1. Art and Diseño

Jon Fauer, ASC
www.fdtimes.com
Feb 2015
Issue 66-67
Art, Technique, and Technology in Motion Picture Production Worldwide
JAPAN
Factory Tours:
Panasonic VariCam 35
Fujifilm Fujinon
KOTO Electric
Sony Doc Dock
Sony F55/F5 v5.0
JVC 4K Camcorders
Canon 50-1000 T5.0 - 8.9 Zoom Lens
Jon Thorn and Nick Rashby on AJA CION
Hiroshi Kiriyama on Sony Professional Cameras
Kunihiko Miyagi and Takahiro Mitsui on VariCam 35
Anthony Dod Mantle’s Customized Gear
InterBEE, IBC, Photokina, Cinec
Leica at Photokina
Factory Tour of AJA
Jon Thorn and Nick Rashby on AJA CION
Codex 4K V-RAW Recorder
FDTimes 66 Contents
Art, Technique and Technology
Manfred Jahn with Arriflex 765
Film and Digital Times is the guide to technique and technology,
tools and how-tos for Cinematographers, Photographers, Directors,
Producers, Studio Chieftains, Camera Assistants, Camera Operators, Grips, Gaffers, Crews, Rental Houses, and Manufacturers.
It’s written, edited, and published by Jon Fauer, ASC, an awardwinning Cinematographer and Director. He is the author of 14
bestselling books—over 120,000 in print—famous for their userfriendly way of explaining things. With inside-the-industry “secretsof the-pros” information, Film and Digital Times is delivered to you
by subscription or invitation, online or on paper. We don’t take ads
and are supported by readers and sponsors.
Webmaster: Jon Stout. Contributing authors and editors: Jakob
Bonfils, Kunihiko Miyagi, Takahiro Mitsui, Jim Wickizer, Megumi
Sato, Arato Ogura, Yasuaki Mitsuwa, Yasuhiko Mikami, Sarah
Priestnall, Peter Crithary, Gordon Tubbs, Thom Calabro, Chuck Lee,
Tobias Brandstetter, Michael Schiehlen, Howard Preston, Karen
Raz, Nick Rashby, Jon Thorn, Craig Yanagi. Photographers: Jakob
Bonfils, Jaap Buitendijk, Thomas Nievelt, Jon Fauer.
My thanks to Jim Wickizer, Megumi Tsuneyama, Megumi Sato,
Sae Nakatani, Chiharu Fuchida, Kunihiko Miyagi, Takahiro Mitsui,
and everyone at Panasonic for arranging tours of the factories and
museum. At Fujifilm, thanks to Junichi Kubo, Atsushi Yamazaki,
and all who enabled tours of Mito and Morigane facilities. At Koto
Electric, Shinji Harada, Masaki Nagayama. And above all, thanks to
Arato Ogura, for his boundless enthusiasm, help and contacts.
© 2015 Film and Digital Times, Inc. by Jon Fauer
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2
Feb 2015 • Issue 66
FDTJ...................................................................................................3
InterBEE November 2014................................................................. 4-9
The Road to Grass Valley, CA........................................................ 10-11
The Road to AJA CION................................................................. 12-17
Assembling CION...............................................................................18
CION AKS..........................................................................................19
Jon Dreams of Sushi.................................................................... 20-21
400th Anniversary of the Siege of Osaka Castle............................. 22-23
Osaka......................................................................................... 24-25
Panasonic Center in Osaka.................................................................26
Konosuke Matsushita Museum .................................................... 27-30
Panasonic VariCam 35 Views....................................................... 31-34
VariCam 35, Codex 4K V-RAW Recorder....................................... 35-38
Codex Vault.......................................................................................39
Kunihiko Miyagi and the VariCam 35............................................. 40-43
Takahiro Mitsui and Development of the VariCam.......................... 44-45
Panasonic VariCam Development.................................................. 46-47
Tour of Panasonic’s Okayama VariCam Factory............................. 48-49
Printed Circuit Board Manufacturing....................................................50
Into the VariCam Cleanroom...............................................................51
VariCam Assembly....................................................................... 52-53
VariCam Final Assembly............................................................... 54-55
KOTO Electric Co......................................................................... 56-57
Fujinon Cabrio 25-300 on Sony F55...................................................58
Fujifilm’s Fujinon Factory Tour...................................................... 59-60
Factory Tour: Mito and Morigane.................................................. 61-63
Grinding and Polishing Optical Elements..............................................64
Lens Assembly............................................................................ 65-66
Testing and Finishing.........................................................................67
Anthony Dod Mantle’s Customized Gear........................................ 68-71
Canon 50-1000 T5.0 - 8.9 Zoom Lens......................................... 72-75
JVC GY-LS300 4K Camcorder............................................................76
JVC 4K Camcorders...........................................................................77
Hiroshi Kiriyama, Sony Professional Cameras.......................................78
Sony “Doc Dock” CBK-55BK......................................................... 79-81
Sony F55/F5 Firmware Upgrade 5.0....................................................82
Sony F55/F5 with Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD.................................83
IBC - Amsterdam...............................................................................84
Photokina - Cologne...........................................................................85
Leica D-Lux at Photokina....................................................................86
Leica at Photokina.............................................................................87
Moving Still Pictures..................................................................... 88-89
Photokina..........................................................................................90
Cinec.......................................................................................... 91-93
Cover: Checking zoom lens at Fujinon Factory.....................................58
FDTJ
L-R: Shuji Nagata, Jon Fauer, Masako Misaki, Yasuhiko Mikami, Chef Aya, Michael Schiehlen, Yasuaki Mitsuwa, Arato Ogura.
There’s a vague literary logic to the layout of this Film and Digital
Times edition. We begin at InterBEE, the huge cinema and broadcast show in Tokyo. Flashback to Grass Valley, California, and a
visit to the AJA CION factory. This was where the trip to Japan
was hatched, along with the dreams of Sushi at Jiro. Next, visits to
Panasonic, Fujifilm, and Koto factories. Cut to Denmark, where
Jakob Bonfils is customizing Anthony Dod Mantle’s Canon C500.
Back to Japan for the new Canon 50-1000, JVC 4K cameras, a
meeting with Sony’s Hiroshi Kiriyama, an update on Sony F5/F55
cameras and the new Doc Dock. To wrap, a 2014 year-end review
of IBC, Photokina, and Cinec.
FDTimes distributed its first Japanese language edition on paper
at InterBEE. It’s also online. To celebrate the smell of ink still dry-
ing on paper mere hours before opening bell at InterBEE, the first
pro tempore board meeting of Film and Digital Times Japan convened in a private teppanyaki dining room with a view: Yebisu
Restaurant — on the top floor of The Westin Tokyo.
Chef Aya presided with a calm, artistic, zen-like presentation.
Appetizer of grilled smelt, Japanese pepper boiled mushroom,
grilled eggplant with salmon. First course of grilled lobster or
grilled abalone. Second course of grilled beef with vegetables, accompanied by fried rice. Fruits and sweets for dessert.
The adventure continues. We will cover more products in upcoming FDTJ Japanese editions. I welcome the enthusiasm and participation of the many individuals and companies who made suggestions and asked to be included in future FDTimes Japan issues.
Please visit the FDTJ landing page: www.fdtimes.com/japanese
Chef Aya dispatches the lobster at Yebisu.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
3
InterBEE November 2014
InterBEE 2014 took place in the massive Makuhari Messe on
November 19, 20, 21. The convention center with the German
“Messe” name (Photokina is held in the Koelnmesse) is about
an hour’s train ride north of central Tokyo, past the giant ferris
wheel and Tokyo Disney World.
Above: View of Tokyo Bay from New Otani Makuhari Hotel. Vast
Makuhari Messe on the right. Behind it is Chiba Marine Stadium, home
of the Chiba Lotte Marines baseball team, owned by Lotte Holdings.
Shin Kyuk-Ho named his company “Lotte” in 1948 after the character
Charlotte in Goethe’s “The Sorrows of Young Werther” (1774).
A record number of visitors came: 37,959. 977 companies exhibited in 1,773 booths, including 543 exhibitors from 33 countries.
Below: Carpenter building apple boxes at InterBEE booth of Metal Toys.
Ironic: wooden boxes at Metal Toys; metal tools at Wooden Camera.
Metal Toys also makes metal Meister Track.
The theme of this show was 8K, signs announced 4K/8K, and I
thought 8K displays (native and up-rezzed) looked even better
than their 4K cousins.
A nice surprise for me was the latest ARRI ALEXA 65 demo
video in the NAC booth. “Unadorned faces in 4K, let alone 6K,
might be a scary proposition,” we thought. Yet here were absolutely amazing 6K portraits of real people, with little or no makeup, no softening. Done right, higher resolution is not the antifilm; it approaches natural human vision.
And just when we thought it was safe to settle down with 4K, we
see 8K looming on the 2020 Tokyo Olympic horizon, a mere 5
years away. This is, of course, as inevitable and unstoppable as
next year’s new model car or new iPhone arriving as predictably
as New Year’s fireworks. The Japanese government and electronic
associations are investing and supporting. This is nothing new.
Consumer electronics hardware, software and formats constantly
advance, soon to be discarded, conspicuously consuming us with
their irresistible roadmaps of planned replacement?
There was an amazingly immersive 260 inch 4K display, with 1.5
mm pixel pitch. This wouldn’t fit into my Manhattan apartment,
but the 84-inch to 96-inch 8K monitors displayed at InterBEE
would nicely cover an entire wall. The only challenge would be
getting it up the elevator. Could there be career or investment
opportunities for companies with giant cranes that specialize in
lifting huge flat panel TVs up to highrise dwellings?
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
InterBEE Tokyo
Sony FS7 with 18 mm ZEISS Compact Prime and Vocas Follow Focus.
Vocas’ Fred Blok with handgrip supported wooden Follow Focus.
ARRI Amira with Angénieux 28-76 T2.6 Optimo Zoom.
ARRI Amira with Fujinon 19-90 T2.9 Cabrio Zoom.
ARRI Alexa Studio with Angénieux 30-72 T4 Optimo Anamorphic Zoom.
Panasonic VariCam 35 with Leica 135 mm Summicron-C Lens.
ZEISS’ Michael Schiehlen with ZEISS CP.2 lens on Ikegami 8K camera.
ARRI Alexa XT with ARRI UWZ 9.5-18 T2.9 Rectilinear Zoom.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
5
InterBEE Tokyo
Blackmagic Design introduced DaVinci Resolve 11.1 at IBC in September
2014 and it was demonstrated to large audiences at InterBEE. It is a
major update with many features and improvements that will please
editors and colorists. It’s available as a free download for existing
DaVinci Resolve customers.
Of great interest at InterBEE was DaVinci Resolve’s support for the new
Panasonic VariCam’s V-RAW and AVC-I. Resolve also handles visually
lossless compressed DNG RAW clips, improved color decoding for
Phantom CINE RAW files, new Phantom Cine Log gamma selection in
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
camera raw settings, VFX I/O LUTs for Gamma 2.2 and Gamma 2.4, etc.
DaVinci Resolve 11.1 also has improved integration with Final Cut Pro
X: multicam clips, synchronized clips, mixed frame rate compound clips,
and imported speed changes with Bezier curves.
Davinci Resolve Lite can be downloaded free:
www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve
Compare the various versions of Resolve, Resolve Software, Resolve Lite:
www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/compare
InterBEE Tokyo
Prototype Canon 8K 19.7-138 mm zoom.
Prototype Canon 8K 19.7-138 mm zoom under glass.
ARRI Amira with Transvideo Starlite HD Onboard Monitor / Recorder.
Matthews FloatCam Wireless Pan/Tilt Head on a motorized DC
Slider does motion control, manual moves, timelapse and stop
motion. A multi-axis joystick controls the head.
Matthews’ Tyler Phillips and Bob Kulesh with FloatCam System.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
7
InterBEE Tokyo
RAID - KOKI-HIFUMI Rentals
Cooke’s Geoffrey Chappell
and
Sanwa’s
MasaChappell and
Cooke’s
Geoffrey
Yasumoto
Sanwa’s Masa Yasumoto
AJA’s Eric Hamilton
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
InterBEE Tokyo
Codex Action
Cam with Ultra
Prime and PL
adapter
ZEISS’ Arato Ogura and Sanwa’s Masa Yasumoto
ZEISS’ Arato Ogura and
Sanwa’s Masa Yasumoto
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
9
The Road to Grass Valley, CA
Above, left: Grass Valley, California. Below: The Holbrooke Hotel in Grass Valley.
Above right: Lola Montez by Joseph Karl Stieler. Painted for Ludwig I of Bavaria in 1847.
Schönheitengalerie (Gallery of Beauties), Nymphenburg Palace, Munich.
“The pork I bought in town last night is the stinkinest salt junk
ever brought around the Horn. We fry it for breakfast and supper, boil it with our beans and sop our bread in the grease. Lord
knows we pay enough for it.”
But the location here is less Max Ophuls and more “McCabe and
Mrs. Miller,” Robert Altman’s anti-Western ode to mud, rain,
mining, Julie Christie, Warren Beatty, cinematography by Vilmos
Zsigmond, ASC, haunting score by Leonard Cohen:
That’s what Alfred T. Jackson wrote in his “Diary of a Forty-Niner” on May 18, 1850.
But now another stranger seems
to want you to ignore his dreams
as though they were the burden of some other.
Oh you’ve seen that man before
his golden arm dispatching cards
but now it’s rusted from the elbows to the finger.
And he wants to trade the game he plays for shelter.
The grub in Grass Valley, California is much better today. Sushi in
the RAW and nearby New Moon Cafe are as good as it gets. Gold
was discovered in Grass Valley in August 1849, eight months after
the Rush began at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, 40 miles Southeast.
There’s only one direct flight a day from New York to Sacramento,
landing late at night, followed by an hour drive north through the
mountains to Grass Valley. The fate of the Donner Party hangs
heavy, a mere 50 miles Northeast near Truckee in 1846-47.
Up early the next morning, a stroll along the quaint covered
sidewalks passes by the home of Lola Montez. LOLA MONTEZ!
Courtesan, mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Countess of
Landsfeld, what was she doing here? I didn’t remember Grass
Valley appearing in Max Ophuls’ 1955 film starring Martine Carol, Peter Ustinov and Oskar Werner. I do remember, however, forever, the glorious continuous camera moves of cinematographer
Christian Matras, who also shot Grand Illusion, La Ronde, and
The Earrings of Madame de...
Apparently Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert (aka Lola Montez), born in Ireland, fled the German Revolution of 1848, and
moved to 248 Mill Street in Grass Valley in 1853. She left in 1855
for Australia. Sierra Nevada Conservancy and National Geographic wrote, “When Montez arrived at the gold mining camps,
she provided a little culture to their standard fare of entertainment. In addition to her immensely popular performances, Montez was skilled at gathering wealthy investors together to support
the lagging quartz gold industry and the Empire Mine during its
lean years. As a result of her efforts, the mining industry in the
Grass Valley area continued to prosper for 100 years.”
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Grass Valley today isn’t muddy, nor was it rainy. Saloons have
been replaced by spas, prospectors by mountain bikers, hikers
and daytrippers. The town is festooned with rusted mine carts,
waterwheels, stamp mills, and relics of the Gold Rush. The Holbrooke Hotel on West Main Street is the oldest hotel in continuous operation since 1852, with a balcony above beckoning for a
location scout. But stay at the charming Courtyard Suites.
The Road to Grass Valley, CA
Empire Mine is now a state park. Mining implements decorate the
sidewalks of Grass Valley. Below, Empire Cottage, home of mine owner
William Bourn, Jr. 1897.
Grass Valley’s wealth came from its Empire and North Star
Mines, two of the richest in California. Many early settlers came
from Cornwall, where there was a long tradition of deep mining. There’s still a Cornish pasty shop serving meat and vegetables
baked in a pastry.
Mining declined after World War II, but was quickly replaced by
high tech companies. Grass Valley became an early Silicon Valley of the Sierra Nevadas. Charles Litton, whose Litton Industries
built vacuum tubes for electronics, moved his machinery division
to Grass Valley in 1954. Litton’s friend Dr. Donald Hare moved
here in 1959 and founded a “small” research and development
company called Grass Valley Group.
An engineer named John Abt worked for Grass Valley Group. In
1993 he founded AJA, named after the initials of his son. Today,
more 200 people worldwide work for AJA, building video capture
cards, digital recording devices, video routers, frame synchronizers and scalers, digital converters and, now, a professional 4K
camera.
Above: Nick Rashby, President of AJA. Below: At Sushi in the RAW,
prepping for a visit to Tokyo’s legendary Sukiyabashi Jiro. Nick is
perfecting the FDTimes restaurant lighting kit: iPhone 6 LED bounced in
a 12x12 (inch) white napkin for glorious, soft single source illumination.
In addition to its extensive line of mini converters that can transform almost any signal to any other standard, AJA expanded into
the desktop video market in 2000 with the KONA video capture
and playback cards for Mac and Windows PCs. The company’s
next products included Io Thunderbolt desktop video products
and the Ki Pro family of portable and rack-mountable file-based
recorders.
And then came CION, the topic of this report.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
11
The Road to AJA CION
Io HD
Ki Pro
Foam Model
Camera Head with Ki Pro Quad
It’s October 2014. I’m sitting with Nick Rashby and Jon Thorn in
a conference room at AJA. Jon has thoughtfully lined up a museum-worthy collection of the company’s seminal products. It’s a
veritable AJA timeline, a roadmap to their new camera’s journey.
