles
from Rob Hummel, Alain Derobe, Florian Maier and Michael
Phillips. Rob Hummel has a gift for explaining complicated
concepts, and an animator would fill cartoon bubbles over
each member of the audience with lightbulbs and the word
“aha.” Alain’s “Impertinent Education” reads like a nouvelle
vague screenplay. Florian tells us why 3D is here to stay, and
how to ensure its continued success. Reading anything Michael
writes confirms why he’s a principal product designer at Avid.
Dickson Sorensen’s essay about lenses on a nature show makes
me think that all long lenses should include image stabilization.
Single Sensor success is demonstrated not only by the quantity
of new PL mounted lenses, but also by the number of new single
chip digital cameras. As with many revolutions, the impetus
comes from unanticipated fronts and is, as history repeats,
an economic one. The SAG slowdown, by now almost as long
and ill-considered as the hundred years war, has driven many
producers to hire AFTRA talent, under electronic, not film,
jurisdiction, despite the fact that most electronic cameras are
arguably not cheaper to rent.
Film is strong, despite talent-driven economics and innovative
digital cameras from companies whose names have four and
three letter words. I think the 4 perf film format might fade, with
3 perf production increasing. Both Aaton and Fujinon agree:
Aaton has introduced Penelope, who doesn’t even do 4 Perf;
she does 3 or 2. The new Fujinon PL lenses cover 16:9, not 4:3,
making them lighter and smaller than full-frame counterparts.
Why some things are given more coverage than others is pretty
much random and the result of good pictures, an interesting
idea or instructive, and not self-promotional, story. We strive to
provide considered and vetted advice. As product cycles shrink,
two things are certain. Eighteen months from now, much of
what we see today will be obsolete. This will provide no shortage
of stories, hopefully protecting me from the fate of Fellini’s
Guido Anselmi, when he dives for cover under the table to
escape the press conference panic, and a reporter proclaims, in
extreme close-up, “He has nothing to say.”

In this Issue
George Eastman House ................................................................ 4-6
Universal Standard Sensors ..............................................................7
Lenses
Photos by Dr. Winfried Scherle...................................................... 8-9
Carl Zeiss Compact Primes ....................................................... 10-12
Master Primes and Ultra Primes ......................................................13
DigiPrimes and DigiZooms ..............................................................14
Fujinon PL Mount Zooms .......................................................... 15-17
Fujinon 2/3" C and E Series ............................................................18
Cooke Panchros ....................................................................... 19-20
Cooke S4/i ....................................................................................21
Clairmont Camera Pure Reach Periscope.........................................22
Cameras
Aaton Penelope ....................................................................... 23-25
SONY F35 ............................................................................... 26-27
Arriflex D-21 ............................................................................ 28-29
JVC GY-HM700 ....................................................................... 30-31
JVC GY-HM100 ....................................................................... 32-33
SONY PMW-EX3 ...................................................................... 34-35
New from SONY: Viewfinder, POV Camera .......................................36
Chrosziel Accessories for Canon 5D Mk II ........................................37
Phantom 10 GigE CineStation .........................................................38
Abel’s Phantom Handheld Rig & Breakout Box .................................39
18 Cameras, No Waiting, the world’s largest test at the BSC ............40
The Curious Case of Slumdog Millionaire ................................... 41-43
Camelot Broadcast Services: Rental House Close-Up .......................44
Accessories and Support
Lentequip Breakout Box for RED .....................................................45
Element Technica Mantis Handheld Kit ............................................45
Bogen Imaging Stands and Tripod from Manfrotto ............................46
Bogen Imaging Litepanels Micro .....................................................46
Formatt Filters WOW, Reflecmedia Deskshoot Lite ...........................46
Kata One Man Band Bags from Bogen .............................................47
Sachtler SOOM ........................................................................ 48-49
Sachtler FSB4, FSB8 and Cine 7+7 HD ..................................... 49-50
OConnor 2575D ...................................................................... 51-52
Cartoni Delta Rosso, SPINHeaD, SMARTHeaD, E-REM ......................53
Sci-Tech Awards
Sci-Tech Awards ...................................................................... 54-58
Transvideo at Sci-Tech Awards .......................................................56
Angénieux at Sci-Tech Awards .......................................................57
ARRIMAX at Sci-Tech Awards .........................................................58
Lighting
Litepanels Bi-Focus, Bi-Color and Super-Spot ..................................59
Dedolight System ..................................................................... 60-61
Dedolight Classic ...........................................................................62
Dedolight Series 200, Daylight, Tungsten, Soft & DLOBML ...............63
ARRI High Definition Video Assist .............................................. 64-65
Thomas Greiser Goes to ZGC ..........................................................66
IN-N-OUT Burners: ARRILASER .......................................................67
April-July 2009, Issue 22-24
Fujifilm RDI for Digital Intermediates .......................................... 68-69
3D
Rob Hummel on 3D Cinematography ......................................... 70-73
My Impertinent Education, by Alain Derobe, AFC ........................ 74-75
Alain Derobe on the P+S Technik 3D Rig ................................... 76-77
My Steps to Stereography, by Florian Maier .....................................78
3D Calculator and 3D Workshops....................................................79
3D ABCs, by Florian Maier ........................................................ 80-81
Transvideo 3DView ........................................................................82
cmotion 3D software ......................................................................83
Preston Wireless 3D .......................................................................83
Editing in the 3rd Dimension, by Michael Phillips ........................ 84-85
And More
Tiffen Dfx, Version 2, iPhone, Essentials ..........................................86
This Close to Heaven, Bring a Long Lens, by Dickson Sorensen ........87
Otto Nemenz International: 30th Anniversary ............................. 88-91
Bigital Book by Benjamin B .............................................................92
Arriflex 16SR and 35 Books Back in Print ........................................93
Cinematographer Style in Paperback, on DVD and iTunes .................94
Subscription Information .................................................................95
Sponsors .......................................................................................96
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Apr-Jul 2009
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4
George Eastman House
Apr-Jul 2009
The mosaic of George Eastman on our cover is composed of
2500 images selected from over 50,000 images in the George
Eastman House collection in Rochester, New York. It uses computer
technology developed at the MIT Media Lab by Robert
Silvers to map a collection of photographs, assigning each to a
particular location by their individual colors and shapes.
Most of the images we capture, store, print or project are
mosaics of silver crystals, pixels, ink dots or points of light. The
smaller the dots, the sharper the image appears. When we talk
about 2K or 4K images, we’re describing 2000 or 4000 points
of light. As my colleague John (JJ) Johnston has pointed out,
the genius of George Eastman is that he developed a universal,
flexible matrix, a worldwide standard that did many things: it
was the sensor, the recorder, the storage medium (all uncompressed),
and could be used to copy and project.
Did the picture of Eastman and Edison, below, lead to the warning
on all Kodak film labels: “Open in Total Darkness”?

George Eastman House is not to be missed if you have anything
to do with still or moving images. An easy one and a half hour
flight from New York City or five hour scenic drive, it is the
world’s oldest photography museum and archive, and houses the
world’s largest collections of photographic and cinematographic
equipment. The house, gardens and estate are a valuable National
Historic Landmark.
It’s a curious thing about Latitude. Degrees of Longitude are
variable, but distance from the equator is a constant 69 miles per
degree. I have a theory about the Industrial Revolution. Technology
was fueled not only by water power and coal, but also
by parallel thought processes that coincided, around the world,
with similar degrees of Latitude. Rochester, New York is 43.19°
North. And it was here, in 1880, that George Eastman opened a
photographic dry plate manufacturing company.
Lyon, France is 45.75° North, a mere 177 miles apart in Latitude
(but 3895 apart in Longitude) from Rochester, NY. In the same
year that George Eastman worked by day in a bank and by night
in his workshop, Louis and Auguste Lumière were engaged in
similar painstaking work from 5am to 11pm in their father’s
failing photographic plate company.
Two years later, both were prospering, and the rest was photographic
and cinematographic history. Today, you can visit
the houses, now wonderful museums, of these entrepreneurial
geniuses. The Lumière Villa was completed in 1902. George
Eastman’s Estate was built between 1902 and 1905. Although the
Lyon house is Art Nouveau and the Rochester house is Colonial
Revival, both share the owners’ passion for light and abundant
use of wide expanses of mullioned windows.
George Eastman’s 35,000 square-foot house, with 50 rooms, 13
baths and central clock system, sits on eight and a half acres at
900 East Avenue in Rochester. In 1919, he decided to renovate,
and to improve the acoustics in the conservatory, cut the house
in half to move it nine feet, four inches. It is a beautiful room,
filled with light from the skylights above a model elephant.
The name “Kodak” was invented in 1888. Eastman liked the letter
“K” because it was “strong and incisive...firm and unyielding.”
Elizabeth Brayer’s definitive biography, George Eastman, quotes
him, “First: It is short. Second: it is not capable of mispronunciation.
Third: It does not resemble anything in the art...it is
euphonious and snappy.” To market the Kodak camera, he came
up with the slogan “You press the button, we do the rest.”
The Eastman Kodak Company revolutionized photography
through simplification, standardization, and products that
almost everyone needed or wanted. The flexible film that was
35mm wide with perforations along the edges helped launch the
motion picture industry, and later converted it to color.
The museum displays an extensive collection of historic cameras.
But for a special treat, let’s visit the huge underground collection.
Apr-Jul 2009
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Technology Collection at George Eastman House
Most of the Technology Collection at George Eastman House is in vast vaults underground. You can’t just walk in. This is by appointment only. It’s like
the end scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark. There are 4,100 still and motion picture cameras, 700 projectors, 400 hand-held and stereo viewers, 900
lenses, and more than 4,000 items from the Eastman Kodak Patent Collection. If you’re a careful cinematographer, they even let you touch the stuff.
Todd Gustafson has the enviable job of being Curator of the Technology
Collection at George Eastman House, shown here with a Cinematographe
at right and a water-cooled projector at left.
There are lessons in film history. The Lumiére Cinématographe advanced
the notion that little cameras could shoot important films to be projected
onto large screens for big audiences. Hundreds of Cinématographes
were made. They functioned as a camera, printer and projector.
Apr-Jul 2009
The first Edison films were shown on Kinetoscopes in Peep-Show
Parlors. One person at a time could watch the film, in a continuous loop,
as it traveled over a light source and a shutter inside the cabinet.
You could load a current film stock into almost any of these cameras
and shoot today, not at 2K or 4K but at a resolution determined by the
specifications of the scanner yet to be developed. As Rob Hummel has
said, the great thing is, “all you need is a lens and a light.”

Universal Standard Sensors
1
2
3 4
George Eastman became a very wealthy man by focusing not
only on cameras but also on the product that would go in those
cameras: film. Just as Gillette was interested more in blades, and
Bill Gates more in software than computers, Eastman grasped
the “big idea” of supplying the essential ingredient that everyone
else required. During his lifetime, Eastman donated millions to
the University of Rochester, MIT, the Eastman School of Music,
educational and arts institutions, public parks, hospitals, dental
clinics, and charitable organizations around the world.
To this day, no one has seized on George Eastman’s paradigm
of providing a universal, worldwide standard chip for digital
imaging, with standardized specifications for low pass filter, size
and format. Whoever figures this out will certainly be the next
great inventor to follow in his footsteps. To be continued...
Counterclockwise from top left. 1. CMOS sensor fabrication. Single-sensor 35mm
format PL mount digital cameras: 2. Arriflex D-21 CMOS, 3. Panavison Genesis
CCD, 4. RED One CMOS, 5. ARRICAM gate with 35mm film and mirror shutter.
5
Apr-Jul 2009
7

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Lenses
Apr-Jul 2009

Dr. Winfried Scherle (below, left) is the Vice President and
General Manager of the Carl Zeiss Camera Lens Division.
Coincidentally, his passion is photography, and he happens to
be very good at it. I have a suspicion that what he really wanted
to be was a National Geographic photographer.
I can only imagine what his colleagues at ZEISS thought when
he announced, just weeks before the introduction of a new line
of lenses (that we will learn about on the next pages), that he
was heading off to Mt. Everest to do a little bit of climbing. Did
they have insurance for this kind of thing? There's a famous
story about John Huston heading off into the Congo while
production was prepping The African Queen. Sam Spiegel, the
producer, sent daily telegrams to Guy Hamilton, the Assistant
Director. The telegrams asked, “Have you found locations yet?
Stop.” To which the unflappable Guy Hamilton replied, “No.
Have not found locations yet. Stop. Have not even found Mr.
Huston yet. Stop.”
We are happy to report that Dr. Scherle has safely returned, and
will be presenting the new ZEISS lenses at NAB.
The photos on this page were taken with his Sony Alpha 700
digital camera, using (what else?) a ZEISS Vario Sonnar and
Sonnar 135/1.9. He writes, “These optics were not used in our
new Compact Primes, but of course are designed according our
philosophy.”
Apr-Jul 2009
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Carl Zeiss Compact Primes
I have good news and bad news for filmmakers (and digitalmakers)
on a tight budget.
The good news is that you can stop scouring eBay and obscure
websites for used sets of thirty-year-old ZEISS Standard lenses.
ZEISS has just announced a new series of affordable, high
quality compact lenses for all PL mount digital or film cameras,
not-surprisingly, called Compact Primes. The current set of 7
lenses, a Magnificent Seven with a distinctive Blue Band, are due
for delivery this summer, and come in 18, 21, 25, 28, 35, 50, 85
mm. Other focal lengths will probably be in the works.
The bad news is that those of you who have been hoarding old
ZEISS Standards as investment-grade commodities may find the
market in older lenses is about to deflate—so you may want to
sell now before too many colleagues read this issue of Film and
Digital Times. As your broker is fond of saying, however, past
performance is no indication of future success. While the venerable
ZEISS Standards were excellent lenses in their day, those
were the days of grainier film with less resolution than today’s
film stocks and sensors. That’s why we have the next generation
Master Primes, Ultra Primes, Cooke S4 Primes, Panavision
Primos and Angenieux Optimos.
How are the new Compact Primes different from your old ZEISS
Standards? 1: Flare and ghosting are minimized. 2: Less focus
shift when stopping down. 3: Less breathing. 4: MOD (close
focus) is closer. 5: Less distortion. 6: Less vignetting from center
to corner. 7: Uniform overall length, same position for focus and
iris rings over the entire focal range. 8: Same focus and iris gears.
9: Extended rotating angle for focus ring.
You don’t need a soothsayer to tell you that a new paradigm
for filmmaking has emerged, asking for things lighter, smaller,
faster, cheaper.
The optical design of the Compact Primes is based on ZEISS
ZF lenses for still photography. Now before you take out your
calculators to see how much it would cost you to convert ZEISS
ZF lenses to PL mount (a lot), let me interject that a lot more
has gone into these lenses than just the mount. They have not
let me take one apart yet, but I think the only thing in common
is the optical design. The housings, barrels and even the irises
are totally redesigned. The SLR primes have irises with 9 blades;
the Compact Primes have 14 blades. The focus scale has been
expanded (stretched) and the mechanics deliver the smooth
follow focus which you expect. Focus scales can be ordered with
metric meters or imperial feet.
Compact Primes are qualified for all PL mount cameras, with
or without mirror shutters: ARRI D-21, ARRI D-21 HD, Sony
F35, ARRIFLEX 416 Plus, ARRIFLEX 416 Plus HS, ARRICAm
Studio, ARRICAM Life, ARRICAM 435 Xtreme, ARRICAM
235, ARRICAM 535B, Red One, SI-2K, Sony F35, Phantom,
Weisscam, and other 2K Digital Cine Cameras. However, please
Apr-Jul 2009
note that Film and Digital Times assumes no responsibility for
broken mirrors, low-pass filters, sensors or anything else resulting
from hasty insertion of lens into mount, because we have
not tested this yet. Please proceed cautiously and double-check
clearances.
What’s in a name?
We’ve tested the ZEISS ZF and ZE series for Nikon and Canon,
and they are excellent. A preliminary look at the Compact
Primes shows the high tolerances and high quality that we would
expect. These lenses promise low distortion, high resolution
and excellent color rendition for sharp, contrasty images. The
T* lens coating, internal light traps and proprietary internal
matte black finish reduce flare and veiling glare. The 14 blade
iris provides smooth and precisely repeatable iris settings and
natural, circular out-of-focus, highlights. For example, if you
were shooting night exterior, and you focus on an actor 4 feet
away, the out-of-focus background blurred streetlights and car
headlights would appear round, without tell-tale straight edges
causes by the iris blades.
All lens designs are compromises: you have a choice of three
out of the following four things: size, weight, quality, price.
Like many lenses whose provenance is the still world, Compact
Primes do not all have the same wide-open aperture: the wide
18 mm lens is T3.6; the 21 mm and 25 mm are T2.9; the 28 mm
and 35 mm are T2.1 ; and the 50 mm and 85 mm are T1.5. The
aperture scales are non-linear, meaning the distances are not
equal between marked T stops. This is not a problem: wireless
remote controls like Preston FIZ, cmotion and ARRI Wireless
Focus systems are programmable for both linear and non-linear
focus scales. As we go to print, ZEISS is determining the demand
for LDS (Lens Data System); please let them know.
All Compact Primes have the same dimensions (about 80 mm
long from front of lens to PL mount flange; 114 mm front
diameter), and all have focus and iris gears in the same position.
They all weight around 1 kg / 2.2 lbs. and focus in the same
direction we’re used to for motion picture production: from the
operator/assistant position, clockwise is closer.
Compact Primes cover full Silent Aperture, the term that Denny
Clairmont always insists I use instead of the otherwise confusing
labels of anamorphic, Super35 and big-TV. An added bonus:
these lenses also cover the full still frame (24 x 36 mm). I see
wheels spinning: hmmm...maybe, modified Canon 5D Mark II...
Mark III...PL mounts on digital SLR cameras with live view...
The Compact Primes were probably intended for the new
generation of affordable digital cameras. However, I have a
feeling that after we get our sweaty palms on a set, we may find
they will intercut seamlessly with the current generation of
ZEISS lenses: Ultra Primes, Master Primes, Lightweight Zoom
LWZ-1 and Master Diopters on any digital or film camera.

New Blue
ZEiSS Compact Prime 25 mm T2.9
One of 7 new color-matched lenses: 18, 21, 25, 28, 35, 50, 85 mm
Stainless steel PL Mount. Covers full Silent Aperture up to 35mm Still
Format and VistaVision frame: 24 x 36 mm
Stainless Steel PL Mount and expanded focus scale with industrystandard
pitch focus gear ring for lens motors and follow focus devices.
Left to Right: ZEISS SLR ZF (Nikon Mount) 25 mm Still Lens; ZEISS Compact Prime 25 mm (center) and ZEISS Master Prime 25 mm (right)
• The Compact Prime has an expanded focus scale, with exact index marks. The ZF does not. Same with the iris settings.
• Compact Prime has geared focus and iris barrels, each one in the same place; ZF does not.
• Compact Prime has PL mount; ZF series comes in Nikon, Canon, Sony and other still format mounts.
• Compact Prime has 14 bladed iris. ZF series have 9.
• Front diameter of all Compact Primes is the same: 114mm. ZF series are all different.
• Compact Primes are more rugged and designed for more abuse; I guess still photographers are considered gentler customers.
• The PL mount attaches much more tightly than any still mount, which is important when using high-torque lens motors that might twist the entire lens in a still
camera’s mount. (Try it with one of your still cameras.)
Apr-Jul 2009
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ZEISS Compact Primes: Specs
Apr-Jul 2009
Distagon
T* 3.5/ 18
Distagon
T* 2.8/ 21
Distagon T*
2.8/ 25
Distagon T*
2/ 28
Distagon T*
2/ 35
Planar T*
1.4/ 50
Planar T*
1.4/ 85
f (mm) 18.5 21.6 25.7 28.7 35.9 51.7 84.8
Aperture (from - until) T 3.6 - T 22 T 2.9 - T 22 T 2.9 - T 22 T 2.1 - T 22 T 2.1 - T 22 T 1.5 - T 22 T 1.5 - T 22
Aperture blades 14
Front diameter (mattebox attachment) 114 mm / 4.5"
F-Stop 3.5 2.8 2.8 2 2 1.4 1.4
T-Stop 3.6 2.9 2.9 2.1 2.1 1.5 1.5
MOD (in m) 0.3 0.24 0.17 0.24 0.3 0.45 1
MOD (in ft) 12'' 10'' 7'' 10'' 12'' 18'' 3'3''
Angle of view for an ANSI Super 35 Silent camera H 69° 60.9° 52.5° 47.4° 38.5° 27.3° 16.7°
aperture (aspect ratio 1:1.33, dimensions 24.9mm
x 18.7mm / 0.980" x 0.7362")
V
D
54.3°
81.5°
47.3°
72.8°
40.4°
63.5°
36.3°
57.7°
29.3°
47.4°
20.6°
33.9°
12.6°
20.7°
Angle of view for a DIN Super 35 Silent camera H 67.1° 59.1° 50.8° 45.8° 37.2° 26.3° 16.1°
aperture (aspect ratio 1:1.33, dimensions 24mm x
18mm / 0.944" x 0.7087")
V
D
52.6°
79.4°
45.8°
70.8°
39.0°
61.6°
35.0°
56.0°
28.3°
45.8°
19.8°
32.7°
12.1°
20.0°
Angle of view for a Normal 35 Academy camera H 62.5° 54.8° 47.0° 42.3° 34.3° 24.2° 14.8°
aperture (aspect ratio 1:1.37, dimensions 22mm x
16mm / 0.8661" x 0.6299")
V
D
47.3°
73.9°
41.0°
65.5°
34.9°
56.7°
31.3°
51.3°
25.2°
41.9°
17.7°
29.8°
10.8°
18.2°
Length (front to PL mount flange) 80mm
Ø Front Matte box attachment Ø 114 mm (max. Ø 116 mm)
Weight (in kg) 0.9 1 0.9 1 1 0.9 0.9
Number of lenses/groups 13/11 16/13 10/8 10/8 9/7 7/6 6/5
Focus angle of rotation 288° 288° 288° 288° 288° 288° 288°
Position of entrance pupil behind front lens in mm 19.9 23.5 23.8 24.9 36 25.7 68
In the second column, above, H = horizontal, V = vertical, D = diagonal.
Compact Primes are qualified for all PL-mount cameras: ARRI D-21, ARRI D-21 HD, Sony F35, ARRIFLEX 416 Plus, ARRIFLEX 416 Plus HS, ARRICAm Studio,
ARRICAM Life, ARRICAM 435 Xtreme, ARRICAM 235, ARRICAM 535B, Red One, 2K Digital Cine Cameras

ZEISS Master Primes and Ultra Primes
Master Primes were introduced at NAB in 2005 with T-shirts that proclaimed, “Breathless!” and they truly are. When you rack
focus, the image does not “breathe;” the image does not appear to zoom or change size as you focus from near to far. To achieve this,
Master Primes have added elements that compensate, almost like a reverse zoom lens. They all open to a maximum of T1.3.
Ultra Primes were introduced in 1998, quickly followed by LDS Ultra Primes. The Lens Data System (LDS), developed with ARRI,
consists of encoders inside the lens barrels that provide focus, iris, focal length and other information to the camera via gold-plated
contacts in the PL mount that helps automate in-camera effects like speed/iris ramps or shutter/iris ramps.
ZEISS Master Primes
Lens Aperture Type Close focus Length
(lens mount to front)
Front
diameter
Weight Horiz angle of
view ANSI S35
Horiz angle of
view DIN S3
Apr-Jul 2009
Horiz angle of
view Normal 35
14 mm T1.3-T22 Distagon T*XP 0.35 m / 14" 224 mm / 8.8" 114 mm / 4.5" 2.4 kg / 5.3 lbs 83.4° 81.3° 76.4°
16 mm T1.3-T22 Distagon T*XP 0.35 m / 14" 205 mm / 8" 114 mm / 4.5" 2.2 kg / 4.8 lbs 77.0° 75.0° 70.2°
18 mm T1.3-T22 Distagon T*XP 0.35 m / 14" 205 mm / 8" 114 mm / 4.5" 2.2 kg / 4.8 lbs 70.6° 68.6° 64.0°
21 mm T1.3-T22 Distagon T*XP 0.35 m / 14" 205 mm / 8" 114 mm / 4.5" 2.4 kg / 5.3 lbs 62.1° 60.2° 56.0°
25 mm T1.3-T22 Distagon T*XP 0.35 m / 14" 205 mm / 8" 114 mm / 4.5" 2.3 kg / 5.1 lbs 53.8° 52.0° 48.2°
27 mm T1.3-T22 Distagon T*XP 0.35 m / 14" 205 mm / 8" 114 mm / 4.5" 2.2 kg / 4.8 lbs 49.2° 47.6° 44.0°
32 mm T1.3-T22 Distagon T*XP 0.35 m / 14" 205 mm / 8" 114 mm / 4.5" 2.3 kg / 5.1 lbs 43.6° 42.0° 38.8°
35 mm T1.3-T22 Distagon T*XP 0.35 m / 14" 205 mm / 8" 114 mm / 4.5" 2.2 kg / 4.8 lbs 39.4° 38.0° 35.0°
40 mm T1.3-T22 Distagon T*XP 0.40 m / 16" 205 mm / 8" 114 mm / 4.5" 2.3 kg / 5.1 lbs 34.8° 33.6° 31.0°
50 mm T1.3-T22 Planar T*XP 0.50 m / 20" 205 mm / 8" 114 mm / 4.5" 2.7 kg / 5.9 lbs 28.2° 27.2° 25.0°
65 mm T1.3-T22 Planar T*XP 0.65 m / 2'3" 205 mm / 8" 114 mm / 4.5" 2.6 kg / 5.7 lbs 21.8° 21.0° 19.2°
75 mm T1.3-T22 Sonnar T*XP 0.80 m / 2'9" 205 mm / 8" 114 mm / 4.5" 2.8 kg / 6.2 lbs 18.8° 18.2° 16.6°
100 mm T1.3-T22 Sonnar T*XP 1.00 m / 3'6" 205 mm / 8" 114 mm / 4.5" 2.9 kg / 6.4 lbs 14.2° 13.8° 12.6°
150 mm T1.3-T22 Sonnar T*XP 1.50 m / 4'11" 262 mm / 10.3" 134 mm / 5.3" 4.0 kg / 8.8 lbs 9.6° 9.3° 8.5°
ZEISS Ultra Primes
Lens Aperture Type Close focus Length
(lens mount to front)
Front
diameter
Weight Horiz angle of
view ANSI S35
Horiz angle of
view DIN S35
8 mm 8R T2.8-T22 Distagon T* XP 0.35m / 1 1/4' 130mm / 5.1" 134mm / 5.3" 2kg / 4.4lbs 114.0° 112.0° 107.0°
10 mm T2.1-T22 Distagon T* 0.35m / 1 1/4' 143mm / 5.6" 156mm / 6.1" 2.9kg / 6.4lbs 102.1° 100.2° 90.8°
12 mm T2-T22 Distagon T* 0.3m / 1' 140mm / 5.5" 156mm / 6.1" 2.0kg / 4.4lbs 92.6° 90.2° 85.2°
14 mm T1.9-T22 Distagon T* 0.22m / 3/4' 112mm / 4.4" 114mm / 4.5" 1.8kg / 4.0lbs 82.6° 80.6° 75.6°
16 mm T1.9-T22 Distagon T* 0.25m / 1' 94mm / 3.7" 95mm / 3.7" 1.2kg / 2.6lbs 75.2° 73.0° 70.8°
20 mm T1.9-T22 Distagon T* 0.28m / 1' 91mm / 3.6" 95mm / 3.7" 1.2kg / 2.6lbs 65.0° 62.8° 58.4°
24 mm T1.9-T22 Distagon T* 0.3m / 1' 91mm / 3.6" 95mm / 3.7" 1.0kg / 2.2lbs 55.8° 54.2° 50.2°
28 mm T1.9-T22 Distagon T* 0.28m / 1' 91mm / 3.6" 95mm / 3.7" 1.0kg / 2.2lbs 48.4° 46.8° 43.2°
32 mm T1.9-T22 Distagon T* 0.35m / 1 1/4' 91mm / 3.6" 95mm / 3.7" 1.1kg / 2.4lbs 43.0° 41.6° 38.2°
40 mm T1.9-T22 Distagon T* 0.38m / 1 1/4' 91mm / 3.6" 95mm / 3.7" 1.0kg / 2.2lbs 34.7° 33.2° 30.6°
50 mm T1.9-T22 Planar T* 0.6m / 2' 91mm / 3.6" 95mm / 3.7" 1.0kg / 2.2lbs 27.2° 26.2° 24.0°
65 mm T1.9-T22 Planar T* 0.65m / 2 1/4' 91mm / 3.6" 95mm / 3.7" 1.1kg / 2.4lbs 21.8° 21.0° 19.2°
85 mm T1.9-T22 Planar T* 0.9m / 3' 91mm / 3.6" 95mm / 3.7" 1.2kg / 2.6lbs 17.1° 16.5° 15.2°
100 mm T1.9-T22 Sonnar T* 1m / 3 1/4' 91mm / 3.6" 95mm / 3.7" 1.2kg / 2.6lbs 13.9° 13.7° 12.6°
135 mm T1.9-T22 Sonnar T* 1.5m / 5' 119mm / 4.7" 95mm / 3.7" 1.6kg / 3.5lbs 10.5° 10.2° 9.3°
180 mm T1.9-T22 Sonnar T* 2.6m / 8 1/2' 166mm / 6.5" 114mm / 4.5" 2.6kg / 5.7lbs 7.9° 7.6° 7.0°
Horiz angle of view
Normal 35
13

