Cine 101

THE LENS THAT MADE HISTORY

In 1975, I was in film school when “Barry Lyndon” debuted. There was a lot of buzz around this movie for a number of reasons. The one I paid attention to and was super excited to see for myself, were the scenes photographed entirely with candles, (lots of candles!). The story goes, that Stanley Kubrick wanted the authenticity of candle lit scenes for his 18^th century epic and he wanted to be the first to achieve this photographic milestone. No shrinking violet when it came to technology, Kubrick heard about a 50mm lens that was developed by NASA for shooting the dark side of the moon, designed and built by Carl Zeiss. What excited Kubrick and his DP John Alcott, BSC, ASC was the speed of this lens – a stunning f/0.70 – a full two stops (4X) faster than f/1.4. They both wished that there was a wider focal length version of this lens (25mm) but didn’t have that option due to its unique design. So, Kubrick ordered 10 and he and his engineers and machinists set about fitting the lens to the front of a 35mm Mitchell BNC. The other major obstacle was the slow speed of the color negative at that time. 5254 was a tungsten balanced stock rated at 100 ASA/ISO. John Alcott, through testing at the film laboratory, determined that he could only “push” (overdevelop) this film one f/stop, thereby giving it a new rating of 200. Candle lit scenes were now possible and in fact an f/.70 lens at 200 ASA is equal to f/1.4 at 800 ISO. See if you can work that arithmetic out?

The camera pictured is a Mitchell BNC - a favorite of Mr. Kubrick's. The Planar .70 was a STILL lens that required a massive retrofit of the Mitchell camera for it's use. In order to satisfy the focal depth, that is the distance between the rear element and the film plane, the spinning reflex mirror had to be removed necessitating the use of a parallax corrected side finder.

Anyway, the rest is history, and I can tell you, having shot many candlelit scenes, that that film set, with all of those candles, was probably very stuffy with precious little oxygen to go around.

FRAZIER LENS

We’ve come a long way since Mathew Brady and his rectilinear portrait lens. The specialty lenses available to cinematographers are too numerous to mention in this text. I’ve worked with many of them, and they are worth checking out. For instance, the Panavision Frazier Lens was used extensively on Gore Verbinski’s, “Mouse Hunt”. Technically it’s a snorkel that can be fitted with most taking lenses lens and can be configured in every conceivable angle without moving the camera. For it to work, we needed to light the set to at least an f/11 to achieve the amazing amount of DoF that it provides. It’s main advantage is that it’s designed for super up-close coverage of very small objects, like the pesky mouse in “Mouse Hunt”. It’s tricky to use, so spend some off set time getting to know it.

LOW ANGLE PRISM

To get the lens close to the floor, before all the snorkel and probe technology was embraced, low-angle prisms were attached to the camera in front of a prime lens. By lowering and then tilting the camera down, the low angle prism could practically touch the floor. I used a low angle prism extensively for the mouse work on “The Green Mile”. If you saw the movie, there’s a shot where “Mr. Jingles” runs across the cell block and then gets stepped on. We used a low-angle prism for that tracking shot. The advantage of the prism is that no special lenses are needed for it to work. However, it does absorb light and the compensation for the Century Prism was 2/3’s of an f/stop.

A LOOK BACK

Though not a complete list, these are the cameras that represent each technological leap that occurred rapidly starting in 2000 with the SONY 900. There are similar significant examples in the consumer DSLR world that changed still photography and videography in impactful ways.

1. SONY 900 - 2000

SONY HDW-F900 - 2000

The clarion call to the industry came in 2000 when George Lucas chose the brand-new Sony HDW- F900 digital camcorder to “film” Star Wars Episode II – “Attack of the Clones”. At the time, the F900 was a big leap forward in digital video capture, for not just television, but now a Star Wars episode? Leave it to George Lucas to be ahead of everyone else in trying new things and making big time technology gambles.

David Tattersal, BSC, was the Director of Photography - https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm0005897

(I had the good fortune to work with David as his 2^nd Unit Cinematographer on “The Green Mile”).