Jon Thorn has arranged the evolutionary journey of AJA CION,
like the progression in Time-Lif ’s illustration “The Road to Homo
Sapiens — man’s long march from apelike ancestors.”
AJA was founded by John Abt in 1993. I don’t dare call that era a
primordial swamp, because it was the fertile ground from which
emerged all kinds of amazing AJA products.
We begin by looking at the thing on the left, the Io HD.
And that’s where our story begins, at AJA in 2007. In the beginning, there was the Io HD.
JON FAUER: What was so special about AJA’s Io HD?
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Mini Box Camera Head with Ki Pro
Prototype CION
First Clay Model
Production CION
JON THORN: The Io HD came out in 2007. It was really the
first ProRes hardware encoder that existed. ProRes, which is a codec, came from Apple, and it was available to people who were
on Mac OS. They could use it in software. That was wonderful,
except that there was a demand for ProRes encoding in more mobile situations. The laptops at that time weren’t capable of encoding to ProRes.
By offloading that burden onto a separate device, you could hook
it up via FireWire 800, actually take it in the field, and record. We
had some people do that on an early feature film. They wanted to
shoot the best compact compression scheme they could. Uncompressed was too unwieldy for them. They wanted a 10-bit, highquality codec that they could use effectively in post-production
effectively. That’s a great example of its first use in production.
The exterior design of the Io HD may look a little bit primitive
compared to everything else we have right now.
AJA CION
NICK RASHBY: John Abt and I were driving back. We were all
happy; Apple had helped us launch it at their big event. We were
thinking this is the greatest thing ever. And the mobile phone
rings, and it’s Jon Thorn calling from another car. And we said,
“Wasn’t that great?” Jon replied, “Yeah, yeah, yeah...but you’ve got
to listen to this…here’s what we should do next…”
JON THORN: The phone was breaking up because we were
driving. I remember I actually said, “We should make a camera
back.” But the phone connection was bad, and they didn’t hear
the word “back. They just heard “camera.” And they replied, “We
can’t make a camera.”
It provided all kinds of connectors?
If you think about, here’s a box with all the connectivity in the
world. I mean, you still have S-Video on this thing because remember that in 2007 you’re still in a transitional period from SD
to HD. This device is packed with connectors in order to work
with a wide array of cameras or VTRs at the time, feeding into a
non-linear edit system and encoding to ProRes. This was the first
time that we put a user interface on the product itself, not just on
the computer. We’d always had a nice control panel application,
but we never really had an interface. So now we had a vacuum
fluorescent display that actually would give you the format you
were in and whether you were converting stuff. We gave it VU
meters, and we took the Io HD to NAB in 2007. Invariably someone would say, “Where do I put the hard drive into it?” I would
reply, “No, no. It’s a capture device for your computer.” And they’d
say, “If it could go straight to the hard drive, that would be even
better.” And then people would ask, “Where does the battery go?”
And I realized that they were right. Our device ran off 117 VAC.
But people wanted to take it in the field. They could use an inverter, but that got my wheels turning. Driving home from NAB,
we were all excited.
I said, “No, no, a camera back. There are all these new cameras,
and we could make a thing that just docks to them, just like earlier
VTRs that docked to video camera heads.”
And that led to the Ki Pro. It shared many similarities with the Io
HD in terms of lots of connectivity. We were talking about a more
compact form factor. As you can see in our timeline of development, it would shrink in size as time passed.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
13
The Road to AJA CION
The Ki Pro was the first ProRes recording device that was standalone, no computer required. That really changed the way everybody thought about acquiring their data. Now you were moving
the post-production codec into production. That was in 2009.
Ki Pro ran off 12 volts?
JON THORN: Yes, it ran off the camera’s 12 volt battery or power supply. The other great thing was it connected with all kinds
of cameras. You could connect it to small box cameras and you
could connect it to big high-end cameras. That was the first inkling of CION.
Before ARRI had the ALEXA, their rental fleet had our Ki Pros
docked onto the back of their D-21 cameras. There was a natural
progression in high quality codecs that were manageable in postproduction. So, after we brought out the Ki Pro, people were really excited, but the next thing they started to say was, “When are
you guys going to make a camera?”
I would ask you that question every time we saw each other,
and you would only smile slyly.
JON THORN: We tended to be quiet about it because you have
to consider the viability of whether or not you can make the product. Question number one is usually what could you make that
would be a benefit for people? What do they want? And then,
can you make it? Essentially, we had the back end of the camera.
When you see the Ki Pro and a small camera head together, you
realize all it takes is a part to connect them together, and you’ve
got a camera.
I remember I wrote a proposal, but I also had this little tiny box
camera. It was super simple. I wanted something really small. I
hooked it up, and we were excited about it. But there was also a
healthy skepticism because actually building a camera would be
major undertaking. It wasn’t an outright no. It was more of a “Let’s
consider it.”
Sorry to interrupt. If you guys at AJA can do this—build both
the camera head and the recording module—why don’t more
companies do the recording? What’s the intellectual knowledge you have that is unique?
NICK RASHBY: We have a lot of IP in video signaling, embedded systems, and standards conversions. That’s what the company
was founded on — converting formats. We may not have more
experience, but I think we can do things quickly because we’re a
very nimble company. We are the masters of our own fate, not the
stock market. That lets us decide what’s best.
JON THORN: We’re very interested in open standards. As you
know, Apple ProRes doesn’t exist only in Apple’s world. It works
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
on Windows. It works on the Mac. It works on multiple nonlinear
editing systems, so that’s a huge advantage. Traditional camera
manufacturers have tended to work sealed off from each other
somewhat. So one company creates AVC-Intra. Another creates
XAVC. Another company creates another variant. They don’t do
it out of ill will. They’re all doing it because they think that their
codec is a viable product for their customers. But it does create a
disjointed environment.
The original Ki Pro was actually used often to let disparate cameras work together. It was used more as an external recorder than as
a camera attachment. For example, let’s say you had a multi-cam
shoot with a 720p camera and a 1080i camera and a really good
SD camera. Usually, you’d have to record them independently,
work with them in post-production, and do all kinds of work to
try and make them match.
With the Ki Pro, you could record everything to the same codec,
which was ready to edit, and you could use the built-in conversions in the box to make them all the same thing. So if your deliverable was 720p, even though you had these disparate elements,
you could come up with one format, which is way faster in postproduction.
NICK RASHBY: And that’s the strength of the conversions that
we have. We’re able to do conversions all with the same quality.
All those little individual converter boxes we’ve been making
were the genesis of how we could put all kinds of connectivity
into one box. That was a jumping off point. That’s when we started
down the road of internal discussions about a camera.
When did you start talking about building a camera?
JON THORN: The Ki Pro came out in 2009, so 2010 was the first
time I ever wrote anything down that said we should make a camera. There was a lot of brainstorming and the clay models were
done in 2011 to 2012. The first one told us we couldn’t make it
quite this little. It gave us an idea of ergonomics. The foam models
came later in 2012, with weights added to determine the balance
of the camera on your shoulder.
ALEXA came out in 2010.
JON THORN: Yes, and the Ki Pro actually pre-dated ALEXA and
was being used with the D-21. It was pretty interesting because
we didn’t know they were going the route of ProRes. Arguably,
they also popularized ProRes as a legitimate format. And then the
floodgates were open.
Form factor was a huge consideration because ergonomics of
cameras, in my opinion, started to decline dramatically. If you
wanted a cost-effective camera, you ended up with something
that was held out in front of you with a weird ponytail viewfinder.
The Road to AJA CION
You had to jam your eye into the finder at the back of the camera,
and you ended up wedged against it for stability. And there were
flip-up monitor things. If you wanted better ergonomics, you had
to step up in the tiers of cameras, so to speak. I found that kind
of frustrating. A lot of those cameras tended to have fixed lenses.
The DSLR craze had taken off in 2005. Part of that was because
people wanted interchangeable lenses.
JON THORN: While the shape of the camera was changing, we
were looking at what was really available in terms of sensors. And
asking where’s the market going? We thought 1080 was great, but
tomorrow’s format would be 4K and UltraHD. The next model
put our Ki Pro Quad next to a camera head with sensor, lens
mount assembly, and user interface.
Your alternatives at the time were solid-state recording cameras
that mostly had a fixed lens. Their form factor was “handheld”
and you literally held them with your hand out in front of you.
Or you could buy a stills camera to get the interchangeable lenses
and then have to rig it all up. And I was asking, “Why did we
forget how cameras used to be?” We had Aatons and 16SRs and
Eclairs and all these wonderful cameras that you could pick up,
put on your shoulder, and shoot. They were relatively well balanced. They were compact.
But on the video side, you had ENG cameras that were always
shoulder resting.
JON THORN: I would argue that those ENG camera were much,
much larger than a 16mm camera. So now we get to a really interesting phase in development of the CION. You can see the beginnings of trying to figure out shape volumetrically with 3D printed
models. And then we got into the real world of engineering pieces
like the sensor assembly.
Then there were other design changes. For example, the top
handle parts were altered. Our designers kept wanting to make
record buttons blue, in AJA Blue because they thought that was
kind of hip. And we said, no, record buttons are red. The location
changed over time. Originally, we put the record button low, like
on a lot of Super16 cameras. But it was a too close to the rosette. It
meant you’d have to hang electronics lower in the body. You’d interrupt the air circulation. A knob became a click wheel. Buttons
changed over time. Labels and menus were too cluttered. They
were not very legible. Everything had to be just one line of text.
When we seemed to be fairly close to what we wanted, we started
looking at fit and finish, colors, and different wood samples for
the handles.
Mahogany, cherry, walnut, olive—like Olivander’s wand shop
in Harry Potter. Does the handle choose the cinematographer?
At the same time, we were working on developing next gen recorders. The Ki Pro Mini came out late 2011, early 2012.
NICK RASHBY: And then we introduced the Ki Pro Quad in
2013. This was our first 4K recorder.
JON THORN: Absolutely. And because we’re working with natural wood, not every handle is going to be the same, which is nice.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
15
The Road to AJA CION
Are you offering custom handgrips for individual DPs?
NICK RASHBY: No. We are encouraging third parties. Shoulder
pads, alternate handles and handgrips. We’ve always partnered
with other companies, and part of our success is having an open
approach, with few things that are proprietary. Even though we
make a certain limited number of accessories, we want people to
be happy and use what they like and is easy to find.
The shoulder pad is actually a separate piece. The advantage of
that is if you don’t like the one we provide, you can add your own.
It’s held with just two ¼-20 threads.
What’s the body made of?
JON THORN: If you don’t want the AJA accessories, there are
third party ones from companies like Vocas, Wooden Camera,
Zacuto, MTF, and others. We try to make accessories fit as toolless as possible. For example, our cheese plates don’t have a weird
pattern. We use the industry-standard spacing of 9 mm center
to center. This makes it easy for the after-market manufacturers.
How did you pick the suede for the shoulder pad? It’s real
leather? Do you guys go hunting during lunch hour in the hills
around here for shoulder pads?
JON THORN: Funny you mention that because I’m a vegetarian. I eat fish, so technically that makes me a pescatarian. But the
shoulder pad is real suede leather. We tested all kinds of varieties.
We also tested Alcantara, a polyurethane and polyester textile
substitute for suede that’s used in cars, aircraft, furniture, helmets, earphones, and for flame retardant seats in Formula One
racecars. But it was a little more slippery and didn’t have quite the
same grip as suede. Nevertheless, I kept a few samples because I
felt if someone were a vegan and felt offended, I have two of these
in my office. I don’t have a whole box of them, but if someone really had a moral dilemma, I would be willing to consider it.
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
JON THORN: Magnesium. We started with aluminum. But the
move to magnesium was pretty quick. The magnesium is lighter
and much more rigid. I don’t think that you would say it’s difficult
to work with. It’s just that not anyone can do it. There are really
specific tools and production methods to make the material work.
The image plane tape hook fits either on the side or on top.
NICK RASHBY: That was my main technical contribution to the
project, wasn’t it? (laughs)
JON THORN: At first, I just wanted to just scribe the image plane
witness mark on the camera body.
NICK RASHBY: But I wanted the physical tape hook as well.
JON THORN: Then Nick and I duked it out on whether it should
be on the side or on the top. In the end, it’s in both places, which
is nice because you can move it either way.
It’s nice that you both were camera assistants and cameramen
in your earlier careers. Your experience shows in the thoughtful
design of the CION. The cheeseplate is good.
The Road to AJA CION
Completed AJA CION
JON THORN: On our earlier designs, the cheese plate was built
into the camera body. The danger was, if you stripped the threads,
you would have to replace the whole body. Our final design made
the cheese plates removable.
How do you paint it?
JON THORN: That is an exercise in itself because there are special things you have to do in order to paint it properly. Then, in assembly, the pieces sort of suck themselves and the body together.
If you look at all the edges there are no visible, exposed screws.
This reduces the chance of catching on things.
Good design. There are no sharp edges. And the lens mount?
The lens mount was always planned to be a removable piece. Four
screws hold it in place, making it very easy to use third-party
mounts for almost any brand of lenses. The flange focal depth to
the sensor is very shallow, so even mirrorless camera lenses (18 –
21 mm depth) can be accommodated.
The sensor is 35mm format?
NICK RASHBY: Yes, it’s nearly Super 35.
We partnered with MTF, Wooden Camera, and other camera
companies that make lens adapters and mounts. We provided
them with engineering drawings.
Let’s say you want to use a zoom lens with powered servo.
Where do you plug it in?
JON THORN: There’s a P-Tap power connector in the front.
(Jon Fauer, lifting up the camera) Wow, it’s so lightweight.
JON THORN: Yes, isn’t it crazy?
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
17
Assembling CION
18
AJA’s corporate offices and manufacturing facility in Grass Valley, CA.
AJA’s R&D building next door.
AJA CION assembly area.
AJA CION testing.
Assembling the camera base.
CIONs ready to ship.
No visible screws on the external surfaces.
More CIONs ready to ship.
Feb 2015 • Issue 66
CION AKS
Wooden Camera is developing several alternate lens mounts for CION,
including Canon, Nikon, and Leica M. Using DSLR lenses on CION
provides a wide range of creative choices at an affordable price point.
“The CION’s adherence to industry standards allows attachment of
accessories like our top plates, quick release top handle, EVF holder, rod
support system, battery mount, and rosette based handgrips,” said Ryan
Schorman, President of Wooden Camera.
Vocas has an array of standard camera accessories that work with
CION, including matte boxes, focus controllers, cheese plates and a new
Limited Edition with a knob and palm rest made of walnut wood.
Alphatron’s electronic viewfinder (EVF-035W-3G) fits onto CION and
attaches with standard connectors.
Zacuto’s new Gratical HD EVF will have 5.4 million dots, and is expected
to deliver in a few months.
MTF Services, Ltd has new lens adapters in production including
Nikon/G to CION, Canon EF to CION, Canon EF (with hot shoe pins) to
CION, Canon FD to CION, ARRI Bayonet to CION and an optical B4 to
CION.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
19
Jon Dreams of Sushi
Takashi Ono of Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi with “Jiro
Dreams of Sushi” movie poster of his father, Jiro Ono.
The dream of Jiro began during my visit to Grass Valley. Nick
Rashby, President of AJA, invited CION designer Jon Thorn and
me to dinner at Sushi in the RAW in neighboring Nevada City.
Aptly named, Sushi in the RAW is a favorite among the locals
who deal with RAW data at the nearby high-tech companies, including AJA. Try the sashimi with black truffles.
Conversation freely associated RAW files, raw fish, our upcoming
trips to InterBEE in Tokyo, and the delicious documentary “Jiro
Dreams of Sushi.” Could we possibly score seats on Saturday at
the hallowed altar of Jiro while visiting Japan?
Sushi in the RAW, Nevada City.
A few days later, Nick sent word, “Game On.” Eric Hamilton, in
charge of AJA’s Asian resellers and distributors, had confirmed
places at Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi. The original Jiro in Ginza is
closed on Saturday evening, but Jiro in Roppongi Hills was open.
It is located in the posh development of real-estate tycoon Minoru Mori, called the Trump of Tokyo. Sushi maestro Takashi Ono
presides over the 10 seats at the counter and 2 tables. He is the
second son of Jiro Ono, the 90-year old dreamer of sushi. If we
were naming films, this would be “Son of Jiro” — as good as, or
perhaps better than, the original.
The expedition was organized by AJA and included AJA’s Andy
Bellamy, Ask Corporation’s Yoshihiro Maeda, Arato Ogura from
ZEISS, and FDT’s Jon Fauer.
Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi.
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Lest Film and Digital Times be perceived as devolving into Food
and Digital Times (eats, shoots, writes), we need to dream of relevant technical analogies as well. Can we see similarities between
sushi master Takashi Ono and the Lens Meisters we had met at
the Fujinon factory only a few days earlier? Yes. Kodawari: attention to details.
Jon Dreams of Sushi
And what was this fascination in Japan with German vocabulary:
Lens Meisters, Baumkuchen, Makuhari Messe, Meister Dolly
Track? (See: Meiji restoration, 1867-1912, Japanese scholars
studying abroad, foreign experts and exports in Japan, German
industrialization, Admiral Togo with ZEISS binoculars in the
First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895.)