14
ZEISS DigiPrimes and DigiZooms for 2/3"
ZEISS DigiPrimes and DigiZooms are for 2/3" 3 CCD cameras. They come with a B4 mount. The image area of each CCD in a 2/3” camera is 6.6 mm
high x 8.8 mm wide (4:3 aspect ratio). The image area (aperture) in a PL mount camera is 18mm high x 24mm wide. (4:3 aspect ratio, aka 1.33:1).
High-end HD lenses like the ZEISS DigiPrime and DigiZoom lenses sometimes have to do more “heavy lifting” than their PL mounted brethren for
several reasons: they have to cover a smaller image area, they have to deal with a prism separating red, green and blue onto three separate CCD
sensors, and they have to be more telecentric—meaning the image has a longer distance to travel from the rear of the lens, through filters and prism,
to the image plane.
Lens Aperture Type Close focus
from film
plane
Apr-Jul 2009
Length
(lens mount to
front)
Front Diameter Weight Horizontal
angle of view
4:3
Horizontal
angle of
view 16:9
3.9 mm T1.9 - T16 Distagon 0.5 m / 20" 203 mm 117 mm 1.89 kg / 4 lbs. 3 oz 96.9° 101.8°
5 mm T1.9 - T16 Distagon 0.5 m / 20" 164 mm 95 1.38 kg / 3 lbs 82.0° 87°
7 mm T1.6 - T16 Distagon 0.5 m / 20" 164 mm 95 1.55 kg / 3 lbs. 6 oz 65.0° 69.6°
10 mm T1.6 - T16 Distagon 0.5 m / 20" 164 mm 95 1.51 kg / 3 lbs. 5 oz 48.0° 52.0°
14 mm T1.6 - T16 Distagon 0.5 m / 20" 164 mm 95 1.33 kg / 2 lbs. 15 oz 35.4° 38.4°
20 mm T1.6 - T16 Distagon 0.5 m / 20" 164 mm 95 1.35 kg / 3 lbs. 24.8° 27.0°
28 mm T1.6 - T16 Distagon 0.5 m / 20" 164 mm 95 1.42 kg / 3 lbs. 2 oz 17.8° 19.4°
40 mm T1.6 - T16 Distagon 0.5 m / 20" 164 mm 95 1.44 kg / 3 lbs. 3 oz 12.6° 13.8°
52 mm T1.6 - T16 Distagon 0.5 20” 164 95 1.56 kg / 3 lbs. 6oz 9.6° 10.5°
70 mm T1.6 - T16 Distagon 0.32 m / 13" 194 mm 95 1.8 kg / 3 lbs. 15 oz 7.2° 7.8°
135 mm T1.9 - T16 Sonnar 0.85 m / 33" 297 mm 117 3.15 kg / 7 lbs. 3.7° 4.1°
Lens Aperture Type Close focus from
film plane
Length
(lens mount to front)
Front
Diameter
Weight Horizontal angle
of view 4:3
Horizontal angle
of view 16:9
6-24 mm T1.9 - T16 Vario Sonnar 0.55 m / 22" 249 mm / 9.8" 95 mm 2.75 kg / 6 lbs. 73.9° - 20.7° 78.9° - 22.5°
17-112 mm T1.9 - T16 Vario Sonnar 0.75 m / 30" 300 mm / 11.8" 95 mm 4 kg / 9 lbs 29.0° - 4.5° 31° - 4.9°

New Fujinon PL Mount Zooms
I’m curious how information travels along the Cinematographer’s
Rumor Network faster than Skype. From Leicester to
Oberkochen, Tokyo to Hollywood, I had heard whispers all
winter that Fujinon was working on a series of new PL mount
lenses. But, there were no loose lips at Fujinon’s Redondo Beach
offices. Technology Manager Chuck Lee’s lips were sealed tighter
than a Price Waterhouse envelope guardian at the Oscars and
his poker face should be a valuable asset after NAB hours in Las
Vegas this spring.
In a flurry of conversations mere days before this issue went to
press, under serious embargo and non-disclosure until day one
of NAB, Fujinon “leaked” the details of their new lenses to Film
and Digital Times.
I was totally unprepared for the audacity and inventiveness
of what they’re doing. While I had expected a series of primes
based on their ⅔" format E Primes, here comes a high-end line
of zooms in previously un-heard-of focal lengths.
Chuck Lee said, “There are lots of choices in optics, and Fujinon
hopes to compete at the highest level of performance of PL
mount zoom lenses.”
The first lens to be ready, expected by end of May, will be the
Fujinon PL 18-85 mm T2.0. Delivery of the other three lenses is
anticipated around the end of 2009.
The four new Fujinon PL Mount Lenses are expected to be:
14.5-45 mm T 2.0
18-85 mm T 2.0
24-180 mm T2.6
75-400 mm T2.8 - T4.0
Please note that the focal lengths and speeds of the 14.5-45, 24-
180 and 75-400 are approximate, not final, and these specs could
easily change during development, especially since every cinematographer
who views the mock-ups under their protective
see-but-don’t-touch plastic dome at NAB will have a different
opinion, suggestion and wish list for final manufacturing.
We’ve had variable primes, short zooms and lightweight zooms,
but, I don’t think we’ve seen a range from 14.5 to 400 mm in a
set of four lenses.
Fujinon’s New PL mount lenses are intended for Film and
Digital Motion Picture Cameras with PL mounts: single sensor
silicon or film, 52 mm flange focal depth.
Why are they doing this?
Fujinon has a long history of successful ⅓", ½", and ⅔" format
lenses, as well as stills and other sizes. I think that by adding
a high-end PL mount line of lenses, Fujinon is affirming the
increasing popularity of the single-sensor PL format.
Apr-Jul 2009
15

16
Fujinon PL 18-85 mm T2.0
The first PL zoom lens of this new set to be shown in Fujinon’s
booth at NAB, and maybe in Sony’s, is the Fujinon PL 18-85
mm T2.0. Front lens barrel outside diameter is 136mm, the
same among all four lenses, with gears in the same locations for
quick lens changes.
We asked what’s new and why Fujinon decided to make PL
Zooms. These lenses are designed for the highest performance
cameras that currently exist and will emerge. The lenses are fast,
useful and have practical focal ranges. There is minimal breathing
when focusing. Image quality is consistent and repeatable,
which is helpful for blue or green screen. Coatings and elements
of all lenses is consistently color matched. The 280 degree focus
barrel rotation ensures an expanded focus scale, with accurate
and consistent marks. Each lens is similar in size and weight,
with uniform gear placement that facilitates quick lens changes.
The zooms will be priced competitively with existing high
performance PL zooms. Picture quality and performance is
expected to be high, like other Fujinon lenses.
I am confident that these four new zooms, with their very useful
focal lengths, will not only speed production, but will also become
valuable and artistic tools for creative cinematographers.
Apr-Jul 2009
Fujinon PL Zooms: Preliminary Specs
(Subject to Change)
Mount PL
18 - 85 mm T2
Format 35 mm e-Cinema Camera
Focal Length 4.7 x 18-85 mm
Maximum relative aperture F1.9 over entire range
Iris Range T2 - T16
Angle of View (approx) Hor. 67° - 16°
Vert. 41° - 9°
Diag. 74° - 18°
Minimum Object Distance .82m / 2.7 ft
Focus Barrel Rotation 280°
Object Area at M.O.D. Wide End 656 mm x 369 mm
Tele End 139 x 78 mm
Weight (approx) 5.5 kg

Fujinon PL 18-85
Apr-Jul 2009
17

18
Fujinon 2/3" C and E Series
The new Fujinon PL Zooms will join Fujinon's existing 2/3" 3-chip format high end zooms and primes for Digital Cinematography, the C series of
compact zooms, (above, left group of 3), and the E series of Primes and Zooms, (above, right).
Focal Length 5mm 8mm 10mm 12mm 16mm 20mm 34mm 40mm 54mm
E Series Prime: Name HAeF5 HAeF8 HAeF10 HAeF12 HAeF16 HAeF20 HAeF34 HAeF40 HAeF54
T-No. 1.7 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.6
Close Focus Limit .5m/19.7" 4m/15.7" .5m/19.7" .4m/15.7" .4m/15.7" .5m/19.7" .4m/15.7" .5m/19.7" .6m/23.6"
Angular field of view 7˚x56˚ 61˚x37˚ 51˚x30˚ 43˚x25˚ 33˚x19˚ 26˚x15˚ 16˚x9˚ 13˚x7˚ 10˚x5˚
Length 180.5mm 144mm 144mm 144mm 144mm 144mm 144mm 144mm 144mm
Weight 2.2kg/4.8lb 1.6kg/3.5lb 1.6kg/3.5lb 1.6kg/3.5lb 1.6kg/3.5lb 1.6kg/3.5lb 1.6kg/3.5lb 1.6kg/3.5lb 1.6kg/3.5lb
Filter thread: M86x1 Focus Rotation: 280˚ Front Diameter: 95 mm Iris Blades: 11
Focal Length 5-15mm (3x) 6-30mm (5x) 10-100mm (10x) 9.5-114mm (12x)
E Series Zoom: Name HAe3x5 HAe5x6 HAe10x10 HAe12x9.5
T-No. 1.6 1.8 1.8 1.6
Close Focus Limit from Image Plane .56m / 22.08” .56m / 22.08” .94m / 36.96” 1.2m / 47.28”
Diameter x Length 128 x 287mm 128 x 277mm 128 x 302mm 156 x 433.5mm
Weight 5kg / 11lbs 4.7kg / 9.4lbs 5.8kg / 12.76lbs 10kg / 22lbs
Focus Rotation: 280˚ Iris Blades: 11
Focal Length 4.5-59mm (13x) 7.3-110mm (15x) 7.6-137mm (18x)
C Series Zoom: Name HAc13×4.5 HAc15×7.3 HAc18×7.6
Iris Blades 6 8 6
T-No. 2 - 2.9 2 1.9 - 2.6
Close Focus Limit from Image Plane .59m / 22.23" 1.18m / 46.46" .87m / 34.25"
Diameter x Length 95 x 238.5mm 110 x 287.3mm 85 x 204mm
Weight 1.7kg / 3.74lbs 2.9kg / 6.38lbs 1.6kg / 3.52lbs
Focus Rotation: 280˚
Apr-Jul 2009
C (Compact) Series Zooms
E Series Primes and Zooms

First Look: Cooke Panchros
Like the Phoenix rising in Harry Potter, the venerable Cooke Panchro name is being revived, or should we say, reinvented. Film
and Digital Times has learned that Cooke is working on a new set of PL mounted lenses for 35mm motion picture film and digital
production. The six new Cooke Panchros—18, 25, 32, 50, 75, 100 mm, all T2.8—should be ready by the end of the year, available
individually or as a set. Panchros are designed, manufactured and assembled in Leicester, England by the same team that created the
S4 lenses, at an affordable price. They are clearly aimed at the large and vibrant community of up and coming cinematographers.
But these are not training wheels for your top of the line Cookes. When you get your ASC or BSC award, you are not obliged to
trade these Panchros in for S4 lenses, much as Cooke owner Les Zellan would be delighted you do. The Panchros sacrifice nothing
except a stop of light (T2.8 on Panchros vs T2.0 for Cooke S4). The resolution is expected to be as good as an S4 at T2.8. They are
about 20% lighter and smaller. The new Panchro line is being designed with 4K (and beyond) digital and film production in mind.
The aperture is linear. Focus mechanisms are still cams. Focus scales are generous. And Cooke /i Technology is included.
Preliminary technical specs are printed on the next page. The Panchros are still a work in progress, so details, specs, shapes and
other things may change. One thing is not going to change: the inexorable demand for more PL mounted lenses to put on all the
new film and digital cameras, including the Sony F35, ARRI D21, RED, Aaton Penelope and the hundred-thousand existing PL
mount cameras. Panchros have a prestigious provenance. The majority of feature films made in Hollywood during the first half of
the 20th century were shot using Cooke lenses, and many of these were Panchros. In 1921, Horace W. Lee designed the Cooke Speed
Panchro, a prime lens with a wide aperture for filming in low light.
In September 9, 1926, Kinematograph Weekly reported: “Over a hundred Taylor-Hobson Cooke lenses of various focal lengths are
used by the photographic department of the Famous Players-Lasky studios. This interesting information is contained in a letter
from Frank E. Carbutt, Famous’ Director of Photography. Mr. Carbutt adds that these lenses have, without, exception, given perfect
satisfaction and that they have yet to find a poor Cooke lens.”
July 1930, from an article in The British Journal of Photography: “It deserves to be better realized in the photographic world to what
extent Taylor-Hobson lenses have come into favour in the sound-film and silent-film studios in England and in Hollywood. The
Cooke lenses of very large aperture have been establishing themselves increasingly in film production for several years past, and are
now in use to an extent which is very gratifying to those knowing the merits of British products. In the same way Taylor-Hobson
projection lenses have secured something like a monopoly among the ‘super cinemas’ in this country for projecting these same films.
Frequenters of the movies may reckon therefore that most of the pictures which they see are both produced and projected by means
of lenses made in the Leicester factories.”
By 1935, Cooke Speed Panchros for cinematography were supplied in 8 focal lengths: 24, 28, 32, 35, 40, 50, 75 and 108 mm. They all
covered the standard or “normal” 35mm 1.33:1 format of 0.631 x 0.868 inch.
“Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are forced to see it repeated,” said a famous statesman. It seems that Cooke has not
failed in their history lessons and are repeating the success of one of the most popular lens sets of all time.
Cooke will be at the P+S Technik booth (SU9924G) in the Bavarian Pavilion at NAB, on the upper level of South Hall, near AVID.
Apr-Jul 2009
19

20
Cooke Panchros: Preliminary Specs
Cooke Panchro Lens 18mm 25mm 32mm 50mm 75mm 100mm
T-stop range T2.8-T22 T2.8-T22 T2.8-T22 T2.8-T22 T2.8-T22 T2.8-T22
Angular Rotation of Iris Scale degrees 60 60 60 60 60 60
Minimum Marked Object Distance mm 250 250 320 500 750 1000
Apr-Jul 2009
inches 10 10 13 20 30 40
Close Focus from Lens Front mm 79 79 143 329 579 829
inches 3.1 3.1 5.6 13.0 22.8 32.6
Angular Rotation to MOD Endstop degrees 270 270 270 270 270 270
Maximum Diagonal Angle for S53 format degrees 80 62 50 34 22 17
Length from Front of Lens to Lens Mount mm 120 120 114 120 120 120
inches 4.7 4.7 4.5 4.7 4.7 4.7
Max Front Dia. mm 110 110 88 88 88 88
inches 4.3 4.3 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5
Total Weight kg 1.45 1.4 1.36 1.27 1.23 1.54
Max. Format Covered 30mm diagonal Super 35 format
lbs 3.2 3.1 3.0 2.8 2.7 3.4
Focus Scales Two opposing focus scales - metric or footage
Focus Drive Gear 126 teeth 0.8metric module x 5.0mm wide x 103mm from image plane
Iris Scales Two opposing linear T-scales - whole and third stops marked on both sides
Iris Drive Gear 119 teeth 0.8metric module x 2.75mm wide x 83mm from image plane
Fitting Filter Internal thread for filter adapter M82.5x0.75 pitch
(fitting filter not applicable for 18mm and 25mm)

Cooke S4/i Comparison Specs
Cooke S4/i Prime Lenses were introduced a little
over ten years ago, and received a Sci-Tech Award
for Optical and Mechanical Design in 1999. They
were designed in consultation with Clairmont
Camera and Otto Nemenz International in
Hollywood, and have triggered the imaginations of
leading cinematographers on many major features
trying to describe the unique “Cooke Look.”
They are color-matched and compatible with
Cooke’s 15-40 mm T2 CXX, 18-100mm T3.0 and
25-250mm T3.7 zoom lenses.
12mm 14mm 16mm 18mm 21mm 25mm 27mm 32mm 35mm 40mm
Units S4/i S4/i S4/i S4/i S4/i S4/i S4/i S4/i S4/i S4/i
Aperture T2-T22 T2-T22 T2-T22 T2-T22 T2-T22 T2-T22 T2-T22 T2-T22 T2-T22 T2-T22
Rotation of Iris Scale degrees 96 96 96 96 96 96 96 96 95 94
Miniumum Marked Object Distance mm 225 250 225 250 250 250 250 300 350 400
inches 9 9 9 9 9 9 10 12 14 16
Close Focus from Lens Front mm 47 50 47 64 85 64 110 152 170 216
inches 2 2 2 2.5 2.5 2.5 4.5 6 6.9 8.5
Angular Rotation to MOD Endstop degrees 270 270 270 270 270 270 270 300 300 300
Max Diag Angle of View for Super 35 Format degrees 103 94 86 80 71 62 58 50 46 41
Length from Front of Lens to Lens Mount mm 126 126 126 113 113 113 113 128 128 141
inches 5 5 5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 5 5 5.5
Max Front Diameter mm 156 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110
Total Weight kg 3 2.2 2.45 1.75 2 1.6 1.6 1.85 1.9 2
lbs 6.5 4.8 5.4 3.85 4.4 3.5 3.55 4 4.2 4.4
50mm 65mm 65mm SF 75mm 100mm 135mm 150mm 180mm 300mm
Units S4/i S4/i S4/i S4/i S4/i S4/i S4/i S4/i
Aperture T2-T22 T2-T22 T2-T22 T2-T22 T2-T22 T2-T22 T2-T22 T2-T22 T2.8-T22
Rotation of Iris Scale degrees 93 92 92 92 91 92 92 94 78
Miniumum Marked Object Distance mm 500 700 700 750 900 800 1050 1300 2100
inches 20 27 27 30 36 30 42 51 84
Close Focus from Lens Front mm 330 473 453 584 724 564 841 1063 1846
inches 13 20 19.2 23 28.5 20.7 33.8 41.7 74
Angular Rotation to MOD Endstop degrees 300 300 300 300 300 340 300 300 300
Max Diag Angle of View for Super 35 Format degrees 34 26 26 22 17 13 11.5 9.5 5.7
Length from Front of Lens to Lens Mount mm 125 125 145 125 141 184 157 185 202
inches 4.9 4.9 5.7 4.9 5.5 7.3 6.2 7.3 7.95
Max Front Diameter mm 110 110 110 110 110 110 125 136 136
Total Weight kg 1.5 1.6 2.25 1.75 2 2.25 3.5 4.3 4.7
lbs 3.3 3.55 4.95 3.85 4.4 4.95 7.7 9.45 10.35
Apr-Jul 2009
21

22
Clairmont Camera Pure Reach Periscope
Imagine this shot. Camera begins tight on the speedometer of a moving car, pulling back to reveal instrument cluster and then
moves out and sideways through the driver-side window, continuing to a full-profile view of the car driving in the Mojave Desert.
Or you’re doing miniatures, and an underslung camera is too big to navigate the models. How do you do these shots?
The new Pure Reach Periscope is available from Clairmont Camera. This T5 diffraction-limited relay puts top of the line motion
picture lenses at a distance of approximately 3 feet (36 inches) from the camera, without affecting the focal length, field of view,
depth of field or sharpness. Offering right angle or straight-in shots, it is most useful for miniature, car, and table-top cinematography—or
any periscope shot requiring no-compromise, full resolution motion picture film quality images.
The 36-inch Pure Reach Periscope delivers 1:1 transparent image quality, equivalent on film to mounting the prime lens directly on
the camera. Accordingly, the Pure Reach’s shots intercut seamlessly with non-periscope footage. Focus and T-stop are controlled
at the lens, using standard follow focus or FIZ wireless devices. The periscope is T5 and has no iris inside it. If you shoot at a stop
greater than T5, say at T8 on the prime, you’ll need an exposure of T8 and you’ll get the depth of field of T8 on film.
Developed by Star Wars VFX Oscar–winner Robert Blalack, the 36-inch Pure Reach Periscope lens has been used on a number of
important films. He said, “The journey to build it was driven by a theme park dark ride Praxis was producing and I was directing for
Busch Gardens Entertainment called “Akbar’s Adventure Tours.” We knew we were going to built extensive and detailed miniatures
that would require motion control periscope photography to render the scale and POV correctly. I previously had a custom lens
designed to solve an optical printing image problem when I was supervising the optical effects for the first Star Wars, so I knew the
time, cost and some of the pitfalls a diffraction limited periscope might present. I was intrigued by the idea that a periscope could
be “transparent” and relay the prime lens image so the result was as if the lens was mounted directly on the camera. The lens worked
beautifully for that project, and we kept refining it as time went on.
“Both the 36 inch physical reach and the image quality of Pure Reach is quite different from what’s out there. Pure Reach takes
motion picture lenses and transparently relays the image at 1:1. I’m not aware of another periscope that uses state of the art motion
picture prime lenses and has zero effect on their image quality and focal length. This basic fact makes Pure Reach a must for DP’s
who don’t want to apologize for their periscope shots. For those DP’s who have other, more arcane imaging requirements, Pure
Reach is very useful. Most periscopes start with a 24mm lens and relay it as a 23.1 or a 25.2mm or some focal length different than
what’s on the shooting end of the periscope. Focal length distortions like that exaggerate composite problems in situations where
elements are shot that require a matched focal length, say between live action and miniature plates. Barrel distortion, however subtle,
is another defect you don’t want to carry into a match move composite. When Alex Funke used the periscope on Lord of the Rings
and King Kong, he had a photographic tool that enabled his miniature images to match elements coming from live action, so that
CGI was able to emulate the original lens instead of a mutated periscope image.”
Visual Effects DP Alex Funke, ASC, who won two Oscars for his work on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, said “I think the Pure Reach
snorkel is well named. The Miniatures Liberation Army, which I have the honor to command, used it very extensively all through
The Lord of the Rings and King Kong. Right angle or straight in, it’s a really beautiful piece of optical engineering, is faultlessly sharp,
and performs the way high-tech film equipment should. You can quote me on that.”
Clairmont Camera is recognized as the world’s largest independent (non-manufacturer) camera rental house and has locations in
Hollywood, Vancouver, Toronto, Albuquerque and Montreal. The Pure Reach is ready for rental; it is not for sale.
Apr-Jul 2009

Cameras
Left to right: with a beard and grippy Gill sailing gloves, Pierre
Hugues Galien (assistant), Penelope Camera, and Yves Angelo
(Cinematographer) on the feature film “Staline, ” shot in Paris,
Romania and Bulgaria in 3 Perf. Written and Directed by Marc
Dugain. Penelope is accessorized with a Preston Wireless FI+Z
System and Cinematography Electronics Cine Tape Measure.
Photo : Arnaud Borrel.
Apr-Jul 2009
23

24
Aaton Penelope
For cinematographers worldwide, the wait is over. The camera Jean-Pierre Beauviala carried at the AFC Micro Salon in March 2008
is now available. She is now working on productions worldwide. The camera is named after Penelope, who waited twenty years for
Odysseus to return. That is about how long Cinematographers have been waiting for Jean-Pierre’s Penelope. Her list of eager suitors
is rapidly growing, and some of them are on these pages.
Apr-Jul 2009
Jean-Pierre Beauviala at the
AFC Micro Salon in Paris
Beijing, Documentary shot in 3 Perf by Central
Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio in Beijing

Aaton Penelope Specifications
Aaton Penelope is the new, revolutionary, lightweight, silent
35mm camera that sits on a cinematographer’s shoulder like,
well, like an Aaton. She weighs a mere 16.7 pounds with a
loaded 400' mag and one battery. Penelope “sees” in two or
three perf, having rejected four perf as déclassé. And why not?
Even if you’re working in anamorphic, you can now use “gently
squeezed” (.77x) Hawk Anamorphic lenses for 3 perf formats.
Here are some of Penelope’s virtues:
• 35mm 2 Perf / 3 Perf swappable camera.
• (Note: Not field switchable; this operation must be performed by an
Aaton, Abel Cine Tech technician, or a qualified rental house.
• 22dB noise level (±1dB) in 2-Perf
• 23dB noise level (±1dB) in 3-Perf
• Weight: 8 Kg with loaded 400’ mag and one battery
• Currently 4-40fps, to be upgraded to 50 fps within a few months
• Sync and Variable speeds (0.001 increments)
• Instant 400'
film-magazines, nine minutes at 24fps in 35mm
2-Perf
• Built to withstand extreme climates (-10°C to +40°C)
• Extremely bright optical viewfinder, compatible with ARRI extension
finders and eyepieces.
• Twin battery power supply: one for lightweight handheld shots; add
the other for multi-accessory use.
• New 35mm progressive-scan videotap has twice the resolution of
previous taps when film camera is rolling.
• Ready to print PDF ‘Image Report’ with JPEG framegrabs, metadata
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cinematographer Denis Rouden on Braquo, a TV
Drama shot in 2 Perf with 2 Penelopes in Paris
and AatonCode via USB key.
Detailed assistant’s display with multicolored background indicating
camera modes.
4 position adjustable shutter with future upgrade to 8 positions.
Easy to load, all new magazine design.
Aatonlite illuminated groundglass with numerous available viewing
screens for formats in both 2 Perf and 3 Perf.
Body ships with PL port, standard viewfinder, two 15mm front minirods,
handgrip, coupler, L2 cable and choice of one viewing screen.
Also available in Panavision PV Lens Mount.
User manual: http://www.aaton.com/products/film/penelope/
Who is She, Commercial shot on 3 Perf in
Amsterdam. Cinenatographer: Rick Roos
Apr-Jul 2009
25

