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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012
Digital Recorders:
When shooting on any digital camera, you need reliable storage, and there is more choice than ever now. The Cinedeck EX is an on-board camera recording device, and the new Cinedeck RX is an ultra-compact, rackmount, twin-channel HDTV recording device that is totally tapeless. It gives anyone with a HDMI, HD-SDI and LAN capable camera access to cinema-grade recording at a fraction of the price of a comparably featured tapedeck. Record settings and playback transport are accessed via a stunningly straightforward 7” high-rez, touchscreen user interface. Two decks can be fitted side by side in a 19” 4RU rack and it has four removable 2.5” SSD drives that are accessed from the front of the unit. Cinedeck RX captures from all leading production formats, and can be used for single input, dual-input two camera, or 3D stereo shoots. Cinedeck systems create edit-ready material and natively support Avid and Apple standards – supporting Avid DNxHD (wrapped as MXF OP-Atom or QuickTime), JFIF for proxies, and all Apple ProRes codec formats, including 4444, CineForm and uncompressed 444 (10-bit) or 422 (8- or 10-bit). www.cinedeck.com
Codex
Another British company leading the world in camera data storage and file-based workflow solutions is Codex. The company showed the Codex Vault, a standalone solution requiring no external drives or processing. It has its own internal processor and works with Codex 1TB Transfer Drives for automatic back-up of camera original data. It provides a single, standardised workflow regardless of the camera. It also has the capability to produce deliverables in all formats required for dailies review, post production and archival purposes. Codex also has the Codex Onboard recorder and the ARRIRAW Recorders. The Codex Onboard can record uncompressed or wavelet cinema-quality HD material – plus audio and metadata – onto a single, removable data pack. When shooting is done, it offloads material much faster than real-time – typically three to five times faster.
The ARRIRAW Recorder can record one channel of ARRIRAW up to 30fps – plus audio and metadata – onto a single, removable data pack. The ARRIRAW PLUS Recorder is additionally able to record two channels of ARRIRAW (ideal for stereoscopic) up to 30fps and allows the recording of ARRIRAW at frame rates up to 60fps. The recorders can be mounted directly on a wide range of camera systems including the Sony F23, F35, Arri D-21 and Arri Alexa. There has been a great success in 2011, with over 50 major films being shot on the Codex on board recorder. www.codexdigital.com
Lenses Cooke Optics
Cooke Optics’ name is synonymous with quality, British-made optics and workmanship, and many cinematographers choose their lenses for the “Cooke Look” - a sharp, subtle, smooth rendering that provides dimensionality and high contrast, and pleases the eye. Cooke showed its full range of lenses, with the 5/i range being of great interest. This range is promoted as the lenses that can “See in the dark”. The lenses have T1.4 speed and a focus ring that illuminates when you need it. External lamps are no longer necessary for the focus puller to see in the dark because this new design incorporates a simple on/off and dimmer to adjust the level of illumination desired on the aperture ring, without affecting the light coming into the camera. All of the 5/i Prime lenses are supplied with /i Technology, and are designed for all PL mounted professional motion picture film and electronic cameras. /i Technology provides cinematographers and camera operators with vital information on lens setting, focusing distance, aperture and depth-of-field, hyperfocal distance, serial number, owner data, lens type and focal length in both metric and footage measurements. For zoom lenses, the zoom position is also displayed. www.cookeoptics.com
Grip & other kit: Panavision
The Panaconda, from Panavision Remote Systems, is a motorised mobile and multi-terrain crane base. It enables a 50ft Supertechno telescopic crane to traverse over rough terrain. Four hydraulic levelling jacks keep the base level on uneven surfaces, and the lens height of 48ft can be achieved with the 50ft Supertechno. It is operated via a joystick or with a handheld wireless remote control unit. www.panavision.co.uk
Filters:
Lee filters introduced Perforated Diffusion filters. These filters work with large soft lighting sources such as LED panels and Kino-Flo, and the filter diffuses light, in a different way. This reduces contrast between highlight areas and produces a soft directional source by allowing a combination of direct light and diffused light to combine to produce an interesting and unique look. The 439P Perforated Heavy Quiet Frost utilises a combination of both direct and strongly diffused light for a subtly different effect. www.leefilters.com
9th International Trade Fair for Cine Equipment and Technology Munich M,O,C, 22 – 24 September 2012 www.cinec.de
Once upon a time there was 3D stereo with two cameras, but how about these plenoptic cameras? How fly!
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