We arrived at the temple of Jiro, and the Omakase adventure began. It was a symphony of 20 sublime creations, beginning with
milder sensations, then building to stronger flavors: Yellowtail,
Tuna, Mackerel, Tiger Prawn, Red Clam with a dollop of wasabi,
Sardine, Sea Urchin, Salmon Roe…
Mr. Ono was extremely welcoming and kind, guiding us through
the subtleties of shrimp consumption (tail first, skip the very end,
then the head). There was an order to things: lean bluefin tuna
first, then medium, then fatty. All the senses got a workout. The
Uni (sea urchin) was like a cold gelato atop lightly vinegared rice,
made crunchy by a delicate wrap of nori (seaweed) that had been
gently grilled over charcoal that morning. The Ikura (salmon roe)
popped in the mouth.
Cut to Mr. Ono, gracefully balancing Ika (squid) atop a miniature
bed of rice. It was another relevant film connection. Just the day
before, I had visited the Koto factory, manufacturers of not only
high-end motion picture light bulbs (the big 20K bulbs are blown
by hand) but also specialized lighting for squid fishing boats.
Squid are best caught at night and are attracted to light, hence
Koto’s waterproof HMI bulbs, and the Ika before us.
Next came Tamago (grilled eggs), like the final act in a script, the
finale of the omakase menu. In addition to eggs, Mr. Ono mixes
Japanese yam and shrimp and grills it for an hour .
Dangling a pre-production Leica D-Lux camera (with VarioSummilux f/1.7 10.9-34 mm zoom in front of an MFT-size sensor), I was dutifully snapping away, blissfully ignorant of the admonitions of Jiro the father in his book “Jiro Gastronomy.”
At the end of the evening, Andy Bellamy presented a copy of this
book, containing Jiro’s Twelve Commandments of Sushi Etiquette.
There it was, “Please refrain from taking photos of the sushi. The
only sure way of enjoying Jiro’s sushi is to concentrate on dining.”
This came right after “recommended beverage is green tea.” Too
late for that; we had already consumed several bottles of Sukiyabashi Jiro’s smoothest Junmai Daiginjo (made with very precisely
polished rice to micron-accurate aspherical tolerances) in a very
labor-intensive, lens-like process. It was the summit of Sake: light,
complex, fragrant and expensive. The Jiro look.
Fortunately, we had not been summarily admonished, or worse,
expelled. Perhaps Mr. Takashi Ono was amused. He may have
been advised in advance that we were camera Otaku (geeks). It
also helped that Bellamy’s choir boy countenance had taken on an
expression of absolute rapture, not to mention our own delight,
beginning with the first bite.
Woody Omens once bestowed, tongue-in-cheek, an honorary
ASC membership on Édouard Manet. He probably would do
the same for Mr. Takashi Jiro, ASC (Association of Sushi Chefs).
It was an evening of precision, perfection, performance and attention to detail. We had achieved Nirvana at the hands of a
Meister…er...Master.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
21
400th Anniversary of the Siege of Osaka Castle
24’ screen commissioned by Kuroda Nagamasa showing 5071 soldiers
and 21 generals. Osaka Castle Museum. Partial view.
This year is the 400th anniversary of the Two Wars of Osaka.
Also known as the Siege of Osaka, it was the last major battle of
the samurai era.
In 1614 and 1615, Tokugawa Ieyasu marched on Osaka castle to
conquer Hideyori Toyotomi and his clan, and confirm his position as Shogun, Japan’s supreme and sole military ruler.
In December 1614, Tokugawa’s army of 200,000 samurai surrounded Osaka castle. But it was impenetrable—protected by a
deep moat and double stone walls more than 100 feet high.
Although Toyotomi was greatly outnumbered, his army of ronin
and disgruntled samurai were able to hold off Tokugawa’s forces.
A truce was signed and Tokugawa filled in the castle’s outer moat.
But in the summer of 1615, Toyotomi began work to restore the
moat. Tokugawa was not amused and the Summer Siege began.
The Summer Siege is shown above. The screen paintings were
commissioned by Kuroda Nagamasa, a daimyo and commander
in Tokugawa’s army. Artists were brought onto the battle field­to
ensure accuracy—a risky style of on-location painting. The attention to detail is incredible. There are 5,071 soldiers, 21 generals,
total of 5,092. That is 5K detail—5,092—in 1615.
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Tokugawa rounded up another 200,000 samurai (total 400,000)
and led a month-long siege against Osaka castle, which fell on
June 3, 1615.
The Toyotomi clan was destroyed along with all other rivals, ensuring the Tokugawa family a long line of Shoguns who went on
to rule Japan for two and a half centuries until the Meiji restoration of 1868.
The Tokugawa period is also known as the Edo era (1603-1868).
It has been the setting of many films, including Kurosawa’s “Seven
Samurai,” “Yojimbo,” “Ran,” “The Hidden Fortress,” “Rashomon,”
“Kagemusha,” and of course, Jerry London’s “Shogun,” cinematography by Andrew Laszlo, ASC. Although romanticized, Samurai were no less lethal than crusaders, cowboys, centurions and
other characters.
And now a word about art, rice, philosophy, and 4K.
Compare Western and Eastern interviews in FDTimes. Executives and filmmakers from Europe and the US often begin with
credits and credentials. Experts from Japan will usually begin
modestly by saying how little they know about the topic, even
when they are leading experts.
400th Anniversary of the Siege of Osaka Castle
The Siege of Osaka, from François Caron’s 1663 book “The Burning of
Osaka Castle.”
Social psychologist Richard E. Nisbett found that different views
of independence and interdependence affect cognitive thinking.
For example, Americans are more likely to ignore the context,
while Asians are very aware of context and surroundings.
T. M. Luhrmann wrote in the New York Times (Dec 3, 2014),
“Show an image of a large fish swimming among other fish and
seaweed fronds, and Americans will remember the single central
fish first. That’s what sticks in their minds. Japanese viewers will
begin their recall with the background. They’ll also remember
more about the seaweed and other objects in the scene.”
In a Science Magazine article (May 2014), Thomas Talhelm ascribed our different ways of thinking to the differences between
wheat farming and rice farming.
“The two biggest differences between farming rice and wheat are
irrigation and labor.
“Because rice paddies need standing water, people in rice regions
build elaborate irrigation systems that require farmers to cooperate. One family’s water can affect their neighbors, so rice farmers
have to coordinate their water use.
dredge, and drain—a burden that often falls on villages, not isolated individuals. In comparison, wheat is easier to grow.
“Wheat does not need to be irrigated, so wheat farmers can rely
on rainfall, which they do not coordinate with neighbors. The
lighter burden means farmers can look after their own plots without relying as much on their neighbors.”
Europeans and post-colonial Americans have been wheat farmers; Asians have traditionally grown rice. Could that be why Japan
and Asia have been more interested in 4K motion picture and
television production than the West? I think so.
Look at Nagamasa’s Osaka Castle battle scene, with intricate
details of 5092 characters in the group. The castle, which is the
property of one individual, Hideyori Toyotomi and his family, sits
small in the upper left corner. The splendor is in the details.
François Caron was Director-Gerneral of the Dutch East India
Company in Jakarta, and one of the first Europeans to visit Japan.
His European depiction of Osaka Castle is quite different—the
castle is central to the illustration, with broader strokes, larger
foreground figures and less attention to the enormity of the group.
“Irrigation networks also require many hours each year to build,
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
23
Osaka
“Kuidaore,” means “to eat oneself bankrupt” and describes Osaka’s obsession with food. Osaka is called “Japan’s kitchen,” and its
restaurants have been awarded 108 Michelin stars, including five
three-star restaurants. (Paris has 82 stars.) The citizens of Osaka
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
are said to spend more on dining than people in other Japanese
cities. Fresh seafood comes from the nearby waters. Spices, fine
ingredients, and exotic fruits from far-off places have arrived for
centuries on ships landing via the Seto Inland Sea.
Osaka
Fun restaurants crowd the neon-lit streets near the train stations,
serving Yamaimo-yaki (Yam Okonomiyaki Japanese pancakes),
Shabu-Shabu, Seafood, Korean Barbecue, Takoyaki, and other
specialties (demonstrated by Panasonic’s Jim Wickizer, above.)
Osaka refutes Fauer’s Restaurant Rule #2: the higher the altitude,
the worse the food, as in airlines and spinning restaurants on top of
tall buildings. Osaka’s SUN Dynamic Kitchen & Bar, below, offers
fine dining with magnificent views. dynac.japan.com/sun
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
25
Panasonic Center in Osaka
The Panasonic Center in downtown Osaka displays the company’s latest products, from LED
architectural lighting to electric cars, cameras,
camcorders and computers.
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Konosuke Matsushita Museum
Panasonic Museum in front of headquarters
The Konosuke Matsushita Museum is open to the public. It sits
at the entrance to Panasonic’s vast head office and factory in
Kadoma, a large suburb of Osaka. The museum explains the
life of the founder of Panasonic, Konosuke Matsushita and the
numerous milestones that have marked the Panasonic’s development. The exterior of the building is an exact replica of the
original head office. www.panasonic.net/history/museum
Ship’s wheel on the museum roof. Konosuke Matsushita said,
“The head office is like the bridge on a ship, where one sets and
steers the course for the whole company.”
Konosuke Matsushita was born on November 27, 1894. At age
10, he was apprenticed to the Godai Bicycle Store in Osaka,
where he lived with the family of Mrs. Godai, above.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
27
Konosuke Matsushita Museum
In 1914, Konosuke Matsushita married Mumeno lue. In 1918 he established Matsushita Electric Housewares Manufacturing Works
in Osaka. There were three employees: Matsushita, Mumeno and her brother Toshio Iue (who went on to found Sanyo).
1918: the first product was an improved
electric socket-to-plug adapter (left) followed by a double cluster socket in 1920.
Matsushita saw a big market for convenient and well-made household electric
fixtures. By the end of 1918, 20 people
were working for the company.
Time spent working in the bicycle shop
paid off. An early product was a battery
powered bicycle lamp that ran 10 times
longer than anything else on the market.
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Mumeno Matsushita cooked meals for young employees and took care of them as if
they were members of the family. In the beginning, she kept the company afloat by
visiting a pawn shop, kept the company books, and is considered a co-founder.
The first head office and factory in the Kadoma suburb of Osaka, built in 1933.
A few years earlier, Matsushita had introduced the brand name “National” for the
company’s products, which he envisioned in every household in the nation.
Konosuke Matsushita Museum
Konosuke’s apprenticeship at the Godai Bicycle Shop had a lasting effect. He learned the disciplines of being a merchant, which
included how to greet customers and to bow. “This helped me
greatly later in my life,” he said. “I grew up in the bicycle industry. I was raised by the bicycle industry.”
1952: Panasonic’s first bicycle, the National Hyper.
1965: Mr. Matsushita tested each new bicycle model for many years.
1980: Panasonic’s first electric bicycle. Konosuke, who was 83
years old at the time, took it for a test drive.
2014: New Panasonic Electric Bike.
1956: Panasonic Black & White 14-inch TV.
1964: Product Lineup, above.
1977: First Panasonic VHS Video Tape Recorder for home use,
at left.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
29
Konosuke Matsushita Museum
1951: Mr. Matsushita in New York.
1971: Matsushita Electric listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
1963: Mr. Matsushita in New York again
Konosuke Matsushita was a prolific writer. In 1947 he inaugurated PHP Magazine (Peace and Happiness Through Prosperity).
“Not for Bread Alone” (1984) is an examination of his philosophy in business and life: a simple, idealistic, people-oriented
approach with an emphasis on responsibility and generosity.
Below: Konosuke in his garden, Shinshin-an, in Kyoto.
1985: The company’s first VHS
camcorder, the NV-M1, had a
VHS video recorder built in.
Below: display case of camcorders manufactured in Panasonic’s
Okayama factory.
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Panasonic VariCam 35
Specs
Records simultaneously:
• Super 35mm 4096 x 2160 MOS Sensor, PL Mount
• 14+ Stops of Latitude
• Variable Frame Rates: 1 to 120 fps in 4K
• 2-piece Modular Design (Camera head docks to AU-VREC1G recording
module or can be tethered)
• Body weight: approx. 5.0 kg (body only)
• Body W x H x D: approx 179 x 230.5 x 347 mm (7 x 9 x 13.5”)
• Power: DC 12 V (11.0 V – 17.0 V) 69 W body, 99 W with all AKS
• ND filters: 1: CLEAR, 2: ND 0.6, 3: ND 1.2, 4: ND 1.8
• ISO 800 - 12,8000. Dual Native ISO 800/5000
• Shutter: 1 - 358 degrees in .5 degree increments
• Shutter speeds at 24p: 1/24 - 1/250 sec
• Viewfinder: 0.78x OLED approx 2.76 million dots (1280 x 720)
• 4K or UHD V-RAW Master onto optional Codex module
(V-Log) with Codex Capture Card
• 4K or UHD AVC-Intra Master (V-Log) onto express P2
card
• 2K AVC-Intra or HD AVC-Intra100 or AVC-Intra200 or
Apple ProRes (V-709 and AVC-Proxy)
Apple ProRes 4:4:4:4 and ProRes HQ built-in, to be
supported by firmware upgrade
Downloads: tinyurl.com/varicam35
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
31
VariCam 35
Flange focal depth adjustment behind this door
Left
Lock camera
buttons except
REC
Select/Set Dial
HOME
screen of
Main Display
Three user
buttons
Menu
EXIT to
previous
Menu
Optional Codex 4K
V-RAW Recorder
(earlier prototype
shown here)
RECORD
SHUTTER
Speed
EI: 800 12,5000
WHITE
Balance
Door to 2
Main Recorder
expressP2 slots
Door to 2
Sub Recorder
microP2 slots
and 1 SD slot
Right
Viewfinder
SDI Out
LAN
32
USB 2.0
Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Ventilation Outlets
(do not block)
DC OUT 12V 1A
Handgrip Rosette
Main POWER
LOCK Control
Panel (except
REC)
VariCam 35
VariCam 35 Recorder
VariCam 35 Camera Head
/i Contacts
Image Plane Tape
Hook
Filter dial:
1. Clear
2. ND 0.6 (2 stops)
3. ND 1.2 (4 stops)
4. ND 1.8 (6 stops)
Front
EVF connector
LDS Contacts
Rear
AUDIO IN 1
SDI OUT 1
SDI OUT 2
SDI OUT 3
AUDIO IN 2
Headphones
DC OUT/RS
12 VDC 1A for
Accessories and
Remote Start
SDI OUT 4
Timecode In/Out
Genlock In
Monitor Out 1
Monitor Out 2
DC IN 12V
(11.0 V – 17.0 V
Pin 1 = GND
Pin 4 = +12 VDC
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
33
VariCam 35
Control Panel, Main Display and Menu
Contextual Buttons. Here: FPS, COLOR, SHUTTER
HOME: Basic camera
functions
RECORD
MENU
PLAY: Play back recorded
video by pushing jog dial.
Pause by pushing dial again.
EXIT Menu
Select-Set Jog Dial
Timecode settings
LOCK Control Panel
INFO: Camera Status and
Diagnostics
VIEW: show video on the
Main Display
34
Status of Main and Sub Recorders,
Battery, Timecode, Audio, etc.
Contextual Buttons. Here: ISO, SYSTEM, White Balance
The Main Display normally is attached to the camera left side.
The Main Display can also be mounted on the camera right side.
The Main Display can be used remotely.
VariCam 35 Shoulder Mount
Feb 2015 • Issue 66
VariCam 35 and Codex 4K V-RAW Recorder
Above: Kunihiko Miyagi introduced Panasonic’s 35mm 4K VariCam at NAB 2014.
Below: At NAB 2014 with prototype camera and prototype Codex Recorder. Kunihiko Miyagi, Director of the Panasonic Professional Video Business
Unit, and Rainer Hercher, Codex Business Development Manager announce strategic alliance for development of Codex 4K V-RAW Recorder that
docks to back of VariCam. I am especially grateful to Rainer for introducing me to Mr. Miyagi and the entire VariCam Team.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
35
VariCam 35 with Codex 4K V-RAW Recorder
VariCam 35 with Codex 4K V-RAW
Recorder attached
CODEX V-RAW RECORDER
CODEX CAPTURE DRIVE 2.0 TB
Panasonic and Codex have joined together in a strategic alliance
to develop a dedicated recorder to capture uncompressed 4K
VariCam RAW (V-RAW) at up to 120 fps. Because the VariCam
35 is a modular camera, the Codex V-RAW Recorder will attach
directly to the 4K camera body, eliminating any need for cables
and simplifying the use of the system.
Codex designed the Capture Drive 2.0 TB to meet the demands of
the latest generation of digital cameras, including the Panasonic
VariCam 35. Designed around the latest and fastest PCIe flash
storage solid-state media for professional media applications, the
Capture Drive 2.0 TB combines very high performance with production reliability in a compact package.
The V-RAW Recorder uses production-proven, industry-standard Codex Capture Drives, which are the gateway to the entire
Codex universe, with Codex Vault or Codex docks.
Key features:
Codex will probably show the V-RAW Recorder for VariCam 35
at NAB, along with RAW footage.
• 2 TB of memory delivering data up to 20 Gb/s
• Engineered by Codex
• Advanced thermal design
• Records 4K at up to 120 fps from the Panasonic VariCam 35
Codex Capture Drive 2.0 TB
Codex V-RAW
Recorder,
camera right
side viewed
from rear.
