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(Page 1 of 2 pages for this article 1 2 >) Filed under: Cameras •Hardware •Lighting •Production • Cine Gear Expo 2009Tools and toys of the trade, on the Paramount lot in Hollywood.
The “expo” part of Cine Gear Expo took place on Friday and Saturday last week (there were also Master Classes and film screening starting Thursday and ending Sunday). This year it was at “the Studios at Paramount” in Hollywood at Gower and Melrose. It was a balmy 70ºF (21º C) under cinematically cloudy skies, a far cry from the 100+º F of last year.
Friday afternoon crowds awaiting admission.This year, the badge-issuing process was uncharacteristically speedy. However, the doors didn’t open until a full hour after the announced opening time, so nobody felt deprived of a pointless wait in queue!
Main street, downtown, Anytown USAYou want architecture, we got architecture… with a strategic mix of varied but generic styles, Paramount can give you the look and feel of many different locations all within the span of a few “city” blocks.
BandPro‘s Randy Wedick shows off some toys.Randy Wedick demoed some handy camera accessories.
A 3-channel cmotion lens control system on a Sony F35.cmotion makes remote lens and camera controls; they’re a European alternative to the Preston FIZ (Focus, Iris, Zoom) controllers. Here, the controller is using industry-standard Heden motors to drive the lens (it’ll work with most other motors as well).
The cmotion handset.The knob controls focus, the slider handles iris, and the blue hat switch runs the zoom. The focus knob has mechanical endstops you can use to limit your focus to a preset range. A three-channel system, with motors, is around US$30K. There’s also a remote video monitor for the system that shows lens settings alongside the actual picture.
Leader LV 5330 in “cinezone” false-color mode.The new LV 5330 is only “around $7K or $8K” despite having false-color, WFM, parade, vectorscope, audio level, and pixel-for-pixel modes on its 1024x768 LCD. Why so cheap, relatively speaking? It’s single-link only; no 3G dual-link capability.
CMOCOS camera robot.The CMOCOS camera motion control system seen at the REDuser NAB party showed up at Cine Gear. It offers full programmability as well as a “handheld” mode: it lets you grab the camera and move it around by hand, and it can then replay that move. Price? Not really sure yet. Shipping? Some time in 2010.
Hot Gears 3-axis controller and remote head.Hot Gears offers multi-axis remote heads with full motion recording and playback capabilities. A system like this, I’m told, rents for about $850/day.
The Silent Cat.That Cat‘s Silent Cat is a camera slider, one of many that were on offer. Along with 3D stereo rigs, sliders seem to be the hot ticket these days. If you only need a couple of feet of camera motion, why hassle with track when you can use a slider?
Century Optics Xtreme fisheye adapter for the PMW-EX1 and EX3It converts the EX1/EX3’s 5.8-81.2mm zoom to a 1.7-6.6mm zoom. Sweet! $3500! Also heavy:
Cineped: three tools in one?Cineped claims to be a tripod, dolly, and pedestal all in one. I’m presuming the “dolly” aspect is handled by the integral slider mechanism.
Cineped close up.The Brothers Quay would approve of the creepy-looking adjustable feet that fulfill the “tripod” (actually quadruped) end of the deal, while the electrically driven center column handles the pedestal part.
Look! It’s a boom! It’s a Steadicam! It’s a Segway!This is what you get if you hang a remote head on a boom swuncg from a Steadicam arm affixed to a Segway. Note the chap on the right with the stylish neckwear; he steers the camera by remote control.
The operator’s console.He has joysticks for aiming the gyrostabilized camera.
The business end of the rig.That’s a Canon 5D Mk II in the Filmotechnic FH Mini cradle.
From overhead to ground level, while in motion.These folks have been shooting high-end car commercials with this rig.
Oh, Lord, won’t you buy me THIS Mercedes Benz......"My friends all drive Porsches, but I bought a lens.” Sorry. Note the ginormous dual-RED stereo rig, a theme that was repeated again and again during the expo. Nothing really makes me feel nostalgic about the compactness and mobility of the Dalsa Origin like seeing these ungainly contraptions.
A big red ball containing a big RED.Camera Copters flies this rig. Observe the RED DRIVE in an Element Technica drive shockmount atop the camera; there is probably no better advertisement for the ET shockmount than this picture. Helis VIBRATE!
P+S Technik dual-RED stereo rig.P+S Technic offers this mirror-box RED rig. And is that FreshDV’s Matt Jeppsen lurking behind it?
Weisscam HS-2 high-speed digital camera.P+S Technik also offers the Weisscam HS-2, capable of 1500 fps in 2K, 2000fps in 1080p, and 400 fps in 720p.
Art Adams and Bob Kertesz eyeball IR filters.Tiffen has been working on some IR-cut filters suitable for use on Sony extended-gamut cameras like the F23, F35, EX1, and EX3. Art Adams tested an early prototype, but these are newer versions. Both Art and master engineer / Ultimatte guru Bob Kertesz pronounced the new prototypes pleasing to the eye, though formal tests have yet to be done (stay tuned to PVC for those tests, coming soon...)
Art compares two versions of the new filter.
Transmission chart with Art’s doodles.
This new filter supposedly notches out light right around 680 nm. We all noticed a very slight pinkinsh tinge to the filters, but surmised that it may render a color-neutral image on wide-gamut cameras as the overall pink tone may counteract the loss of the 680 nm red light. Again, stay tuned to Art’s channel for test results in the next couple of weeks.
Graham Futerfas and Art Adams chat.See that big lighting balloon? We’ll come back after dark and see how well it works. Next: even more film-industry tools, and my favorite LED light from the show... (Page 1 of 2 pages for this article 1 2 >) 
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