26
SONY F35
For those of us who are DPs, not DITs or ACs, it’s helpful to have two pages of crib notes so we actually look like we know what
we’re doing, and don’t push the wrong button when lining up a shot. I was looking for an attention-grabbing headline, but all the
cute or disrespectful names were taken: “Bluffers Guides, Idiot’s Guides, Quick Guide, Jump Start.” Sprinkled in this issue are
two-page crib sheets of some of this year’s major cameras.
Sony’s new F35 has a PL mount and single sensor. I’m confident this is the shape of things to come, affirmed by the abundant
introduction of new PL mount lenses this year. The F35 is a 1920 x 1080 HD camera.
Main Differences between F35 and F23
F23
F35
• PL mount
• Super 35mm 16:9 size single sensor CCD (.930"
x .525")
• uses 35mm motion picture format lenses
• 1920 x 1080 RGB Output
• Up to 450 ISO
• Variable frame rates 1-50 fps with ramping
1. Plug in power cable here:
14 V DC (10.5 - 17 V DC)
draws 64 watts with finder,
124 watts with docked SRW-1
2. Turn Camera ON
(CA is for power from Interface Box
Apr-Jul 2009
• B4 mount
• 3 2/3" CCD sensors
• uses 2/3” format lenses
• 1920 x 1080
• Up to 580 ISO
• Variable frame rates 1-60 fps with ramping
24 V DC 5.5A accessory output
(this requires additional 24 V battery or power)
12 V DC 4A accessory output:
11 pin receptacle
With thanks to Michael Bravin, Band Pro
and
Mike Condon, Clairmont Camera

Turns camera menus ON and OFF in the viewfinder
Start-Stop switch. Controls the SRW-1 deck only
when docked or connected via fiber. RUN indicator
LED above switch.
Weight: 13 lbs with finder,
26 lbs with docked SRW-1 deck
Memory Stick for User Settings
user-assignable camera
controls
Power: 14 Volt Batteries or DC Power Supply, 10.5 - 17 VDC.
Draws 64 watts; 124 watts with SRW-1 deck docked.
Weight: 13 lbs with HDVF-C35W viewfinder; 26 lbs with SRW-1
With 5760 x 2160 direct capture R,G,B
pixels, there is no interpolation. The F35
and Genesis are the only single sensor
cameras not utilizing interpolation.
To remove “magazine” (SRW-1 deck or
future solid state storage like S-Two):
1. rotate knob counter-clockwise
Apr-Jul 2009
2. Press Lock-release
button
3. Lift lever
4. Press Safety
release tab
For Camera Setup:
1. Keep knob pushed
in while you...
2. press VF MENU
twice
3. Let your DIT do it,
or read Instruction
Manual:
http://pro.sony.
com/bbsc/ssr/
cat-broadcastcameras/cat-cinealta/
product-F35/
27

28
Arriflex D-21
Viewfinder telescoping
In-Out Lock.
Viewfinder arm friction
adjustment: Up-Down
Horizon leveling knob
Horizon leveling lock
Adjustable mirror shutter, similar to ARRICAM. From the Main
Display, you can set these angles: 11.2°, 22.5°, 30°, 45°,
60°, 75°, 90°, 105°, 120°, 135°, 144°, 150°, 172.8° and
180°. With an electronic accessory like the Wireless Remote
Control 1 or 2, you can adjust the mirror shutter in 0.1° increments
from 11.2° to 180°.
The Arriflex D-21 is a film-style digital camera with a single, Full 35mm (Silent Aperture size) CMOS sensor and PL lens mount.
The D-21 has a spinning, adjustable mirror shutter and bright optical viewfinder like the ARRICAM, has a main display like an
Arriflex 435, and is compatible with ARRI film camera accessories. The D-21 outputs raw data at 2.9K (2880 x 2160 RAW 12bit
Bayer data @ 23.976, 24, 25p), or standard HD. Color Management Look Up Tables (LUTs) for 100, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500 and 640
& 800 ASA linear HD and standard log C and log F modes for 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 HD are now available.
ARRI, Iridas and other software can process the ARRIRAW files through advanced debayering algorithms to output either an HD
image, 2K or native 2.9K data file. The native sensor resolution of 2880 x 2160 is actually “almost 3K”. After debayering (reconstructing
color) in software, the output is commonly a 2K image (2048 x 1556). 2K data files are similar to the files created by a scanner,
and are as easy to grade as scanned data. Since the raw data format transports all pixels of the 4:3 aspect ratio D-21 sensor, the D-21
is the only digital camera that works with full frame standard anamorphic lenses. A universal viewfinder is available for both spherical
and anamorphic shooting. Mscope mode, for shooting full anamorphic while recording in HD to an SRW-1 recorder, is an ARRI
patented facility exclusive to the D-21.
A new shoulder set S-5 has been created specifically for the D-21, and new ground glasses for the 1.33, 1.78, 1.85 and 2.39 formats
are now available. D-21 cameras can be equipped with the FEM-2 Module, familiar on the Arriflex 435, which provides a built-in
reciever for wireless lens and camera control. The FEM-2 also contains motor drive electronics, so ARRI Controlled Lens Motors
(CLM) can be plugged directly into the camera without any additional boxes. ARRI Wireless Remote Control can be used to control
frame rate, shutter angle and lens iris (as desired, from 1 - 60 fps and 11.2° -180°) with the D-21, as with the 435.
Apr-Jul 2009
The LOCK switch not only
locks the buttons in this
area, but also the Video
Menu knob at the back
of the camera, so that
menu settings cannot be
changed inadvertently.
Focus tape hook on top of the camera at image plane. Solid
PL lens mount means no adjustment of back-focus needed.
Standard PL mount 52mm flange focal depth.
Optical Viewfinder:
Diopter Adjustment Ring
Eyepiece Locking Ring
RUN button starts spinning mirror shutter. It doesn't start
or stop recording unless you have an accessory device.
Main Display like a Standard Arriflex 435:
MODE to cycle through screens or "pages"
SEL selects a choice with the page
SET sets or stores your choice
PHASE advances the shutter
LOCK prevents messing with the buttons
NORM-PS/CCU switches from default speed to a programmed
speed or external speed control

LDS Lens Data System status LED: Green is
good, Red means error, Off means no LDS lens
Wireless Control System status LED: Green
is good. Green blinking means activate
wireless main unit. Green blinking rapidly
means radio interference on that channel.
Wireless Control System channel selector:
usually 2 for Europe (except Spain), 3 for USA,
4 Japan, 5 Australia, 7 Spain
Switches to set
lens motor direction
(for mounting on
camera left or right
sides)
Connections to
attach CLM-2
focus, iris and zoom
lens motors
The status LEDs on the
camera rear are green
when all is well, go off as
a warning of a potential
problem and show red
if there is a significant
problem in the camera
Video Menu knob: push to select,
rotate to change choices.
S-Video Y/C Standard Def Output,
can be set to NTSC or PAL
Composite Video Standard Def Output,
can be set to NTSC or PAL
HD-SDI Outputs
Optical Port
I/O connectors for service; Vertical
sync pulse outputs for HD-SDI
signals up to 30 fps.
With great thanks to Bill Lovell, ARRI Product Manager for Digital Cameras, Andreas Weeber, ARRI CSC Digital, and Oliver Temmler
of ARRI’s Camera Department Technical Support, for their invaluable help putting this together.
Main Camera Switch
Aperture:
23.760 x 13.365 mm
(.9354" x.5262") in 16:9 HD
23.760 x 17.820 mm
(.9354" x.7016") in Mscope
RS Connection: remote RUN and 24 V DC
24 V accessory overload LED
Lens Data Display (LDD) connector to show
LDS Lens Data System lens information
about iris, focus, zoom settings.
Lens Control System bus connections,
for direct, wired connection of various
controls like Zoom Unit or Hand unit
(when you don’t want to go wireless)
Lens Motor connections
Apr-Jul 2009
11-pin Fischer
connector for 12 V
accessories, with
overload LED below
Accessory ACC
connection
Camera Control Unit
CCU connection
BAT: 24 V DC Power connection.
practical range: 22-30 V DC.
29

30
JVC GY-HM700 ProHD 1/3" Camcorder
Craig Yanagi, National Marketing Manager for Creation
Products and his colleagues at JVC Professional Products
Company must have been spending a lot of time in Cupertino
and Atsugi this year. Fasten your seatbelts: JVC’s new
GY-HM700 compact shoulder-resting professional camcorder
records directly not only to inexpensive SDHC memory cards
in QuickTime (.mov) format for Final Cut Pro, but also to SxS
media with an add-on accessory for files that are compatible
with Sony’s XDCAM EX format. Yes, you can have it both ways.
Recording in the editing system’s native format eliminates time
consuming transfers and transcoding— dramatically speeding
up post-production time. This is a huge leap forward. The new
GY-HM700 is, quite possibly, the most comfortable lightweight
shoulder-resting camcorder available. Repeat after me: Shoulder-Resting.
At 8 lbs. including lens, viewfinder, microphone
and battery, the well-balanced GY-HM700 sits on your shoulder
comfortably all day, like the famous black cat in the early Aaton
ads. Even though the camera is resting on your shoulder, for
some reason the process is still called “Handheld,” a curious
anachronism. It dates back to the ARRI 2C and Bell & Howell
Eyemo. You did indeed hand-hold those cameras, and after a
couple of hours, if you didn’t have the stamina of a cameraman
like the late, great Joe Longo, your arms would ache and your
back would be ready for an appointment with the nearest shiatsu
specialist. We still hand-hold many of the current crop of film
and digital cameras, which, of course, has been a windfall for the
enormous cottage industry in aftermarket accessory shoulder
mounts. Anyway, if you plan to do a lot of handheld shooting, or
any kind of shooting, this camcorder is for you.
The GY-HM700 natively records QuickTime (.mov) files used
by Apple and Final Cut Studio. There is no need to convert
or rewrap files prior to editing. Post-production can begin
immediately after shooting; no digitizing of tapes or re-encoding
takes place, and first generation quality is always maintained. It
is possible to edit directly from the memory card, but to avoid
tempting fate, best practice is to copy the files to hard drives and
store your memory card as an archival master.
Apr-Jul 2009
The GY-HM700 is the industry’s first shoulder supported
camcorder to store files on inexpensive SDHC memory cards.
The camera provides 2 memory card slots, for a total of up to
64GB of on-board storage—enough for more than 3 hours of
continuous HD recording at 1080p 35 Mbps, or 6 hours at 720p
19 Mbps. The camera automatically begins recording on the
second card when the first card fills up. When the second card
fills up, the camera reverts to recording to the first card slot,
assuming you have inserted a fresh memory card, and didn’t
forget to remove the “exposed” one.
When you attach the optional KA-MR100 dockable media
recorder, it is possible to record Sony XDCAM EX compatible
.MP4 files onto high-speed SxS memory cards, while at the same
time recording the same .MP4 files to inexpensive SDHC cards.
This is a great way to get a simultaneous backup, and we all
know you can never have too many digital backups.
The GY-HM700 uses three ⅓" progressive scan full HD CCDs,
with a standard bayonet mount that accepts a wide range of
lenses, including JVC’s optional 16mm prime lens adapter. The
camcorder can flip the image when these prime lenses are used.
The “stock” HD lens is Canon’s KT14x4.4KRSJ. The high resolution
viewfinder is based on a new .45-inch 1.22 million pixel
Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS) panel (852 x 480 x 3). This new
all-digital viewfinder displays images with more than 5 times the
resolution of typical color viewfinders. A 4.3-inch flip-out LCD
monitor displays recording, playback, clip management, and
menu operation.
The GY-HM700 records two channels of uncompressed LPCM
16 bit audio at 48Khz. Levels can be controlled manually, or
automatically using AGC, and an audio meter is provided in the
LCD and viewfinder displays for easy adjustment. Balanced XLR
inputs with phantom power are provided on the camera for an
external microphone and/or wireless receiver, and a shotgun
microphone is provided.

JVC’s GY-HM700 is a compact shoulder-resting
camcorder for mainstream
shows, documentaries, news, sports,
wildlife, reality, independent and
dramatic production. It natively records
Quicktime .mov files for Apple’s Final
Cut Studio directly to SDHC Memory
Cards, or XDCAM EX files to SxS Cards.
• Comfortable, adjustable Shoulder pad
• 3-⅓"
CCDs: full HD
• Industry standard bayonet lens mount
• wide range of lenses and accessories
• New HD Canon 14:1 lens included
• Wider angle
• Higher resolution
• Minimal chromatic aberration
• Records to dual hot swappable SDHC
memory cards and/or optional SxS
adapter
• Pre Rec (retro cache) function prevents
“missed shots”
• Professional recording with selectable
data rates up to 35Mbps
• 1920 x 1080 (1080p24/p25/p30,
1080i60/i50)
• 1280 x 720P (p60/p50/p30/p25/p24)
• Native file recording: XDCAM EX (.MP4
file format).
• Native Final Cut Studio .mov format
• Edit immediately without conversion or
transcoding
• Available with optional SxS Media
Recorder
• Variable frame rate recording (over crank,
under crank)
• HDSDI output
• Can also provide downconverted SDI
output—live or playback.
• Downconverted SD output (DV via
IEEE-1394)
• New high resolution (1.22 million pixel)
Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS) viewfinder
• New large (4.3-inch) flip-out LCD monitor
• Patented Focus Assist function
• Built-in clip viewer and management
system
• Image customization modes (gamma,
matrix, knee, detail, etc.)
• Uncompressed LPCM audio (2ch)
recording
• Manual level controls with audio meter
•
XLR inputs with phantom power
Apr-Jul 2009
31

32
JVC GY-HM100 ProHD 1/4" Camcorder
JVC has just introduced the GY-HM100, a break-through
hand-held ProHD camcorder that records in native Apple
Quicktime .mov file format directly to SDHC memory cards.
The camera is tiny; it fits in the palm of your hand. But the idea
is big. After shooting (up to 50 minutes of 1080p onto a 16GB
SDHC Memory Card, you can begin editing almost immediately
by simply dragging and dropping the files into Final Cut Studio.
Anyone who has wrangled or archived the baffling array of
AVCHD and other hierarchical file formats will doubtlessly
order one of these camcorder immediately for the sheer joy of
having one file per scene.
The GY-HM100 ProHD camcorder records Quicktime files
directly to those little SDHC solid state memory cards you see in
most still cameras. Solid state prices have dropped to the point
where recording 50 minutes of 1080p can now be less expensive
than tape, and...sound the trumpets...it’s so cost effective you
would be foolish not to archive those SDHC cards as digital
masters.
Since files can be recorded in Quicktime, the native .mov files
could actually be edited directly from the solid state memory
card with Apple’s Final Cut Studio. But, you might prefer a
more elegant aproach. There are (more angelic trumpets) two
SDHC slots on the camcorder. So, when one card has filled
up, you eject it, and either hand it off to your assistant/data
wrangler/mini-DIT or do it yourself: copy the files into your
laptop. Since, at last unofficial count, 99.9% of the readers of
Film and Digital Times are on Mac, we’ll assume you’ll copy the
files onto a MacBook Pro with an SD to Express Slot adapter
(Sandisk SDAD109A11 Digital Media Memory Card to Express
Slot Adapter) or with an SD card to USB adapter.
Meanwhile, you can still keep shooting, since you’ll record
to the other slot in the camcorder. “Traditionally, camera
manufacturers have designed their products expecting NLE
vendors to conform to proprietary or generic file formats
Apr-Jul 2009
resulting in an extra and often time consuming step when
preparing to edit,” Craig Yanagi explained. “Files created in the
GY-HM100 can be edited immediately without conversion. It’s
truly the first camcorder designed for post production.”
The JVC GY-HM100 ProHD camcorder weighs 3.1 lbs. It uses
three progressive scan ¼” CCDs and records at data rates up
to 35 Mbps in 1080/24p, 1080/25p, 1080/60i, 720p and much
more. SDHC Class 6 memory cards must be used. (Class 6 refers
to data rate: the higher the number, the faster it is. Many still
camera SDHC cards are Class 4 or below. SDHC cards that are
not up to class 6 specifications cannot be used with either the
GY-HM100 or GY-HM700).
The GY-HM100 comes with an integrated high definition
Fujinon 10:1 lens, f1.8, 3.7-37 mm. It has manual and automatic
control of focus and iris. The lens is made with three aspherical
elements and a new anti-reflection coating. A retractable
cover is built into into the lens hood, eliminating the need for a
traditional lens cap. JVC’s Focus Assist displays the viewfinder
or LCD image in monochrome with colored edges.
With tapeless recording to dual 64GB SDHC Class 6 memory
cards, you have enough for up to 6 hours of continuous HD
recording at 720p in SP mode (25 Mbps) and up to 3 hours, 20
minutes at 1080p in HQ mode (35 Mbps) . The camera automatically
begins recording on the second card when the first card
is full.The cost per-minute of SDHC media is comparable to, or
less than, professional video tape.
JVC developed a proprietary codec capable of providing highly
efficient compression up to 35 megabits per second, with
MPEG2 long GOP encoding. The Quicktime .mov files created
in-camera can be dragged onto the NLE timeline without
conversion or rewrapping.
The camera also stores files in what the specs say is an ISO Base
Media File Format (.MP4), compatible with all major non-linear
editing systems. We are advised to use the ProHD Log and
Transfer Plug-in for Final Cut Studio to deal with these files—
but why would we if the .mov files are so much simpler and
faster to deal with, and don’t require rewrapping?
The audio recording features of the GY-HM100 include two
channels of uncompressed LPCM audio with manual level
controls and audio meter. Balanced XLR inputs with phantom
power are provided on the handle for an external microphone
and/or wireless receiver. A 2.8-inch LCD display, in 16:9 aspect
ratio, provides a wide array of monitoring and setup information.
There’s an infrared wireless remote and you can capture
2 megapixel still images from either a live framegrab or from
recorded video.
The GY-HM100 is scheduled for delivery in April 2009. For
more information and high-resolution photos:
www.pro.jvc.com/HM100

JVC GY-HM100
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Native Final Cut Pro .mov format
Edit immediately without conversion or transcoding
Choice of ISO Base Media File Format
Compatible with all major non-linear editing systems
Records to dual SDHC memory cards
Full HD recording (selectable)
Recording with selectable data rates up to 35Mbps
1920 x 1080 (1080p24/25/30, 1080i)
1280 x 720P (p60/50/30/25/24)
Fujinon HD lens with manual or auto modes
Optical image stablization
10:1 Fujinon Lens f1.8 3.7 - 37 mm
Image customization modes (gamma, matrix, knee, detail, etc.)
Uncompressed LPCM audio (2ch) recording
Manual level controls with audio meter
3.1 lbs / 1.4 kg
XLR inputs with phantom power
details: pro.jvc.com/
Apr-Jul 2009
33

34
SONY PMW-EX3
I was intrigued by the dire warning on page 31 of the PMW-EX3 instruction manual. It said, “Do not leave the camcorder with the eyepiece facing the sun. Direct
sunlight can be focused in the viewfinder and cause fire.” Of course, we wanted to try this. They’re right. If you’re ever shipwrecked on a desert island, you can make
a campfire by flipping up the eyepiece and focusing the sunlight through the magnifying element (it’s basically a magnifying glass to help you see the LCD screen.) In a
few minutes, paper or dried weeds begin smoldering. You can imagine what this might do to the expensive LCD screen.
Insert 2 Xpress Cards
To use LCD Monitor, push latch to flip
eyepiece up
Apr-Jul 2009
STATUS button is helpful to
check all your settings.
handgrip pivots
Select Slot “A” and cover this button
with a piece of clear strip of plastic
taped to the camera body (like
the one covering the audio levels
immediately below)--it’s very easy
to accidentally hit this button and
change the slot where your data is
going.
Set audio levels to
around “5”, and for
Auto Audio, slide
switches to Auto and
INT to use the onboard
mikes.
Turn CAMERA on.
On-board mikes
and XLR audio IN
Push MENU to check all your Menu settings.
Use the joystick marked “SEL/SET” on top of the
carrying handle (it’s easier to use than the “SEL/
SET” dial next to the MENU button.

SONY EX3 with ZEISS DigiPrime 28 mounted with a Sony ACM-21
2/3" to 1/2" adapter, Chrosziel Mattebox, Follow Focus, Sachtler Video
18 Head. With a 2/3" lens on a 1/2" camera, you will have the depth
of field of a 1/2" lens. Also, since this is not a groundglass adapter like
the P+S Technik, it has the effect of enlarging the image.
Get software downloads at:
www.sony.com/xdcamex
click on RESOURCES
Downloads are on the right.
Get the Log and Transfer Utiltiy for FCP first.
Then the XDCAM EX clip browser.
XDCAM TRANSFER allows content management
and will run by itself. FCP does not need
to run.
Attach Battery
The Fujion 4x8
(4-32mm f1.9) is twice
as wide as the standard
5.8x14 (5.8-81.2mm
f1.9).
At 7.5’ away, the
standard lens sees a
width of 9 feet, while
the 4x8 lens sees a
width of 18’ wide
Apr-Jul 2009
35

36
New from SONY for NAB This year at NAB, SONY is back in Central Hall, with the largest
exhibit at the show, perhaps basking in the success of F23 and
F35 cameras that helped generate over 6 billion dollars in box
office last year. Here are the highlights.
SONY F35 Camera
HDVF-C30WR Viewfinder
HXR-MC1 POV Camera
HXR-MC1 POV Camera and Recorder
Apr-Jul 2009
Sony’s newest high-definition viewfinder, HDVF-C30WR,
is designed to be used on many of Sony’s HD cameras and
camcorders, including the CineAlta F23 and F35 digital
cinematography cameras, XDCAM HD422 optical camcorders
and HDCAM camcorders, the HDC-1500/1000/1550/1400/1450
series of multi-format studio and field cameras and the HDC-
3300 Super Slow Motion camera.
The new viewfinder has a 2.7-inch LCD screen (viewable
area, measured diagonally), a pixel resolution of 960 by 540,
and a new image processor—the same one used in Sony’s
BVM-L230 LCD monitor. It delivers higher levels of color
reproduction, with new and enhanced focus-assist functions,
an image inversion function (top/bottom and right/left), and
selectable color temperatures of 6500K (standard), 5600K and
9300K. Improved focus assist features include 2x (dot by dot)
magnification to smooth out diagonal edges and a color peaking
function. 3D LUT color space compensation helps to provide
more natural-looking luminance and color accuracy.
Sony’s HXR-MC1 is a new high-definition compact POV
(point-of-view) camera and solid-state recorder combination,
with separate camera head and control unit/recorder, for use in
extreme sports, reality TV, documentaries, nature, wildlife and
“Slumdog Cam.”
The HXR-MC1 camcorder has full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution,
With its 10x optical zoom and a built-in microphone, the
camera measures only 1 1/2 x 1 11/16 x 3 1/2 inches, allowing it
to be attached to various devices such as helmets or cars. Screw
holes on the bottom of the unit make mounting easier. It is also
splash-resistant for use in the rain.
The new camera records onto solid-state Memory Stick PRO
Duo media using AVCHD compression. The HXR-MC1 can
record up to six hours of high-definition content onto a 16GB
Memory Stick. In HD recording mode, video is recorded in
AVCHD, which uses MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 compression, the
same method used in Blu-ray Disc technology. If SD recording
mode is selected, video is recorded in MPEG-2.
Recording and playback are done with the HXR-MC1’s control
unit, whose low power consumption provides maximum battery
operation of up to 405 minutes. The control unit has a 2.7-inch
(viewable area, measured diagonally) 210,000-pixel 16:9 LCD
panel. All menu settings can be done using the touch-screen.
The control unit is also equipped with a recording button, zoom
lever, and manual control dial, so users can control the camera
remotely while watching the images.

Chrosziel, Canon: The Shape of Things to Come
No longer is it written that a motion
picture camera must look like one. RED
taught us that a movie camera was like a
still camera shooting at 24 fps.
The wild success of Canon’s 5D Mk II
showed us that still cameras can indeed
be movie cameras, and they are sold out
through July.
Our friends at Chrosziel have been quick to
come up with motion picture style accessories
for the Canon 5D Mk II and its rival,
Nikon’s D90.
For the Canon 5D Mk II, a digital SLR with
21 Megapixel sensor that also shoots 1920 x
1080 video (but not yet 24P), we now have
a Chrosziel baseplate, mattebox and follow
focus. All sides of the cameras are accessible
- a standard feature on all Chrosziel
supports.
Connections for monitor and external
microphone are accessible, the memory
card can be exchanged easily and the
battery case on the bottom opens without
dismounting the camera.
When shooting without assistant, Chrosziel
recommends the Studio Rig Photo
combined with the VariLock® hand wheel,
which stores two settable fixed focus points
for exact repeatability of focus pulling
without even looking.
To attach the DSLR to the baseplate,
Chrosziel has replaced the ¼" x 20 standard
screw with a large thumb screw, which is
tool-free, easy and safe. Besides the camera
connection, the camera platform has two
M5 and four ¼" threads to install accessories.
The two M5 connections and two of
the ¼" are situated on top of the platform,
the rest on each side.
A carrying handle balances the camera for
underslung video shots.
Apr-Jul 2009
37

38
Phantom 10 GigE CineStation
Quick review: the Vision Research Phantom HD camera from
Abel shoots HD (1920 x 1080) or 2K (2048 x 1536) up to 1000
frames per second at 1080p, with shutter speeds up to 1/500,000
second. It weighs 12.1 pounds, has a single sensor, and comes in
PL or Panavison mounts. Now that Phantom HD has become
the digital high-speed camera of choice for Panavision worldwide,
as well a growing number of other notable rental houses,
Vision Research and Abel Cine Tech, VRI’s North American
agent, have turned their attention to products that will enhance
Phantom’s capabilities in production and in rental houses.
Phantom CineMag digital memory cartridges attach to the Vision
Research Phantom HD, Phantom 65 and Phantom V12.1.
A 512G CineMag can hold more than two hours worth of RAW
uncompressed 1080p material (running time when played back
at 24fps). The CineMag can be popped off the camera and
swapped with another CineMag for continuous shooting during
the production day much like a film camera magazine.
The Vision Research Phantom CineStation is an accessory docking
station and download device (to offload data) for Phantom
cameras. Uncompressed RAW data consumes a lot of memory,
and the high-speed capabilities of the Phantom cameras raises
these levels even more. Without the CineMag, a Phantom HD
camera’s internal memory buffer can only store a few minutes
worth of material, which then would need to be downloaded via
Gigabit Ethernet to a computer, tying up use of the camera for
15 minutes or more. With a CineMag, the camera’s memory
can be dumped to the memory cartridge in a matter of seconds.
With the introduction of the CineStation last year, the Phantom
camera system became complete, as the camera was finally freed
from both memory storage and download work.
The Vision Research Phantom CineStation now has a 10 Gigbit
Ethernet (10GigE) option. This makes memory transfers dra-
Apr-Jul 2009
matically faster for greater on-set efficiency.
The last piece of the puzzle was 10GE. The CineStation originally
could download only at single Gigabit Ethernet speeds, which
meant that downloading a filled 512 CineMag could take up to
seven hours. With 10GE, download speeds of under one hour
can now be achieved. That’s close to three times the realtime
playback speed of the CineMag. No longer does production
have to plan for long hours, extra time or expense to download
footage.
Abel Cine Tech is currently designing a computer and memory
system that is optimized to take best advantage of the CineStations’s
incredible download speed. This system will be a portable
unit available for sale, as well as rental through Abel and
rental house partners.
Other functions of the CineStation include: HD-SDI outputs
in dual-link 4:4:4 or single-link 4:2:2, HD component outputs,
clip editing options on download and even the ability to upload
content from computer memory into a CineMag for convenient
storage and transport.