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
VariCam 35 with Codex 4K V-RAW Recorder
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
37
Codex 4K V-RAW Recorder for VariCam 35
Codex 4K V-RAW Recorder
attached to Panasonic
VariCam 35
Codex Capture Drive 2.0 TB
Codex V-RAW
Recorder, camera
left side viewed from
rear.
Recorder attaches via
battery connectors
(Gold Mount shown
here) and multi-pin
connector on top.
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Codex V-RAW
Recorder, camera
right side viewed from
rear.
Codex Vault
Codex 4K V-RAW Recorder attached to
Panasonic VariCam 35
Codex Vault Cart
CODEX VAULT PLATFORM
Codex Vault treats the camera original file (digital negative) to
a standard, proven, protected, secure workflow, saving time and
money. It’s used on-set, near-set, on location and in post around
the world by all kinds of productions. Help is provided by Codex’s
24-hour support team. Vault Platform is flexible: it runs on Vault
S, Vault XL, Mac Pro or MacBook Pro. Choose and configure the
most suitable hardware for the needs of your particular project.
Vault has a simple task-driven user interface that is easy to use.
The way it handles data can be customized and locked at the beginning of production, which speeds up the process by not having
to redo settings. During production, there’s a detailed record of
exactly what’s been copied, processed and archived.
Multi-output GPU-based processing (with Codex Review) generates deliverables for review, post production, archiving and
VFX—at speeds much faster than real-time in all the formats
required. Depending on the project, these might include Avid
DNxHD for editorial, Apple ProRes, DPX or H.264 for iPad executive dailies. Each format can be generated with or without LUTs
and burn-ins, with all the associated sidecar files and metadata.
Codex Vault Platform and Review also support ACES and can
generate ACES Open EXR deliverables.
Codex lets you review the recorded images for defects, checking focus, exposure, associated metadata, and ensuring that clips
are named correctly. With Codex Review, source footage can be
played back at the original resolution and frame rate in the correct color space. Codex QC allows for annotation and comments
down to the exact frame and even has some preset annotations—
such as “boom in shot,” “tail slate,” “out of focus,” etc. Detailed
reports can be generated of what has been shot, with or without
thumbnails, so that everyone has all the information that they
need.
New Codex Review Live creates looks on set. It has an easy-to-use
User Interface. Review Live works directly with the live camera
feed over HD-SDI to create and preview looks and grades that
can be used to communicate the creative intent on-set and as a
starting point for dailies and post-production. Looks can applied
automatically when generating deliverables via Codex Vault, or
exported in various formats (ASC-CDL, 3D LUTs in various formats, and Look Files) to be used with other software. Review Live
works with Tangent panels for interactive color grading and with
the Fujifilm IS-mini 3D LUT box for on-set camera preview.
Text by Sarah Priestnall. Renderings by Codex.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
39
Kunihiko Miyagi and the VariCam 35
In just the last 25 years we have seen perhaps 50 audio and video formats come and go from all the manufacturers.
Yes, there here have been a lot— major ones and minor ones. It
was basically a 20-year campaign of going broadcaster to broadcaster trying to get them to use our format instead of the competition’s. Looking back, it was actually quite fun. My policy, or
motto, is “no challenge, no success.”
How do you spend your precious little free time?
I like to fish, golf, play video games, and go out for drinks.
And you have a nice blog that I read.
Another part of my job for the past 12 years since we made the
original VariCam, in addition to the format wars with Sony, has
been working on the new generation of production cameras.
From the start, our division was mainly focused on broadcast. But
there were also some products that were aimed at the motion picture production market. I wanted to become more involved with
that market from early on. Our D5 format (1994, ½” 4:1 intraframe compressed digital component 10-bit recording) became
very popular in Hollywood at one point, but I always wanted to
gain acceptance with a camera as well. We started talks 14 or 15
years ago about how we could get our cameras to be more focused
on the cinema production market.
Mr. Kunihiko Miyagi is Director of the Professional Video Business
Unit, Imaging Network Business Division, AVC Networks Company, Panasonic Co., Ltd. We spent several hours together at company
headquarters in Osaka discussing the VariCam. The next day he
was in New York, and a few days later in London.
JON FAUER: Mr. Miyagi, where did you study and how did you
get started in this business?
KUNIHIKO MIYAGI: I graduated from Kyushu University in
1983 where I studied Electrical Engineering. Immediately out of
university, I joined Matsushita Electric (Panasonic) and started
working in the Broadcast Division. I have been working here on
professional video products ever since.
The next 20 years after I joined the company involved a great deal
of competition with Sony for professional formats. It was kind of
a format war, with each of us continuously bringing out a new
one. In 2004, I was named head of the System A/V Technology
Center, which is responsible for everything related to professional
audio and video.
About 12 years ago, I was one of the main proponents on the team
that made the decision to move away from tape. It seemed like
the industry was moving to disk instead of trying to go one step
further to memory-based recording.
What was your first product when you joined Panasonic?
The MII VTR (1986), a ½” analog videotape recorder. Last month
I was visiting a broadcaster in China. They had a small museum
display set up, and I saw one there. I felt very nostalgic.
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
These ideas eventually culminated in making the original VariCam AJ-HDC27, which came out in 2002. At that point, it was a
given that you captured an image 60 times a second for broadcast.
With the VariCam, we were the first to make a video camera that,
instead of recording at 60 frames per second, was recording at
24p. Once we had 24 fps, we then allowed for variable frame rates
to do fast and slow motion (1-60 fps). That’s why it was called
the VariCam: the variable speed camera. While making the camera, we engineers were all looking at the images and we were very
scared because, to us, the pictures moving at 24 frames looked like
they were very stuttery. We were quite worried that it wouldn’t be
an acceptable look.
Although motion picture audiences were accustomed to this.
Yes. In addition to 24 fps, one of the main things we considered
with the original tape VariCam was the color and creating a specific look. As engineers, we were familiar only with making broadcast-standard cameras with color that was suitable for broadcast.
When we first started experimenting with Cinema Gamma, we
were not really sure how best to do it. After a number of tests with
the original VariCam 12 years ago, we had fairly good success in
Japan among production people and cinematographers. But we
found that when we took it to the United States there was a lot of
resistance in Hollywood because it did not look the same as film.
We kept working hard on the Hollywood market and eventually
the VariCam was accepted quite widely and we were happy. From
a business perspective, we felt that it was successful and that we
had created a good product.
In 2002 we released the first DVX100. The concept was to take as
many of the features from the VariCam as we could, and put them
into a compact, handheld camera. The DVX100 camera was very
popular with indie producers.
I feel that Panasonic has been a pioneer in bringing digital
Kunihiko Miyagi and the VariCam 35
technology as close to the look of film as possible. Unfortunately,
after the success of the first VariCams, we concentrated more
on the broadcast industry and we lost focus on the production
industry for some time. That’s one thing I regret. I wish we had
worked more in that area. So, RED released their cameras, and
ARRI released the Alexa. These have been very popular. Sony has
released cinema cameras, which were somewhat expected. Then
Canon came out with a line of cinema cameras, then Blackmagic
and AJA. All kinds of companies had cinema cameras, but we
didn’t. We knew that we had to do something. We at Panasonic
had to create a very good camera that could be used in digital
cinema. We began preparations.
What year did the Varicam 35 project first start?
Officially it was about two years ago. But, in fact, about three to
four years ago there were a couple of people who had the idea
that they wanted to make the camera and they started working
hard on it.
We were very impressed by ARRI’s Alexa camera and we think it’s
a wonderful camera. As our first step, we decided to study, very
carefully, what made it so good. We found out that the answer
to that question was very simple. They went to their customers,
the cinematographers and rental houses, and asked them in great
detail what they would like to see in a camera. We decided that
was exactly what we had to do, but we had to do it even better and
even more thoroughly than they had. We started doing that about
two years ago.
You interviewed many DPs, rental houses and production
companies?
Yes. When ARRI was making the Alexa camera, we think they
were looking at it from the point of view of making a digital camera that’s similar to a film camera. When we started asking DPs
their opinions, we were on a similar level, but then we also had
the advantage that the Alexa and some other cameras were already out on the market. In addition to asking about what they
would like to see in comparison to a film camera and how to be
able to use it like a film camera, we could also see the shortcomings of the cameras that were on the market and see what new
things we could add.
In those hearings, we found that there were three things that we
needed to really work on. The first was the sensor—making sure
we had a sensor that was better. The second was that we needed a
way to make the workflow more efficient. That’s what takes up a
lot of time and money during productions and in post. And the
third thing was to make small changes that could make things a
little bit better. In summary, three points: imaging sensor, workflow, and small changes.
As for the imaging sensor, within this industry there are only a
few companies that are able to make their own sensors in-house
for cameras: Sony, Canon, JVC, and ourselves.
We knew we had to make an imaging sensor at least Super 35
mm in size. Panasonic already had a lot of technology related to
making MOS sensors. The challenge when we were making this
image sensor was that we knew we had to make it with very wide
dynamic range, very low noise, and able to produce high resolution 4K images at very high speeds. But those parameters are all
things that work against each other. If you could ignore one of
them it would be easy to make the sensor, but to be able to grow in
all areas you have to have very strong semi-conductor technology.
Since we had the semi-conductor technology at Panasonic, we
were able to start developing the sensor for this camera two years
ago. Along the way, we made some changes to the basic sensor
design and changed the circuitry to allow for what we call dual
native ISO.
800 and 5000 ISO with very low noise?
Yes. Normally if you boost the gain then the noise will become
bad. So we added a separate analog circuit for the 5000 ISO mode.
With a traditional sensor, as you switch to higher ISO settings, the
noise grows. On most cameras, as you move up to 5000 ISO you
see a lot of noise in the picture, but with ours it’s nearly noise-free.
It’s very useful and impressive for nighttime skylines or shooting
by moonlight or by candle light.
Moving on to our second point: workflow. Up until now there
have been many steps that were very time consuming and expensive. It was just assumed that’s the way it is. With the VariCam, this time around, we tried to look at some of those steps
and eliminate them where possible. We’re well aware in the digital
cinema arena that the recorded image often looks nothing like the
finished product. You’re shooting RAW or log or whatever—that’s
been the accepted practice. You shoot a flat picture and then you
grade it afterwards.
But with the VariCam we’ve added the ability to apply your color
grade as you’re shooting. So, you can simultaneously keep a pristine log version of the file as well as have another file with the
color grade already applied that you can be checking on set. This
feature was requested by Michael Cioni of Light Iron and we’re
happy to include it in the camera.
We were able to achieve this because we have had a long history
and lots of experience with compression technology and color
reproduction since the original VariCam. We’re well aware that
DPs have very specific ideas about the colors that they want to see
and we made it possible for them to achieve those colors. DPs feel
proud about being able to produce splendid images. We also feel
proud that we can provide them a tool that has the flexibility to
create those images.
The third point that we discussed was about the small changes.
We think that since we’ve included so many small changes in the
camera that they all add up to be a really big change. The main
thing we were told about building the camera was to make sure
it’s tough and durable. So it’s a fully aluminum body and I’m very
confident that it can take quite a bit of punishment. This came
from looking at Alexa and determining to make ours as tough or
even tougher.
With regards to this display, there were people who said it should
be on the left side, people who said it should be on the right side,
so we decided, “Well, why don’t we just make it removable?” And
another idea was that we make the recorder and the camera as
separate modules.
Right from the start, our design included a connector on the camera so that it could be easily used with third-party products. That
culminated in Codex producing a RAW recorder that attaches
seamlessly to the camera.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
41
Kunihiko Miyagi and the VariCam 35
Another thing that we heard from a lot of people was that focusing was difficult on most digital cameras, especially in 4K, so we
put in a lot of different features to make focusing easier.
We fitted our electronic viewfinder—EVF—with an optical zoom.
You can optically zoom in on the image to check focus.
We also created a new feature called “focus squares.” Green
squares appear on the viewfinder screen, and the squares get bigger in the areas that are in focus. The more they are in focus, the
bigger they get. It’s very easy to quickly and accurately check focus. Another request by users was to include wireless capabilities.
For example, we can wirelessly apply color lookup tables from a
computer to the camera. We had some of those features in our
broadcast cameras and we were able to successfully port them
over to the cinema camera. With the original VariCam that we
made in 2002, our hope was to make a digital camera that approached the looks of film. But with this VariCam 35, we feel we
achieved it—the images that you get from the camera are as close
to film as possible.
And we feel that this camera is even more functional than a film
camera. I am very proud of the camera and feel that it’s a product
that can definitely be useful for anyone who’s shooting cinematic
images. I’ve been rambling on for a long time now, so if you have
any questions, please.
Why do you feel strongly about 4K? Others are not convinced.
It’s a very difficult, but very interesting question. As I was visiting
rental companies in Hollywood, I was asked the same thing by
many people. Personally I think that even if your final product
is in HD or in 2K, you should be shooting the highest resolution
you can. I’m sorry, but you should be shooting 4K.
Can you explain a little more about your relation with Codex
and the Codex recorder, please?
Panasonic has very strong history in compression technology and
AVC-ULTRA is a popular codec that has a 4K mode. It can record
4K with very high quality at a very efficient data rate. But in a world
where shooting RAW is becoming increasingly common, we realized that offering only compressed AVC-ULTRA would not keep
our customers happy and our product would not be successful.
We knew there had to be a way to give customers the option to
shoot RAW. There are many companies that make RAW recording systems. We looked at all of them, compared them, and decided that Codex was most suitable company for us to partner with.
At a very early stage in the camera development, we decided that
we would work with them. The engineers from both sides talked
and decided how to build the products together and how to send
the data out to their product.
I think you know Rainer Herscher from Codex very well, and I’m
trying to remember how many dozens of times I’ve met him this
year. Rainer attended the VariCam 35 announcement at NAB, the
press event, and he’s also attended the launch events for VariCam
in every region—in India, China, IBC, and in Tokyo when we
held a Rental House Summit.
In your experience visiting different productions around the
world, what percentage are shooting in RAW?
There’s a lot of variation based on the region. We think it’s very
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
high in the U.S., gaining in Europe, and in India they are pretty
much 100% shooting in RAW.
We’ve had many Indian customers and distributors telling us that
unless the Codex recorder were available we couldn’t sell them
VariCams.
I guess this camera will make RAW more affordable and more
accessible. You mentioned that one of the problems with 4K
in the past has been the really long downloading and cloning
time. Basically, this camera almost has a DIT station built into
the camera itself. Tell us about the team who worked on the
camera?
The people who did the hard work are the engineers. Getting the
core details of the camera really only took place beginning the
summer of 2013. The instructions that I gave at that time was to
be absolutely sure there would be a working model at NAB 2014.
And make sure the product could ship by the fall of 2014. Normally when there’s a tough timeline set down like that, the engineers complain and say it’s not possible, but this time they didn’t
complain. They didn’t say no. They said that even with that tough
schedule, they would make it happen and they were actually begging me to approve the plan to make the camera.
There’s a famous saying about engineers. Usually with the first
thing engineers say is, “Impossible.” Next they do it. In the
end, they become heroes. Within Panasonic’s imaging groups,
is there a unity of color science that goes through all products?
It depends on the specific sensor being made and on the product that it goes into. There are definitely portions that are mutual
between all the Panasonic products. One difference is that our
consumer cameras or camcorders are generally set up with bright,
vivid, saturated colors, while our professional products are set up
to give more natural colors.
You must go to the movies often?
I like watching movies, but recently I’ve been very busy and don’t
get to go to the theater very often.
You watch them on airplanes?
Yes. Most of the movies that I’ve seen recently have been on
airplanes.
Where every screen looks different!
If I watch it on the airplane and it looks good, then I buy the DVD
so I can watch it properly. And when there is a movie that I really
want to see, I make sure to make time and go to the theater.
We’re very happy there’s so much interest in the VariCam at this
point, and we will be even more delighted for customers to use
the camera. We feel that they’ll be very happy once they do so.
Let’s talk a little bit about the VariCam HS, your 2/3” 3-chip
1080p Highspeed Camera. Which market is bigger, how they
differ, and how did that influence the design?
Both markets are important and probably around the same size.
The idea and the plan for the VariCam HS came first. The reason
is that the sensor needed for the VariCam 35 was not yet ready.
Once we finalized the plans for the sensor and knew when it
would be ready, we at first considered delaying the HS and just
focusing on the 35.
Kunihiko Miyagi and the VariCam 35
Paul Boyland (Business Development); Megumi Sato (Marketing & PR); Kunihiko Miyagi (Director, Professional Video
Business Unit); Megumi Tsuneyama (Manager, Marketing & PR); Jim Wickizer (Marketing Manager, Panasonic).
But the engineers insisted on making them both at the same time
and making the modular designs so that they could be used together. Going ahead with the plan to bring them both to market
at the same time convinced me of the competitiveness of the engineers. They didn’t shy away. They insisted on doing them at the
same time.
As I think you’re aware, the VariCam HS is aimed largely at the
sports and documentary markets. For those types of productions
where you need very long lenses, it can be difficult to go with a
PL mount. We had lots of meetings with companies to see what
should be included in the HS. The goal was set very clearly for a
camera that was able to shoot in high speed at HD resolution, not
necessarily super slow motion, but there was very clear target of
240 fps in full HD. We made that and we think it could be quite
useful in those markets.