Impressive for its time, the HDW-F900 by todays standard is relatively primitive. With an HD resolution of 1920 X 1080, slightly less than 2K which was thought to be the low bar for a large screen presentation. The F900 recorded on HDCAM video tape, which was Sony’s proprietary high-definition digital video tape. There were no special assist assets onboard this camera such as peaking, false color, zebra stripes, histograms or wave forms. All of these features come standard on all digital cinema cameras now. The Sony HDW-F900 has a small CCD sensor 2/3” inch (global shutter!) which is roughly comparable to the aperture size in a 16mm camera. The F900 was rated at 320 ISO, with the f/stop settings assisted by gain and sensitivity controls overseen by a broadcast engineer. I talked with David Tattersal, BSC about the camera, and he told me they had done some comparative tests against a film camera. And from those tests it became obvious that 30 frames per second wasn’t going to work for the movie. In the all-important test screening, George asked the Sony executives what they could do. The Sony team huddled up for a few minutes and then told George that they would redesign the camera to record at 24P. It is from those tests that 24P was born. So, in addition to the new 24P framerate the 3 RGB sensors could record in the 10 bit 4:2:2 RGB color space. David also told that the production cameras were “Panavised”, including longer eyepieces, and new lens mounts for two custom built anamorphic zoom lenses designed and built by Panavision. The camera was prone to getting hot, so the engineers replaced many of the plastic structural parts with aluminum. The camera was kitted out with modern follow focus accessories to keep the traditional camera crew procedures and positions intact. “Attack of the Clones” was a creative and technical achievement milestone, just the kind of effort that fuels the advancement of our industry.

2. DALSA ORIGIN - 2003

DALSA ORIGIN - 2003

This camera made a giant leap forward featuring a global shutter and the first sensor to offer 4K resolution in a 16-bit color space. It also featured an innovative spinning mirror, reflex viewing system that gave a real “through the lens” look at the image, just like a film camera. The cameras frame rate was limited to 1-30 fps but the ISO range 200-800 was impressive. The Dalsa Origin system won numerous technical awards but never caught on commercially and discontinued production in 2008. To this day, this camera is thought of as a huge leap forward in the advancement of digital cinematography. If needed, an operator could flip the eyepiece to the opposite side of the camera body as seen here.

3. PANAVISION GENESIS - 2005

PANAVISION GENESIS - 2005

The Panavision Genesis camera system marked a significant milestone in the history of digital cinema technology. While the Genesis may not have single-handedly revolutionized the entire landscape of digital cinema, it played a significant role in advancing the acceptance and adoption of digital technology within the film industry. Developed in a collaboration between Panavision and Sony, the Genesis camera system was introduced in 2005 to meet the growing demand for digital cinema cameras.

One of the key features of the Panavision Genesis was its Super 35mm-sized, 12.4-megapixel CCD sensor, which was developed by Sony. This sensor size allowed filmmakers to achieve a shallow depth of field and an improved cinematic look that was getting closer to resembling traditional 35mm film cameras. It was designed to be compatible with a wide range of existing Panavision 35mm film camera accessories, such as lenses, matte boxes, and filters. This compatibility made it easier for filmmakers to seamlessly transition from shooting on film to shooting digitally.

The Genesis recorded in the HDCAM SR format, which was a high-quality digital recording format developed by Sony. Panavision developed their own codec called “Panalog” , which was an early logarithmic color space encoding format. The camera recorded at 150mbps and offered a 2K 1920 x 1080 image.

Unfortunately, the Genesis camera had a rolling shutter which to this day does not handle fast moving objects and requires an operator to watch their panning speed carefully.

Dean Semler, ACS, ASC was the DP on the first notable Genesis feature films: “Click” and “Apocalypto”, the highly regarded pre-Columbian Mayan adventure story.

While the Panavision Genesis camera system was groundbreaking for its time, it has since been surpassed by newer digital cameras with higher resolution, greater dynamic range, and advanced features that support the evolving needs of digital cinematography.

4. RED ONE - 2007

RED ONE - 2007

In 2009, I got the chance to shoot a film, (“Nine Dead”) on a RED ONE camera. Rolled out in 2007, RED was making news as a company that was producing affordable, high-end digital cinema cameras. Low budget producers took notice and began to buy them to save money on budget busting film camera rental packages. No filmstock purchases, no weekly camera package rental. It made sense to them, and many low budget pictures were made because of the savings the RED One camera represented. I think it’s safe to say that RED can be credited with accelerating an industry wide transition to digital cinema capture. At the very beginning, it was a question of who would be first to start shooting with them. Indeed, the producers were saving money, but they still had to rent or buy lenses, plus equip the camera with the necessary accessories, but in the end, they had found a way to finally afford their low budget projects. Thus, allowing many young filmmakers into the game.

The RED movie I shot took place in Baton Rouge, LA. So, it was hot and muggy, far from the temperate testing weather in Southern California. Consequently, if it didn’t overheat and shut down completely, it’s noisy fan would ruin the sound quality and drain the batteries quickly. Basically, we were shooting with a camera that wasn’t quite ready for primetime. It also wasn’t as “fast” as advertised by a little over an f/stop. They claimed the sensor was rated at 320 ISO but through testing, I found that it was really 160 ISO which was the number I put in my light meters. 160 ISO was a lot different than the 500 ISO film I was accustomed to. The CMOS sensors native color temperature was 5600°K which presented some new lighting challenges for me having used nothing but 3200°K incandescent fixtures my whole career. 5600°K is great for exterior shooting but what about onstage? (We used HMI’s and blue tinted light bulbs).

