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CineGear 2014

main street at cinegear 2014

Well it’s that time of year again – CineGear!!!

Seems like 2014 is the year of the copter and the gimbal.  
There were more copter offerings and camera support systems then I could shake a Steadicam at.  When you first walked in there was a copter & gimbal booth just waiting for new folks to have a peek.
All the usual suspect were there and many new ones.  This year I had a short list of items I was interested in.  I’m mostly looking at camera support and control.  Things like wireless video, wireless follow focus, a basic copter solution and I’m paying close attention to the race for the winning handheld gimbal kit. The camera race is definitely heating up but I don’t think I’m ready to jump into 4K yet and since that race is just getting started at the consumer and prosumer level, I’m hoping more time will lead to better product and pricing.
Here are some of the cooler rigs

But the best one of all (Yes.. the USS Enterprise.  We are at Paramount after all =)

For me, I found something I was looking for on every street.  Teradek had a nice offering with their updated Bolt Pro line of wireless video.  Noe it can work up to 2000 feet line of sight.  I also checked out IDX and Paralinx.  I think, for now, I might lean towards the Paralinx Arrow solution as I mostly need a multicast function with near zero latency.
I stopped by the Redrock Micro booth and took another look at their wireless follow focus the MicroRemote.  Still looks nice.  I wish they would come out with the iPhone controller they showed in 2012.  Zacuto has a really cool lens control system that works in a grip form factor called the Control Grip.  It’s a 2 motor system that can control either Zoom and Iris or Focus and Iris.  It’s still in the testing stage and should be out later this year.  I wish I had known about the new TitlaMax focus system from Tilta.  I just saw this yesterday and would have loved to check it out in person.  It is a 3 motor system (FIZ) with brushless German motors and a nice IPS touch screen for easy configuration and display.
One of the best things I found is from Woodencamera.  It’s their multi connector breakout box: the C-Box.  It can take HD-SDI and/or HDMI in and then send the signal out 3 HD-SDI BNCs and 2 HDMIs all at the same time.  Wait, it get’s better…  You can put a battery mount on one or both sides so it can function as your power distro with 2 D-Taps or clip on to an existing battery mount as an add on to extend a system. Nice!!!
It was a nice show this year.  I ran into a lot of friends there and saw a bunch of great new gear.  Can’t wait till next year!!!
Until next time, Good shooting

TDTrey
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Rokinon Cine Lenses-Second Look

Still loving the Rokinon Cine lenses.  I have three now: the 24mm, 35mm for a few months and the 85mm just came in last week.  All the lenses are at a T1.5 max exposure. 

The 85mm is a little smaller than the 24 and the 35.  It still has both an iris gear and a focus gear.  Very handy for jib work.  Since this one just came in, I haven’t had a chance to test it in the field yet – but plan to in January.

The build quality is just as amazing.  The markings are nice and bold (although still only on the driver’s side).  The gears seem to work nicely with my FF.  And… the 85mm has a deep filter thread.  I ordered from B&H so I also ordered a Tiffen UV filter to go with.  The pair shipped as one and I knew that I would have the lens protected as soon as it arrived.

I’m hoping the rumors about a 50mm Cine lens are true.  I would like to round out my basic prime set now and then start adding T&S lenses and other more specialized glass later in 2013.

I’ll keep you posted as I put this one through it’s paces on the F3 and the 5D2…
Until next time, good shooting.

TDTrey.com

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Rokinon Cine Lenses-First Look

Just got the sneak release of the Rokinon 35mm T1.5 Cine lens from B & H — Wow.  Very impressed with it out of the box.
I’m going to be using it on my F3 so the build quality needs to be OK and lets face it… It has to look a little impressive besides being sharp.  I did a lot of research on the Bower, Samyang, Rokinon brands (they are all the same manufacturer) and thanks to information found on KenRockwell.com site and a few other sites these lenses seem really sharp in comparison to their Nikkor counterparts.  I thought I would give them a try and report back.  They aren’t supposed to be out until September but a few got released early and I was able to get one.  I’m waiting for the 24mm, 50mm and 85mm.
Build quality is very nice at first blush.  Not all plasticy.  The witness marks are on the left side only.  Barrel rotation is about 180 degrees and smooth.  Aperture rotation is smooth as well.  Image looks nice and sharp on the first tests.  Bokeh is creamy.  It is a full frame or FX lens so compared to my 5D2 where it’s a 35mm it’s more like a 50mm field of view on the F3.