Is there anything that I should be asking you that I didn’t ask?
I read the article in Film and Digital Times about the ARRI Factory. You’ll be going to the Panasonic Factory tomorrow, and it’s different, I think, from the ARRI Factory. We’d really like customers
to understand the strong points of the Panasonic Factory as well.
Japan also has very strong tradition of high-quality manufacturing, and I hope that after visiting the factory, you may come to
appreciate what you’ve seen. We Japanese have a word for it. It’s
called “monozukuri” and it is “the art of making something.” The
word has a deeper meaning: it’s the art of skilled craftsmen putting all their effort, heart and soul into their work, striving for
perfection. At the factory, you’ll see passionate craftsmen and
women doing everything they can to ensure the high-quality
of the products, the high-reliability of the products. The people
working in the factory are always thinking of the customers point
of view when they’re making the products.
And it’s interesting that you at Panasonic make everything.
You make the sensor, the electronics, the software, the hardware. You make everything that goes into the camera, and then
you assemble it.
Other than cinema lenses, we make everything.
Where do you think the future of this business is going? The
motion pictures shot by your 4K cameras will be screened
where? On 4K displays at home? In the theater? Where are
people going to be watching the products that are coming out
of your cameras?
In every country around the world, I think the idea of looking at
images is breaking into two segments. The first is the movement
to very high-quality. Japan has 4K and is already working on 8K.
Whether 8K will come into the home remains to be seen. But 8K
will, I think, be mainly for theatrical viewing, large displays, and
arenas.
The other segment is video in the most convenient format possible. It’s in your smartphone or wherever you are. Panasonic is
planning to create tools that facilitate the creation of content for
both of those areas. Right now, we are talking about the VariCam,
which is designed to be used to make content for all those highend areas. We also make 4K displays that will be suitable as well.
Congratulations on a really good camera.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
43
Takahiro Mitsui and Development of the VariCam
My next meeting at Panasonic was with Takahiro Mitsui, above left, Lead
Engineer and Strategic Marketing for the VariCam. Shoichi Fuse, Lead
Engineer, at right.
JON FAUER: At IBC, you invited me to learn more about
VariCam by visiting Osaka to see where it’s designed and built.
TAKAHIRO MITSUI: Thank you for coming to Osaka today. I
know it’s long long flight. I was on the VariCam team, and now
I’m also in charge of our strategic marketing. I started at Panasonic in 2003. My first “baby” was the HVX200. Other “small wonders,” my “babies,” included the HPX500, HPX170, HMC150,
HMC40, and AF100. I moved to the U.S. in March 2011, where I
spent almost 3 years.
Now I’m in charge of the VariCam development. My expertise is
image sensor technology, signal processing, and system architecture. Mr. Shoichi Fuse was my teacher and mentor (sensei). All
the technological knowledge I have is what he gave me.
Now, let’s go behind the scenes of the VariCam. Before starting
the VariCam development, we met many people and had many
focus groups. We visited a lot of cinematographers, rental companies, resellers, post houses and conducted focus groups with end
users for market research. We had very good discussions in each
visit. It was quite an exciting and fun experience for me. Everybody we met gave us lots of insights for future products. This new
VariCam was definitely developed based on their voices.
In previous cameras that we developed, we always focused on the
DP and the on-set details. But the current generation of production is, I’m convinced, much more oriented towards workflow
than before. That’s why we wanted to get a better sense of the process from on-set to post-production. I brought a big sketchbook.
Michael and I drew up a lot of ideas, like cloud workflow and live
color. And then we came up with one big idea, which is in-camera
dailies. To me, on-set color grading can be kind of a nightmare
today because you have to find the individual grading file for each
clip manually when doing the final online or DI. You have to manage a lot of clips and files. At the same time, there is also an incentive to reduce turnaround time for dailies, grading, and post.
To solve this, we implemented two important functions. One is
in-camera grading. The other is double recording. It’s like having two recorders inside the camera. One recorder can be 4K or
UHD, using express P2 cards. The other is a microP2 card simultaneous sub-recorder for 2K or HD.
With the Codex V-RAW 4K Recorder coming soon, you will
actually be able to capture simultaneously to three recorders?
We just had gentlemen’s agreements, and they were all gentlemen
and women. During these visits, I could feel the VariCam brand
was very much alive. People still remembered the revolutionary
workflow, VFR, FilmRec, and the VariCam look. We decided to
take a similar approach with this camera. Our concept for the
new VariCam was “Emotion and Revolution”.
Yes, there are a lot of options. We can record in different formats
and different color spaces at the same time. Let’s say we are recording 4K V-Log internally. The DP can set the look for those
files non-destructively. The 4K V-Log files are not changed. The
CDL or 3D LUT metadata accompanies the 4K V-Log files all the
way through post-production. In addition, the camera is simultaneously recording an HD or 2K proxy. The look established by the
DP is baked in to these proxies.
Let me explain the Revolution side first. We wanted to provide a
user experience that would offer dramatically advanced workflow
In summary, we can apply different color spaces individually and
we can make the dailies in camera.
You kept it pretty secret—they must have had serious NDAs.
44
options. But in the beginning, we were not totally sure what that
would be. That’s why we had strategic discussions with Michael
Cioni of Light Iron (now partnered with Panavsion) because, as
you know, he runs a post house and is also an on-set tool provider. He knows both on-set and post processes.
Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Takahiro Mitsui and Development of the VariCam
Above: Shoichi Fuse, Lead Engineer, above, testing dynamic range.
Below: Takahiro Mitsui in the VariCam 35 test lab. 5000 ISO and lighting
with one LED from an iPhone.
When we record the 4K master file, the grading file will be recorded with the same name as the clip in a different folder of the
same data card. Panasonic VLUT can be a common language in
the entire production. What’s revolutionary about this? We think
it’s the in-camera dailies.
Second is Emotion. We wanted to give users as much flexibility as
possible to bring their ideas and creative imagination to life onscreen. But what’s the emotion? Many people loved the VariCam
look, but that was almost 10 years ago. We wanted to redefine
today’s VariCam look. That included rich color, rich skin tone,
and our dual native ISO (800 and 5000 ISO).
So, we brought a very early engineering sample to Hollywood to
shoot test materials and test it with a colorist. There were two objectives: to check the accuracy of the IDT (Input Device Transform), and to analyze the VariCam Look elements, Gamut and
V-log curve with the colorist.
When you were shooting tests, would you come back here and
tweak the software of the sensor to adjust the look?
Yes. We had a lot of homework. We brought files back to Japan
and tweaked. We worked with our color scientists in our factory.
The result is what you’ve seen in our demo reel.
Another big emotional thing that we’ve done in VariCam is “Dual
Native ISO”. VariCam has two native ISO settings: 800 and 5000.
One of the customers we met said, “Film cameras are better than
digital because we can choose and use different film stocks on
a scene by scene basis.” This comment awakened our engineering brains. We had never thought about that. Consequently, we
started to discuss this concept with our Image Sensor Division.
Usually noise is introduced in the gain process of rating ISO in
digital cameras. What we’ve done with the VariCam sensor is to
implement two dedicated analog circuits for each native ISO before the gain process. This can bring us much higher sensitivity
without increasing noise. It’s like there are two film stocks inside
the camera.
So, that is the story of today’s VariCam which is developed based
on the concept “Emotion and Revolution”. Emotion is today’s
VariCam look and Dual Native ISO. Revolution is new workflow,
like dailies in camera. I would say that we at Panasonic are always
trying to provide a new “UX” (User eXperience) to the market,
such as the first VariCam, DVX100 and HVX200.
I hope many creators will benefit from new experiences with
VariCam’s Emotion and Revolution, and enjoy the creative results. Because, again, this product was truly developed based on
their voices. That’s my brief story behind the scenes of the camera’s development.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
45
Panasonic VariCam Development
The VariCam Development Team at Panasonic Headquarters in Osaka.
46
The EVF has an OLED display of about 2.76 million dots (1280 x 720).
Diopter adjustment has click stops, which is nice because it prevents
turning accidentally.
VariCam 35 PL mount
Third-party lens mounts, for example Panavision PV, can be attached.
Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Panasonic VariCam Development
VariCam 35 PL Lens Mount, ND Filter wheel, and Sensor Assembly.
Front of camera without lens mount.
Development Team with early mock-ups of camera body.
Wood and plastic models.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
47
Tour of Panasonic’s Okayama VariCam Factory
More than 6 million units of Panasonic professional video products were built in Kadoma, Osaka from 1985 through 2011. In
January 2012, Panasonic’s professional video factory moved to
Okayama, 180 km (111 miles) west of Osaka. The picture above
was composited from portraits of every employee.
At Okayama, the entire manufacturing process from parts mount-
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
ing to final assembly takes place on a single floor. This layout
improves logistics and speeds production. The new factory has
gigantic clean rooms for assembly of optical units in the cameras.
Panasonic controls the entire process—making everything from
the sensors and optical assemblies to the circuit boards, mechanical parts, housings, and components.
Tour of Panasonic’s VariCam Factory
The Okayama factory produces consumer and professional video
products. This is part of the team that builds VariCams.
It’s a one-hour train ride from Osaka to Okayama, past pampered
beef in the city of Kobe, and the ancient pottery and sword workshops of Bizen. Bizen ware is known for its reddish brown color
and extreme hardness. The pottery kilns and sword workshops
date back to medieval Japan. From Okayama station, it’s a short
taxi ride past rice fields and Okayama Castle.
Okayama Castle was completed in 1597 by Ukita Hideie, Daimyo
of Bizen and Mimasaka provinces (modern Okayama Prefecture).
It was mostly painted black, hence the nickname Crow Castle. In
1600, Hideie surrendered the castle to Tokugawa after an unsuccessful alliance with Toyotomi (the same cast of characters from
the Siege of Osaka a few years later).
Okayama Factory Manager Ryouji Hirota welcomed us with an
explanation of the main products built there: professional and
Testing VariCam Super 35mm 4096 x 2160 MOS Sensors.
consumer camcorders, recorders, switchers, and of course, the
new VariCams. Optical technology encompasses everything from
raw glass to polishing, coating, assembly, inspection, and alignment. Mechanical and electronic production involves everything
from molding and machining to construction and testing.
Mr. Hirota pointed out the extremely high level of skills demonstrated by the employees: 538 Meisters with more than 10 years’
experience and a National exam, among 2791 with special production certificates.
With that, the factory tour began. At the conclusion, Mr. Hirota
presented beautiful Bizen pottery, fine examples of how the long
traditional of exception Japanese craftsmanship has continued
from the 8th Century to the present day.
CNC Machines make bodies, housings, and components.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
49
Printed Circuit Board Manufacturing
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Into the VariCam Cleanroom
Through the air lock and air shower. “Human beings are the dirtiest
things that enter a cleanroom,” a NASA supervisor once said.
VariCams and other products are assembled in this vast and immaculate cleanroom, well protected from dirt, dust and particles.
Fitting the in-camera behind-lens IRND filter wheel.
Filter wheel: Clear, IRND 0.6, IRND 1.2, IRND 1.8.
Rear view of lens mount and sensor assembly.
Testing in the cleanroom.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
51
VariCam Lens Mounts
PL Mount for VariCam 35 above.
B4 mount for VariCam HS, below.
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
VariCam HS prism assemblies, below.
VariCam Final Assembly
Masumi Muguruma
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
53
VariCam Final Assembly
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
VariCam Final Assembly
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
55
KOTO Electric Co.
Shinji Harada,
Managing Director,
Koto Electric Co.
Koto Electric factory in Ibaraki
Koto Electric has a 60 year history of manufacturing electronic
devices and lamps. They were first to develop compact metal halide (HMI) bulbs in Japan for the motion picture and entertainment industries, and their bulbs are used on sets worldwide. The
company headquarters is in Tokyo and the factory is about an
hour northwest, in the farming area of Ibaraki. Koto’s large manufacturing facility is a spectacle of flames and molten glass and
liquid nitrogen, precise craftsmanship, modern machinery and
artisanal glass blowing of larger bulbs.
KOTO was the first manufacturer to block UV rays from their
HMI lamps. These bulbs are designated UV-Block, and have a
95% reduction of UVB and UVC. If you’ve ever worked on stage
with HMIs and felt sunburned, it probably was from the UV.
Quick review: HMI (Metal Halide) bulbs have two electrodes inside an arc tube. Tungsten Halogen bulbs have spring-like wire
filaments inside. Koto’s DIS (single end) HMI line runs from
125W to 18K. Their DI (double end) HMI line goes from 200W
to 18K. The Tungsten Halogen bulbs range from 1K to 24K.
A double-end HMI bulb is made by
inserting two electrodes, sealing the glass
envelope, adding gas through a filling tube
that is ten closed off.
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Kazuya Abe, Director of the
Lamp Engineering Department, with a vintage 1957
20K Tungsten bulb.
Tungsten Halogen bulb with
its spring-like wire filament
KOTO...Fire and Ice
Cooling
the bulb
with liquid
nitrogen
Masaki Nagayama,
Overseas Sales
Manager in the testing
area where Koto bulbs
are checked in the
fixtures of all the major
manufacturers.
Koto makes waterproof metal halide lamps for squid (Ika) fishing
boats. The Slim Lamp minimizes wind resistance topside.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
57
Fujinon Cabrio 25-300 on Sony F55
Fujinon Cabrio 25-300 on
Sony F55 camera.
Important: always use a
lens support (not shown
here).
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Fujifilm’s Fujinon Factory Tour
Fujinon Premier PL Cine zooms
14.5-45 mm T2.0
18-85 mm T2.0
24-180 mm T2.6
75-400 mm T2.8-3.8
Cabrio 85-300, 19-90, 14-35 T2.9
Alura Studio Zooms
45-250 T2.6
18-80 T2.6
Cabrio 25-300 T3.5
Alura Lightweight Zooms
30-80 T2.8
15.4-45 T2.8
2014 was the 80th anniversary of Fujifilm. It was time to make
another trip to visit the factory where Fujinon lenses are made.
Fujifilm was founded in 1934 to establish a domestic Japanese
motion picture and photographic film manufacturing industry.
Work on the first Fujinon TV lenses began in 1962. The ⅔" HD
Cine lens was introduced in 2002 and the first PL zooms came
out in 2009.
Fujifilm Holdings currently has more than 78,500 employees,
with revenue exceeding $20 billion. The company is divided into
three groups: Imaging, Documents, and Information.
The Imaging Division includes color films and labs, photofinishing, paper and chemicals, and of course, Fujifilm Optical Devices—known to most camera crews simply as “Fujinon” for their
Fujinon lenses.
Fujifilm’s Imaging Division also manufactures the popular X Series of APS-C format digital still cameras and XF lenses (17.7 mm
flange focal depth). Fujifilm partners with ARRI on Alura Zooms
and with Hasselblad on HC lenses for their digital H System Medium Format Cameras. These Fujinon/Hasselblad HC lenses, by
the way, are re-barreled by IB/E Optics for the ARRI Alexa 65
cameras.
The first Fujinon PL mount Premier zoom lens was introduced in
April 2009. It was an 18-85 mm T2.0 zoom, with 3 more zooms
to follow. There was some debate about the name. Originally designated FUJINON HK 4K Zooms, the “Premier” name was selected to be inclusive of all current and future formats. Here’s an
excerpt from the FDTimes NAB 2009 Edition:
“I had heard whispers 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. I was totally unprepared for the
audacity and inventiveness of what they announced.
“Here comes a high-end line of zooms in previously unheardof focal lengths and apertures. The first lens will be the Fujinon
PL 18-85 mm T2.0. The other focal lengths will be 14.5-45 mm
T2.0, 24-180 mm T2.6, and 75-400 mm T2.8 - T4.0. Delivery is
anticipated by the end of 2009.
“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 digital format.”
A year later, two ARRI-FUJINON Alura PL Zooms were introduced at NAB 2010, an 18-80 T2.6 and 45-250 T2.6. We wrote:
“This had to be the best kept secret since...well, since the announcement of the Fujinon’s Premier PL Zooms. The Aluras
are a joint project of Arnold & Richter and Fujinon, and will
be distributed by ARRI and their dealers. They appear to be
optimized for the exigencies of Alexa, 16:9 image format and
2K production, with T2.6 maximum apertures.
September 2011 saw two new ARRI/FUJINON Alura lightweight
zooms at IBC—a 15.5-45 T2.8 and 30-80 T2.8.
NAB April 2012 was the beginning of something completely different: a 19-90 mm T2.9 Cabrio ENG-style PL zoom with servo.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
59
Fujinon Factory Tour
A prototype 85-300 T2.9 Cabrio zoom was shown under glass at
NAB, and introduced at IBC in September 2012:
“The Lens Meisters have been busy at the Fujinon factory in the
Tokyo suburb of Saitama. They’ve gone from 14.5 to 400 mm in
a very short time—producing the Fujinon Premier line of four
ultra-fast, ultra-sharp PL-mount zooms as well as the Alura PL
partnership with ARRI.
“Exciting news at NAB is Fujinon’s new 19-90 mm T2.9 lightweight PL-mount zoom lens. I believe it is has the longest range
(19-90) of any lightweight zoom. It is called Cabrio—as in cabriolet—convertible.
“The convertible part is the quickly-removable zoom handgrip.