Abel’s Phantom Handheld Rig & Breakout Box
Phantom Handheld Rig
Abel’s Phantom Handheld Rig was designed to work in
conjunction with, and to be mounted underneath, the Phantom
Breakout Box. It mounts directly on 15mm lightweight rods, has
a user-adjustable shoulder pad, and includes an Anton Bauer
quick release battery plate. The Phantom Handheld Rig and
the Phantom Breakout Box create a compact, untethered 12v
handheld system.
Phantom Breakout Box
The Phantom Breakout Box by Abel supplies
12v and 24v accessory power for more
efficient use of the Phantom HD in production.
It provides for hot-swapping of 12v
batteries when handheld, upconverts 12v to
24v for use of 12v Anton Bauer style brick
batteries, and splits out the trigger circuit
from the capture circuit
Connections:
2x 24v accessory power (3 pin Fischer)
2x 12v accessory power (4 pin Fischer)
2x 12v input (1x XLR4 and 1x 2pin Fischer
for hot swapping, etc.)
1x camera capture pass-through
(8pin Fischer)
1x trigger signal (BNC)
CineMag
Apr-Jul 2009
Breakout Box
Handheld Rig
39

40
18 Cameras, No Waiting
The BSC conducted five days of evaluating methods of capturing
film and digital images on a controlled set at Pinewood Studios.
This story was shared with us by our colleagues at Imago. On
the final day, 18 cameras were used on an exterior rig especially
designed for the occasion by Joe Dunton BSC (above). This is
believed to be the greatest number of cameras the world has ever
seen simultaneously shooting a test. This initiative from the BSC
follows successful tests in 2007 in response to restrictions placed
on directors and cinematographers by the BBC as to cameras
and formats. At that time, the use of Super 16mm film was particularly
under threat and a campaign for an improved understanding
of the format was launched by the BSC, especially now
that camera, lens and film stock technology have advanced.
The choice of cameras was limited to those currently being used
on productions. The selection of film stocks and menu settings
was decided by the manufacturers and suppliers to ensure completely
unbiased results. Cooke 50 and 75 mm S4 lenses were
used on the PL mount cameras; Zeiss DigiPrimes were used on
the B4 mount cameras. The film cameras, in Super 35 and Super
16 formats, were Aaton Penelope, Arriflex 435, and Arriflex 416,
using four different film stocks from Fuji and Kodak. The digital
cameras tested were Sony F35, Panavision Genesis, ARRI D-21,
Apr-Jul 2009
RED One, Thomson Viper, Silicon Imaging SI-2K, Sony 900R,
Panasonic 3700, Sony PMW EX-3 and the Panasonic HVX 201.
A motion control rig and a static set-up were used and each
camera shot 4 set-ups, both day and night. Set lighting was by
Gavin Finney BSC, John Daly BSC and Robin Vidgeon BSC, and
the Producer was Martin Hammond. The set designed by Malcolm
Stone is intended to be re-erected in Elstree for hire, for
training and other purposes. It is hoped to be able to use it again
when the next generation of cameras is available. The 35mm film
was processed by De Luxe and the 16mm Film at iLab. All the
digital material and film negative was scanned by Ascent 142 at
2k with an ARRI Scanner, transferred to DPX files for the editor
Torquil Dearden and the colourist Gwyn Evans, to be presented
as digital projection or Film out as provided by Technicolor.
The project was made possible with the help and support of
students from the LCC Skillset-funded Film Academy. Future
presentation road shows by the BSC /Image Forum team will
include assessment of the different workflows for each camera
and details of the process. The project was launched with the
showing of excerpts at the BSC Show on March 13 and 14 at
Elstree Studios. Photo above by Robin Vidgeon BSC.

The Curious Case of Slumdog Millionaire
A funny thing happened on the way to the Oscars this year. A
film shot mostly with a little camera won the big awards. I’m
not sure the consequences have sunk in. Slumdog Millionaire
is the story of a boy from the slums of Mumbai who wins
in the Indian version of the game show Who Wants to be A
Millionaire? Our story, about the technique and technology in
the making of Slumdog Millionaire, pursues our favorite theme.
Was the film made possible by a unique piece of camera equipment
that was ahead of its time, or was the extensively modified
equipment the result of the requirements of the script? Would
the film have been as successful without the equipment? Would
the camera be as successful without the film?
Slumdog Millionaire won Oscars for Best Cinematography,
Directing, Editing, Original Score, Original Song, Sound Mixing,
Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture. It won five Critics’
Choice Awards, four Golden Globes, seven BAFTA awards.
Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, BSC, DFF (above,
left) also won the 23rd Annual ASC Award for Outstanding
Cinematography on a Feature Film, and a Golden Frog award at
Camerimage. The amazing thing is not that an 11 Million Dollar
independent production competed against much larger, multihundreds
of million dollar Hollywood studio productions, but
rather that Slumdog Millionaire and its chief rival in this year’s
award season, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, were shot
with a combination of film and digital cameras.
About 60% of Slumdog Millionaire was shot with tiny SI-2K
Mini digital cameras that use a ⅔" single CMOS sensor. The
other 40% was shot in 35mm on Arricam Lites and Arriflex 235
cameras. We spoke with Stefan Ciupek, 2nd unit camera operator,
DIT and Digital Camera Coordinator on Slumdog Millionaire
(above, right). It is a tale that should make your blood
run as cold as the climates from which they came—a director
from England, a cinematographer born in Oxford and living
in Denmark and a DIT from Berlin—shooting in a location so
overheated that the cameras had to be cooled with dry ice.
It all began during prep three months before principal photography
of Slumdog Millionaire. Director Danny Boyle and Director
of Photography Anthony Dod Mantle decided they needed
a camera so small it would go unnoticed even in the streets
and slums of Mumbai, where the presence of a camera usually
attracts the stares and histrionics of castes of thousands. Danny
and Anthony were no strangers to both high-end 35mm cameras
and consumer mini camcorders. Danny had directed 28 Days
Later, shot on Video and Super 8. Anthony had done Dogma
films, including Lars Trier’s Julien Donkey-Boy with a Canon
XL-1, Manderlay (Willem Dafoe, Lauren Bacall, Danny Glover)
in DVCAM and HDCAM, and Dogville, (Nicole Kidman, James
Caan and Stellan Skarsgård) on DVCAM.
The original plan was to shoot the documentary-style scenes
on location with an HDV or mini HD consumer camcorder.
Anthony called Stefan, his lifeline for the latest in digital
imaging, to see if there was a higher quality alternative. “What
about a tiny 2K camera?” Anthony asked. It had to be able to
shoot for long stretches, without reloading, which is why 16mm
was ruled out. They liked the looks of the SI-2K Mini camera
head, which is about the size of your fist, connects to its own
camera body or a laptop, and shoots visually lossless CineForm
Raw wavelet-based codec (like JPEG 2000) using Silicon
Imaging recording software.
P+S Technik in Ottobrunn, near Munich is the development
partner and worldwide reseller of the SI-2K. Silicon Imaging
Inc, near Albany, New York is the designer. The SI-2K is now
distributed in the US by Band Pro’s offices in New York and
LA. P+S Technik and their local reps sell and support the SI-2K
camera all over Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Apr-Jul 2009
41

42
Slumdog Millionaire
Six weeks before the shoot, Stefan was shuttling between
P+S Technik, Pille Film, the rental house in Wiesbaden and
Cologne, and his home in Berlin, where, for two weeks, he
scoured electronics and computer stores to find the necessary
components. The unique combination of light weight,
unobtrusive profile, long recording time, handheld and moving
shots required a unique setup. Normally, the SI-2K exists as a
modular camera head that can detach from its data-recording
body. However, the body wasn’t completely ready, and it was
too heavy. So Stefan took the SI-2K Mini Camera Head, which
consists of lens mount and single CMOS sensor, and tethered
it to a James Bond style attaché case to hold all the components
needed to record 2K data: a Macbook Pro, power supply, VGA
down-converter for mini monitor, and Firewire hard drives.
The SI-2K has a sensor about the size of a 16mm frame, and
with the P+S Technik IMS interchangeable lens mount, you can
use PL, Nikon, Canon, Leica, Panavision, C and other lenses.
Six 60 GB industrial Seagate drives were installed in Firewire
800 enclosures. They were rugged enough to withstand heat
and drops. The SI-2K software is PC based, but no PC laptop
at the time was as fast as a Macbook Pro running Silicon DVR
under Bootcamp. As a test, Stefan took it into a sauna for the
1.5 continuous hours of shooting time that would be needed in
SI-2K with recording unit in
briefcase
Apr-Jul 2009
Cinematographers have always
craved compact cameras: the
1922 Debrie Sept was a favorite
for “stealing” newsreel footage
without permits or permission. It
was 5.5" high x 4" wide x 3" deep,
weighed 3.5 lbs, but alas, could
only shoot 17 seconds of film with
each winding of its spring motor.
SI-2K Mini is 4.1" x 2.7" x 1.7" and
weighs 1.32 lbs. It uses a ⅔" single
CMOS sensor, and sends visually
lossless data via Gigabit Ethernet.
India. Since the entire recording contraption was going to be
hidden in a backpack, not the best place for cool ventilation, dry
ice would be packed around the components to keep them from
melting down.
With two weeks to go, things were still very experimental.
Anthony and Stefan didn’t dare tell the director or production
how tenuous things were, because they surely would have said,
“OK, let’s just shoot it on HDV.” But they wanted to continue to
fight for the best possible quality. Stefan added that any reasonable,
sane person would say, “No, sorry, this can’t be done.” But
Pille brought in their entire staff to work around the clock. A
day and a half before principal photography was to begin, Stefan
was at the airport in Germany with 250 kg of excess baggage,
and flew to Mumbai. After the endless flight and inevitable delay
in customs, he got to the hotel only to find the welcoming note,
“Hi Stefan, see you in 3 hours ready to shoot.” Seven cameras
had to be assembled; he got two ready in time to start the next
day. In addition to four SI-2K cameras, there were two Arricam
LT cameras, and one Arriflex 235.
Much of the show was shot with multiple SI-2K cameras. One
camera was used as a reference for exposure by checking its
histogram. Since a lot of it was documentary style, shooting for
SI-2K with Kenyon Gyro

the first take, a lightmeter was useful for quick exposure checks.
The SI-2K was rated around 250 to 320 ASA. But since the
exposure range is around 10 stops, exposure would be weighted
toward the highlights in bright daylight and toward the shadows
for nights and dark interiors.
Stefan said he likes to spot new things on the market, and as a
result, seems to attract wild productions that are like on-the-job
beta testing. Some of the SI-2K software was still in beta testing
with license keys that would expire in the middle of a shot. With
two cameras down, Stefan’s heart would beat at heart-attack
levels, while emailing Silicon Imaging, downloading the new
license onto a USB stick, and trying to contain the contagious
panic that might otherwise break out.
In a battle with the sound department, a Kenyon Gyro stabilizer
was used on many of the handheld shots to take the wobble out
of shots that most HDV and mini HD camcorders could eliminate
with Optical Image Stabilization. They used the Kenyon
KS-4 gyro stabilizer (www.ken-lab.com), and the local sound
department was able to reduce about 60% of the high-pitched
whine with a custom sound blimp.
A Canon 1D Mk III full frame digital still camera was used at 10
fps for the dramatic game-show climax. SI-2K Mini, Arricam,
Arriflex and Canon footage was integrated both in the Avid
on-location edit and in the DI suite. Editor Chris Dickens had
massive amounts of footage to deal with. This included 35mm
dailies digitized from DigiBeta tapes, SI-2K data as Windows
Media Files (.wmf) and Canon sequences. They edited in
Standard Definition on two Media Composers in rented offices
in Mumbai, with a RAID array of 8 to 14 TB, depending on
who’s counting.
Some production notes from Stefan Ciupek:
“We used one set of ARRI 35mm format Ultra Primes mostly
on the Arricams, though we sometimes used the longer lenses
on SI 2K. We also had the Angenieux Optimo 24-290 and one
doubler. On some shots we used the Optimo on the SI-2K. That
was quite a sight...having this long lens on the Mini camera.
The SI-2K Digital
Camera System is
modular. The camera
head can detach from
its 16 pound body,
which consumes 5A
at 12V.
“We had a set of the old T2.1 Standard ZEISS primes for 16mm
and later on a T1.3 highspeed set. And the Century 6mm T1.9
with an optional wide angle adaptor For some special occasions
we had an ultra compact set of Linos C-mount Primes. We used
them when we needed to be really discreet and hidden. It was
great fun to experiment and explore all the different rigging and
lensing possibilities.”
“Pille, the rental house who helped me to build the first setup,
are working on a “Mark 2” system which will be greatly
improved after our experience. Our biggest difficulty was the
sweltering, melting heat of India. I think any camera would have
failed here. Since I had only 6 weeks to design and assemble the
4 Units, dry ice was the safest way to go after the sauna tests.
Since I’m not at all an expert in cooling systems, I would consult
somebody to help me design a proper air-cooling system.”
SI-2K on Slumdog Millionaire
attached to Manfrotto 143RC
Magic Arm in Mumbai
Apr-Jul 2009
43

44
Rental House Close-Up: Camelot
Camelot Broadcast Services is one of the major rental houses
in Berlin for digital production—supplying not only high-end
equipment, but also the option of one-stop-shopping with full
crew staffing.
They got their first Sony F35 in September 2008, and since
then have used it on 10 commercial shoots, a short film, and a
feature film in Turkey which went on to become one of the most
successful films ever shown in Berlin. Currently, the camera is
on a feature film production in Germany.
Rainer Hercher, managing director, told me, “So far all the DPs
and production companies are amazed by the picture quality
and the simple workflow (using the SRW-1). There have been
no technical problems. We are desperately waiting for tapeless
and wireless recording possibilities.
Camelot has been supplying state-of-the-art high-end digital,
broadcast and television equipment since 1997. The staff has
years of experience and is good at hand-picking and packing the
camera package to each individual production’s unique requirements.
All equipment is carefully serviced and tested after every
shoot by their technical staff, and the equipment is packed in
clean, light, ridigized aluminum cases.
An interesting concept, not common in the US, is that Camelot
can also staff your production with qualified freelancers who
have been certified on their equipment. As equipment becomes
more complex and customized, this is an interesting idea. We’re
used to rental houses sometimes giving us recommendations,
but Camelot is able to crew your production with experienced
lighting cameramen, sound mixers, camera assistants, production
staff of all kinds, experienced with every level and format
of production, and DITs (Digital Imaging Technicians), fully
conversant with the myriad menu settings of cameras like the
F35, and able to knowledgeably advise on every project.
For digital productions, Camelot offers verifying, backup,
transcoding and transfer services. A digital projection room
is available to check cameras and footage. Camelot is available
around the clock to respond to production problems and
requests.
Apr-Jul 2009
Run When You Can, DP Alexander Sass.
Still photo © Tom Trambow

Lentequip Breaks Out RED
Lentequip has just completed a new Breakout Box for the RED
One Camera. It solves the problem of connecting accessories to
the RED without going directly through the camera’s accessory
ports, which are current-limited to about 1A. Furthermore, the
Breakout Box allows the use of Lentequip’s new high capacity
NiMh block batteries rated at 13.2V and 28Ah.
The new RED splitter incorporates the popular 3 pin Fischer
receptacle to provide 12V along with an 11 pin Fischer connector
as well. These outputs can, for example, be used for focus
motors that typically require greater current than the camera
can pass through. The splitter is attached between the battery
plate and its holder. It also incorporates a blue status LED
indicating the presence of 12V to the outputs. The XLR input
is ARRI standard (pin 1 is –, pin 4 is +12V DC), and reverse
polarity protected. The kit includes a new aluminum divider
plate that is much lighter than the original RED ones. It is
beautifully machined and anodized. To add this indispensable
accessory to your RED, you can install it yourself if you’re
handy with a soldering iron and don’t have to ask which end to
hold. Otherwise, you can send your battery mount to Lentequip
for conversion. For more information: www.lentequip.com
Element Technica
Because the designers of so many current cameras had amnesia
when it came to the concept of shoulder-resting ergonomics,
Element Technica’s new Mantis Hand-Held Kit comes as a
welcome relief. It is a configurable shoulder-mount for film and
digital motion picture cameras, fully compatible with the RED
One or any camera equipped with an ARRI bridge plate. Its
multi-axis adjustment provides variable distances between the
shoulder-pad and the dovetail to accommodate any operator’s
shoulder angle.
An extremely low-profile 2-axis gimbal connects the shoulderpad
and dovetail, allowing fore/aft linear as well as pan/roll
adjustments. By simply adjusting the angle, the weight of the
camera package can settle into a very stable equilibrium with a
level horizon and low center-of-gravity. The Mantis also offsets
the pan-axis angle of the shoulder-pad relative to the camera
so that the Line-of-Sight of both operator and camera become
perfectly parallel, eliminating neck and torso twisting. The
adjustments can be tweaked in between takes. You can go from
tripod to handheld in just 20 seconds.
Element Technica was founded by Hector Ortega and Stephen
Pizzo, who have collaborated as a design, engineering and
fabrication team for over a decade. Hector, along with his father
Joseph Ortega, were the founders of SL Cine, those wonderful
people who brought us the super lightweight SL-35 Camera. It
was a specially modified Arriflex medical camera with a remanufactured
2C high-speed movement that weighed a mere 84
ounces. Their SL Cine Mags, were made out of magnesium that
became standard issue for lightweight Steadicam and handheld
jobs. The 400' SL Cine Magazine weighed 56 ounces.
Stephen Pizzo worked as a freelance camera assistant as well
as design engineer for over 12 years before going to work at
Wescam/Pictorvision, and now here.
Mantis is designed specifically for Arriflex-style bridge plates
(435, Arricam, Moviecam, Phantom, etc.) and available as a
system or a la carte. www.elementtechnica.com
Apr-Jul 2009
45

46
Bogen Imaging
Apr-Jul 2009
New Stands from Manfrotto
These new stands from Manfrotto Lighting Support are lightweight and compact. Best of
all, they stack together. With a patented Quick Stack System (QSS), the problem of lots of
loose stands banging around in hampers is gone. The new stands are stackable, portable
and neat. They come with 5/8" “Baby” Male Spigots. Connecting the stands together saves
a lot of room while storing them in the studio. A more compact case can be used when
shooting outdoors because of this unique design. Another innovation is Adapto, a new
polymer material specifically developed by Manfrotto for the collars and castings. Adapto
is comparable to aluminum in strength, but is 50% lighter, resists extreme temperatures,
will not corrode, and is an excellent vibration absorbing material.
The lightweight stands come in 7', 8', 9' and 12' heights, and can be purchased individually
or in 3 packs.
Manfrotto 545B Video Tripod
The Manfrotto 545B is a new two-stage, twin leg, lightweight aluminum video tripod.
With improved upper and lower collars, the tripod has greater torsional rigidity and
payload (55 lbs. /25kg) than its predecessor. The die cast aluminum top casting is a
100mm bowl, which can be adapted to 75mm with an optional Manfrotto 100mm to
75mm adapter. The 545B tripod comes with a detachable mid level spreader. Although
you can also get it with a floor-level spreader (545GB), I highly recommend the mid-level
one—it is easier and faster to use. Quick on-off rubber “shoes” provide a good grip on
slippery surfaces, and since you pledged to treat the Contessa’s medieval location with
great respect, will protect her rare hardwood floors from the ravages of the tripod’s points.
Maximum height: 60.3"/154 cm. Closed height: 27.2"/69cm. Weight: 7.7 lbs./3.5 kg.
Litepanels Micro
Bogen Imaging is now the exclusive U.S. distributor of Litepanels’ Micro line of LED
lights for DV and photographic applications. It is a professional, compact LED light made
for production that runs off standard AA batteries. Weighing less than 4 oz. (.11kg) and
measuring 3.3"x 3.3" x 1.5" (83.8mm x 83.8mm x 38.1mm), Litepanels Micro produces
1.5 hours of continuous output from four on-board AA batteries (either standard or
rechargeable). Power can also be supplied through a 5-12V input jack located on the back
of the unit. You can dim the light with minimal color shift. This teenie, daylight-balanced
light is an excellent, dimmable mini Obie light (eye-light), putting sparkle in the eyes.
Formatt Filters WOW
Formatt Filters’ new “WOW Filter” a.k.a. the “Soft Center Beauty Filter” has been
designed specifically for portraits, head shots, talking heads and interviews. Here’s how
it works: The filter has a grade 3 center that helps to create a softer image in the center of
the frame (where you have been sure to position your subject). The filter then feathers
the grade 3 in the center to a grade 2, and finally to a grade 1 on the edges. This gradual
feathering is subtle and doesn’t scream out, “softening!” WOW Filters are all 4mm thick
and come in these sizes: 4 x 5.65, 5 x 5, 5.65 x 5.65 and 6.6 x 6.6 inches.
Reflecmedia Deskshoot Lite Standard Bundle
Reflecmedia Deskshoot Lite Standard Bundle is an entire special effects department in a
single kit, consisting of an 8ft x 8ft Chromatte Curtain, LiteRing (small or medium; green
or blue), Controller and Power Supply. Chromatte is a fabric designed specifically for use
as a background for chromakey production. Unlike conventional chromakey fabrics that
are usually blue or green in color, in ambient light Chromatte is grey to the eye. The fabric
contains millions of tiny glass beads that act as reflectors: when any light, such as the
directional light from Reflecmedia’s lens-mounted LiteRing, hits the fabric, it is returned
on the same path back into the camera’s lens. This retro-reflective process means the
camera “sees” the grey fabric as a perfectly even blue or green background.

Kata One Man Band Bags at Bogen
OMB 74 with Inserttrolley
OMB 75 with
Sony EX1
Do Not
Attempt:
Cutaway
view of OMB
77 for demo
purposes only
Kata’s One Man Band is a rugged, semi-soft carry bag that lets
you tote your camcorder with lens and battery attached, ready
to go. A single One Man Band can replace the many bags you
typically wind up schlepping in and out of airports.
Each of the four One Man Band models is designed to hold an
HD video camcorder, fully set up, ready to shoot, with accessories
such as a matte box, external microphone, battery and
transmitter attached.
There are four models of One Man Band available: OMB-72,
OMB-74, OMB-75 and OMB-77. The latter three have room for
your indispensable laptop.
The OMB-72, 74 and 75 should qualify as carry-on luggage on
most airlines. But check with them first: we were recently busted
with a ridiculous 12 pound weight limit.
The main customizable internal compartment includes dividers
and detachable pouches. You can attach your tripod by strapping
it to the top. Many external pockets let you organize and
quickly access smaller accessories. Carrying options include an
interlocking handle or a shoulder strap. A rear sleeve lets you
slide in the Kata Insertrolley (not included with all models) for
racing from Rome’s International to Domestic Terminals.
Sturdy construction with an aluminium frame and multilayered
foam padding provides protection. Waterproofed
Cordura fabric, Toblerone, rubberized feet and sturdy watertight
zippers ensure that your stuff stays dry.
The OMB-72 is for cameras such as the Sony A1 up to Sony
EX1. The OMB-72 is designed to fit in the overhead storage
compartment for most domestic air carriers. Accessories such as
an external microphone, battery, mini-light, extra batteries and
charger and rain cover fit inside. You can stap a tripod outside.
The OMB-74 is similar to the OMB-72, slightly longer, and
includes a slot for up to a 15.4" laptop computer or flat panel
video monitor.
The OMB-75 is designed to fit cameras such as the Sony
EX1/Z1/V1, Panasonic HVX200/HMC150/HPX170, and Canon
A1/G1. Accessories such as an external microphone, battery,
mini-light, extra batteries and charger, a rain cover and a tripod
can also be carried with the OMB-75. The OMB-75 also includes
a slot for up to a 17" laptop computer or LCD video monitor.
The OMB-77 bag can hold cameras such as the JVC Pro-HD
Series, Canon XLH1 and Sony EX3. Accessories such as an
external microphone, battery, mini-light, extra batteries,
charger, rain cover and a tripod (strapped on top) can also be
carried with the OMB-77. The OMB-77 also includes a slot
for up to a 17" laptop computer or LCD video monitor. The
OMB-77 comes standard with a Kata Insertrolley.
Apr-Jul 2009
47

48
Sachtler SOOM
Camera Support Department in a Soft-Sided, Back-Packable Case
Is the bane of your existence a plethora of plastic tripod tubes
that roll around in the back of your rental car, roll off airport
luggage carts, and roll off the liftgate of the camera truck? Do
you have one tube for standard legs, another for baby legs,
another for the hi-hat, and a big heavy case for the head?
We recently worked with Sachtler’s SOOM System, which is an
entire camera grip department in a soft-sided, back-packable,
two wheeled case. It makes life on location extremely easy. We
had reported on it before, but the more we use it, the more we
appreciate the thoughtful design and time-saving features.
With the Sachtler SOOM System, you can quickly shoot at
heights from 8 inches to 8 feet (20cm to 250cm). Total weight
of the tripod, spreader, and monopod is 12.7 lbs. With a 4.7 lbs
FSB6 head (shown here), you have a manageable 17.6 lbs of gear
to neatly stow inside the SOOM Trolley Bag, made by Petrol.
Sachtler's Sandra Rademacher
demonstrates the SOOM trolley
bag's backpack feature. Total weight
with head, about 17.6 lbs.
Apr-Jul 2009
1. Baby Legs (aka TriSpread). Tripod
Spreader snaps out of Regular Tripod
to become Baby Legs. Height: 21.5
cm - 49 cm / 8.5 in - 19.3 in
There are currently 4 heads to choose with your SOOM System:
FSB2: for cameras 0 - 4.4 lbs / 0 - 2 kg
FSB4: for cameras 0 - 8.8 lbs / 0 - 4 kg.
FSB6: for cameras. 2.2 - 13.2 lbs / 1 - 6 kg.
FSB8: for cameras 2 - 20 lbs / 1 - 9 kg.
The FSB2 weighs about 4.1 pounds, and the FSB8 weighs around
4.7 pounds. So, how do you choose? Heads and things that make
cameras move are very unique to each operator, the way lenses
and lights can separate one cinematographer from another.
Each camera operator has a definitive style; some prefer stiffer
drag, others like very loose settings. My rule of thumb is to go
with the head that supports the highest payload, because you
never know when you’re going to have to add that really long
and heavy lens, big mattebox or hefty 3D rig.
My biggest surprise was how well the Monopod works. Sachtler
calls it the SOOM Tube. Using a good fluid head on top of a
Monopod works wonders, and the fold-out foot rest keeps it
from twisting.
2. Regular Legs. The Standard Tripod, with the
Spreader inside. To turn the TriSpread into Baby
Legs, pull the three red knobs on the end of each
leg. Height: 68.5 cm - 141 cm / 27.0 in - 55.5 in
3. Monopod (aka SOOM Tube).
Lightweight and fast for documentary
situations. Height: 87 cm - 157
cm / 34.2 in - 61.8 in

4. Daddy Long Legs (aka HiPod). The Monopod fits into the center of
the Standard Legs, stabilized by the TriSpread, for additional height. For
Monood-only shooting, loosen the knobs, and pull it out.
Height: 88 cm - 225 cm / 34.6 in - 88.6 in
Sachtler FSB4
Sachtler, the company founded in 1958 by cameraman Wendelin
Sachtler, and now part of Camera Dynamics and The
Vitec Group, has two new fluid heads that attach to the SOOM
System: the FSB 4 (above) and FSB8 (next page). These heads
add to the existing line of SOOM compatible heads: the FSB2
and FSB6.
FSB4
The FSB4 is designed for cameras from 1 to 8.8 lbs (4 kg). It
has an aluminum housing, 3 steps of horizontal and vertical
drag, and 5 steps of counterbalance. A camera sliding base plate
comes with the head, enabling fast and precise balancing.
The FSB4 has an integrated flat base fitting, and attaches to
tripods with 75mm bowls. It tilts 90° straight up and 70° down.
The FSB4 can be paired with Sachtler’s SOOM multifunctional
tripod system that offers height from 8 inches to 8 feet (20 cm to
250 cm).
Another accessory that enhances FSB4 functionality is the FSB
CELL power supply. This 7.2 V battery with a storage capacity of
10.5 Ah mounts directly between the camera and the FSB4.
Apr-Jul 2009
49

50
Sachtler FSB8 and Cine 7+7 HD
Apr-Jul 2009
FSB8
The new Sachtler FSB8 fluid head is intended for cameras up to
20 lbs (9 kg.) and also works with the SOOM System. It has 5
steps of horizontal and vertical drag, and 10 steps of counterbalance.
Its bubble level is powered by one CR2032 battery, and
lights up when touched. The FSB8 tilts 90° straight up and
75° down. It has an integrated flat base fitting, and attaches to
tripods with 75mm bowls.
Sachtler’s Speed Balance (SB) system has replaced the older
Sachtler lever system, so you have more adjustments on the
FSB 8 for quick and accurate counterbalance. Speed Balance
lets you work with a greater payload range, from light to heavy,
than before. The FSB 8 user can smoothly operate the head with
camera packages weighing as little as two pounds.
There are two versions of the FSB8 Head: regular FSB8 and
FSB8T.
"T" stands for Touch & Go: the DV size Touch & Go Quick
Release Plate (above left), available on this head and the FSB6.
The alternative is the Sideload Plate (previous page, on FSB4, top
right) which reduces the weight of the head and can provide a
greater degree of balance, but can dig into your shoulder when
handheld. I prefer Touch & Go.
Note: there are now several sizes of Sachtler Touch & Go Plates:
DV (62 x 45 mm)
16 (78 x 65 mm)
35 (120 x 80 mm)
Cine 7+7 HD
The Cine 7+7 HD fluid head uses a 100mm ball system, so it
doesn't fit on the SOOM. It reminds me of the classic Sacthtler
Panorama 7+7, so named because of its 7 steps of fluid drag.
With a payload range of 4.4 to 48.5 pounds (2-22kg), the 7+7
head supports a variety of HD and film cameras fully loaded and
sprouting long lenses. The head weighs 7.3 lbs (3.3kg). It comes
with a Sideload Camera Plate and clamp. The 6 inch (150mm)
wide displacement area of the camera plate offers the advantage
of easy, lateral loading of the head.
The Cine 7+7 HD fluid head has a 16-step counterbalance.
Additionally, the payload can be switched between “High“ and
“Low“ with the Boost Button. There are 7 horizontal and vertical
adjustable levels of drag, and a zero (0) setting for freewheeling.
The Cine 7+7 HD withstands temperatures better than you
can: from -40 to +140°F (-40° to +60°C), so it is ready to use in
extremely hostile climates, from the Antarctic to the Sahara.
With its 100mm ball, this is an attractive alternative to bigger,
heavier 150mm ball heads when using smaller film and HD
cameras.

