lens

Jon Fauer of Film and Digital Times writes: Fujinon usually has a surprise under glass at NAB. This year’s revelation was a pre-production Premier PL 14-28 mm T2.9 Cabrio wide angle zoom (model ZK2x14). It will join the 19-90 T2.9 and 85-300 mm T2.9-4.0 Cabrios around the end of 2013.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

Jon Fauer of Film and Digital Times writes: At the AFC Micro Salon in Paris a few weeks ago, Angénieux CEO and President Pierre Andurand and Cooke Chairman Les Zellan were seen tête à tête. FDTimes has learned that Angénieux and Cooke technical teams worked together to share the design of their respective anamorphic lenses and check their compatibility.

Pierre Andurand said, “Les and I are pleased to announce that our anamorphic zoom lenses and Cooke’s anamorphic primes will work well together, providing cinematographers with a compatible series of lenses to shoot motion pictures in anamorphic format.”

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

Digital Media World writes: The results of the companies' collaboration will bring cinematographers a full range of compatible anamorphic lenses, including Cooke's design that captures the 'Cooke Look' and Angénieux' zoom technology, both Academy Award winners, to meet requirements of film and digital capture.

Les Zellan, chairman and owner, Cooke Optics, said, “Cooke primes and Angénieux zooms have always complemented each other in terms of look and colour. They are frequently used together on feature films as the combination of our respective expertise brings something special to the screen that cinematographers have long valued.”

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

Jon Fauer of Film and Digital Times writes: Fujinon announces a new Cabrio for NAB. On display at their NAB booth will be the new Premier PL 14-28mm Cabrio wide angle 4K lens (model ZK2x14).  Focal length from 14-28mm at T2.9, with 200-degree focus rotation. This is the 3rd in the growing Cabrio Family.

Thom Calabro, director of marketing and product development for the Optical Devices Division of FUJIFILM, said, “It’s the result of considerable customer feedback asking for a light weight zoom wide angle lens with a detachable servo drive, so it can be used as a handheld, capturing wide angles on tight shots.”

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

Canon has added a 13mm and a 125mm lens to its Cinema EOS prime lens lineup, bringing the total up to 5 (it also includes a 24mm, a 50mm and an 85 mm). Says AbelCine, "All five lenses have proper cine gearing and precision reference marks, EF mounts and Full Frame 35mm coverage (enough to cover the sensors of the 5DM3 and the 1D C). The 14mm is highly rectilinear, so straight horizontal and vertical lines remain undistorted even on the very edge of frame. The 135mm is a great portrait lens, flattening features by virtue of its field of view but with a rounded Bokeh to lend an attractive sense of depth."

Watch AbelCine's video on the lenses below and read more here.

Zeiss has provided a number of test shots from a variety of their CP.2 and CZ.2 lenses.

First up is the sizzle reel featuring a variety of their glass.

Here is an angle of view comparison with their CP.2s.

The one below showcases the capabilities of the CP.2 35mm Super Speed.

See the close-up capabilities of the CP.2 100mm CF below.

RedShark News reports on Digital Bolex's new announcement concerning their lenses, writing, "The new lenses are designed to be cheap, but of the highest quality. These two attributes are normally opposites but by introducing a fundamentally new lens topology, complexity is reduced, and the money saved can go back into the optics themselves."

Read the full piece here.

In the episode of B&H's HDSLR Educational Series found below, Shane Hurlbut goes over what you need to know about shooting video with a still lens. He says, "What are the challenges working with a still lens? Well, there is no way to actually focus the thing. There’s no autofocus on this baby. To be able to pull this off, you’re going to need your focus puller and you’re going to need to put a ring around your focus ring so you’re able to use manual follow focus devices and/or remote follow focus devices."

Watch the full episode below or read a transcript here on Hurlbut's blog.

Matt Allard of DSLR News Shooter reviews the SLR Magic 50mm T0.95 Leica M Mount lens in the video found below. He says, "This particular lens was originally made for aerial filming specialists Space Cam to use on modified RED cameras for helicopter work.  Unlike some of the other SLR Magic products this is not a toy lens!  I can attest to this lens being made to the highest possible standards. I have been very impressed with the performance and look of this lens."

Watch below and read more here.

Fletcher Camera and Lenses has put together a zoom lens comparison chart showcasing the focal length range, image coverage diameter. minimum aperture, weight, rental price, and more of 18 different zoom lenses. Companies covered include Canon, ARRI, Fujinon, and Angenieux.

Download the PDF below.

Richard Harrington and Robbie Carman explain what prime lenses are in this short video from lynda.com's DSLR tutorial series. Says Carman, "A prime lens is not a zoom lens. A prime lens is a simple lens that actually uses less glass in the lens. And because you're using less lens, prime lenses are often more sharp, they tend to be faster -- meaning they have wider maximum apertures --, and they're a good lens to go to to get standard length shots."

Watch below.

Three cinematographers, Laura Bellingham, David Lee and Adam Frisch, collaborated on the simple but effective film "Tears," shot entirely on Nikon cameras and using Nikkor lenses (in fact, what the promo is touting). "Tears" looks at all the different emotions that can bring on the waterworks with beautifully composed silent vignettes.

Watch it below.

In December, Fujifilm will release a new zoom lens with a 99x zoom capability and the ability to remain stabilized even when zoomed all the way in. Explains Gizmodo, "In terms of numbers, the lens has an incredibly wide working range. It's able to go as wide as 8.4 millimeters, and zoom as far as 832 millimeters. So it's just as capable of following the action on a basketball court as it is of zooming in on a painted faced fan in the nosebleed seats."

The Hollywood section of the SMPTE presents "Through the Looking Glass: An Evening with the Lens Experts." This free event will feature representatives from Angenieux, Canon, Cooke, Fujinon, Leica, Schneider, and Zeiss to discuss their latest lens technologies and offerings. It's taking place on Monday, November 19th from 6:30 PM at Burbank's Woodbury University.

Register here.

Canon U.S.A., Inc. has announced two new additions to the Company’s EF lens family, the new EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM and EF 35mm f/2 IS USM lenses. Each of these two lenses features unique optical attributes for a variety of situations. The new EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM has macro shooting capabilities at the telephoto end and the EF 35mm f/2 IS USM adds Canon’s proprietary Image Stabilization (IS) to this popular prime lens focal length.

Canon is now shipping its EOS zoom and prime lenses and Film and Digital Times has posted two handy charts to help you compare the options. See them here.

AbelCine gives an explanation of what bokeh is along with a demonstration of the effect when using three different lenses. They say, "The bokeh of a lens defines how that lens renders the out of focus portions of the image. In representing a three-dimensional space on the two-dimensional field of a photographic plate, the geometry of the path light takes through the lens elements can become apparent."

I love my Apple iPhone. Really love it. I’m never without it—quite literally. I’ve got 266 apps on my phone currently—and no, they’re not all versions of Angry Birds. A large portion of my apps are industry-related, tools used in the scope of filmmaking and cinematography.

Matthew Duclos of Duclos Lenses reviews the $70 Olloclip iPhone 4 lens system, which allows for wide-angle, fisheye and macro shooting, He says, "Obviously this is no Zeiss lens.