Similar to ENG/EFP servo drives, it has built in lens motors for
focus, iris, and zoom. A rocker controls the zoom. If you’re using the lens with Preston, Arri, Hedén, Servicevision, or cmotion systems, simply back off the 4 screws and detach the handgrip system. When you reattach it, the drive is self-centering.”
This was daring new territory for PL mount zoom lenses, and boy
was I wrong. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to grab
a camera by its lens when a beautifully burnished wooden camera-body-mounted handgrip beckoned. The Cabrio was a huge
success, and was very influential in handheld and documentary
style shooting. It became standard-issue on lighter cameras with
electric “hot shoe” contacts in the lens mount.
As promised, the 85-300 T2.9 Cabrio was shown at IBC 2012.
Six months later, a 14-28 mm wide-angle Cabrio appeared under
glass at NAB 2013. And then, surprise—its debut was IBC in September 2013—but with a longer range of 14-35 T2.9.
The Cabrio 19-90 was refreshed in December 2013 with a Mark II
model—improved resolution, focus marks, tracking, internal mechanics, and beefier barrel (111 mm front inside diameter). Like
clockwork, Fujinon unveiled another new Cabrio at NAB 2014.
The 25-300 T3.5 was a 12:1 lens with a size and weight comparable to the Premier 24-180. The detachable servo unit is optional.
Fujinon Premier Zooms
Lens
14.5-45 mm T2.0
18-85 mm T2.0
24-180 mm T2.6
75-400 mm T2.8-T3.8
Zoom Ratio
3.1x
4.7x
7.5x
5.3x
Max Iris
T2.0
T2.0
T2.6
T2.8 (ramps to T3.8)
Min Iris
T22 and Closed
T22 and Closed
T22 and Closed
T22 and Closed
Iris Blades
9
9
9
9
MOD Close Focus (from image plane)
0.71 m / 2.3 ft
0.82 m / 2.7 ft
1.24 m / 4.1 ft
2 m / 6.6 ft
Size: Diameter x Length
136 x 310 mm
136 x 352 mm
136 x 405 mm
136 x 444 mm
Image Diagonal
> 29 mm
> 29 mm
> 29 mm
> 29 mm
Front Diameter
136 mm
136 mm
136 mm
136 mm
Weight
6.5 kg / 14.3 lb
7.0 kg / 15.2 lb
8.9 kg / 19.6 lb
9.1 kg / 20.0 lb
Focus Rotation (degrees)
280
280
280
280
Zoom Rotation
160
160
160
160
available with feet or meters focus scales
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Fujinon Factory Tour
The last time I visited Fujinon was March 2011, days before the
devastating earthquake and tsunami. Cine lenses were manufactured in the massive Saitama factory on the outskirts north of
Tokyo. Since then, production of PL mount cine lenses has moved
to Fujiilm’s optical factories in Mito and Morigane, about 3 hours’
from Tokyo.
Roadtrip. Junichi Kubo and Atsushi Yamazaki from the Sales &
Marketing Department of Fujifilm Optical Devices graciously
took a day off from the InterBEE trade show in Makuhari and we
drove northeast to visit the factories where Fujinon cine lenses
are made.
Japan’s rail system is efficient and fast. It takes about 1.5 hours by
train from Tokyo to Mito Station. But we’re driving: two factories,
lunch, visit to the Kiuchi Sake Brewery, with few taxis from station
to destination. The first hour is in heavy Tokyo traffic. But then the
highway parallels the Pacific Ocean on the right, past farms, rice
fields, orchards and rolling hills sparkling with fall foliage.
It must be the water and pure air. Just as ZEISS and Leica are
near each other, and Cooke is roughly on the same latitude, Canon’s Utsunomiya optical factories are just over the mountains,
about 50 miles due West. The larger Mito factory is where most
⅔" prisms are made for 3-chip cameras. Computerized aspheric
grinding and polishing machines produce large diameter optical
elements.
Fujinon Premier and Cabrio lenses are put together in the Morigane factory. The difference between Japanese and European cine
lens manufacturing suddenly became clear to me. The European
system that I’ve seen at Cooke, Angénieux and Leica is to measure
each lens and engrave the focus barrels accordingly. ZEISS selects
a pre-engraved barrel, identified by a small letter, that best matches the lens. At Fujinon, and also Canon, the focus scales are preengraved. The internal elements are then adjusted if there is any
discrepancy (and there rarely is). Different approaches—all valid.
Fujinon Cabrio Zooms
14-35
19-90
85-300
25-300
Cabrio 14-35 mm T2.9
Cabrio 19-90 mm T2.9
Cabrio 85-300 mm T2.9
Cabrio 25-300 mm T3.5-3.9
Model Number
ZK2.5x14 (PL 14-35)
ZK4.7x19b (PL 19-90)
ZK3.5x85 (PL 85-300)
ZK12x25 (PL 25-300)
Focal Length
14-35 mm
19-90 mm
85-300 mm
25-300 mm
Zoom Ratio
2.5x
4.7x
3.5x
12x
Maximum Aperture
T2.9
T2.9
T2.9 (85-218mm)
T4.0 (300mm)
T3.5 (25-273mm)
T3.85 (300mm)
Iris Range
T2.9 - T22.0
T2.9 - T22.0
T2.9 - T22.0
T3.5 - T22
MOD Close Focus
0.6m / 2.0ft.
0.85m / 2.79ft.
1.2m / 3.94ft.
1.2m / 3.94ft.
Image Area
27.45 x 15.44 mm
27.45 x 15.44 mm
27.45 x 15.44 mm
27.45 x 15.44 mm
Image Diagonal
31.5 mm
31.5 mm
31.5 mm
31.5 mm
Mount
35mm PL
35mm PL
35mm PL
35mm PL
Object Dimensions
at MOD (16:9)
14 mm: 701 x 394 mm
35 mm: 275 x 155 mm
19 mm: 915 x 515 mm
90 mm: 193 x 109 mm
85 mm: 274 x 154 mm 300 25 mm: 937 x 527 mm
mm: 79 x 44 mm
300 mm: 77 x 43 mm
Front OD Diameter
114 mm
114 mm
114 mm
136 mm
Length
231 mm
226 mm
249 mm
401 mm
Weight
2.9 kg w/servo - 2.4 kg w/o
2.8 kg w/servo - 2.3 kg w/o 3.0 kg w/servo 2.6 kg w/o
Features
Detachable, auto-centering servo drive, Flange focal distance adjustment, Macro, LDS and i/Technology compatible
8.4 kg / 18.48 lb (approx)
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
61
Factory Tour: Kodawari and Water
Fujifilm’s Optical Factory in Mito, about 3 hours’ drive from Tokyo.
Kiuchi Sake Brewery in Naka, conveniently near the Fujifilm factory. They
use the Japanese word “Kodawari” to describe the process: uncompromising and meticulous attention to detail and perfection. “Kodawari” is a
word that comes up often in Japan, and was also used at Fujinon.
Sake is made from polished rice. The higher the grade (Daiginjo), the
more finely the rice has been polished. Sake is 80% water, and Kiuchi
uses water from nearby springs. Polishing. Pure water. Sounds similar to
lens making. The bottles, below, do look somewhat like zoom lenses.
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
The Brewery was established in 1823 by Kiuchi Gihei, who collected
rice from farmers as tax for the Tokugawa family (yes, same Shoguns
as Siege of Osaka). The surplus rice was used for sake. Their Kikusakari
Sake was named in honor of the Meiji Emperor. Kiku (chrysanthemum) is
a symbol of the imperial household, and Sakari means property.
In 1996, Kiuchi began brewing their Hitachino Nest Beer and recently
purchased land next to the brewery as a vineyard with Merlot and
Chardonnay grapes from France.
Fujinon Factory Tour
Fujifilm’s Optical Factory near Morigane, on the banks of the Kuji River.
Inside the Morigane Factory: Hiroo Kaminaga, Junichi Kubo, Yukio Hoshi,
and Akira Ebashi (L-R).
Atsushi Yamazaki and Junichi Kubo (L-R) from the Sales & Marketing
Department of Fujifilm Optical Devices.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
63
Grinding and Polishing Optical Elements
Grinding and polishing, also called “curve generating process.”
Smaller diameter optical elements are usually handled with automated
machines. Larger diameters are often finished traditionally, above.
Grinding edges and centering
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Lens Assembly
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
65
Lens Assembly
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Testing and Finishing
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
67
Anthony Dod Mantle’s Customized Gear
Anthony Dod Mantle, DFF, BSC, ASC
with 1st AC Telfer Barnes on “Our Kind
of Traitor.” Photo: Jaap Buitendijk
by Jakob Bonfils
The world is full of gear and gadgets for filming. No matter what
needs you have, it’s there. Or is it?
With cameras getting smaller and cheaper, there’s a large market
for accessories and gadgets. Seen from the outside, you can get
whatever you want to set up your camera. The only thing is that
you end up with something that looks like a Christmas tree, with
branches of arms sticking out almost everywhere.
This makes the camera very vulnerable and clumsy, not to mention how dreadful it looks.
The days when a film camera was a smooth and neat thing are
gone. The days of one button only, to start and stop the camera,
are gone too.
Cameras, no matter the size or price, must be set up to your personal needs. Setting up the menu is the easy part.
But when you start to think about the practical use of the camera,
problems arise. A lot of cameras are front heavy and therefore tiring to carry for longer periods of time. Sometimes it’s even difficult to balance on a tripod—the sliding plate becoming too short
or in the wrong position.
I always loved balance.
If you see a carpenter carrying a board on his shoulder, it’s in
balance, of course. He would never carry it off balance. So it’s a
mystery that so many DPs, photographers and camera operators
have a camera on their shoulder that is out of balance and mostly
front-heavy.
Jakob Bonfils (JB) making
a plaster mold of Anthony
Dod Mantle’s (ADM) hand
for a wooden handgrip
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Part of it is due to the manufacturers putting the viewfinder in the
wrong place relative to the human eye. They seem to forget that
lenses, matteboxes, focus motors and filters add weight, so the
camera itself has to move back and the viewfinder has to move
forward, to get it close to balance.
All this is just to explain my view of things and point out that it
still is possible to customize your camera set up, asking someone
to manufacture the things needed that you cannot find in the gadget jungle.
ADM’s Customized Gear
Canon C500, Leica Summilux-C,
Transvideo Starlite, Preston FIZ,
Steadicam.Photo: Nievelt
I have known Anthony Dod Mantle (ADM) for more than 30
years and during most of that time we have worked together, inventing and tuning his equipment.
He is the kind of Cinematographer who is not afraid to try new
things and he sees every new project as a challenge to do in a way
different from the previous one. Therefore he is very interesting to
work with and a great guy with a wonderful sense of humor and
musicality. He is not afraid of weird propositions.
Earlier this year (2014), he was prepping for a production called
“Our Kind of Traitor” and he wanted to shoot a lot of the film on
his Canon C500 with Leica Summicron-C lenses.
So the set-up was this:
• Canon C500
• Leitz Summicrons
• Small Monitor
• Preston Focus Motor
• Occasionally a Kenyon KS4 Gyro
All of it had to be contained in some kind of rig with 2 handles.
ADM and I talked a lot about getting rid of as much as possible:
batteries, cables, control boxes, transmitters, etc. The target was a
5 kg (11 lb) camera + rig weight.
Handheld!
ADM said, “I need the size and weight factor to work ergonomically with the specific way I move a camera between the world of
Steadicam and the world of handheld.”
Furthermore, ADM always wants to operate with a monitor once
he is handheld, to have contact with the actor. This is quite understandable but results in the camera being away from his body,
meaning weight and no balance.
On another production, I saw him wreck his shoulder while
shooting handheld with a heavy camera setup. It is quite frustrating wanting to shoot handheld but not being able to, due to
weight, bad balance and too many cables and batteries tied to the
camera YOU have to carry.
Photo: Buitendijk
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
69
ADM’s Customized Gear
and accessories. A great Thank You for that, and thanks for the
very helpful attitude of everyone at Transvideo.
Meanwhile, ADM would try to get a set of Summicron-C lenses
before start of production.
He already had a Kenyon KS4 Gyro, so I just had to find a way to
attach it to the rig. We both know the problems with sound and I
understood that the gyro would add weight.
Photo: Nievelt
I wanted to make the camera rig out of titanium and have the 2
handles mounted in a way that ADM could easily change position
and balance. There would be two 15mm alloy tubes to attach the
focus motor. The mattebox could go directly on the lens.
All the additional accessories would be mounted to a board and
carried as a backpack by the grip or put on the floor and connected to the camera with the appropriate cables.
I also knew that, unfortunately, carrying a 5 kg camera rig away
from your body is tough. You can’t do it for days, unless you are
a Schwarzenegger kind of bodybuilder. So the thought of using a
Steadicam arm/vest to support the camera rig was beginning to
take shape in the back of my head. It would be used solely to support weight, not to make Steadicam moves. The ability to use the
arm to make nice slow or rapid side-to-side and cross-framing
moves was an attractive option.
I have been a Steadicam operator for 20 years, so I know the system inside out. Way back, I brought ADM into the Steadicam
world, as he wanted to shoot a film on this beautiful invention. He
did a couple of days workshop with me. A week or so later, ADM
arrived at Garrett Brown’s barn at home and Garrett gave him a
personal intensive workshop. You can’t get any closer to Steadicam knowledge in addition to having a good time with Garrett,
the most inventive man I have ever met. ADM got quite good at
it and threw himself into shooting almost an entire film with it.
So ADM knew the Steadicam, and when I explained that it would
spare his body quite a lot, he was in.
I just had to make a connection from the Steadicam arm to the
camera rig without a gimbal, using something more rigid, but still
allowing the ability to pan and tilt and roll.
I found out that the internal battery of the Canon C500 would
last a long time, so it stayed there. During the design period, I
had close contact with Satake Yoshifumi from Canon, a very nice
and helpful man. He supplied me with a camera and the details
needed.
Next thing was the monitor. Luckily, Transvideo had just introduced their Starlite Monitor: small, iPhone-sized, lightweight,
bright, with low power consumption and able to record to an SD
card.
How to get it before production start was the question. I was in
Paris in February 2014, and went to the AFC Micro Salon exhibition at La Fémis in Paris to see the “thing”. A few minutes after
running into Jon Fauer, we descended to the basement where I
explained to Transvideo’s Francois Gérard what I was designing
for ADM, and asked if we could borrow one Starlite monitor. It
all turned out very well and Jacques Delacoux, President of Transvideo, joined our mail correspondence.
Transvideo supplied us with the lovely “Starlite” monitor, cables
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Next I made a clay cast of ADM’s right and left hands. His usual
right and left hand grips are quite different and I wanted the handles to be an exact copy of these.
ADM’s Customized Gear
Then I shaped the handles in laminated bamboo wood. It is a
strong and lightweight material, relatively easy to mill and drill.
It is important that handles are both nice in shape and material,
because it is your direct contact with the camera.
Photo:
Nievelt
Wood is nice to touch, never too warm or too cold. All other materials you get tired of grabbing.
mounted at an angle. It may look sloppy, but it’s true. They work
much better that way. The Kenyon KS4 was fine because you can
“overtake” the gyro without noticing it in the camera, only feeling
a small click, meaning that you can whip pan if needed. If you
want a stronger gyro effect, just give it a slightly longer arm. I
made a rigid mount at an angle below the camera.
Now, what about the joint from the Steadicam arm to the rig?
I made a couple of tries. The thing that worked best was with 3
joints, mounted in slots on a triangle shape. You could move the
joints in or out to give more or less play. It attached to the post as
usual, and you could have a longer post if you needed some extra height. Carrying the camera plus the arm and vest is not bad
because it is all in the lightweight family. Anthony did more than
65% of the shooting with this set-up.
Now we are beginning to tune his gear for the next film....
After the handles were finished, I started working on the camera
plate and bridges. These were made with Delrin, which is strong
and light and precise to fabricate. A lot of work went into finding
the proper shape and attachment points.
The Starlite monitor had to mount to some kind of arm, not a
magic arm, as I know that ADM moves the monitor all the time
to get a better angle. He also uses it to support his grip on the rig.
I cut one leg from a small tripod made of small plastic joints that
are clicked into each other, and made a mount for the monitor on
one end and for the attachment to the top of the camera rig at the
other end. It proved to be very efficient supporting the monitor,
was very lightweight and flexible.
“Our Kind of Traitor” (2015), from the novel by John le Carré,
starring Ewan McGregor, Naomie Harris, Damian Lewis, Stellan
Skarsgård. Crew appearing in the photos:
Director: Susanna White
Cinematography by: Anthony Dod Mantle, DFF, BSC, ASC
1st AD: Lee Grummet
1st AC: Telfer Barnes
Key Grip: Bernd Mayer Photos by: Jaap Buitendijk, unit
photographer; Thomas Nievelt, Gaffer; Satake Yoshifumi, Canon
Europe; and Jakob Bonfils.
Jakob Bonfils is a camera rig designer, camera technician, former
grip, Steadicam and camera operator. Credits include Ron Howard’s
”Rush” (race cam mounts, race car unit); Lars v. Trier’s “Dogville”
and “Europa”; Vinterberg’s “Dear Wendy” and “It’s all about love,” etc.
The handles were mounted to the frame with a kind of clamp and
a finger-operated bolt going through both the handle, the milled
joints, and the frame. I had to mill out the joints too, and they
were fastened to the wooden handles with screws and nuts, because they have to stay in position, especially because the whole
thing may be lifted quite often with only one handle.