New OConnor 2575 D
Tilt Lock
Safety, “maintenance”
horizontal or neutral lock
Pan fluid drag setting: 0 - 9
Pan Lock
FRONT
OConnor has upgraded the classic and ever-popular Ultimate
2575 Fluid Head with the new “D” model. Improvements
include ergonomic changes to controls, two additional rosettes
for attaching the pan handle, and best of all, they moved the
sliding platform release to the smart side, same side as all the
other locking levers: the camera left side.
We love this. All the controls are now on the camera left side for
faster, easier, less-fumbling adjustments.
To remove the sliding platform, undo the red safety catch
and pull the one-touch locking lever back. New ARRI sliding
baseplates now have the same outer dimensions and dovetail as
the OConnor platform, and can be use interchangeably.
The 2575D keeps the counterbalance crank in the same place as
its predecessor, the “C.”
Sliding platform with 3/8 x 16 mounting
bolts
Sliding platform safety catch
Sliding platform release lever
Button for illuminated bubble level
Illuminated bubble level
Pan fluid drag knob
The Model D fluid head’s platform now has index scales on
each side of the head, so you can easily find your predetermined
balance point. The four handle rosettes help you operate from
either side of the head as well as front or back.
The 2575D weighs the same 22.9 lbs. (10.4 kg) as its predecessor,
carrying the same 0-87 lbs. (39.5 kg) payload. It features
OConnor’s stepless, smooth pan and tilt fluid drag. OConnor’s
patented sinusoidal counterbalance crank system provides
accurate, repeatable balance at any point in the tilt range.
All current 2575C accessories are interchangeable on the 2575D.
www.ocon.com
Apr-Jul 2009
51

52
OConnor 2575 D
Here’s a trick on how to adjust the balance and counterbalance:
1. Balance your camera by sliding it forward or aft on the sliding
platform.
2. Set your tilt fluid drag (the knob is at the rear of the head, and
the display is on the lower rear camera right side) to “0.”
3. Crank the counterbalance handle (camera right side) until
your camera is “neutrally buoyant,” meaning you can let go of
the pan handle with the camera in any position, no matter how
far forward or back you’ve tilted it, and it will remain there.
4. Finally, dial in the tilt and pan drag settings you like.
Apr-Jul 2009
Leg clamp lock with
anti-shock shaft to
prevent bending
Tilt fluid
drag
knob
At right: Oconnor’s dual axis counterbalance system: two sets of springs attached
to the tilting platform on top. A balanced camera will not spring back or fall
forward at the end of a shot, and the infinitely adjustable fluid section will give
you the right amount of drag. You can pan and tilt with fingertip pressure.
Sliding platform index marks
Counterbalance digital
readout: 0-99
Counterbalance crank
Tilt Fluid Drag setting:
0-9
Leg locking lever;
adjusts without tools

New from Cartoni
DELTA ROSSO
Tilt 360°
SPINHeaD
SMARTHeaD
Spin 360°:
Rotates
off-center
to offset the
camera
Pan 360°
Cartoni continues to create innovative heads and tripods for film and digital production,
as seen in their booth at NAB.
Cartoni’s DELTA ROSSO is specifically styled for the RED Camera, although it will
also support any camera configuration from 7 to 18 kg (15.5 - 40 lbs). It mounts to all
100mm diameter tripods and supports. Fluid drag and counterbalance are continuous,
and electronic displays clearly indicate the settings. The Delta Rosso is extremely
rugged and versatile.
DELTA ROSSO specs:
Payload capacity: 7kg (15.5lbs) to 18kg (40lbs)
Weight of head: 3.5 kg (7.7lbs)
Pan range: 360 °
Tilt range. + /- 90 °
Counterbalance: continuous
Fluid Drag: continuous
Bowl diameter: 100mm
Temperature range: -40/+ 60 ° C
In 1998, we first saw the Cartoni Lambda Nodal Head, which was helpful not only for
effects shots, but for any tabletop and underslung setup we could imagine. Since then,
more than 700 Lambda Heads were sold worldwide. The new Cartoni SPINHeaD
is sort of like the “Son of Lambda,” a slightly lighter, smaller and similarly unique
support head for any film or digital camera weighing up to 18 kg (40lbs).
Its “L” shape configuration lets you pan and tilt the camera around its optical center.
Both pan and tilt use Cartoni’s patented continuous fluid drag units. These fluid
drag modules are hollow in the center to accommodate cables. Another unique and
patented feature is the “spinning” tilt unit, which offsets the camera—letting you pivot
the camera plate 360 degrees off-center, and locking at any angle you choose.
SPINHeaD Specs:
Load Capacity: 18 kg (40lbs)
Weight: 8.5 kg (18.5lbs)
Pan range: 360°
Tilt range: 360° Spin range: 360°
Temperature range: -40/+ 60°C
Fluid drag: continuous Base: flat Mitchell standard, compatible with Vinten 4 holes, 150mm, 100mm
E-REM 15
Remote Control
Head
At far left, the SMARTHeaD is the junior
member of the Cartoni family of “L”
shaped heads, with 3 drag settings in both
pan and tilt mode as well as zero drag for
freewheeling. It is intended for cameras
up to 5 kg (11 lbs), has a 100 mm bowl,
and a quick release sliding camera plate.
Cartoni’s E-REM 15 Remote Control
Head (near left) was designed and
engineered in partnership with UK’s
Mo-Sys Ltd for cameras and camcorders
up to 15kg (33 lbs). This remote
controlled head can be used on top of
cranes, in virtual studios (with data
output), and can be operated with a
joystick, slavehead or handwheels.
Apr-Jul 2009
53

54
Sci-Tech Awards
Above. Front Row (left to right): Edwin Catmull, Scientific and Technical Awards Committee Chair Richard Edlund, Jessica Biel, Academy President Sid Ganis, and
Mark Kimball. Back Row (left to right): Dominique Chervin, Bruno Coumert, Alexandre Leuchter, Erwin Melzner, Jacques Delacoux, Volker Schumacher, Timo Müller
and Steve Hylén. photo: Todd Wawrychuk / ©A.M.P.A.S. Below: Actress Jessica Biel, hosted the Sci-Tech Awards. Photo: Michael Yada ©A.M.P.A.S.
Angénieux, ARRI and Transvideo—three of our distinguished
sponsoring companies—won 2008 Sci-Tech Scientific and
Engineering Awards at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences’ Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards on
February 7, 2009, in Beverly Hills, California.
The Sci-Tech Awards are held a couple of weeks before the
Oscars, and for many of us gear-heads, are the highlight of
the awards season. In the grand ballroom of the grand Beverly
Wilshire Hotel, the champagne flowed freely, the charred ahi
tuna sashimi, petit filet mignon and sea bass were good, and the
presentation moved at a fun and well-run brisk pace.
Apr-Jul 2009
Awards Committee Chairman Richard Edlund, ASC gave
an articulate and lively introduction before turning over the
presentation to the articulate and lovely host, actress Jessica Biel.
The Sci-Tech awards recognize the critical role played by science
and technology in the moviemaking process and honor the
achievements of those whose work has advanced the motion
picture industry. That is an important distinction: they are
presented in recognition of original developments that result
in significant improvements in motion picture production and
exhibition, not in television, video or commercials.
Scientific and Technical Awards were first presented at the 4th
Academy Awards ceremony in November 1931.
Some Film and Digital Times alumni may remember film
professor Arthur Mayer, who taught at Dartmouth, USC and
Stanford, and was grandfather of USC professor Doe Mayer.
Although I have never been able to confirm his theory, and
despite objections from his wife Lillie, who attended every class,
Arthur insisted that the Academy existed mainly because of the
Sci-Tech Awards, which he claimed were established as a very
scientific way to refute the dreaded Hays Code. “We are serious
scientists,” studios could say, “not the vulgar, immoral, unpleasant,
evil, sin-city producers” whose First Ammendment Rights
had been stripped in 1915 when the Supreme Court declared
that motion pictures were a business and not an art.

Transvideo: “President Directeur General Jacques Delacoux (left) for the concept
and electronic design, and Alexandre Leuchter (right) for the software and
electronic design, of the Transvideo video assist monitors for the motion picture
industry. Using flat-panel color LCD screens, the Transvideo monitors provide
flicker-free video assist bright enough for use in sunlight and have become a
ubiquitous tool in both spherical and anamorphic cinematography.”
Transvideos monitors were the first lightweight, tough, flat-panel, color LCD
displays for video assist, and have become industry-standard workhorses by
virtue of their rugged design and brilliant image, bright enough for use in full
daylight. I think there are over 15,000 Transvideos in use today, not only as
crew-proof on-board mini-monitors, but also as full HD wired and wireless
directors’ and video village monitors.
Angénieux: “Dominique Chervin (left) and Christophe Reboulet for the mechanical
design and Bruno Coumert (right) and Jacques Debize for the optical design of
the compact and lightweight Angénieux 15-40 mm and 28-76 mm zoom lenses
for handheld motion picture photography. With focus and zoom functions that can
be easily controlled by either the operator or focus puller while filming handheld,
these lightweight zoom lenses demonstrate a very high degree of engineering,
supporting both ease of use and quick interchange.”
These small, light, rugged and sharp lenses became de rigeur for handheld,
Steadicam and remote-head cinematography. Angénieux President (center)
Philippe Parain’s acceptance speech ended with great panache, as he held the
two winning lenses aloft. Steve Manios, Sr. was lauded for his original concept
and vision getting these lenses off the ground.
all photos on this page: Michael Yada ©A.M.P.A.S.
ARRI. “Timo Müller (left) for the mechanical design, Erwin Melzner (center)
for the overall concept including the optical and cooling systems, and Volker
Schumacher (right) for the optical design of the ARRIMAX 18/12 HMI lights for
use in motion picture production. With its choice of vari-focus and specular
reflectors, the superior optical and mechanical design of this lighting fixture
allows it to operate at 18,000 watts, producing unsurpassed light quality while
its innovative cooling system keeps the housing safe to touch.”
They are the brightest HMI PARs on the planet, save time and their stellar single
source punch from far away is made even more efficient when used with the
MaxMover, an automated, remote-control pan-tilt-focus stirrup/yoke assembly
for the ARRIMAX.
A Technical Achievement award went to our colleague Steve Hylén “for the
concept and his continued leadership in the further development of the Hylén
Lens System for motion picture effects photography. When attached to a film or
digital production camera, this versatile aerial image device can produce a wide
variety of optical effects interactively, on set and in real time without postproduction
image manipulation.”
The Hylén Lens System is a patented optical device allowing in-camera optical
effects and modification to the image with Panavision film or digital cameras.
It relays an aerial image from the back of a standard lens, and lets you add
various effects, like selective focus, diffusion, keyhole, mattes and other forms of
image manipulation. It is manufactured by SmARTlens Corporation, and rented
exclusively through Panavision.
Apr-Jul 2009
55

56
Sci-Tech Awards: Transvideo and Angénieux
François Perrier on The Covenant.
Hervé Colosio, freelance filmmaker, below, has the enviable job of
shooting Thalassa, the French documentary series about the sea and the
people and places it touches worldwide—shown here framing up with
a Transvideo CineMonitorHD 8 inch on his Sachtler Artemis. Thalassa
began in 1975 and is one of the longest running TV shows.
Apr-Jul 2009
Team Transvideo, left to right: Patrick Boyriven, Marianne Exbrayat, Alexandre
Leuchter, Liz Radley, Jacques Delacoux, Svetlana Serga-Delacoux, Noel Ilaw.
Jacques Delacoux of Transvideo, left, and Steve Manios, right, a legend in the
lens industry, founder of Century Optics, and force behind the introduction of
many products, including the Angénieux Optimo 15-40 and 28-76 zooms.
Transvideo CineMonitorHD on Arriflex D-21 with Andreas Weeber at
Camera Service Center: multi-format inputs allow SD viewing of menus
as well as HD monitoring of the 2K or HD image.

French cinema was well represented at this year’s Sci-Tech
awards. One hundred and thirteen years ago, the first Lumière
cinematographers set off from Lyon to film the world around
them. They carried with them small, light, portable cameras, the
Cinématographe—cranking 35mm film at 16 frames a second.
They traveled to exotic places, including Indochina, Mexico,
Australia—processing, printing and projecting their footage
on location. It was the beginning of an art form that would
introduce universal ideas to the largest audience in history.
Long before punchy Variety headlines, an early film critic wrote,
“Someone went somewhere and saw something and brought it
back for us to look at.” The cinematography of the last century
brought about the democratization of an art form that would
been seen by more people than ever before in history. It began
as a bold experiment carried out by adventurous, charismatic
individuals. The history of cinematography is peppered with
passionate inventors, filmmakers and companies.
Two of these French companies are Transvideo, in Verneuilsur-Avre
and Angénieux, in Saint-Héand. Since 1985, Transvideo
has manufactured specialized equipment for the motion
picture industry. In 1990, company president Jacques Delacoux
introduced the first professional, rugged, flat panel monitors
for the film industry. This transformed the way focus pullers
worked; suddenly you could see the exact framing of the shot,
with a picture so sharp, you could often check focus with it,
and operators could use it as an auxiliary finder. Transvideo is
currently staying on top of new technology with a new line of
monitors: the CineMonitorHD, with histograms, wave form
displays, 3D capability, reference picture and more.
Les Établissements Pierre Angénieux was founded in 1935.
Philippe Parain is the current CEO of Thales Angénieux,
and Dominique Rouchon-Picariello is Director of the Zoom
Division. Over 700 of the popular Optimo 24-290 mm zoom
lenses are in production worldwide, and have become an
industry standard. The two new lightweight, short zooms that
were honored by the Sci-Tech Committee have become equally
popular for handheld, Steadicam, remote cranes, rigs, car
mounts and wherever size and weight of the zoom are critical.
The Optimo 15-40 mm and 28-76 mm zoom lenses both cover
full 35 Silent Aperture, weigh about 2 kg / 4.4 lbs, and open to
T2.6 (no ramping). They come in PL or Panavision mounts.
Above: Philippe Parain, left, the CEO of Thales Angénieux, and Dominique
Rouchon-Picariello, right, Director of the Zoom Division.
Below: Optimo 28-76 and 15-40 zooms. Below, left: Jean-Marc Bouchut,
Service Manager for Angénieux in the USA.
Apr-Jul 2009
57

58
Sci-Tech Awards: ARRI
This was a very selective year. Rarely have so few awards been granted. We spoke to a member of the committee, who asked to
remain anonymous, and learned that although there were many submissions for consideration, only a select few made the cut. The
key ingredients for acceptance require that the product or achievement has made a significant impact on motion picture production,
and the key words are Motion Pictures. About 45 people volunteer for the Scientific and Technical Awards Committee. They
come from many fields within the industry, representing cinematography (production and technical), digital imaging, electronics
and research, film and laboratory, lighting and equipment, mechanical or optical effects and engineering, production, projection,
exhibition techniques and sound.
This year’s presenter Jessica Biel, and the audience, were spared some of the esoteric, obscure and tongue-twisting technologies
prevalent in previous years, such as “an influential and flexible production-proven system that incorporates innovative algorithms
and refined adaptations of published methods to achieve large-scale water effects.” Whew.
Not since 2004 has an AMPAS Scientific and Technical award been given for advancement in lighting equipment. Sometimes
referred to as Sci-Tech Oscars, this was the 15th Scientific and Technical Award for ARRI and a first for their lighting division.
The ARRIMAX combines the variable beam spread of a Fresnel and the light output of a PAR, and uses a unique reflector concept
for beam control that eliminates the need for spread lenses. Since it was introduced a couple of years ago, the ARRIMAX has become
a popular fixture on feature films, and, oh yes, commercials and television.
Apr-Jul 2009
ARRIMAX with
MaxMover
Team ARRI Lighting, left to right:
Charlie Davidson Chief Operating Officer; ARRI Inc.
Juergen Weisshaar Managing Director; Opsira Gmbh
*Volker Schumacher CEO; Esperia Gmbh
*Erwin Melzner Head; R & D Lighting; Arnold & Richter Cine
Technik Gmbh
Ryan Fletcher Technical Marketing Engineer; ARRI Inc.
John Gresch VP Lighting Division; ARRI Inc.
*Timo Müller Product Manager; Location Lighting; Arnold
& Richter
Ingo Susemihl Head; Business Unit Lighting; Arnold &
Richter
Mike Jones Technical Sales Representative; ARRI Inc.
* award winners
ARRIMAX 18/12
HMI light

Litepanels
1x1 Bi-Focus, rear
1x1 Bi-Focus
1x1 Bi-Color
Litepanels has moved to a larger location in Van Nuys, California. With all that
extra new space, the Litepanels crew has been hard at work developing new lights in
time for NAB: Litpanels 1x1 Bi-Focus, 1x1 Bi-Color, and 1x1 Super-Spot.
Fresnels focus, but they’re hot and eat amps. Litepanels’ new 1x1 LED Bi-Focus is a
revolutionary, new variable spot and flood light. The patented 1x1 Bi-Focus light has
two complete groups of Litepanels’ proprietary daylight LEDs—one set of spot and
one set of flood—all in a single one-foot by one-foot square fixture with 1152 LED
bulbs. With the FOCUS dial, you can crossfade between the two sets for infinitely
variable flood or spot settings. Like the other Litepanels 1x1 lights, this 3 pound,
cool-to-the-touch fixture has 100% to 0 dimming and runs off a battery or AC.
The new 1x1 LED Super-Spot focuses to a narrow 15° beam at 5600°K, providing
a longer throw than the existing 1x1 Litepanels Spot (which focus to 30°.) Like all
Litepanels fixtures, the 1x1 Super-Spot remains cool to the touch and uses about
10% of the power required by traditional lighting fixtures.
Litepanels new 1x1 Bi-Color LED Light addresses the challenge, up to now, for
cinematographers, videographers and still photographers who, when faced with a
change of lighting conditions between daylight and tungsten, either had to swap
lighting fixtures entirely, re-lamp the fixture, or attach time-consuming and lightconsuming
gels in front of the fixture.
The new Litepanels 1x1 Bi-Color is a single fixture capable of rendering color
temperature of either 3200°K or 5600°K, or an infinite range of color temperatures
in between. The Bi-Color includes complete sets of both 3200°K and 5600°K LEDs.
This allows a lighting crew to use one kind of fixture to cover both tungsten and
daylight conditions. Color temperature can be dialed in by using either the onboard
dial or digital color temperature settings, or with a built in DMX lighting controller.
The Bi-Color user can make quick adjustments to match unusual mixes of color
temperature, or to enhance skin tones.
All of the Litepanels 1x1 LED fixtures have a full-range integrated dimmer that
enables instant dimming from 0 to 100 percent with minimum shift in color.
Because Litepanels fixtures generate practically no heat, there is an additional
savings in the energy that would otherwise be required for air conditioning.
The modular design of the 1x1 Litepanels fixture makes it easy to customize the
lighting configuration to meet the shoot’s requirements. With a slim profile, 12"
W x 12" H x 1.75" D (30.48cm x 30.48cm x 43mm), these lights are helpful in tight
places. They can be powered from a variety of 12-30V sources, including an optional
battery, car battery, or AC adapter. The optional on-board 1.75 hour lithium-ion
battery pack provides untethered, “wireless” lighting. Silent and heat free, Litepanels
1x1s can be positioned comfortably close to the talent.
1x1 Bi-Color 5600°K 4500°K 3200°K
Apr-Jul 2009
59

60
Dedolight System
If you were a busy cameraman shooting in Europe in the last 40
years, chances are that you worked with Dedo Weigert (above,
left), rented his equipment or used his lights. Dedo worked as
a director, producer and cinematographer on many features,
commercials, documentaries and television shows.
(Above and below) Dedo’s eponymous company in Munich,
Dedo Weigert Film, grew into a major rental house, distributor
of products, designer and manufacturer of the famous
Dedolight System.
Apr-Jul 2009
Dedo’s company, Dedo Weigert Film GmbH, was founded in
1965. They supplied equipment, logistics and crews for ABC
Sports, American Sportsman, Wide World of Sports and many
others. Once upon a time, mini buses could carry all the equipment,
cast and crew of an entire feature.
Dedo built his first Dedolight in 1984. He used his experience
as a cinematographer to develop the products he wanted and
thought his colleagues could use. For a long time, there was only
one Dedolight, now known as the Classic.
photo: Marek Czarnecki

photo: Marek Czarnecki
In addition to manufacturing lights, Dedo Weigert’s company has grown into one of the main European importers of equipment
for professional film, broadcast and specialized photography. They represent Anton/Bauer, Cooke, Chimera, Innovision, Kino Flo,
Lowel, Luminys, Photoflex, Photosonics, Tiffen, Transvideo, Ronford-Baker, Vision Research and many others. They are also the
largest supplier and rental facility for high-speed film and video on the European continent, with the latest and most advanced
equipment and technicians. More than sixty employees work there.
This is the classic Dedolight. Most of us would never leave home without one, especially on a commercial, tabletop shoot, feature,
architectural job or any other production requiring a versatile and flexible light. The Classic DLH4 is now in its 4th generation. It
uses a low-voltage 12 or 24 v bulb (maximum of 150 watts, but many times more powerful than the wattage would indicate). They
come with on-board dimmable power supplies, external ones, all kinds of accessories, including projection attachments, gobos to
cast shadows and shapes, and many lenses to focus the light.
Apr-Jul 2009
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Dedolight Classic
four-unit control
Apr-Jul 2009
photo by: Yuliy Nazarov
The Dedolight is uses a reflector and two aspheric lenses. It can
focus 23:1 from spot to flood; a comparable small fresnel light
has an average range of only 3:1.
Dedolights provide a clean, sharp beam, without any stray light.
They produce 40 lumens per watt, compared with 20 to 25
lumens per watt of high voltage halogen lamps. In combination
with the optical system, its output can be compared with at least
a traditional 500 watt fresnel.
The low voltage lamps are low cost and have a long life. They are
resistant to shock and vibration. The DLH4 lights can be used in
rain, snow and hostile environments like New York winters and
Vancouver liquid sunshine. Color and light intensity are even,
without hot spots. The housing is more compact, and cooler,
because it uses low voltage bulbs.
There are many power options: onboard supplies, four-unit
controls (below, left) and new, small inline dimmers.
inline dimmer