The RED ONE 4K sensor size is slightly smaller than the Super 35 frame measuring 24.4mm X 13.7mm which equals 1.78:1 or 16:9. Interestingly, “Nine Dead” was released on February 19, 2010, the year 16:9 was adopted as the world-wide standard aspect ratio for TV’s and computer monitors. The REDCODE RAW was capable of an impressive 12-bit color space

I was happy to have the experience with the RED camera system because it satisfied my curiosity in the new toy on the block, plus gave me an important credit on a project because it was photographed on a digital cinema camera. The RED camera is still very much a player in the movie industry, but I only filmed with it that one time in 2009.

5. ARRI ALEXA - 2010

ARRI ALEXA - 2010

The game changer showed up in 2010 with the ARRI ALEXA. Leave it to Arriflex to learn from what everyone else was doing, integrate the good, avoid the bad, then add Arri design, technology and manufacturing excellence into a new digital camera system called ALEXA.

The Alexa’s Super 35 CMOS sensor measured 2880 x 1620 or 2.8K. All Alexa’s had a rolling shutter until 2019. However, the recording speed was so fast that the usual artifacts associated with rolling shutters were less pronounced.

First digital cinema camera to offer a wide range of color temperature options.

The first Alexa’s offered ARRIRAW recording, a high quality un-compressed format that preserves the maximum amount of image data for post-production flexibility. The Alexa could dual record, providing a lower resolution proxy for editing while simultaneously capturing the high-resolution hero footage. The Alexa offered up to 13 stops of dynamic range.

A set of internal ND filters were available for balancing exposure.

It’s modular design and user-friendly interface made it immediately popular with First ACs throughout the industry.

The ability to save lens metadata, focus distance and iris settings was very helpful to on set, visual effects data wranglers.

Maximum frame rate for the first Alexa’s was 60 fps while filming in the ProRes 422 HQ codec.

Known for its reliability, durability, and versatility, the first Alexa camera produced exceptional images that captivated filmmakers. Its innovative technology and superior image quality quickly established it as the “real deal” and the go-to camera system for professionals far and wide.

6. SONY F65 - 2011

SONY F65 - 2011

The Sony F65 digital cinema camera was officially introduced in November 2011. This cutting-edge camera quickly gained popularity in the professional filmmaking industry due to its exceptional image quality, advanced features, and robust design. With its ability to capture stunning 4K resolution footage and offer a wide dynamic range, the Sony F65 has been widely used in various film and television productions around the world. Its innovative technologies and superior performance have made it a go-to choice for many cinematographers and filmmakers looking to achieve top-notch visual results in their projects.

The Sony F65 was known for its impressive array of special features that set it apart from other digital cinema cameras of its time. Some of the notable features of the Sony F65 include:

The Sony F65 was one of the first digital cinema cameras to offer true 4K resolution.

The F65 had 14 stops of dynamic range could record RAW at 16 bits.

The camera also had a waveform monitor, histogram and peaking features that were adopted by all camera manufacturers going forward. It did not have a false color option.

You could choose between a variety of framerates up to 60fps.

The camera featured a global shutter, built in ND filters and a modular design that could accommodate flexibility in rigging onboard accessories.

And finally, the F65 included a unique OLPF (optical low pass filter) to reduce moiré and aliasing artifacts.

Overall, the Sony F65 was acclaimed for its technical innovation, superior image quality, and versatility, making it a popular choice among professional cinematographers and filmmakers.

7. SONY VENICE - 2017

SONY VENICE - 2017

The Sony Venice is an exemplary digital cinema camera, offering DPs the latest technical features

resulting in first rate images that rank with the best digital cinema cameras available today.

I’m surprised that this camera records with a rolling shutter, but Sony counters, reporting that its

advanced image processing mitigates rolling shutter artifacts.

Here are some of its key technical capabilities:

Sensor: Full frame, 24.7MP, 36X24mm CMOS sensor offering 15 stops of dynamic range.

The Venice supports multple recording formats including XOCN, RAW, and XAVC. It can record in

several resolutions up to 6K.

The camera has a PL mount and a dual base ISO of 500 and 2500.

Eight stops of built in Neutral Density filters from 0 to 2.4.

The Venice is capable 120fps in 4K Super35 and 60fps in 6K full frame mode.

Sony has integrated cutting edge color science specifically for the Venice, resulting in impressive,

cinematic footage.