Understanding gyros is not an easy task. One thing, though: they
should not be attached either horizontally or vertically. They
will interfere with either the pan or tilt. Instead, gyros have to be
ADM, Satake Yoshifumi, JB
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
71
Canon 50-1000 T5.0 - 8.9 Zoom Lens
Tetsushi Hibi, Senior General
Manager, Canon Optics R&D
at InterBEE with 50-1000 at
InterBEE
October 16, 2014. Canon officially introduced the new CINESERVO 50-1000 mm T5.0-8.9 Ultra-Telephoto Zoom Lens (20:1
zoom ratio) for 35mm digital cine cameras. A working model was
shown at InterBEE and at CES 2015.
It is lightweight, compact, and very versatile. Sports, nature and
documentary cinematographers will be delighted—here is a lens
for 35mm format that can rival long ⅔" format zooms. At IBC
we heard wildlife cinematographer Sue Gibson describing how
she uses adapters to fit ⅔" telephoto zoom lenses on her 35mm
format digital cine cameras because there weren’t any lightweight
and long 35mm zooms.
Now there is. And, Canon’s 50-1000 mm T5.0-8.9 zoom lens becomes a 75-1500 mm with its built-in 1.5x extender.
But first a brief detour. In April 2014, I met with Yasunori Imaoka,
Group Executive, Canon Image Communication Products, along
with Tetsushi Hibi, Senior General Manager, Canon Optics R&D
Center, and Ryan Kamata, Sr Specialist, Canon USA Camera &
Video Division. The following dialog took place:
INT. SECRET ROOM AT NAB - DAY
CANON
What kind of lens would you like to see
next?
JON FAUER
Can I dream?
CANON
Yes, we are Canon.
JON
How about a 20-2000 mm zoom?
CANON
Do you have specific applications in mind for
such a lens?
JON
Sports, cars, wildlife, commercials, fea-
72
Feb 2015 • Issue 66
tures, action. The shot at the Olympics with
the runner approaching. A remake of “Kagemusha.” A charging herd of buffalo. For wildlife photographers, how about 3000 mm on the
long end?
CANON
You’re getting greedy.
JON
I owned an early Canon 150-600 mm lens,
modified with a PL mount by Century Optics.
It was huge and didn’t really zoom. A new
dream lens would zoom and be much smaller.
So, will I see you next year at NAB with
that lens?
CANON
We’re not sure about a 20-2000...but we are
on the same page. We are always trying to
develop innovative, new products that are
beneficial and special for creative people.
Well, Canon was working very hard and very fast to develop just
such a lens: a 50-1000mm T5.0-8.9 Ultra-Telephoto Zoom Lens
with built-in 1.5x Extender for 35mm digital cine cameras.
After InterBEE, Ryan Kamata had the working sample for few
weeks and was showing it to rental houses and customers. Ryan
said, “Doing the demos, I found that the lens’ performance is so
good that it is even hard to realize when the extender is being
used. As you know, when an optical extender is used, the performance of a lens will usually suffer.
“One major concept of this lens is to maintain its 4K performance
even when the extender is being used, and the working sample
truly proved that. “There’s another added benefit. Basically, an
optical extender works by enlarging the image at the back end.
Therefore, when the extender is being used, the lens can even
cover 35mm Still Format (Full Frame 24x36mm) or VistaVision.”
Canon 50-1000 T5.0 - 8.9 Zoom
By the way, Canon has not yet officially endorsed using this lens
beyond its published spec of 31.4mm diameter image circle. But,
as Bill Bennett, ASC famously said, what camera crew ever used
anything the way the manufacturer originally intended?
Meanwhile, back in Hollywood, Ryan raced to Otto Nemenz International to show Otto the new lens and check the optical performance of its 1.5 extender on their lens projector.
Ryan said, “Otto himself checked the 50-1000 in his projection
room and was so impressed that the lens could be used on almost
any camera that he asked us for the first lens. I had been trying
to convince him how great our cinema lenses were for the past 3
years...and now he made this decision within 10 minutes.”
The dialog went like this:
INT. OTTO NEMENZ INTERNATIONAL - DAY
The lights are turned back on in the projection room.
OTTO
Ryan, I want the first Canon 50-1000 zoom
lens.
RYAN
(nervous laugh)
I hope you are serious...
OTTO
(without smiling)
I am very serious. Congratulations.
Ryan concluded, “Since there is such a variety of sensor sizes in
the cinema world today, choosing the right lens that covers the
full image area of the camera can be a challenge. Our CINE-SERVO 50-1000 offers a unique option for the industry.”
Lens-Camera Communication
The Canon CINE-SERVO 50-1000mm T5.0-8.9 zoom lens is
compatible with industry-standard camera-to-lens communication protocols. These include Cooke /i Technology, Canon EOSLens data communication (used by the EOS C500, EOS-1D C,
EOS C300 and EOS C100 Cinema cameras), and 12-pin serial
communication (for broadcast cameras).
With the Canon Cinema EOS system, lens data (including aperture setting) is displayed in the EOS camera’s viewfinder, and is
recorded in the video file as metadata along with the model name
and focal-length of the lens.
Broadcast-Style
Broadcast-style features include servo control of focus, zoom, and
iris. The removable Digital Drive unit has a 16-bit encoder linked
to the zoom/rocker switch. It zooms smoothly, without lag, covering the entire range from full-wide to full-telephoto in a quick 1.5
seconds, or adjustable to a very slow 180 seconds. The encoder
can transmit accurate analog and serial data for zoom, focus and
iris settings through the Drive unit’s 20-pin connector.
Operators can control focus and iris settings from the drive unit
or use it to program focus, zoom position/speed, and iris settings
for precise, repeatable moves.
A small LCD display on the drive unit displays current settings.
Focus can be adjusted manually by rotating the knurled rubber
collar of the focus barrel.
Cinema-Style
With its Digital Drive unit/handgrip removed, the Canon
50-1000 mm T5.0-8.9 Zoom lens offers a unique range of long focal lengths—going all the way to 1500 mm with the built-in 1.5x
extender. Lens barrels are engraved in both feet and meters on
both sides, with a beveled surface to make them easy to see while
operating the camera. Luminous paint is used for the scale display
on one side of the barrel to help make the markings visible in low
light. Both 0.8 type and 0.5 type gear module focus accessories
can be used, for follow focus, lens motors, and all other standard
lens accessories.
Canon Cinema EOS lenses are identified by their red alumite
color near the mount. The EF mount can be replaced with a PL
mount, or vice versa (electrical system included). This conversion
can be done at authorized Canon service centers. The EF version
of the lens is designated as CN20x50 IAS H/E1 and the PL version
is CN20x50 IAS H/P1.
Cinema EOS Lens Family
The new Canon CINE-SERVO 50-1000mm T5.0-8.9 UltraTelephoto Zoom lens joins these other Canon Cine Lenses for
single-sensor 35mm format cinematography:
CINE-SERVO 17-120mm T2.95 Zoom
CN-E 15.5-47mm T2.8 L Compact Cinema Zoom
CN-E 30-105mm T2.8 L Compact Cinema Zoom
CN-E30-300mm T2.95-3.7 L full size Cinema Zoom
CN-E14.5-60mm T2.6 L full size Cinema Zoom
and six Cinema EOS prime lenses that cover 24x36mm format.
Yuichi Ishizuka, President and COO of Canon U.S.A. said, “The
use of large-sensor 4K cameras is rapidly spreading beyond motion pictures and episodic television into many new types of productions such as broadcast sports and nature documentaries. We
are proud to deliver a lens with advanced 4K optical performance,
impressive focal range and operational versatility to serve the creative needs of today’s image makers.”
Price and Availability
The new Canon CINE-SERVO 50-1000mm T5.0-8.9 Ultra-telephoto Zoom lens is expected to be available in the first quarter of
2015 for a suggested list price of $78,000.
Canon 50-1000 T5.0-8.9 at a Glance
• Length: 15.9 inches (PL version). 16.27 in (EF Version).
• Weight: 14.6 lb.
• Image circle: 31.4mm — covers Super 35mm format sensors.
• EF- or PL-mount. Can be swapped at Canon Service Center.
• Weather and shock resistant.
• Consumes 700mA of power.
• Aberration correction and high image quality to outer edges.
• Both 0.8 type and 0.5 type gear module focus gears.
The removable servo/digital drive unit has a zoom rocker switch,
programmable zoom and focus settings, and data connections for
broadcast field/studio controls of zoom and focus. Removing the
drive unit is simple and lets you use cinema-style lens motors.
There are three 20-pin connectors and one 12-pin.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
73
Canon 50-1000 T5.0 - 8.9 Zoom
Momentary Iris Auto Switch
Focus: 0.8 pitch
Zoom Rocker
Focus: 0.5 pitch
Focus: Servo/Manual
Zoom: Servo/Manual
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
20-pin connector
Macro button
Canon 50-1000 T5.0 - 8.9 Zoom
1.5x lever
Lens Support
Front Diameter: 136 mm
CINE-SERVO 50-1000mm T5.0-8.9 PL
Model Name CN20x50 IAS H/P1
MountPL
Zoom Ratio20x
Built-In Optical Extender 1.5x
Focal Length50-1000mm
75-1500mm (With 1.5x Extender)
Maximum Aperture T5.0 at 50-560mm
T8.9 at 1000mm
T7.5 at 75-840mm (With 1.5x Extender)
T13.35 at 1500mm (With 1.5x Extender)
Iris Blades11
Image Circle Image circle: 31.4 mm
Focus Barrel Rotation 180°
Front Diameter136mm
MOD (fr Image Plane) 3.5m / 11.5’
Zoom: 0.5 pitch
Iris: 0.5 pitch
Back Focus Adjustment
Locking thumbscrew
Object Dimensions at MOD w/ Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
for Sensor / Aperture Size of 24.6 x 13.8mm
139.3 x 78.1cm at 50mm
7.3 x 4.1cm at 1000mm
92.9 x 52.1cm at 75mm (With 1.5x Extender)
4.9 x 2.7cm at 1500mm (With 1.5x Extender)
Approx. Size (WxHxL) 6.89 x 6.72 x 15.95 in
175 x 170.6 x 405.2 mm
Approx. Weight 14.55 lb
6.6kg
Pitch of Gears Focus: 0.8/0.5, Zoom: 0.5, Iris: 0.5
CINE-SERVO 50-1000mm T5.0-8.9 EF
EF Mount. Model Name CN20x50 IAS H/E1
Same specs as PL except:
Length 16.27 in /413.2 mm
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
75
JVC GY-LS300 4K Camcorder
JVC jumped into 4K in a big way at InterBEE. The GY-LS300 4K
Camcorder is a tiny, lightweight Super 35mm CMOS sensor camera with a novel Micro Four Thirds (MFT) lens mount. The big
deal is the Micro Four Thirds mount allows full coverage of the
13.5 Megapixel Altasens Super 35mm sensor without vignetting.
The reason this is so interesting is because of all the mechanical
lens adapters made for the MFT system. You can attach PL lenses,
Canon, Nikon, APS-C, Full Frame, Leica M, S or T, and so on.
Variable Scan Mapping feature will maintain the lens’s native angle of view.
The LS300 records 3840 x 2160 UHD (16:9) at 150 Mbps to SDHC
or SDXC (UHS-I Speed class3) memory cards, as well as full HD
(16:9). If you mount a native MFT lens, it will cover 3584 x 2016
in 16:9 aspect ratio.
The MFT lens mount’s 11-pin connector accommodates Auto Focus on enabled lenses. The 3.5” LCD display has 920K pixels, and
the .24” LCOS viewfinder has 1.56 Megapixels.
Good news: Super16 lenses can be mounted and will cover a 2K
area of 2304 x 1296 in 16:9 format and 2340 x 1234 in 17:9. JVC’s
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
The LS300 records 4K to 2 internal slots with SDHC or SDXC
(UHS-I Speed class 3) memory cards. Recordings are made using Quicktime (.MOV) file format. A UHD monitor can be connected with an HDMI cable for live viewing and direct play back.
The LS300 also downconverts UHD signals to standard HD with
outputs from SDI or HDMI connectors.
Power is supplied via an AC-to-12VDC adapter or an internal
7.4VDC battery. Dimensions are 135 mm(W) x 190 mm(H) x 263
mm(D). Delivery is expected in March 2015 for around $4,450.
JVC 4K Camcorders
At the heart of JVC’s 4K innovation is its AL41410C Altasens Super
35 (4096 x 2160) CMOS 13.5 Megapixel sensor. Altasens is a wholly
owned subsidiary of JVC Kenwood Corp. with headquarters in Westlake
Village, CA.
JVC’s ALCM460 Camera Module is 4K camera head with a Micro 4/3
lens mount and Super 35mm sensor. At 88 x 108 x 112 mm and .7 kg
with attached 4x3G-SDI output module, it was demonstrated on gimbal
rigs, drones and small remote heads.
Video records up to 4K 60 fps 4:2:0 via HDMI 2.0 or 4:2:2 3G-SDI, and
full HD to 240 fps. Stills can be recorded to an internal SD card.
JVC’s ALCM460 Camera Module on a gimbal rig.
Prototype JVC GY-LSX1 4K Super 35 shoulder-resting Camcorder with
PL mount.
JVC GY-HM200 4KCAM Compact Handheld Camcorder has a 1/2.33”
sensor that records Ultra HD (3840x2160) video at 24/30p, and 4:2:2
HD 1080p 24p - 60p. The camcorder has a 12x zoom lens. Expected
Feb 2015 for around $2,995.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
77
Hiroshi Kiriyama, Sony Professional Cameras
Mr. Kiriyama accepting a
Technology & Engineering EMMY
at the January 2015 Ceremony
Hiroshi Kiriyama, General Manager
of Sony’s Content Creation
Professional Design Team
At InterBEE, I met with with Hiroshi Kiriyama, General Manager of
Sony’s Content Creation Professional Design Team. He is in charge of
development for Sony’s professional cinema and TV cameras. A few
weeks later, Mr. Kiriyama was in Las Vegas, receiving an Emmy Award
for his work on the Sony multi-format HD CCD cameras.
JON FAUER: What trends do you see at InterBEE 2014?
HIROSHI KIRIYAMA: Japan’s biggest market is the broadcast industry. We think there are three trends for content creators. A few
months ago, the government announced that in 2016 we will start 4K
satellite broadcasting. That’s important news for broadcasters.
This year, 4K CS (Communication Satellite) tests have already started,
basically funded by the government. Next year, we’ll start commercial 4K CS transmission. Then in 2016, 4K BS (Broadcast Satellite)
transmission will begin. There are currently two satellites for Japan.
Work has already started on 8K, with the goal of 8K broadcasting at
the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo.
That’s a roadmap of trends in the Japanese electronics industry. As
you know, 4K content creation began with the film industry in mind.
In Japan, half of our movie theaters are ready for 4K projection.
Sony projectors, I hope?
Yes. In addition to 4K delivery, we are accelerating demand for 4K
content creation. Companies investing in new equipment need to
keep it working for a reasonable amount of time to get a profitable
return on investment. Therefore, if they are thinking about purchasing new equipment, they should invest in products that are at least
4K-ready now. Of course, we provide 4K and 8K cameras. They are
capable of HD, and they also facilitate a seamless migration from HD
to 4K. So, you can shoot HD now, and also be future-proof. I’m particularly referring to the F5, F55 and F65 cameras.
You discussed broadcast and content creation. What is the third
trend?
4K cinema. This is driven by the question of how content will hold
up in the years to come. Is the production shot right now going to be
valuable in the future? It should be as good then as it is now. Therefore, producers, directors, cinematographers and creatives are now
thinking about 4K content creation.
Why is 4K coming on like a freight train in the Asian market,
while Europeans and many Americans are not so eager?
According to the EBU, some European companies are saying that we
should have not only 4K but also high-dynamic range, high-frame
78
Feb 2015 • Issue 66
rate, and a wider color gamut. This combination is what they would
like for the new generation of broadcasting.
At InterBEE, we are seeing quite a bit of interest in high-dynamic
range monitors.
It’s one of the hot topics this year.
Shall we talk about high-dynamic range?
There are many manufacturers of TV monitors and displays in Japan
and Korea. This accelerated the move from SD to HD and now HD
to 4K.
There is also a big incentive to motivate the end-user to purchase new
TV sets. The government has helped support this tradition.
Where do you think camera technology is going?
A trend we are hearing about is wireless recording, always connected
via Wi-Fi to the cloud or a server.
There will be improvements in performance and quality of the image, color reproduction, dynamic range and resolution. As the EBU
recommends, resolution is not the only consideration. Color space,
dynamic range and also frame rate should be taken into account. But
in my experience, the combination of 4K, wide color space, and highdynamic range creates a different kind of image. There will be new
styles of images, and these might lead to new and different business
models—not only for TV, but for tablets, PCs, mobile applications,
and other devices. The ways to express visual ideas will expand.
Where do you see the future of the cinema in Japan? Will people
still go to movie theaters? Or will everybody be watching on great
big high rez monitors at home? Or on tablets?
Probably the same as in the United States. Younger people are watching on mobile devices. But when they are with friends, they often
prefer to go to a theater and enjoy the experience together.