Series 200, Daylight, Tungsten, Soft and DLOBML
Dedo has introduced some exciting new lights. The Series 200 lights are 200 watts, and come in two different housings. The focusing
DLH200D uses double aspheric lenses (14:1 focus/flood range) and a choice of HMI or Ceramic Tungsten bulbs (above, left). There
are actually two ways to switch from daylight to tungsten. You can use a dichroic tungsten filter, which is quick, but loses a little
light. Or you can wait for the bulb to cool down, and replace it with a tungsten balanced ceramic lamp, which provides four times
the light output of a regular tungsten bulb. Both bulbs use the same flicker-free, dimmable ballast.
The DLH200S (above right) uses the same bulbs and ballasts, but is used in a softbox, like the Dedoflex Octagonal (below, left),
Chimeras, Photoflex, etc. The high temperature glass housing provides double UV protection: no sunburns.
New for news shooters, wedding videographers and anyone
else who must mount a light onto the camera is Dedo’s
DLOBML—Dedo Light On Board Mini LED. It has a flip
up diffuser to soften the light and a dichroic filter to go
from daylight to tungsten. It dims, focuses and runs off
6-18 volt batteries, so you can use Anton/Bauers or even
prosumer camcorder batteries.
Apr-Jul 2009
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ARRI High Definition Video Assist
Framegrab: Standard Definition Video Assist
Framegrab: HD-IVS Video Assist, showing Ground Glass “grain”
Framegrab: HD-IVS Video Assist with Ground Glass Cancellation
Apr-Jul 2009
By now, Klaus Jacumet might be used to being awakened in the
middle of the night. Years ago, he made the mistake of giving
me his home number in Munich. If we happened to be on
location in Luzon, and wanted to find out how to send the video
assist signal, timecode and metadata into an AVID, or how to
automatically start the sound recorder with the camera, Klaus
was our lifeline and guru at ARRI.
Just as we were about to go to press, Klaus got even by waking
me up early one morning with exciting news about ARRI’s new
HD IVS Video Assist System that makes its debut at NAB.
Cutting to the chase: the ARRI HD-IVS not only has 1920
x 1080 High Definition resolution, but it also electronically
removes the grainy artifacts of the ground glass. Imagine, a
pristine, high definition video assist image that is flicker-free,
sharp and has three stops more dynamic range than current IVS
video assists.
Three pictures are worth a lot of words. Look at the framegrab,
top left. That’s what we’re currently used to seeing in Video
Village: a Standard Definition 768 x 494 pixel NTSC image.
Notice how murky the test chart appears.
The middle framegrab is from the new ARRI HD-IVS, at 1920
x 1080 pixels. It is much sharper. Hopefully our printers did a
good job, and you can see the graininess of the ground glass.
The bottom framegrab is from the same HD-IVS, but this
time the Ground Glass Cancellation software has been turned
on. Imagine the benefits: it will be much easier for a camera
assistant to check focus on a good HD mini monitor. The
director will now actually be able to see the shot, instead of a low
resolution semblance of it. The script supervisor can see that the
top button of the talent’s dress is buttoned in take one, but open
in take two. The cinematographer can see more details in the
highlights than previously.
Cinematographers will be delighted to learn that framegrabs can
be stored to a USB stick via the USB port on the HD-IVS. Now
you can send standard files to your dailies colorist or DI grader
right from the camera, instead of having to shoot separate
digital stills.
Since the beginning of time, cinematographers have wistfully,
wishfully, remembered the days before video assist. We’re
talking about the beginning of time as the invention variously
attributed to Jerry Lewis, Stanley Kubrick, Steve Horn, Ron
Dexter or any one of many other DPs. In those primordial days,
the all-mighty and infallible prestige of the cinematographer
rested on the full faith of cast and crew in the alchemical magic
of optical and mechanical machinations that would render a
beautiful image at dailies the following day. With video assist, of
course, everyone became an instant critic and the cinematographer
was either the diplomatic bait or apologist, at first, of black
and white in a color world, and later, of low resolution images

in a much sharper cosmos. I can now imagine a producer calling
me up from Kazakhstan, pleading for someone’s home number,
because the entire day’s film footage was ruined when it washed
away in a monsoon flood. But, he wonders, is there a way to
cancel the frame lines along with the rest of the ground glass
grain, acknowledging that a 1920 x 1080 video assist image is
nowhere near as good as film, but it’s an image, right? Maybe
not.
For Ground Glass Compensation, you first shoot one of several
reference frames of a neutral gray card whenever a new ground
glass or a wide angle lens is used. This “teaches” the IVS about
the grain structure of the ground glass, so it “knows” what to
remove.
The aperture of the HD-IVS is motorized, and can be controlled
from its control panel or remote displays. A 4:3 and 16:9 lens
will be available for the HD-IVS. It can be changed at the rental
house, depending on your format and monitors.
Among its many other talents, the ARRI HD-IVS outputs at
23.98, 24, 25, 29.97 or 30 fps. It is 4:2:2 progressive, progressive
segmented frame, or interlaced. There are three HD-SDI BNC
connectors at the back of the unit. One provides HD video.
The second one provides HD video along with metadata, such
as camera speed, footage and lens information. The third BNC
connector is switchable to provide clean picture or picture
superimposed with metadata—which should be helpful for
onboard mini-monitors or additional feeds.
Flicker-free viewing can be turned on and off. As with previous
IVS models, there is automatic and manual gain control.
Here’s an exciting new tool that should, I think, be of great help
to us all. With thanks to Klaus Jacumet, ARRI R&D Project
Manager, for sharing his writing, articles and pictures—and for
his years of advice and assistance.
HD-IVS for ARRICAM Studio
HD-IVS for Arriflex 435 Xtreme
HD-IVS for ARRICAM Lite
Apr-Jul 2009
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Greiser Goes to ZGC
Apr-Jul 2009
Thomas Greiser, above, recently joined ZGC as Technical Sales Representative.
In his previous life as Product Manager for Digital Systems at Arri Inc, Thomas
joined us on many adventures: from bicycle-cam on Venice Beach with Karl
Walter Lindenlaub, ASC and Curtis Clark, ASC, to the slopes of Sundance. At
Arri Inc, he started in the electronics department, worked with both film and
digital cameras, and was involved with many products, including the Locpro 35
location film projector, the Arriscan film scanner, Arrilaser film recorder and the
ARRI D-20 and D-21 digital camera.
Thomas will work out of ZGC’s Mountain Lakes, New Jersey headquarters,
which represents, among other companies, P+S Technik’s SteadyFrame Scanner,
Weisscam and 3D Rig, in North and South America.
The SteadyFrame Scanner is designed for scanning large quantities of film in
a short period of time at the highest quality possible without damaging the
film. This makes it especially attractive for film archives. It handles Standard
and Super 16mm, Standard and Super 35mm, 4 perf, 3 perf and 2 perf, and
all pitches: positive, negative and intermediate. There is no pull-down claw
or registration pin; each frame of film is repositioned electronically. The light
source is an RGB LED and the sensor is a 12 bit CCD. Current frame rate is 8
fps, but upgrades are anticipated for realtime scanning. The SteadyFrame scans
to DPX 10 bit, TIFF 8/16 bit and CineForm Intermediate files at 2K resolution.
Its anticipated realtime scanning ability and ease of use make it attractive for
dailies as well. Cineric in New York is using one now.
The WEISSCAM, discussed in our previous issue, is a digital high speed camera
system, developed by cinematographer Stefan Weiss with P+S Technik. The
WEISSCAM provides a choice of image formats, frame rates, and live ramping.
The P+S Technik 3D Stereo Rig is discussed in articles that follow.

IN-N-OUT Burners
IN-N-OUT Burgers is my first stop when landing at Burbank
Airport from New York. We don’t have them in New York,
but we should: good burgers on freshly baked buns, with crispy
lettuce, tomato and an artery-clogging sauce, served by an
eternally cheerful staff. The easy ordering IN your car and quick
take OUT might be a tasty metaphor for the current state of our
Digital Intermediate Ins and Outs.
This year we saw intense hybrid production with pictures
like Slumdog Millionaire. It was shot using a combination
of Arricams and Arriflex 435 on 35mm film (Fujifilm Color
Negative stocks Super F64D, Eterna 500T, 250D and Reala
500D), SI-2K (raw digital data) and even a Canon still camera.
This cinematographic stew was ingested with Scanners (film
images in), combined with the digital elements, digested as data,
and then burned out by Film Recorders that “print” the image
back to film, sort of like your laser printer at home.
To record a film-out with an ARRILASER, for example, your
favorite facility will thread up to 2,000 feet of film under the
top lid. They bring your digital intermediate files up on the
Windows XP interface, and after setting up parameters, hit
“record.”
The ARRILASER exposes each frame of pin-registered film, pixel
by pixel, with short bursts, about 30 nanoseconds, of very bright
light from three lasers (red, green, blue). For a 4K image, that’s
12,746,752 (4,096 x 3,112) bursts in 3.8 seconds per frame.
As we learned from the Academy’s “Digital Dilemma” Report
(www.oscars.org/science-technology/council/projects/digitaldilemma),
it costs around $13,000 a year to store and clone digital
files, but only a few hundred dollars to store film in a vault.
The result of this lesson is that many studios are now doing color
separation film-outs of their projects onto black and white from
red, blue and green passes. Some of the films that are used for
burning film-outs on the ARRILASER include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fujifilm ETERNA-RDI 8511/4511 Digital Master (negative)
Fujifilm ETERNA-CI 8503/4503 Color Intermediate for
master positives and dupe negatives.
Kodak Vision Color Intermediate Film 5242/2242
EASTMAN Fine Grain Duplicating Panchromatic
Negative Film 5234/5366; Separation Material 2238
optional: Fujifilm 64D 8522
Fujifilm ETERNA Vivid 160 8543
Kodak Vision 2 100
Kodak Vision 2 50D 5201
Apr-Jul 2009
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Fujifilm RDI for Digital Intermediates
Imagine you’re the star of the latest action blockbuster. Or the recipient of this year’s Academy Sci-Tech award. You emerge from
your politically and environmentally correct stretch Prius Hybrid limo, facing a long red carpet and a phalanx of paparazzi. They
are flashing away—hundreds of cameras and hundreds of strobes. You wish you had remembered Jack Nicholson’s advice about
wearing sunglasses.
Now, imagine what a 2000 foot roll of film feels like inside the dark
chamber of an ARRILASER film recorder. Instead of the normal,
relatively low and slow exposures of an optical/chemical printing
machine, or the gentle 1/48th of a second exposure at 24 frames per
second under relatively normal light levels—the Laser is exposing the
film at incredibly bright levels of very short duration.
Apr-Jul 2009
Although the laser beams travel in very narrow, parallel paths, when they
hit the film, the light can scatter. This can—not always, but sometimes—
cause lower contrast or softer images.
Film and Digital Times has learned that Fujifilm was working with ARRI
in developing a new film specifically for use with the ARRILASER. Now,
to my knowledge, ARRI still has the only Laser, so this partnership seems
to me to be a salubrious thing.
The New ETERNA Films are Optimized for Digital Film Recording and Duplication
If anything is going to accelerate us into the 4K digital production world, it may be this new ETERNA-RDI from Fujifilm. I know,
I know: at 2K DI takes up about 6 Terabytes with color correction, and a 4K DI uses up more storage than most post houses own
(about 65 Terabytes). But Moore’s Law promises cheaper and faster storage very soon, and many of us can see the difference
between 2K and 4K, arguments to the contrary notwithstanding. And, above all, most of the finer grain modern film stocks have
emulsions whose “sensors” (those nano-sized grains of silver) are capable of providing upwards of 4K, 6K, even 8K when scanned.
ETERNA-RDI is, I think, the first film designed specifically for digital film recorder output. By taking into account the unique
properties of laser recording, image sharpness, color separation and exposure latitude were improved. Color crosstalk has been
reduced—crosstalk is like colors bleeding when you wash a striped T-Shirt. This represents a big improvement in the reproduction
quality of digital film recording. Exposure latitude has been expanded, especially in highlight areas.

Image stability has also been improved: this is important because you don’t want any density variations when an entire 2,000 foot
roll can take over 10 hours to record. Although not published, the estimated EI (ASA, exposure index) is somewhere around 1 to 5.
Fujifilm’s new ETERNA-CI is a color intermediate film for making master positives and duplicate negatives using the same technology
as ETERNA-RDI. It also provides improved image sharpness and color reproduction truer to the original.
The ETERNA films have a new Light Control Layer that reduces light scattering in the film layers. Reduced scatter means higher
definition. Also, since the laser beams expose the film in very quick bursts, the film characteristics have been optimized to prevent
reciprocity errors (exposure changes due to very high or very low exposure times.)
Apr-Jul 2009
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3-D Stereoscopic Cinematography
by Rob Hummel Fig. 1 When we look at
You arrive at the theater, about to see a 3-D movie. You get a
pair of polarized glasses. The movie starts, and you are amazed
how objects seem to reach deep behind the screen, and at other
times, objects come right off the screen, appearing to hover
above the audience member’s head in front of you. Is this the
latest 2009 3-D release of an animated feature film?
No, I’m describing what happened as you walked into the
Chrysler Pavilion at the 1939 New York World’s Fair to watch
Tune in to Tomorrow. That was the first public use of lightweight
polarized glasses for a 3-D motion-picture. Even Dr.
Edwin Land, the inventor of thin sheet polarizing material, was
involved in the production.
Yet even this is predated by John Anderton, who was granted
a US Patent on July 9th, 1895 for “Method By Which Pictures
Projected Upon Screens By Magic Lantern Are Seen In Relief.”
Anderton had already obtained patents in England (July 7,
1891) and France (Oct. 8, 1892). His technique utilized polarized
projected images and glasses; however he used polarizing
crystals instead of thin sheets of plastic, so it never ended up
being very practical. What we’re witnessing today are improvements
on technologies that are over a century old. Stereoscopic
cinematography is more complex than one article can cover.
This is intended as a primer on the basic constructs of a complex
medium, one that I hope will encourage further research on the
subject. In order to save some ink, we will cave to convention
and henceforth refer to stereoscopic cinematography as “3-D.”
Definitions
Left Eye: Photographed images that are intended to be seen only
by a person’s left eye. This term can refer to the lens or camera
that is capturing the left-eye images, or the left-eye images
projected in a theater.
Right Eye: Photographed images that are intended to be seen
only by a person’s right eye. In 3-D Cinematography, often
called the Master Eye, or Dominant Eye.
Stereoscopic: Refers to the dual imagery obtained when viewed
from two vantage points slightly offset horizontally from one
another. Quite simply, it is what we observe when viewed with
our left and right eyes, and gives a sense of dimensionality to
objects closer than 13' to 16'. Also called “binocular vision.”
Monocular Depth Perception: Refers to depth perception not
requiring dual image cues, or the depth perception that comes
into play with objects farther than 13' to 16’ away.
Screen Plane: The position in a theater where the projection
surface is located; a vertical plane coincident with the screen
that helps define where objects appear in front of, behind, or on
the screen.
Apr-Jul 2009
something on the horizon, our
eyes are focused at infinity and
look straight ahead.
Fig 2. Eyes Converging
on a close object.
Convergence: What happens with the human visual system as
two images seen with the left and right eyes become overlaid so
they become one image. When looking at an object at infinity,
your eyes are looking straight ahead (Fig. 1).
Convergence happens when stereoscopic depth perception
comes into play, i.e., when objects you are targeting/focusing on
are closer than 13'-16' (Fig. 2). When focused at infinity, objects
close to you appear as two transparent images; as you converge
on those close objects, they become one solid image, and objects
in the background become double images. Convergence in 3-D
Cinematography is when the two taking lenses are aimed to
converge on a single point in space.
Plane of Convergence: The vertical plane where your eyes are
directed to converge on a 3-D object. If an object appears to be
floating in front of the movie screen, the plane of convergence
is where that object appears to be. The same would apply to objects
appearing to be “behind” the screen.
Proscenium Arch: In 3-D projection parlance, this refers to
the edge of the screen which becomes important when an “off
screen” object approaches the edge of the screen and becomes
occluded (blocked).
Interocular: the distance between your eyes. Also known to
your optometrist as interpupillary distance, when you are fitted
for prescription eye glasses. Most people have interocular distances
of about 6.3 cm. Often confused with Interaxial...
Interaxial: Very import term in 3-D, it is the distance between
the centers of the left and right camera lenses. In 3-D Cinematography,
the interaxial distance between the taking lenses needs
to be calculated on a shot by shot basis. Within reason, the interaxial
can be altered to exaggerate or minimize the 3-D effect.
The 3-D Cinematographer must weigh several factors when determining
the appropriate interaxial for a shot. They are: focal
length of taking lenses, average screen size for how the movie
will be projected, continuity with the next shot in the final edit,
and whether it will be necessary to have a dynamic interaxial
that will change during the shot. Because the interaxial distances
are crafted for a specific theatrical presentation, a 3-D
motion picture doesn’t easily drop into a smaller home viewing
environment. A movie usually will require adaptation and
modification of the interaxial distances in order to recreate the
same stereoscopic effects in a small home theater display screen
environment.

Once you become enmeshed in the world of 3-D, you will encounter
many differing opinions on the appropriate ways to
photograph and project a 3-D image. For example, when you’re
originating images for large-format 3-D presentations (Imax,
Iwerks, etc.), some people will direct you to photograph images
in ways that differ from the methods used for 1.85:1 or
2.40:1 presentations. Part of this is due to the requirements for
creating stereoscopic illusions on a large-screen (rather than
small-screen) environment, but approaches also derive from
personal preferences. In this article, we’re trying to just present
the indisputable facts, and avoid the emotional interpretations
of stereoscopic imaging. Those unfamiliar with stereoscopic
cinematography think it involves merely adding an additional
camera to mimic the left-eye/right-eye way we see the world,
and everything else about the image-making process remains the
same. If that were the case, this article wouldn’t be necessary.
First of all, “3-D” movies are not actually three-dimensional.
3-D movies hinge on visual cues to your brain that trigger depth
stimuli, which in turn create an illusion resembling our 3-D
depth perception. In a theatrical environment, this is achieved
by simultaneously projecting images that represent, respectively,
the left-eye and right-eye points of view. Through the use of
glasses worn by the audience, the left eye sees only the left-eye
images, and the right eye sees only the right-eye images.
Most people believe depth perception is only created by the use
of our eyes. This is only partially correct. As human beings, our
left-eye/right-eye stereoscopic depth perception ends somewhere
between 13' and 16' (4 to 5 meters). Beyond that, where
stereoscopic depth perception ends, monocular depth perception
comes into play.
Monocular depth perception is an acquired knowledge you gain
gradually as a child. For example, when an object gets larger, you
soon learn it is getting closer, and when you lean left to right,
objects closer to you move side to side more quickly than distant
objects. Monocular depth perception is what allows you catch a
ball, for example.
3-D movies create visual depth cues based on where left-eye/
right-eye images are placed on the screen. When you want an
object to appear on the same plane as the movie screen, both
left- and right-eye images are projected onto the same location
on the screen. When photographing such a scene, the cinematographer
takes into account the apparent distance of the screen
plane to the audience and then chooses the appropriate lenses as
determined by the width of the field of view.
For example, a wide landscape vista might create a screen-plane
distance that appears to be 40' from the audience, whereas a
tight close-up might make the screen appear to be 2' from the
audience. Fig. 4 illustrates when an object is at the screen plane
and where the audience’s eyes converge while viewing it. (Fig. 4
also effectively shows where your eyes converge and focus when
watching a standard 2-D movie without special glasses).
Fig. 4 Eyes
converging on
an “on screen”
object. As seen
from above, looking
down on the
audience and the
screen plane.
If we want an object to appear behind the screen, the image
is photographed with the lenses converged behind the screen
plane. On set, the screen plane is an invisible plane that you
establish to control where objects will be placed by the viewer of
the 3-D film. In the theater, of course, the screen plane is a very
real, physical object. When a behind-the-screen object is projected,
it looks similar to what is shown, below, in Fig. 5.
In Fig. 5, the right-eye and left-eye images are kept separated by
the special glasses worn by the audience; in other words, the left
eye sees only the left-eye image and the right eye sees only the
right-eye image.
Fig. 5 How a
behind screen
object is created.
If you were to remove your glasses, you would see both images
simultaneously, like this, Fig. 6:
Fig. 6 A projected 3-D image viewed without special glasses
Apr-Jul 2009
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Hummel on 3D
Next, we want an object to appear in front of the screen plane,
so that from the audience’s perspective, the object appears to
be coming into the theater and closer to the viewer’s face. This
is achieved on set by adjusting the angulation of the left- and
right-camera lenses so they are converging in front of the
theater screen plane. When projected, the images are viewed by
the audience as illustrated in Fig. 7.
Fig. 7 How an
object appearing in
front of the screen
is created.
This technique can be used to make audience members perceive
that an object is very, very close to their faces. It creates a very
effective 3-D illusion, but experience has shown that extreme
examples of this effect should be used sparingly, if at all. Remember
that while viewers will be converging that object mere
inches from their eyes, they will still be focusing on the screen
plane many feet away. As a result, this type of 3-D “gag” (when
properly done) always gets gasps from an audience yet, because
of that disparity of focus, never quite matches reality.
This example illustrates an important difference between 3-D
movies and what you experience in real life. In life, when an object
is half a meter from your face, your eyes converge and focus
at half a meter from your face. In a 3-D movie environment, you
can choose an angle of view and scale that, from your perspective,
makes an object appear to be half a meter from your face
even as your eyes are focused on the screen plane, which may be
anywhere from 4 to 30 meters (15' to 100') away from you.
That doesn’t mean the 3-D approach is “wrong”; it’s just an example
of why 3-D depth cues in a 3-D movie often seem to be
exaggerated — why 3-D movies seem to have more enhanced
stereoscopic depth than reality.
When an object appears on the screen plane, every member of
the audience sees the object at the same location on the screen
because the left- and right-eye images appear precisely laid on
top of each other (and thus appear as one image). Basically,
the image appears the same as it would during a regular “2-D”
movie projection (Fig. 8).
Apr-Jul 2009
Fig. 8 On screen objects are seen in the
same location by all audience members.
Take a look at Fig. 9, below, however, and see how things change
when an object is placed behind the screen plane. Your specific
location in the theater will affect your perception of where that
behind-screen object is located. Also, how close you are to the
screen will affect how far behind the screen an object appears to
be; the closer one’s seat is to the screen, the shorter the distance
between the screen and the object “behind” it appears to be.
Fig. 9 Audience position affects both lateral and
depth convergence of behind screen objects.
Again, it is not “wrong” that this happens. Fig. 9 simply clarifies
the point that stereoscopic cinematography is not 3-D. Were
it truly 3-D, every audience member would see these behindscreen
objects in the same location. When planning shots for a
3-D motion picture, the filmmaker should be conscious of how
a dramatic moment might be received by viewers seated in various
locations. Audience position will also affect the perceived
location of off screen objects as well.
My next points concern the proscenium arch and “off-screen”
objects. As mentioned earlier, the edges of the screen image
(top, bottom, left and right) are collectively referred to as the
proscenium arch. This is a nod towards live theater, where the
term applies to that area of the stage in front of the curtain.
In 3-D, the term is used when referring to objects that appear to
be in front of the screen plane. In short, the edges of the screen
are relevant to objects appearing in front of the screen plane.
Such an object can have very strong stereoscopic convergence
cues that will make it appear to be “floating” very close to a

viewer’s face. A good example of this phenomenon occurs in the
film Muppet*Vision 3D, during a scene in which the characters
Waldo and Kermit the Frog appear to extend into the audience
while clinging to the end of a ladder. A more recent example of
this principle can be seen in Beowulf, when a spear is thrust toward
Beowulf’s face after he arrives on a beach.
If that floating object moves so close to the edge of the screen
that it is occluded by that edge, your brain will quickly employ
its knowledge of monocular depth cues, and your perception
that the object is floating in front of the screen will diminish to
the point of inconsequence. Your brain has learned that when
one object is occluded (blocked) by another, the occluded object
must be farther away. In spite of all the stereoscopic depth cues,
your brain knows that if that object is occluded by the edge of
the screen, then it must be at or behind the screen plane. This
scenario will be very noticeable to viewers as their brains attempt
to sort out these contradictory depth cues.
Monocular depth perception overrules stereo depth cues because
we are hard-wired to protect ourselves from danger. Because
most danger (such as an approaching lion, bear or sabertoothed
tiger) starts from outside our stereoscopic depth zone,
it’s easy to understand how the brain defaults to the depth cues
that govern most of our life. The 3-D axiom to remember is that
off-screen objects should never touch the edge of the screen,
because if they do, the illusion will be disrupted. The illusion is
most effective with objects that can float or be thrust toward the
audience. You will also notice that when you experience these
illusions, filmmakers are keeping the off-screen objects closer to
the center of the screen in order to avoid the proscenium arch.
As with many axioms, however, there is sometimes an exception.
There is a scenario in which an occluded object can still
appear as though it is coming off the screen. Imagine a medium
shot of a man who walks from behind the screen plane toward
the screen plane, and then continues toward the audience until
he is in front of the screen. Surprisingly, this shot will still
work with the character apparently coming off the screen, even
though the lower half of his body is cut off by the bottom of the
projected image. The requirement for it to work, contrary to our
earlier axiom, is that the viewer must have other audience members
in front of him, with the bottom of the screen occluded by
people’s heads. When the bottom of an object is occluded by
people very close to you, your brain will still believe the object is
getting closer. However, even a clear view of the bottom of the
screen will result in a fairly good effect of the man coming off of
the screen; because we’re programmed to look straight ahead,
and often don’t see, or focus on the lower half of a person coming
towards us. Obscuration of the lower half of a person usually
won’t entirely ruin the off screen effect.
One must also be aware of the constraints on editing in 3-D.
This concept is relatively simple to grasp but is often disregarded
to the detriment of a 3-D presentation. When editing for 3-D,
it is important to consider the convergence extremes that the
audience will experience in order to realize the stereoscopic illusion.
For example, if the audience is viewing action that occurs
behind the screen plane, it is inadvisable to then cut directly to
an object in front of the screen. The average viewer will have
difficulty converging the suddenly “close” object, to the point
where he or she might see double images for several moments.
Experienced viewers of 3-D films won’t have this problem, and
this can lead to mistakes if you happen to be part of the creative
team involved in a 3-D production. If you work extensively
in post for 3-D movies, you become more and more adept at
quickly converging disparate objects. However, your audience
won’t have the advantage of exercising their eyes as much as
someone working on a 3-D film. If this disparity isn’t taken into
account, the resultant movie can cause problems for the audience.
The filmmakers will have no trouble watching it, but the
average viewer will be fumbling for Advil, finding it difficult
to converge 3-D images that cut between extreme positions in
front of and behind the screen plane.
Some 3-D films attempt to guide the viewer to converge objects
in front of the screen. They do this by slowly bringing an object
closer to the audience, allowing viewers to track the object as
it comes farther and farther off the screen. The makers of the
theme-park attraction Captain EO accomplished this with a shot
of a floating asteroid that comes off the screen at the beginning
of the film. In Muppet*Vision 3D, the effect is created with the
simple gag of a “3-D” logo positioned at the end of a broomstick
that is pushed into the audience’s face; the effect is repeated at
the end of the film with the shot of Kermit perched at the end of
a fire truck’s ladder. In Terminator2: 3-D, Robert Patrick’s molten
head slowly comes out off the screen towards the audience.
Sound complicated? It is! That’s why before you embark upon
your Stereoscopic 3-D production, you must do your homework,
and ideally work with an experienced Stereographer.
Rob Hummel seen in 2D at the ASC clubhouse. Rob Hummel’s career has
revolved around understanding and explaining how the use of visual images
complement the telling of a story. At places ranging from Technicolor, Disney,
Warner Bros., and DALSA, Rob’s understanding of the underpinnings of how to
achieve the best imagery possible has helped him optimize production workflows
from Animation to Digital Intermediates. You’ll often find him hosting some panel
or seminar helping explain arcane concepts so that all can understand.
Apr-Jul 2009
73