All in all a nice lens so far.  More to follow…

Until next time, good shooting.

TDTrey.com

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Which Camera?? Decided… Sony F3

Well after a little over a year of searching and waiting and wanting I made a what I think is a fine decision for my next camera.  For those of you who have been following my “which camera” posts you’ve scene me ponder everything from the Scarletus… I mean, Scarlet.  And the 5Dmk3, Nikon D800, FS100, FS700 and more.  But after working with the Sony F3 for others I decided to get one of my own.  Great Camera!!!
I went to CineGear this year to look at everything that was coming out and projected to be out soon.  Lots of cool stuff – (technical term).  Spent quite a while at the Canon booth and the Sony Booth.  Big competition there.  With all the research about new cameras and features I was feeling very lost and then about 2 weeks ago sat down and took a hard look at what I do and how this new crop of cameras could affect that – here’s what I found:

Most used this year: 5Dmk2
Most flexible: Sony EX3
Best combo of the two: Sony F3

I’m not being asked to go 4K just yet. If need be I can rent an EPIC from VR and go crazy with resolution.  Super Slowmo is great but likely to get overused in my circles and burn out quickly and again — EPIC if needed.  Super Shallow DoF nice but not the end all be all.  The F3 seems to fit the bill right down the middle.
The best part I like is I’m already an EX3 owner so all my achechepies plug right in. I’m planning to do the S-Log upgrade soon so I’ll keep you posted on the progress.  Also I’m getting a set of the Rokinon T1.5 cine lenses as the come out.  See my review of the 35mm T1.5.  I’ll be getting the 24mm, 35mm, 50mm and 85mm.  I can rent a Zeiss ZF.2 kit when needed but I wanted to start with the Rokinons to give them a try.  I got the Tokina 11-16 in Nikon F — no cine mod yet; a Nikkor 28-70 ƒ2.8 and a Nikkor 80-200 ƒ2.8.  It will be a balanced kit when I”m done.

Well dinner is ready.  More to come…

Until next time, good shooting

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Sony PMW-F3 and Non PL Lenses

OK. So we have the 3 SONY primes 35, 50 and 85mm T3’ish — very nice. Also we have the RED 18-50 T3 PL zoom – handy. When they were offering the pair, 18-50 and 50-150 from Optimo, it was a great range and deal… But now it’s a different pricing structure… So we have steered ourselves down the NIKON road for a little while =)

Ken Rockwell.com and eBay are your friends. We went through Ken’s sight and double checked our lenses for reviews, tips and tricks and finally general pricing considerations. We decided on covering a range from 28mm to 200mm with a 28-70 ƒ2.8 ED and a 80-200 ƒ2.8 ED. Really rugged, well built and clean.

The 80-200 came in a week ago and we were able to take it to Duclos Lenses in Conoga Park last week. REALLY nice guys Paul and Matthew. Boy do they know their stuff. As it turned out they were doing a run of Cinemods on 80-200 Nikkor lenses that week and just added our parts to the run. We dropped off the lens in the morning and went to lunch and it was done by the time we got back an hour later. Awesome!!!

To add to our collection we also got the 28-70 this week. We’ll test it out on a commercial shoot this coming week. We’ll have it modded probably later this week or next. The mod is great – they remove the “click-stops” in the aperture ring and add a focus gear. If you like they will upgrade to front flange to 80mm for consistency.

The look seems very nice from these lenses. Bokeh is pretty smooth. Don’t see that much vignetting in the way we use the lenses. All in all I think a good decision.

While we were at Duclos we checked out their 11-16 lens – very cool. Again – rugged!! Worked really well with the F3. Gives you a great wide look. They are so popular for the RED and EPIC and F3 that there is a fair sized waiting list – well worth the wait and the money.

More to follow as we put the lenses through some real world testing…

Until next time, good shooting

TDTrey.com