Content is one thing that remains constant. Content is a kind of king
for this industry. The distribution model may change. But content is
the thing that brings emotions to people: they want to feel happy, sad,
cry or laugh. Sharing the emotion with friends is important.
Therefore, I think that 4K is a good trend in Japan. Not only for TVs
and displays, but also in theaters.
What will we see next?
At Sony, we design and fabricate the sensors, write the software,
make the hardware and the recording media, and also build lenses.
It’s going to be very exciting. Thank you.
Sony Doc Dock CBK-55BK
Sony showed the latest improvements on their Doc Dock (officially named “CBK-55BK build-up kit for F55” at InterBEE. It
cradles an F55 or F5 and turns it into a single-operator, documentary/ENG-style, comfortable shoulder-resting camera.
Introduced a few months ago as a prototype, the designers listened to suggestions from camera operators. The Dock will ship
soon with a much greater degree of fore-aft balance adjustment
and shoulder pad positioning. Also, the front rosette/control has
been lowered and also moves forward — thus avoiding the prototype’s problem of interfering with the lens barrels.
The new Dock will accept the Sony AXS-R5 RAW recorder. There’s
a compartment for a wireless audio receiver. Docking is simple:
lower the camera onto cradle, and then secure with 3 levers from
the camera right side. Expected January 2015 for $8,000.
Doc Dock at InterBEE. Sony F55/F5 lowers into shoulder-resting
comfortable cradle with adjustable balance and familiar controls.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
79
Sony Doc Dock for F55/F5
• Sony CBK-55BK Shoulder Mount Dock (Doc Dock) provides easy
access to camera functions via familiar controls.
• Shoulder pad and entire sled adjust fore-aft for balance.
• Easy docking and undocking – no tools necessary.
• Same Audio Control Panel as Sony ENG cameras.
• Supports Wireless slot-in audio receiver.
• Inputs and Outputs on the rear panel.
• Supports RAW Recording with AXS-R5.
• F55/F5 cameras come with a FZ-PL mechanical adapter—but here
are some additional, interesting adapters:
• Sony’s B4S16PLKIT lens adapter kit comes in 2 parts:
Standard FZ
to PL mount
adapter for
F55/F5 with
LDS and /i
contacts.
Viewed from
the PL front
end.
1. FZ to PL mount adapter with LDS and /i lens contacts, and 12-pin
Hirose connector. Provides servo power, lens control and shows
iris/focus/zoom position in viewfinder. Good for S16mm PL-mount
lenses in 2K Center Scan Mode. No light loss.
2. PL to B4 Mount attaches to the FZ-PL Adapter to use 2/3”
lenses in 2K Center Scan Mode by blowing up image to S16 size.
Has optical elements with less than .8 stop of light loss.
Standard FZ
to PL mount
adapter, viewed
from the FZ
rear end.
• LA-FZB1 FZ to B4 Lens Adapter for Super35 format lets you use
2/3” B4 lenses to cover full 4K image area. Optical 2.6x image
enlargement. Also has a 12-pin Hirose connector. No LDS or /i
contacts.
• LA-FZB2 FZ to B4 Lens Adapter, which is similar to the LA-FZB1
(above) and adds remote control ND and CC filters.
Compartment for
Wireless Audio Receiver
Audio Control Panel
GAIN / ISO,
Assignable Switch,
WHITE BALANCE
MENU ON-OFF
MENU CANCEL-BACK
Assignable
Buttons 6, 7, 8
Hirth Tooth Rosette
for handgrips
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Adjustable Shoulder Pad
Optional Sony AXS-R5
RAW Recorder
Sony Doc Dock for F55/F5
Menu knob
REC
Start/Stop
Shutter MIC AUTO WHITE /
LEVEL BLACK Balance
Power: DC In
XLR 4-pin
Headphones
Audio IN
XLR 3-pin
Audio OUT
XLR 5-pin
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
81
Sony F55/F5 Firmware Upgrade 5.0
The eagerly awaited Version 5.0 Firmware Update for Sony F55/
F5 was released in December 2014.
12. Interval recording (Timelapse). XAVC format and RAW recording with the AXS-R5.
Major new features include:
Version 5.0 can be updated from v2.0 firmware onwards. When
updating from v1.22 and earlier, you must update to v2.0 first.
(See: tinyurl.com/F55-firmware5-0). You cannot revert to earlier
versions.
1.Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD recording with the new, optional CBK-55PD circuit board (sold separately). Record and
play back in ProRes 422 HQ and ProRes 422 at 23.98p, 24p,
25p, 29.97p, 50i, 59.94i — as well as DNxHD220x and DNxHD145 at 23.98p, 25p, 29.97p, 59.94i.
1.Apple ProRes 4444 (12-bit) 23.98p, 24p, 25p, 29.97p is expected in a June update along with additional details (see table
on the next page.)
2.Support for the optional Doc Dock ENG / Documentary
shoulder mount CBK-55BK.
3.F5 4K XAVC Internal Recording — requires CBKZ-55FX F5
4K Upgrade License. This will let the F5 record and play back
XAVC 4K/QFHD. It will also enable 4K SDI and 4K HDMI
Output, and simultaneous XAVC 4K/QFHD and MPEG
50Mbps 422 recording. A license key ($998) is purchased and
installed by the end-user. Requires V5.0 firmware upgrade.
4.DNR (Noise suppression) in Cine EI mode.
5.Memory A/B white balance in Custom mode.
6.Assignable Color Bars On/Off.
7.Assignable VF Magnification On/Off.
8.Direct Changing FPS (STEP) on Menu knob. In S&Q Mode,
frame rate can be changed by pushing and rotating the Menu
dial.
9.Double speed viewfinder setting now remains on when switching HFR ON/OFF.
10. Simultaneous recording in HDCAM SR 422 SQ and MPEG
50Mbps 422 59.94i.
11. Color Bars, Viewfinder Focus Magnifier, and White Memory
(switching between Memory A/B) are added to Assignable
Button.
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
The new firmware v5.0 for PMW-F55/F5 is only compatible with
the AXS-R5 RAW Recorder running firmware v4.1. If your AXSR5 has an older firmware version, update it to the current firmware (R5) v4.1 at the same time as you update your F5/F55 camera to v5.0.
Sony F55/F5 with Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD
Sony F55/F5 cameras can now record with Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD encoding. The optional CBK-55PD circuit board enables
Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD codecs and includes three flavors of Apple ProRes and two flavors of Avid DNxHD when it ships,
which should be the time the ink is drying on these pages. Files are encoded internally to the F55/F5 and recorded to Sony’s SxS Pro+
memory cards. (There are 2 internal slots in the camera for these cards.) Firmware update planned for June 2015 will enable Apple
ProRes 4444 23.98p, 24p, 25p, 29.97p as well as ProRes 422 50p and 59.94p and ProRes 422HQ 50p and 59.94p.
The F55/F5 cameras’ existing codecs include 10-bit XAVC 422, 10 bit HDCAM SR 444, 422, MPEG 50Mbps 422, and 16-bit RAW
using the optional AXS-R5 RAW recorder.
This optional hardware upgrade will add flexibility for users who want to work in Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHD throughout the entire
production, from shooting through post.
Installation of the CBK-55PD Encoder Board must be performed at Sony’s Service Center and an appointment is necessary.
Model Name: Optional Encoder Board. Model Number: CBK-55PD. Approx. Price: $2,000.
Codec
Apple ProRes 4444
Bit
Resolution
Depth
System Frequency
23.98P
24.0P
25.0P
29.97P
50i
59.94i
50.0P
59.94P
12 bit
1920x1080
264*
Mbps
264*
Mbps
275*
Mbps
330*
Mbps
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Apple ProRes 422 HQ 10 bit
1920x1080
176
Mbps
176
Mbps
184
Mbps
220
Mbps
184
Mbps
220
Mbps
367*
Mbps
440*
Mbps
Apple ProRes 422
10 bit
1920x1080
117
Mbps
117
Mbps
122
Mbps
147
Mbps
122
Mbps
147
Mbps
245*
Mbps
293*
Mbps
Avid DNxHD 220x
10 bit
1920x1080
175
Mbps
N/A
185
Mbps
220
Mbps
185
Mbps
220
Mbps
N/A
N/A
Avid DNxHD 145
8 bit
1920x1080
115
Mbps
N/A
120
Mbps
145
Mbps
120
Mbps
145
Mbps
N/A
N/A
*Will be supported with a future firmware update planned June 2015.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
83
IBC - Amsterdam
84
Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Photokina - Cologne
Above: Palaces feature prominently in this edition. ZEISS invited their
worldwide distributors to a 3-Michelin star dinner at Schloss Bensberg,
near Cologne. The palace was built for Duke Johann Wilhelm II (below,
left) for his wife Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici and completed in 1711.
Below, right: Photokina 2014 had 1,074 exhibitors, 5,961 journalists
from 73 countries,125,336 visitors from Germany, 57,961 from other
countries (mostly EU), 2,247 from North America; 66% were interested
in cameras and lenses, and 19% in video.
“Portrait of Johann Wilhelm,
Elector of the Palatinate” by
Jan Frans van Doeven. c 1715.
Bayerisches Nationalmuseum,
Munich.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
85
Leica D-Lux at Photokina
Many of the stills in this edition were shot with the the Leica T (Typ 701)
and the new Leica D-Lux (Typ 109) Camera introduced at Photokina.
helps composition and focus in any condition: bright sunlight or night
exteriors. There’s also a 3.0” 921,000 dot rear LCD display.
The D-Lux is a remarkable new pocket camera with a huge Four Thirds
sensor that excels in low-light, flash-less photography and shoots UHD
3840 x 2160 MP4 video at 24 or 30 fps.
The D-Lux is the product of Leica’s strategic partnership with Panasonic,
with an elegant design and durable metal body. The intuitive mechanical
controls let you switch quickly between automatic and manual exposure
and focus modes.
The 12.8 Megapixel Four Thirds (17.3 x 13.0 mm) MOS sensor has a
21.6 mm diagonal, which is exactly half of full frame 36 x 24 mm format.
The lens is a fast Leica DC Vario-Summilux 10.9–34 mm f/1.7–2.8
ASPH zoom (equivalent 24 to 75 mm in Leica 35mm format).
My favorite feature is the built-in 2.8 megapixel electronic viewfinder that
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Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Thanks to the almost bucket-size pixels, the D-Lux handles low light
extremely well from ISO 100 to 12,500 (extended to 25,600).
The Leica D-Lux is my latest constant companion pocket camera for stills
and video.
Leica at Photokina
Leica S (Typ 007)
The new Leica S (Type 007) with a 30 × 45 mm Medium Format sensor
CMOS sensor (37.5 megapixels; pixel pitch: 6 microns) shoots 4K (4096
x 1920) .MOV 4:2:2 video stored to SD or CF cards or output via HDMI C.
ISO 100-6400, auto focus, live view. Leica S bayonet lens mount.
Leica M Edition Leica 60
The Leica M Edition 60 is not for the faint of heart. It’s for the digital
photographer who is totally comfortable dealing only the bare essentials:
shutter speed, aperture, focus and ISO. No namby-pamby electronic
display or menus. Just a vintage style ISO dial on back and shutter speed
dial on top. Images are saved as RAW DNG files and demand attention
in your digital darkroom. Beneath the stainless steel body is the guts of a
Leica M-P (Typ 240) with 24 megapixel CMOS sensor. Only 600 of these
cameras were made, commemorating Leica’s 60th anniversary.
CW Sonderoptic showed Leica Summilux-C and Summicron-C Cine
lenses and the new Leica S with Cine accessories. Sabrina Retter and Ira
Meindl with FDTimes Photokina Leica Special Edition, below.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
87
Moving Still Pictures
In addition to an entire hall of new products at Photokina, Leica Camera
presented an exhibition of photography from the world of music. Karin
Rehn-Kaufmann, Director General of Leica Galerien International, curated
exhibits of prominent photographers as well as musicians who have
embraced photography. Among them: Michael Agel, René Burri, Alejandro
Cegarra, Anton Corbijn, Glen Craig, D-Nice, Lois Hechenblaikner, Thomas
Hoepker, Martin Kollar, Gerd Ludwig, Jim Marshall, Mary McCartney, Anja
88
Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Niedringhaus, Jürgen Schadeberg, Christian Skrein, Andy Summers, Chris
Suspect, and Tom Wright. The musicians with interests in Leica photography were English jazz-pop singer-songwriter Jamie Cullum, violinist
Georges Yammine, Canadian rock singer Bryan Adams, and trumpeter,
singer, composer Till Brönner.
Photos by Jon Fauer with Leica T (Typ 701, APS-C format) and Leica
Vario-Elmar 18-56 mm APSH f/3.5–5.6 at 3200 ISO.
Moving Still Pictures
Thomas Hoepker
Thomas Hoepker (above) won this year’s Leica Hall of Fame Award. He
was born in Munich in 1936, studied archaeology and art history. He
shot for Stern and Geo. Magnum began distributing his work in 1964.
Thomas photographed “Champ” in 1966, the legendary portfolio on
Muhammad Ali. He worked as a cameraman and producer of documentary films beginning 1972, and moved to New York in 1976. He became
a full member of Magnum in 1989.
Jamie Cullum (below) graduated with a degree in literature and film from
the University of Reading in 2001. Since April 2010, he has hosted a
weekly jazz show on BBC 2. In 2013, Jamie began a world tour for his
6th album, “Momentum.” Between performances he pursues another
great passion—photography. Jamie Cullum’s Leica M Monochrom
portraits are something of a personal diary. Jamie performed at the Leica
special evening concert on opening day of Photokina.
Thomas Hoepker receiving Hall of Fame Award from Leica Chairman Dr.
Andreas Kaufmann (middle) and Leica CEO Alfred Schopf (right).
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
89
Photokina
Sony’s new FE PZ 28-135 mm F4 G OSS E-mount zoom is a versatile lens that fits E-mount
35mm full-frame still cameras like the a7S (24x36mm), E-mount-APS-C still cameras (a6000),
and E-mount video cameras (FS7). It has optical image stabilization.
I’m not yet sure if the price is a misprint. Does it really have a street price of $2,499.00 when
it ships in February?
The new Sony 28-135mm zoom might become the kit lens for Sony’s PXW-FS7 camera. Sony
say’s it’s “the world’s first 35mm full-frame interchangeable power zoom lens.” It features
constant f/4, independent rings for iris, zoom and focus, and is dust- and moisture-resistant.
The SELP28135G has SteadyShot (optical image) stabilization, minimum focus breathing” and
uses Sony’s new Super Sonic wave Motor (SSM) for reduced motor noise when shooting.
ZEISS Otus 1.4/85 Nikon mount full frame lens with Nikon to E-mount
Mewtabones adapter on Sony a7 camera.
RED Runway. RED Epic Dragon camera for hi-rez stills and 4K video.
90
Koernig photoFeb
bag2015
for bicycle
• Issue 66
Cinec
Another palace. Cinec Awards were presented in the Kaisersaal of the Munich Residenz, which was built for Duke Maximilian I in the early 17th century.
The winners were PANTHER GmbHfor Precision Levelling Track, ARRI for the Amira camera system, AATON-Digital for the Cantar-X3 audio recorder,
DEDO WEIGERT Film for their range of focusing LED lights with aspheric optics, VANTAGE Film for Vantage One Optics, ARRI and ZEISS for ARRI/ZEISS
Master Anamorphic Lenses, SERVICEVISION for the Scorpiolens Aanamorphic 2X optics, and Special Awards for Screen Plane and Nice Dice.
The Kaisersaal, with tapestries by Dutch weaver Hans van der Biest.
Prof. Peter Slansky at left and the panel of judges.
Servicevision group receiving award for Scorpiolens Anamorphics:
Andrés and Alfredo Vallés, Optical Engineer Cristina Alcaide...
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
91
Cinec
92
Christophe Stahl, center, at the Cinec debut of ARRI ALEXA 65.
ARRI Rentals’ Manfred Jahn with original Arriflex 765 at Cinec.
ALEXA 65 lenses: 8 Primes (24 to 300 mm) and a 50-110 zoom.
Original ZEISS/ARRI 765 lenses for ALEXA 65. Primes: 30 to 350 mm.
Aaton Digital’s Jacques Delacoux with Cantar X3 and Cinec Award.
Checking Vantage Effect Filter on Vantage One T1.0 primes lens.
MovieTech Master-Jib comes in 6 different lengths. R6 rises to 4.44 m.
Cinetech Italiana’s Armando Grottesi with new Albatross Dolly.
Feb 2015 • Issue 66
Cinec
Martin Hartweg once again gets the FDTimes Best Booth at Cinec Catering Award for Leica, with the fabulous Franciacorta Rosé La Santissima
Castello di Gussago he imports from Italy along with Alba delicacies.
Don’t try this at home—or with your hot quartz studio lights. Fabrizia Ianiro
with Gulliver LED 40w. The entire Ianiro LED line was there. The famous
Ianiro RED HEAD (introduced 1962) now comes in LED. LED RED HEAD.
Cooke Lens Projector with remote depth adjustment and big readout.
Watch band focus target on wrist of Vantage Film’s Peter Martin.
Ronford-Baker’s Jeff Lawrence with new motorized slider
Lars Andersen’s Hanse Inno Tech surface conforming Car Mount
Nicolas Pollachi, who represents Preston Cinema Systems in France at HDSystems, demonstrating the new Preston Light Ranger 2 Focus System.
Issue 66 • Feb 2015
93
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