74
My Impertinent Education
by Alain Derobe, AFC
I’ve always managed to avoid talking about myself, but today it
seems I have my back against the wall. And suddenly I realize
that I have never been conscious of the real motivation that had
pushed me towards filmmaking, research and invention.
“Real” has always seemed to me a better word than “superficial,”
even if it seriously hampers a behavior which I know is
sometimes not so spontaneous. Everyone searches his or her
early childhood to dig out a few reconstructed memories that
could be the foreshadowing signs of one’s future job or destiny.
No such interesting signs with me, except an exceptional
laziness endowed with a lack of memory which also revealed
this lazy turn of the mind. In order to counterbalance this
painfully weak memory, I stubbornly tried to understand the
inner workings of any phenomenon, and I desperately searched
for the ultimate and final reasoning that would save me from the
smallest mnemonic effort. Like a kind of Materialistic Explanation
Worshiper!
I was an unwieldy child, and progressively my young days
became pure hell, for the more I grew up, the less I understood
life. I never guessed that all the grown-ups around me had no
understanding about society, war or politics, nor the complex
relations between men and women, but pretended they did most
of the time.
Apr-Jul 2009
During the Second World War, we had to move endlessly from
one home to another because my parents were surrealistic
radical intellectuals, and my family was torn between collaboration
and resistance, between extreme-right and revolution, with
a bigot branch and a violently anticlerical one. How was I to
know which path to follow when I was tossed around between
different educations all year long? I wanted to “understand”
life, and not to accept it in all its complexity! Indeed, filled with
mistrust and defiance, I came out of prostration only because of
an irrepressible and indistinguishable curiosity.
Obsessional curiosity is the key to this person; I had to explain
how an indolent boy turns passionate and how relentless work
as a transient step from laziness would later allow a welldeserved
rest. (I’m now seventy-three, and I promise to warn
everybody when the time to rest has come…)
Do you remember one of Rudyard Kipling’s “Just So Stories”
about this Elephant’s Child and his satiable curiosities, who was
never satisfied with evasive answers and kept asking—as very
small children do—why this and that, again and again?
Civilized grown-ups are much too used to reply in vague and
brief words to the questions asked, and having to go to the
bottom of things makes them angry because they think it’s
a waste of time and energy. The adults’ exasperation led the
Elephant’s Child to have his nose pulled by the Crocodile, and
because neither wanted to let go, the nose grew longer, and that
is why since that time elephants have trunks.
You must know that my taste for uncomfortable questions, and
this impossibility to be satisfied as long as the ultimate relationship
between cause and effect has not revealed its secrets (almost
like a mental illness), is my own professional trunk, which
incidentally, makes my identification easy.
Consequently, I will not linger much on my half-century long
career as Director of Photography which brought me the image
culture that founded the researcher I am now. Before that,
after having reluctantly started biology and chemistry studies
(only explosions were really interesting), I was lucky enough
to be sacked from the university before having to pay for the
wreckage. Then I turned towards architecture and especially
town planning, thinking I could force other people to follow the
social organization that I myself was totally unable to follow. I
was obsessed by the sadness of cities, and turning back to my
chemist’s beginnings, I endlessly asked each teacher how to
make colored concrete.
I was told that the architect’s role was to draw freehand Doric,
Ionic and Corinthian cornices you never see on buildings, but
look very nice on blueprints, and that my stupid questions
concerned mostly construction companies. My trunk was
already growing. When I was also thrown out of the Beaux-Arts,
I rejoiced in having saved ten years of my life, because learning
architecture in France, in those times the most backward
country in the world, took of course more time than anywhere

else (7 years for architecture plus 3 years for town planning).
When I was twenty, with no work and no studies, while strolling,
I accidentally bumped into a shooting location where I stayed,
dumbfounded, for a full day. Apart from one or two people
working hard, a large number of others kept their bottoms warm
on the arc light ballasts, drinking coffee, and remaining inactive
mostly the whole day. Without understanding that waiting is
harder than working, I was led to believe that this trade fitted my
latent laziness and I immediately joined a cinema school.
I discovered very early the irritating question: “Why doesn’t
it look the same in the picture?” Apart from unsatisfactory
answers such as “the medium cannot record all the light range,”
and so on, none of the faculty really answered the questions. I
had an eye on all these excuses that they were using to hide their
lack of knowledge about the basics, and I pointed out: “What
about backlit shots? They are neither concerned by latitude nor
represent original light values, but they are still the nicest shots,
aren’t they?” As I had brought exasperation, I was answered:
“Yes, of course, but here we have an artistic phenomenon.”
This sort of ageless weak argument ran down my growing trunk,
and having read all that had been written about the fundamentals
of photographic process (Jones, Mees, Evans, Ansel Adams,
Zaccharia Kowalewski, etc.), I decided to find the answers myself
by studying thoroughly the vision system.
Having become since 1967 a non-conformist Director of
Photography, and having created with every feature an original
and provocative solution, I started experimenting with the
“transfer from reality to photography “ system and published
the results in 1975. As soon as simultaneous reports about the
work of Dr. Edwin Land were published in “Scientific American,”
I understood I was not following this path alone, and that
photography would stop being empirical kitchen recipes and
start claiming scientific bases.
Everything I had the opportunity to teach concerning lighting,
applied sensitometry and electronic transfer was based on this
obsessive knowledge of vision, which is the necessary fundamental
path to explaining transfers.
Applied sensitometry had taught me that the S-curved response
belongs to the human vision and to nothing else, neither to
physics nor to chemistry, and that technical as well as artistic
explanations are found in vision itself. In 1990, when I was asked
advice about 3D stéréo, which I knew nothing about, I was lucky
to make my first steps with Noël Archambaud, Chris Condon,
and with a few guys who had broken out of the Soviet Union, as
well as with the excellent book by Lenny Lipton. I also owe a lot
to François Garnier and his team who trusted me and to Claude
Baiblé who shares his questioning with me, and also many
others, whom I heartily thank for their faith in me.
In return, I’ve decided to pass on everything I could discover,
share systematically any progress of knowledge and to disclose
everything. And because you learn even more while explaining
things, I am now certain that systems, machines, software
and operating procedures are not that important, and that the
knowledge of vision mechanisms is what matters. Indeed, the
stereoscopic image is not the end result of a repeated automatic
transfer, but the conclusion of repeated choices which involve
compressing depth in a certain manner to represent it in the
limited space of the theater.
A Stereographer (stereo-cinematographer) is the author of the
depth he chooses to represent, even more than the photographer
concerning his framing or lighting. He is an artisan, not an
employee in charge of a machine or a system. Image culture will
never be replaced by a device, and if I have built myself so many
rigs for stereo shooting, it is because I could not get otherwise
what was necessary for vision requirements.
The first significant shock happened when Noël Archambaud
told me in 1990 that he was dreaming of a rig with variable
spacing that did not exist at that time. He was right and since
then several researchers including myself have built these rigs.
Variable spacing seems, at first sight, against nature since our
eye-sockets are fixed, yet it is the only solution to ensure the
cinema-goer comfortable viewing.
Indeed, there will be no durable exhibition of stereo 3D features
without a minimal viewing comfort of all the audience whatever
the differences or the variations of their vision. That is why I’ve
convinced P+S Technik to market rigs inspired by mine. But
more than the shooting system, it is the perfect control by the
Stereographer of all the 3D parameters that counts. The real
technical revolution can be found in the new monitors dedicated
to stereo 3D such as Transvideo’s CineMonitorHD monitors
that allow stereographers to master space so they can put it in
the can. The depth represented on the screen will be called from
now on a scenic box and will obey its own laws that I intend to
state in my next book.
Meantime, in return, I am subject during my stereo 3D courses
to a chain of disrupting and fundamental questions that push
me to an essential competence that allows stereo 3D to blossom,
whatever the system.
Alain Derobe is a Stereo 3D Consultant. Since 1992, he has
worked exclusively as a stereographer and consultant for shooting
in 3D. He was Director of Photography on over 20 feature films,
about 300 commercials, multi screen systems (360°) for theme
parks and special applications. He has shot several 3D films so far.
As there was no equipment available, he decided to build his own
tools to operate and promote Stereo 3D. He was stereographer on
“Safari3D”, “Camargue”, “Chartreux”, “Irruption”, “Héros De
Nimes”, “La R’volle”,”Réveil Des Géants” and many others. He is
a founder of the A.F.C (www.afcinema.com) and chairman of the
Stereographers association UP-3D (www.up-3d.org).
Apr-Jul 2009
75

76
Alain Derobe on the P+S Technik 3D Rig
The first rigs marketed by P+S Technik were calibrated to satisfy
mainly HD users with conventional camera series such as Sony
750, 790, 900 etc. and Panasonic 3000 and up, especially with
fixed focal lenses. Designed mostly for shooting with actors,
the possibility to reduce interaxial distance solves many closeup
and depth problems between the actors, without tiring the
audience’s eyes.
The module’s size complies with this situation. Stereo 3D tolerates
very well dolly or crane shots, in the studio or in natural
sets, where weight and size do not seem to be a major problem.
Since the mirror cannot have an unlimited width, 12cm (4.7")
interaxial distance with a short focal length (7mm ⅔" Zeiss,
more than 69°) appears to be enough before changing to a sideby-side
rig for very long range shots.
On the contrary, this module is oversized for cameras with
detachable heads such as Silicon Imaging for which a less
cumbersome rig will soon be offered. Heavier cameras like F23
or F35, and those built by traditional film camera manufacturers
will request strengthening the current module’s base plate.
This rig is built in Germany, meaning it is near perfection. It
offers two significant and original features. Calibrated positions
allow the cameras to move back for lens change and to return to
their position rapidly, and the mirror can be tilted to instantly
correct vertical superimposition defects.
Angle and interaxial counters are very attractive but their
readings become secondary when using Transvideo’s CineMonitorHD
3D View.
I am somewhat doubtful about the more theoretical than practical
possibility to raise and lower the mirror to readjust perfectly
relative lens heights. This complex mechanism adds weight to
the rig and in the first version reflections of metal parts can
sometimes appear, but for which modifications can be asked.
You could think this type of adjustment is unnecessary, since
there can be consequences only in very hard to achieve tight
close-ups when so close to the mirror. This could be optional.
Except for exterior shots in bad weather, I prefer removing the
front glass, even if it has an anti-reflection coating. This procedure
should be simplified in the future.
The flare caused by the mirror is visible only if direct lighting
shines onto it. There is no other solution than to protect it,
because a direct reflection seen by only one camera is unacceptable.
Backlight with the sun in or close to the frame is indeed a
serious problem.
A slight difference in black level between two cameras – the real
flare – is part of the difference observed between two cameras
and is within vision tolerance. Anyway, I can’t think of finishing
touches without a final stereo adjustment nor without grading
Apr-Jul 2009
added to the shot-by-shot fine tuning. Shoots performed until
today have generated very few problems of that type but it is true
that the Stereographer’s role is to hold back the request for risky
shots.
Example of a 3D Shot
Here’s a very instructive lesson I’ve done with Jerzy Kular
during stereo 3D courses for filmmakers that I would like to
repeat every time.
We shoot a wide shot of an industrial zone with buildings in the
far background, taken with a normal focal length lens.
The camera is over 2m (6ft) High, to lessen the influence of the
ground.
A car moves forward at high speed towards us, while the camera
booms down to meet it. The car stops with its huge headlight a
foot away from the 3D rig, the enormous protruding eye covering
almost half the frame.
On the other half of the frame you can see the driver stepping
out of the car and walking away from the camera towards the
buildings.
This shot is extremely significant and answers many questions.
In the beginning, for the wide shot, the spacing was 10cm (3.9")
to offer a visible depth. This spacing was then progressively
reduced to reach 1.5cm (3/8”) for the close-up when the car
stops at the end of the shot.
The angle between cameras has stayed the same.
During screening, nobody sees any discrepancy whatsoever.
The different depth spacings stay in place and neither are
compressed nor expanded. The car does not look like a miniature
in frame when the shot starts and the character is not a
giant at the end. The headlight that is large on the screen is
perceived, of course, as enormous, but not more than with a
wide-angle lens during a flat shooting—and it answers a desired
effect.
This shot could be included in a police film sequence and teaches
us that down-sizing, gigantism, and respecting the ocular
distance are relative to the environment, and one should not
hesitate to use variable spacing when needed. In this case a rig
with a semi-reflective mirror is absolutely needed.

P+S Technik 3D Rig
Apr-Jul 2009
77

78
My Steps to Stereography
by Florian Maier – Stereographer and Engineer
I’m a consultant on new developments in movie making and
work as a stereographer on 3D productions. I also take great
pleasure in presenting 3D workshops, where I can teach people
about 3D. I like to explain the essential differences between good
and bad 3D production. I think this is important, and the only
way to ensure a secure future for 3D as a new way of storytelling.
Otherwise it will disappear again, as it has in the past.
I have always been very curious about life, nature, exceptional
images and technical things. 3D is one of the most interesting
things because it combines physiology, perception psychology,
technical science, the joy of filmmaking and the production of
visual art in order to create an exceptional look.
When I was a teenager I shot small films with friends and built
my own little studio in my basement. I started to work in TV
and film studios (e.g. Bavaria Film Studio in Munich). At 18, I
started my own production company for advertising and image
films – I was still in school at this time. I decided to build my
own 3D rigs, and since that time, 3D wouldn’t let go of me.
A little bit later I developed a multi camera technique called
“Frozen Reality”, where I combined the old idea of Eadweard
Muybridge’s multi camera array with high speed photography
and picture interpolation (www.frozen-reality.de).
In 1999 I attended the HFF film school in Munich. A year later
I began studying interdisciplinary media technology at the
Technical University in Ilmenau. I continued researching and
working on many 3D projects, developing apparatus for autostereoscopic
recording (3D without glasses) and 3D film recording
– and worked on films at the same time. After I finished my
engineering degree I started to work full time as a 3D consultant
on different projects.
In 2006, I met Alfred Piffl, head of P+S Technik. Some months
later he asked me to consult and help develop Alain Derobe’s
unique 3D Mirror Rig into a universal production model with
additional features.
Apr-Jul 2009
We wanted to create a 3D Mirror Rig that was unique and different
from all previous rigs, universal for most camera types, very
accurate, able to match both cameras and very easy to calibrate.
I don’t think there is anything else like it on the market today.
Most rigs are only available for rent or only come with the entire
3D crew. Anyone can buy the P+S Technik rig.
The first feature we designed for the P+S Technik 3D Mirror
Rig is its universal usage with many different cameras. Different
adapter plates match the correct height, since almost every
camera has different measurements and heights. Different
mirror box sizes are available to fit the different needs of the user
to choose between maximum compactness or wider angle lenses.
The second new feature is the ability to calibrate the geometry of
both cameras simply by adjusting the 300 gram mirror instead
of a 10 kg camera. Tilting the mirror is the equivalent of tilting
one camera (in order to bring the optical axes parallel). Moving
the mirror forwards or backwards is the equivalent of a change
in height of one camera (necessary to avoid vertical parallax).
The third feature is having two accurate, repeatable counters
for interaxial (distance between the two cameras) and angulation
(convergence setting) that can be fed by the data of my
STEREOTEC Stereoscopic Calculator (in order to calculate
the right interaxial and convergence settings). Two additional
counters match the distance from the mirror.
The fourth new feature is a quick-release mechanism so that you
can back the whole camera very easily away from the mirror box
in order to access the lens. You can change your lenses without
losing the calibration end stop. Once you change the lens,
you can simply slide the whole camera into the remembered,
calibrated position. Changing lenses can be done quickly.
All these features make the 3D Mirror Rig from P+S Technik a
practical tool on set or on location.

3D Calculator 3D Workshops
Florian Maier’s STEREOTEC Stereoscopic Calculator helps you
find the exact settings for a 3D Rig. It calculates the interaxial
(distance between the two cameras) and the angulation (convergence,
if you decide to shoot converged) by asking you to enter
parameters like distances on the set, the kind of lens you use,
screen size, etc.
With the Stereoscopic Calculator you can create the look you
like, depending on the preference of the stereographer.
First of all, you can calculate the maximum possible interaxial,
without exceeding the viewer’s limits (from a physiological
point of view). That doesn’t mean you have to use this
maximum. The stereographer can, for example, decide to use
just 70% of the maximum depth possible, or he can decide by
referring to the resulting screen parallax that is shown in the
screen tab of the Stereoscopic Calculator.
The professional version will have settings to shoot orthostereo
or autostereo among other advanced features. It will be released
soon on Windows, Mac and Linux; later it will be available for
handheld devices. The Stereoscopic Calculator is a handy tool
for the set, and ensures good 3D without headaches.
You can find a demo and more information about the Stereoscopic
Calculator and other tools for 3D recording as well (e.g.
3D rigs for special applications) at www.stereotec.com
Features of the Standard Version
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•
•
•
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calculate the maximum allowed interaxial and adapt it to
your needs.
calculate the right angulation (convergence) if you shoot
converged and not parallel.
all important HD cameras and lenses with exact data included.
take into account the size of the projection screen.
take into account the focal length.
display the interaxial at the screen.
limit calculation to certain maximum screen parallaxes
(separate input of positive and negative parallax).
Save and load complete settings.
Florian Maier (below), 3D expert and stereographer, presented 3
day 3D workshops to sold-out sessions in NY, LA and Vancouver
organized by ZGC, distributors of P+S Technik products
including the 3DStereoRig. (Les Zellan, above, right, rear.)
For anyone contemplating a 3D production—producing,
shooting, editing, distributing, this is an essential education.
There’s a lot to know and a lot of things that can go wrong if you
don’t know. But Florian demystifies a process that has long been
closely guarded by gurus, and makes it accessible for all.
The workshop teaches you how to prep, rig, shoot, edit, present,
and more. Florian compares good and bad 3D, reveals the
secrets of the pros, explains the difference between gentle 3D
and Advil 3D, and above all, shows that 3D is a viable, practical
format with a healthy future when done right.
Equipment included the 3D Rig from P+S Technik, two Sony
EX3 Cameras on an OConnor 120EX Fluid Head and Legs,
Transvideo CineMonitorHD 3DView, and more. There will
be more seminars in the future. For more pictures from the
seminar, go to: picasaweb.google.com/fdtimes
Florian can be reached at www.3d-consult.eu
Apr-Jul 2009
79

80
ABCs of 3D
By Florian Maier (3D Consult)
The new buzzword is 3D. Everybody is talking about 3D. But
shooting good 3D involves a unique vocabulary and a specialized
toolset. Over the years we’ve seen 3D come and go. The first
wave began in the middle of the 19th century with the introduction
of Charles Wheatstone’s Stereoscope. The 3D boom in films
began in the 50s and was like a series of waves every ten years. In
between we always had 3D as a niche-market format. But now
that 3D is returning, what ensures that it will stay this time and
doesn’t disappear again?
One main reason could be that it is going digital: from shooting
to exhibiting. The advantages over analog techniques are
easier and cheaper production. Digital display technology is
getting better and better—not only projected in the theater, but
also monitored on set. A 3D shot can be viewed live on set or
location, instead of days later. This can help avoid mistakes.
Good and appropriate 3D story content is another factor that
should keep it going this time around. Many times in the past
people tried to get audiences into cinemas by adding 3D as
an effect to an otherwise 2D movie. As a result, people often
associated 3D with “cheap tricks” eye popping effects, where
something smashes into your face. But this style of “exaggerated”
3D is dangerous for a 90 minute 3D movie, because every
time something pops into your face, you’re thinking about the
3D effect and not about the story any more.
In my opinion, a good 3D movie is one where you forget, after
twenty minutes, that you’re sitting in a 3D theater, and are
instead more involved in the action of that movie. It’s like being
there, and not just watching it.
Another very important thing, in my opinion, is that you
should use the right 3D setting very carefully when shooting a
3D movie, in order to avoid eye-strain and headache. I call it
“gentle 3D”. To be gentle, you have to choose the interaxial very
carefully. (Interaxial is the distance between the two cameras.)
Calculating the correct interaxial distance is not that simple,
because it changes depending on parameters determined by the
camera, lens, distances in the set and the screen size where it will
ultimately be projected.
For that reason, I developed the Stereoscopic Calculator. It
doesn’t replace a Stereographer or a person who knows about
the art of three dimensional movie making. Many details have to
be considered.
The most important thing is that the story has to be appropriate
to 3D and vice versa. A 3D movie cannot be shot like you
would shoot a 2D movie. A lot of physiological rules have to
be respected. But if these rules are respected a 3D movie can
become a pleasant experience and that is exactly what is needed
to keep 3D successful as a new way of storytelling, just as sound
or color became established elements of movie making art.
Apr-Jul 2009
Basic Principle of Stereoscopic Vision
To be able to see spatially, human beings have binocular
vision. Each eye sees the environment with a slight difference
in perspective; which we call parallax. The brain uses these two
slightly different views to generate a spatial impression.
To deliver the two views with that slight difference in perspective,
a scene must be recorded with two cameras instead of the
eyes. These cameras are synchronized to record the scene from
two different perspectives; the distance between these positions
is called interaxial. To be able to see a movie in 3D, the left eye
needs to get the view of the left camera and the right eye the
view of the right camera. The brain is then able to combine these
two images into a single three dimensional image.
Two kinds of 3D rigs
There are two different kinds of 3D rigs. With a 3D side-byside-rig,
both cameras are placed next to each other. With a 3D
Mirror Rig, a beamsplitter physically overlaps and overlays the
field of view of both cameras. A Side-by-Side rig is often used
for shots of objects that are far away, like a landscape or aerials.
It also can be used when your cameras and lenses are physically
very small and narrow. A 3D Mirror Rig makes it possible to
create very small interaxials (distance between the two optical
axes of the cameras) even with large cameras in order not to
exceed the limits of human vision for very close shots.
Side-by-Side Rig Mirror Rig

Side-by-Side Rig Mirror Rig
2 important principles of shooting with a 3D rig
By adjusting the interaxial (distance between the optical axes
of the cameras) the overall 3D depth from the nearest to the
farthest point can be changed.
By adjusting the angulation (convergence) between the two
cameras, the position of the 3D object relative to the screen can
be changed. That’s how you make objects “jump off” or recede
farther away from the screen.
Glossary of 3D Terms
accommodation: focusing on an observed point.
angulation: angle between the optical axes of two cameras.
autostereoscopy: seeing a picture three dimensionally without additional
aid (glasses), as in holographic screens.
binocular: with both eyes.
convergence: pivot point of both optical axes to an observed object.
depth cues: information about the depth of a scene; there are monocular
depth cues like perspective and binocular depth cues like stereopsis.
deviation: displacement of corresponding points between left and right
image
far point: the farthest point from the entrance pupil of the lens.
interaxial: distance between the optical centers of the two lenses.
interocular: distance between people’s eyes. About 6.3 cm.
motion parallax: change of angular position of two stationary points
relative to each other as seen by an observer, caused by the motion of
an observer.
near point: the nearest point from the entrance pupil of the lens.
entrance pupil: point about which a lens is rotated where close and distant
subjects focused on the film plane maintain their relative positions to
one another. Often incorrectly called nodal point.
parallax: change of angular position of two stationary points relative to
each other as seen by an observer. If there is no parallax between two
objects then they occupy the same position.
pseudoscopy: inversion of the spatial impression. Background appears
in front of foreground. Rotate your polarized glasses 90° to try it.
screen plane: image plane mapped directly on the surface of the
screen.
screen parallax: distance between two corresponding points on the
screen surface.
stereopsis: ability to make fine depth discriminations from parallax
provided by the two eye’s different positions on the head.
Apr-Jul 2009
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Transvideo 3DView and TITANUM
Monitors include Waveform, Vectorscope, Histogram and Overexposure Control. Marianne Exbrayat with CineMonitorHD6 3DView at Band Pro Expo.
Transvideo makes HD Monitors not only for film-style standard
video assist, but also for 3D production. All three Transvideo
CineMonitorHD monitors have 3DView, which provides the
essential technical and pre-viewing tools needed on 3D HD
productions. CineMonitorHD 3DView can be used as a regular
HD SDI monitor. It includes several pairs of Anaglyph glasses.
Optional Shutter Glasses plug into the monitor via a small
box; they give a realistic color preview of the 3D picture. The
CineMonitorHD 3DView is in use on several 3D sets worldwide
and is an indispensable tool because it saves time and helps you
eschew tables and computation for many stereoscopic setups.
• Colored monochrome modes facilitate correlating 2 HD
SDI cameras by showing the fringes on each side of objects.
• 3 pseudo Anaglyph modes allow preview of 3D pictures
from 2 HD SDI inputs.
• Vertical and/or horizontal reverse for the inputs keeps both
images upright with beam splitter 3D Rigs.
• Vertical grid generator helps to adjust the separation of the
cameras on the far layers.
• Measurement tools simultaneously show the 2 signals for
black level, white level and flicker adjustment.
• The 2 HD SDI signals must be genlocked.
• The 3D functions are available in 720p, 1080i and PsF, but
not yet 1080p.
Transvideo CineMonitorHD 3DView all have:
• Color, Green Screen, and Monochrome display modes.
• 4 :3 , 16:9, and Anamorphic.
• Safe Area Markers.
• Horizontal, vertical flips & autoflip.
• Zoom & Move functions. User set-ups.
• Frameline Generator & Matting Generator.
• Up to 3 programmable color frames.
• Advanced Measurement tool.
• Toolset for video measurement, including RGBY Waveform,
Vectorscope, Histogram, and Overexposure control.
• 2 SDI input & 1 SDI reclocked output on BNC.
• Galvanic insulation of the power supply.
Apr-Jul 2009
CineMonitorHD 3DView Specs
CineMonitorHD6 3DView
6” Hi-Definition monitor for 3D and 2D D-Cinema
High brightness display 1000 NITS with LED backlight
Viewing angle optimized for body-rig use
Left Right Down 80°, Up 60°. Power 10 to 36V DC on XLR4 (-1,+4) 15.5W
Weight 1200 grams, 2.6 lbs - including bottom Slide with ¼-20 nut.
CineMonitorHD12 3DView
12” Hi-Definition monitor for 3D and 2D D-Cinema
High brightness display 1000 NITS
Left Right 85°, Up 70°, Down 80°. Power 10 to 36V DC on XLR4 (-1,+4) 30W
Weight 3700 grams, 8.1 lbs
CineMonitorHD15 3DView
15” Hi-Definition monitor for 3D and 2D D-Cinema
High brightness display 1200 NITS
Left Right 75°, Up 50°, Down 60°. Power 11 to 36V DC on XLR4 (-1,+4) 50W
Weight 4850 grams, 10.6 lbs
TITANUM: Wireless HD SDI & SD
Stop the presses! This just in:
the TITANUM is a new wireless
system developed by TRANS-
VIDEO. It uses MiMo OFDM digital
technology, featuring HD SDI
and SD wireless transmission. The
TITANUM carries an HD 4:4:4 10
bit video signal.
The TITANUM will be available
in different configurations, with or
without analog audio channels.
The picture at left is a prototype;
we’ll see the real ones at NAB.

Preston Wireless 3D
Preston MDR
Motor Driver Receiver Unit
Focus and iris settings of both lenses in a 3D rig can be simultaneously
controlled with one hand-unit. Also, your Stereographer
is probably wirelessly controlling the convergence and
interaxial distances of the 3D rig with a second hand-unit.
Here are some tips on using a Preston wireless hand unit to
control focus on both lenses, and how to use another wireless
hand unit to control the 3D Rig. For complete and detailed
instructions, get the FI+Z/HU3 Manual in the downloads
section at: www.prestoncinema.com
On the Preston Hand Unit 3, go
to Custom mode. Here, you can
assign the three MDR (Motor
Driver) lens motor channels
(focus, iris, and zoom) to user
designated Hand Unit controls.
For example, the focus knob of a single hand unit can control
the focus rings of up to three separate lenses.
The focus function of a 3D camera rig using prime lenses can
be controlled using the Custom mode. The Custom mode is
configured by pressing Set-Up.
The letters F, I, Z in the left
column represent the three
outputs for lens motor cables on
the MDR (Focus, Iris, Zoom) and
the column on the right shows the
hand unit controls.
This example shows that the Iris slider of the Hand Unit will
simultaneously control both the Focus and Iris outputs on the
Motor Drive Unit. So, to control the irises of both lenses in your
3D rig, plug one iris motor into the Focus receptacle and the
other iris motor into the Iris receptacle of the MDR. Note that
the zoom motor is still controlled by the zoom control.
The 3D mode is used in conjunction with 3D rigs that have
motorized control of both the camera convergence angle and
interaxial camera separation. After the user sets the convergence
distance, the interaxial distance can be changed “on the fly” and
the convergence angle will automatically change to maintain the
correct convergence distance.
cmotion 3D software
There’s new software from cmotion for their wireless lens and
camera control systems: C3D. The new 3D software comes with
all new units, and is available to update all existing models. One
camera assistant can use a single coperate hand unit to control
the focus, iris and zoom of two lenses together with Start/Stop
function for both cameras simultaneously.
Here’s how to control multiple lenses with one control unit
(knob/slider/zoom):
1. Make sure the coperate is turned off.
2. Press and hold the “LENS” button on either the focus knob,
slider or zoom – depending on which component you want to
use for control.
3. While pressing the lens button, press the ON button.
4. Hold both buttons for at least 3 seconds. This process will
activate the 3D software within the camin. The coperate’s RDY
LED will now turn green. The LENS LED for each controller not
in use will turn red.
Note: If the CAL-LED starts blinking, lens calibration is required.
Push the CAL-Button. This will calibrate all connected
motors. You can also switch between the control unit (knob or
slider) during 3D mode.
With one camin, 2 motors (e.g. Focus) can be run simultaneously,
and with two camins up to 6 motors can be run. The
second camin is connected to the first using a CBUS 3D cable.
All communication signals received by the first camin are then
replicated by the second camin, including Start/Stop control.
Should the need arise; cmotion 3D software also makes it possible
to connect an additional camin for control of 3+ cameras
and 9+ motors. Detailed instructions available in the download
section of www.cmotion.eu
Apr-Jul 2009
cmotion
camin
Motor Driver
Receiver Unit
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Editing in the 3rd Dimension
by Michael Phillips – Solutions Manager, AVID Post Market Segment
Stereoscopic editing, or Stereo 3D for short, is an old but newagain
challenge for filmmakers.
Digital technologies have solved many of the issues associated
with the format in the 50s and 60s. Things like film weave and
anaglyph glasses have given way to high-resolution, rock-steady
images viewed with higher-quality technology that does not
affect the color values of the image. Such technology improvements
have renewed the interest in stereo 3D storytelling—not
only for theatrical, but for television broadcast as well.
Media Composer v3.5
Avid’s first offering in stereo 3D editing is with Media Composer
v3.5. This release implements a hybrid environment that brings
together the existing 2D editing world with 3D viewing.
Editing can be done in 2D within the main editing interface
while the client monitor will play back in stereo 3D when viewed
with glasses. It would be quite fatiguing for the editor to sit
in front of a system for 8-10 hours a day editing with glasses
on—where the eyes are struggling to focus on stereo 3D content
inside a 2D graphical user interface.
In addition to solving the comfort factor of the editors themselves,
it also removes costs. Having to conform left and right
eyes for screening adds unnecessary time and expense to the
Apr-Jul 2009
process when all you really need to do is check a sequence for
pace and rhythm. By creating a hybrid workflow within the editor,
Media Composer solves both issues.
How Does it Work?
The first version of Avid’s stereo 3D editing supports what is
referred to as an over/under format. This is a single master clip
and media file that encompasses both the left eye view and the
right eye view together. The left is the upper half and the right
eye is the lower half.
So for a 1920 x 1080 frame size, each eye is a 1920 x 540 proxy.
It’s the full picture, but it appears “stretched” and sort of looks
like an anamorphic image on the edit monitor (graphic 1, above)
until you select either right or left eye.
Because Media Composer handles metadata better than any
other system, tracking left and right eye sources can be done
very easily. This is done with separate metadata columns.
For video-based productions, the timecode will be the same, but
depending on shooting format there may be two tape sources. In
file-based workflows, the filenames themselves will be different
and can be tracked as such. All of this metadata can be exported
as EDLs via Avid EDL Manager and XML via Avid FilmScribe.
The XML XSD files can be found at www.avid.com/filmscribe.

For file-based formats, the left and right eye sources can be
prepared for editorial using Avid MetaFuze. This free application
available from www.avid.com/metafuze will take directories
of left and right eye files and create over/under files in the Avid
DNxHD format of choice as the stereo 3D proxy of choice.
(graphic 2, right)
Once the media is in Avid Media Composer, editors then
choose which eye they want to be the dominant eye during editorial
for the 2D view. This is done via the “Composer” settings.
The choices are:
• OFF (over/under)
• LEFT (top half only as full 1920 x 1080)
• RIGHT (bottom half as full 1920 x 1080)
Graphic 3 is an example of OFF (None) and shows the media
as it comes into the system while Graphic 4 (below) shows the
result of selecting LEFT.
The next setting affects the full screen playback which is the
signal that goes to the client monitor. This is done via the DVI
output of the graphics card. The user can select “checkerboard”
which creates the stereo 3D signal used by consumer type monitors
by manufactures such as Mitsubishi and Samsung.
(Graphic 5)
These monitors are rear projection DLP that use the “3D Ready”
tag as the indication that they support the checkerboard format.
Active shutter glasses can then be used with the monitor for
stereo 3D viewing. When the production team is ready to view
an edit in 3D, it is a simple matter of putting on the glasses and
watching the playback in 3D. The Checkerboard setting can be
turned off and either a LEFT or RIGHT eye view can be selected
to output a full screen 2D version. This setting gives the flexibility
to output as needed for the desired viewing environment and
monitoring available.
The Future
Avid is working closely with stereo 3D content creators to
enhance the stereo 3D post production process. Additional
formats such as interlace and side-by-side as well as some basic
depth grading tools via AVX are being investigated. This will allow
for even greater control in the storytelling process, resulting
in even greater efficiencies to ensure the continued success of
stereo 3D storytelling.
graphic 2
graphic 3
graphic 4
graphic 5
Apr-Jul 2009
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Tiffen Dfx: Version 2, iPhone, Essentials
Apr-Jul 2009
We’ve been a big fan of The Tiffen Company’s professional,
award-winning Dfx Creative Digital Effects software with
its 1000 filters, now upgraded in Version 2. We are happy to
report on its growing popularity and additional versions. First
whispered by Marco Paolini of Digital Film Tools at Band Pro
Expo in December 2008, Tiffen has released Photo Fx (bottom,
left) as a fabulous download from the Apps Store.
Photo Fx is a set of digital “optical” filters for the iPhone and
iPod Touch that can simulate many popular Tiffen glass filters,
optical lab processes and photographic effects.
There are 26 filters in Photo Fx: Black and White, Black
Pro-Mist, Center Spot, Color-Grad, Color Spot, Day for Night,
Enhancer, Fog, Glow, Halo, High Contrast, Infrared, Looks,
Night Vision, Old Photo, Polarizer, Pro-Mist, Reflector, Star,
Soft/FX, Tint, Two Strip, Three Strip, Ultra Contrast and
Vignette.
A Photo Fx picture is worth a thousand words, and a compelling
way of explaining to an obstinate art director what a Black
Pro-Mist might look like. Best of all, you can shoot a “frame
grab” of the scene with your iPhone, tweak the digital image
with Photo fx and then email it from your iPhone on location
directly to your lab, colorist, grader or post house. You don’t
even need your computer.
Just in time for NAB, Tiffen announced its new Dfx Essentials
software, an introduction to digital photo enhancement for
Windows or Mac. Dfx Essentials is a “lighter” version of Tiffen’s
professional Dfx Creative Digital Effects software, and will be
sold through retail specialty dealers.
Steve Tiffen, CEO, said, “This latest edition to our awardwinning
software line gives digital camera owners the ability to
explore their creative options with an easy to use application
that includes a step-by-step on-screen tutorial with audio.”
Dfx Essentials complements any digital camera and features a
good selection of 37 specialized filters and effects with hundreds
of built-in presets and the ability to create and save custom
versions and custom setups to repeat favorite looks. It also
includes an easy-to-follow video tutorial.
Dfx Essentials offers the ability to easily create multiple filter
and effect layers, color, clone and red-eye removal tools, with
non-destructive crop, rotate and scaling. The intuitive filter
palette with thumbnail previews makes it simple to evaluate
effects before applying them to an image.
Dfx Essentials is compatible with a wide range of file types
including camera raw and final images can be saved in either
.tif or .jpg formats. Owners of Dfx Essentials will also be able to
upgrade to the comprehensive Dfx Digital Effects Stand-alone.

This Close to Heaven: Bring a Long Lens
by Dickson Sorensen
60 miles north of Yellowstone, in southwestern Montana, there’s
a very special valley near Ennis, Montana. It is dotted with
springs feeding a multitude of brooks and channels that drain
into the O’Dell creek, a tributary of the Madison River. In the
1950’s some ranchers thought it would be a good idea to drain
the water off to provide extra pasture for their cattle. You can
imagine the long-term effect on the wildlife.
Several years ago my good friend Jeff Laszlo, also an accomplished
cameraman, told me that they were restoring the
wetlands on his family’s and a neighboring ranch. This sounded
like a wonderful story. “Jeff,” I remember saying, “Someone’s got
to record this on video before the restoration is completed.”
Several times that summer I visited the ranch, meeting and
interviewing people connected with the project. I shot everything
on a B4 mount, ⅔" chip camera. My normal lens is a
Canon HJ17ex7.6B IRSE portable HD ENG/EFP zoom lens,
with 2x extender. It gives me a focal length from 7.6mm to
130mm (15.2mm to 260mm with Extender). Under most
circumstances this is “all the lens” I really need shooting in a
documentary situation. However, we soon found that shooting
on O’Dell Creek was a different situation. The wildlife is very
skittish. The Sand Hill Cranes could see us from more than a
mile as we approached across the field. If you are close enough
to make the birds uncomfortable, they simply fly over to another
area. I needed a lens that was compact enough to carry mounted
on the camera while hiking over the rough terrain yet with a
long enough focal length to capture the wildlife.
The following spring I was lucky to have an added tool in
my toolbox: the Canon HJ40x10B telephoto EFP lens. What
surprised me is how this lens helped me get shots otherwise
difficult, if not otherwise impossible, to obtain. The lens arrived
with Canon’s mounting plate and remote focus and zoom
controls. The support bracket goes on without any tools; thus
it is very easy to change out in the field and has a sliding leveler
to quickly balance. The lens weighs less than 12 pounds, so the
entire package, camera, battery (which also provides power to
the lens) and mounting bracket ends up at roughly 25 pounds.
That kind of weight I can deal with on my shoulder for a hike of
a mile.
The HJ40x10B has an incredible 40 times zoom ratio, and with
the built-in extender that doubles it to an impressive 800mm
at the long end. With the extender, I was able to enter a world I
had only dreamed of with my normal hand-held lens. Suddenly
the Sand Hill Cranes we had been chasing relentlessly across the
field were right before us.
The best feature of the lens is the built in stabilizer. When
you’re out in the field, traipsing around with a minimal crew,
or even no crew at all, every extra pound you carry is a concern.
Normally when working with a long lens it’s a good idea to have
as heavy a tripod and head as possible. If you are in the wind
try to get out of it if you can. That is… unless you happen to be
carrying Cannon’s HJ40x10B. There is a little switch on the back
of the electronic unit that turns on the stabilizer. Once activated,
the stabilizer kicks in and magically removes annoying jiggle and
shake common to long lens shooting. With this lens I was able to
use my lightweight tripod and head with very acceptable results.
Elk were spotted over a mile in the distance jumping a ranch
fence, a shot I needed for the narrative in the film. I climbed up
on the top of the truck, and put the camera with the HJ40 on
my lightweight sticks. It was 20 degrees, snowing and the wind
had to be blowing 30 to 40 miles an hour. The truck was rocking
back and forth in the broadside gusts. The camera was buffeted
by the wind and I was shivering so much I could hardly keep my
eye to the eyepiece. When I switched on the HJ40’s stabilizer the
image became rock steady. That shot would otherwise have been
impossible to get under these conditions.
Canon makes a sister zoom to the HJ40x10: the HJ40x14. This
lens starts at 14mm and goes to 1120mm with the 2x extender.
The tighter long end would at times be useful, though one of the
things I really like about the 40x10 is that I always have a wide
angle to capture the unending Montana panorama on O’Dell
Creek. The work on O’Dell Creek will continue for several
more years; there are over one thousand acres of wetland to
be restored. In the meantime the increase in fish, waterfowl
and wildlife shows a measurable success. It’s important that
we protect and preserve these places so that future generations
can enjoy them too. In the words of James Audubon, “A true
conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given
by his fathers, but borrowed from his children.” Working on this
project, it was great to borrow this wonderful tool from Canon.
Dickson Sorensen has a distinguished career as Director and
DP on many high-end commercials. He was second unit DP
on “Flashdance,” and is known for his technical and artistic
virtuosity. See more pictures, sample video and additional text at:
www.fdtimes.com/articles.html
Apr-Jul 2009
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Otto Nemenz International: 30th Anniversary
Above: Otto Nemenz, right, almost arrested for filming in Paris without permit.
Below and Right: Otto at company headquarters, 870 North Vine, Hollywood.
2009 marks the 30th anniversary of Otto Nemenz International,
one of the world’s great camera equipment rental houses.
Otto was born in Styria, Austria in 1941. He studied precision
mechanics and optical engineering near Vienna. He had two
ambitions: to become a cameraman, and to drive on California
Highway 1. He was told that to become a cameraman, he should
apprentice at Panavision, where many other Austrian, German
and Swiss technicians worked. As for State Route 1, after watching
a documentary about the PCH three times, Otto flew to Los
Angeles, got a car, drove up and down California, and knocked
on Panavision’s door soon after. A big, 1962 Cadillac pulled up.
Otto, being a car buff, started talking with the owner. It was Bob
Gottschalk. Otto let slip that he was an optical engineer.
“I have a job for you,” Gottschalk said. “As a filter cleaner.” Otto
was put to work cleaning filters, at $2 an hour. After several
months, he grew tired of the job, but they wouldn’t promote
him. He started dropping filters “by accident.” They put a rubber
mat under his workbench. George Kramer rescued him with
an offer to work on building anamorphics. Every three months,
Apr-Jul 2009
Otto asked Bob Gottschalk for a raise. Bob asked why. Otto said,
“surely my work is worth more money.”
In 1966 Panavision got the contract to do Grand Prix, directed
by John Frankenheimer, starring James Garner, Yves Montand,
and Toshiro Mifune. It was filmed in Super Panavision 70,
which makes the car-rig shots all the more technically notable.
Johnny Stevens, the 2nd Unit DP, told Otto, “If you show up in
London at teatime next Thursday, I’ll make sure you’re hired.”
So Otto gave up his apartment in LA, drove from California
to New York, boarded an Icelandic Airlines DC-7A bound for
Glasgow, and with 5 suitcases and everything he owned, including
toolboxes and depth gauges, arrived at 5pm in the appointed
place, and said, “Hi, Johnny.” Johnny looked at Otto, and said,
“What are you doing here?” The Production Manager asked,
“Who are you?” Otto was thinking quickly on his feet, and
replied, “I’m here from Panavision to service the job, take care of
the cameras, collimate your lenses...”
He was hired on the spot, because they had the only Super
Panavision 70 handheld camera in existence at the time, and a

Bill Frick, left, in charge of camera mounts on Grand Prix. Otto Nemenz, at right.
Grand Prix: from right to left: Bob Bondurant, Bill Frick, John Stevens, Lotus
Mechanic, Otto Nemenz, Jochen Rindt, James Garner.
Grand Prix, Monte Carlo. John Frankenheimer, Director and James Garner.
lens that kept binding. “That lens was my lifeline,” Otto said.
It had to be constantly taken apart, adjusted, reassembled. Six
weeks later, they were short of assistants. Otto was promoted to
assistant, in addition to working as camera technician.
Next, he worked on mountaineering films and commercials
with Herbert Raditschnig and others. In 1968, Otto returned to
the US, and worked as Rental Manager at F&B Ceco, where he
met DP Paul Lohmann. They worked together on Hells Angels
69, To Catch a Pebble in Israel, commercials and documentaries
all over the world, music videos for Country Joe and The Fish,
The Turtles, The Animals, Creedence Clearwater Revival and
Woodstock.
From 1975 to 1981, Otto worked as Director of Photography on
shorts for ABC Circle Films, and on many features. In 1976, he
shot a documentary for the National Park Service to commemorate
200 years of American history.
The little shop at 7531 Sunset Boulevard opened on February
1, 1979 with two employees: his wife, Monica, and Alex
Wengert, General Manager, who is still with the company. By
that time, Otto had acquired 10 cameras and was their best
customer. After 2 years, there were 6 employees and it started
to get cramped. In 1983, Otto and Monica married (having
been together since 1976) and shortly after moved the company
into new facilities at 870 North Vine Street. With 8 employees,
they were awed by all the space after being cramped on Sunset.
Today, there are 40 employees and 150 camera packages that
include Arriflex and Moviecam. There’s a machine shop for
specialty items like the Canon Zoom lens which was used for
the first time by Adam Greenberg, ASC on Terminator II or the
Deakinizer which was used by Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC on
Assassination of Jesse James.
In 1992, Otto stopped shooting to devote all his time to running
the company. He is fully involved in the day to day management
of the company. In 1996, Cine Gear was started by Otto and
Karl Kresser at Paramount Studios. At that time Karl (who’s
also Monica’s brother) was the Marketing Manager. Since 2002,
Karl and his wife Juliane Grosso are the sole hosts of the show.
In 2003, Fritz Heinzle became Marketing Manager after having
learned and mastered the art of camera repair for the previous 7
years at Otto’s. He did not drop filters the way Otto did. Fritz is
popular with employees and customers, and is an avid Austrian
surfer. Kate McPherson, office manager, has been with the
company for 18 years. Marc Gordon, operations manager, has
been with Otto Nemenz International for 25 years.
Otto Nemenz International has supplied equipment for: Doubt,
Revolutionary Road, The Wedding Crasher, A Beautiful Mind,
Fargo, No Country for Old Men, High School Musical 3, The
Tempest, Babel, O Brother Where Art Thou, Grey’s Anatomy,
Bones, Entourage, True Blood, Big Love, In Plain Sight, Saving
Grace, Greek and music videos with Michael Jackson, Bruce
Springsteen, Madonna, Prince and many more.
Apr-Jul 2009
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Otto Nemenz International: 30th Anniversary
LAX runway. L to R: Otto, Foster Denker (Gaffer), John Nicholas (Sound).
L to R: Otto, Lee Madden, Paul Lohman on
Hells Angels 69
L to R: in Monaco, Yves Montand John Stevens, Otto with shades.
Apr-Jul 2009
On the Seine, Paris
...And dolly. L to R: John Nicholas (Sound), Otto, Foster Denker (Gaffer...Grip).
Foster Denker and Otto, handheld
Crazy hats: Otto, left; Jerry Paris, director, right. On a John Deere commercial.

L to R: Alex Wengert, Otto Nemenz, Fritz Heinzle Otto, about 15 years ago
Monica and Otto Nemenz at Wolfgang Puck’s Chinois on Main
Denny Clairmont, Mardrie Mullen, V.P. of Finance at Clairmont Camera, and Otto
Nemenz at Cinec 2008
Today, at home in Pacific Palisades
L to R: Heinz Feldhaus, Joerg Walters, Otto Nemenz at ASC Awards.
Otto Nemenz and Denny Clairmont both share a passion for cars, and both own
the same model Corvette.
Apr-Jul 2009
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Bigital Book by Benjamin B
Actually, it’s “a digital book about filmmakers
and filmmaking” that will be published in installments
on a new website, but all those Bs were
irresistible. Benjamin Bergery—aka Benjamin
B—is the author of the excellent book “Reflections,
21 Cinematographers at Work,” and
European correspondent for American Cinematographer.
Benjamin is launching a new website
on April 21st that will include video, images,
audio and text on the theme of the cinematic
image. We invited him to share an excerpt with
us. To hear and see more of the new website,
go to: benjaminb.com
Some Reflections on DI
ASC cinematographers Ellen Kuras, Kramer
Morgenthau and Tom Stern gave a Master Class
sponsored by Panavision at the Plus Camerimage
Festival in Poland. Among the topics was Digital
Intermediate, or DI.
Ellen Kuras, ASC recalls the early days of DI:
“When I first started doing DIs years ago, the
studio would say ‘What do you want to fix with
the DI?’ and I had to explain, ‘No, no I want
to do a DI because I want to change the looks,
change the blacks or put a vignette around the
image.” She adds that the color correction tools
that were de rigueur in commercials are now
“invaluable” to narrative films.
Ellen notes that DI is also essential for marrying
effects footage to normal images to “make
the look consistent all the way through.” She
explains that the match of photochemical
negative with footage originating from an effects
house is “usually uneven, because of built-in
contrast or whatever,” but notes that “the
technology changes every six months.”
Kramer Morgenthau, ASC stresses the importance
of the choice of 2K or 4K resolutions
for scanning film and for color timing, and
possible hybrid variations such as “scanned at
4K, downsized to 2K and recorded out to film.”
Kramer also stresses another key workflow
decision: whether to record a single film-out
which serves as the “negative” for a traditional
intermediate print chain, or whether multiple
“DOs” (digital outs) are recorded, allowing for
higher quality prints that are struck directly
from these negatives. “If you go with multiple
negatives,” he says, “you gain almost as much as
you lose by going to 2K instead of 4K.”
Apr-Jul 2009
Tom Stern, ASC, AFC states that he feels a responsibility to give a well-exposed
“fat” negative for future use. He jokes that “if you were to contact print” his
negatives, they “would look like ‘Herbie Goes to Las Vegas’, you know real fat
... It’s all there. I work in a non-destructive way. If Warner Brothers has put
50 million bucks in a picture and they want to go back in 20 years and make a
boxed set, I’ve done the best that I can do to ensure that the film is in a stable
state.” He adds that his look is often defined in concert with the production
designer to control the color palette before the DI, which he deems “an incredible
tool to control color and contrast.”
Tom also explains that DI can save time and money, giving the example of the
difference between setting a big net on the set, or creating a virtual one in DI.
“if you do the math, our crew and production days cost, I don’t know, 10 or 20
grand an hour on the set and a DI is a tenth or twentieth of that price. I only
mention this because it’s all about getting what you need ... to help the director
tell the story visually in a strong way. You can set a net in a DI suite in three to
eight seconds.”
Tom adds that the gritty look of some his recent films is due to the emulation of
the pricey ENR process in DI. (ENR is a photochemical lab process that involves
adding silver back to the print). “We achieved a synthetic ENR, and saved 2
cents a foot on, say, 2600 prints” which he says represents a savings of several
hundred thousand dollars.
These very practical considerations, he goes on, create “a win-win situation”, and
he smiles as he lists the benefits: “number one: you get what you want, two: I feel
you can be more creative, you have more autonomy and more people like you!”

Arriflex 16SR and 35 Books Back in Print
Jon Fauer’s best-selling ARRIFLEX 16SR BOOK and ARRIFLEX
35 BOOK are back in print and now available through Publisher
Cine Pro Media LLC and the ASC Bookstore.
The ARRIFLEX 16SR BOOK is the definitive word on how to set
up, maintain and operate the world’s most widely used motion
picture camera. Designed for assistants, cinematographers,
students, faculty, camera owners and operators, this book
incorporates a complete assistant’s guide to prep, operating
and maintenance techniques that can be used on most camera
systems.
Jon Fauer’s classic ARRIFLEX 35 BOOK is a comprehensive
guide for assistants, cinematographers, camera owners, rental
houses, production companies, directors, producers and operators,
with detailed instructions on the Arriflex 35BL, 35-3, 35-2C
and 35-3C cameras. It is also a complete assistant’s manual on
prep, operating and maintenance techniques.
The ARRIFLEX 35 BOOK details every aspect of the Arriflex
35 System from lenses to electronics, from problems assistants
commonly face to production solutions. In addition to sections
on design, handling, and range of lenses and accessories, there
is in-depth coverage on setups for simple lens tests, checking
depth and collimation, making field repairs, and video assist
adjustments. The book features exploded view drawings and
pictures of every component, an end-of-day cleaning and
maintenance checklist, and much more.
Cine Pro Media LLC is a digital publishing company targeting
low volume, out of print or specialized books for cinema education.
Using print on demand technology, books are produced as
needed in single or multiple copies and sold on line.
Founders Jeff Pollock and John Johnston are both former Kodak
motion picture veterans.
Jeff was Director of Worldwide Publishing for all of Kodak’s
technical manuals and books, and later President and CEO of
Silver Pixel Press. He is actively involved in the digital media
business.
John “JJ” Johnston held positions in sales, marketing and
management including Program Director at the Kodak Marketing
Education Center. He is Executive Director of the Production
Equipment Rental Association (PERA), an Associate
member of the American Society of Cinematographers and a
member of the International Cinematographers Guild Eastern
Region Education Committee. He is also a consultant and
contributing writer to Jon Fauer’s Film and Digital Times.
To order the ARRIFLEX 16SR BOOK and ARRIFLEX 35
BOOK, and for more information on Cine Pro Media,
visit their website: www.cinepromedia.com
or go to the bookstore at: www.theasc.com
Apr-Jul 2009
93

94
Cinematographer Style
New DVD, Paperback or iTunes
Cinematographer Style DVD
All-New Special Collectors’ Edition
with bonus uncut Storaro and Willis Interviews
CINEMATOGRAPHER STYLE is about the artists who transform ideas into
images. With 110 carefully edited interviews of celebrated cinematographers
from around the world, CINEMATOGRAPHER STYLE is a dialog
about technique, technology, art and style. It helps explain how movies
look the way they do.
Special 2009 Collectors’ Edition DVD from New Video includes:
Over an hour of additional uncut Interviews with the award-winning
cinematographers Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC and Gordon Willis, ASC.
“In a word, FANTASTIC! Anyone interested in the genesis of creativity will
find those passions resonate in this film.” - Daryn Okada, pres. of ASC
Apr-Jul 2009
Have It Your Way
Cinematographer Style, The Complete Interviews
Volume One (paperback)
The new ASC Press publication CINEMATOGRAPHER STYLE, Volume 1,
contains full transcripts of 55 interviews conducted for the documentary
(Vol. 2 is coming soon). The pages are packed with advice, anecdotes,
lessons and history.
The cinematographers in this volume include: Michael Ballhaus, ASC,
Dion Beebe, ASC, ACS, Allen Daviau, ASC, Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC,
William A. Fraker, ASC, BSC, Jack Green, ASC, Laszlo Kovacs, ASC, Ellen
Kuras, ASC, Andrew Laszlo, ASC, Denis Lenoir, ASC, AFC, Bill Pope,
ASC, Steve Poster, ASC, Owen Roizman, ASC, Nancy Schreiber, ASC,
John Seale, ASC, ACS, Dean Semler, ASC, ACS, Michael Seresin, BSC,
Haskell Wexler, ASC, Gordon Willis, ASC, ASC, Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC
and many more.
Order now: www.cinematographerstyle.com
Proceeds from the sale of Cinematographer Style Book and DVD are donated to the American Society of Cinematographers Building, Museum and Educational Funds

The Journal of Art, Technique and
Technology for Film, Video and
Digital Production
Film and Digital Times is the journal on the art, style and “how-to”
techniques and tools for Cinematographers, Photographers, Directors,
Producers, Studio Chieftains, Camera Assistants, Camera Operators,
Grips, Gaffers, Crews, Rental Houses and Manufacturers.
Published every two months, written and edited by Jon Fauer, ASC, with
inside-the-industry “secrets-of the-pros” information from professionals
who shoot, direct, light, design, edit and work in the business. Jon Fauer
is an award-winning Cinematographer and Director with 12 bestselling
books (over 120,000 in print), famous for their user-friendly way of
explaining things as if you were right there on location with him.
Get an entire year of advice on production, film, video, and digital before
it hits the street. Delivered to you by subscription or invitation bimonthly.
Available online or on paper.
END CREDITS
Many colleagues, friends and sponsors contributed articles, photos,
information, ideas, and proofreading—thanked in no particular
order: Rob Hummel, Alain Derobe, Florian Maier, Michael Phillips,
Dickson Sorensen, Jeff Laszlo, Nicole Balle, Franz Wieser, Barbara
Lowry, Richard West, Dedo Weigert, Roman Hoffmann, Pete Abel,
Jon Witsell, Mitch Gross, Rick Robinson, Martine Bianco, Thomas
Greiser, Les Zellan, Robert Blalack, Denny Clairmont, Mardrie Mullen,
Alec Shapiro, Juan Martinez, Tom DiNome, Amnon Band, Michael
Bravin, Mike Condon, Otto Nemenz, Monica Nemenz, Fritz Heinzle,
Craig Yanagi, Howard Preston, Winfried Scherle, Holger Sehr, Chuck
Lee, Bill Lovell, Andreas Weeber, Marc Shipman-Mueller, Klaus
Jacumet, Liver Temmler, Rick Robinson, Juergen Nussbaum, Harm
Abrahams, Robin Vidgeon BSC, Nigel Walters BSC, Anna Piffl, Stefan
Ciupek, Rainer Hercher, Emery Soos, Vivian Ortega, Susan Lewis, Naz
Elyasof, Bita Lavi, Ali Ahmadi, Wayne Schulman, Holly Montalbano,
David Fisher, Frank Feder, Elisabetta Cartoni, Jacques Lipkau Goyard,
Jacques Delacoux, Howard Preston, Suzanne Lezotte, John Gresch,
Sandy Kurotobi, Mike Mimaki, Joe Bogacz, Christian Tschida, Hilary
Araujo, Benjamin Bergery, John Johnston, Jeff Pollack, and many more.
Additional Media Partners
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publisher and editor: Jon Fauer
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