In Broadcast February 2012 - 25

InFOCUS
Right Upfront – Camera Lenses And Accessories Cont.

ARRI MFF-2 Follow Focus

which is longer at the tele end. It also features Canon’s Image Stabilization System as standard.

Optical Range
Fujinon’s HA19x7.4B

and light enough for hand-held, Steadicam or crane work and long enough for close-ups. The zoom range can be pushed to 240mm at T5.6 by using the 2x extender. Canon lenses are used widely in TV broadcast, from studio work to newsgathering. Last year the company introduced two new additions to its broad offering for the sector: the KJ20x8.2B IRSD portable HD lens and the DIGISUPER 95 (XJ95x8.6B) supertelefoto. The KJ20x8.2B IRSD joins the lower cost HDgc portable HD zoom range and is aimed at budget conscious ENG work and professional freelance camera operators. The DIGISUPER 95 (XJ95x8.6B) has what Canon claims is the widest focal length of any field lens in the industry 8.6mm - plus a 95x zoom range,

As Keith Truslove, director of repair specialist True Lens Services, points out, there are now distinct markets for lenses, from large format optics made by Cooke and Zeiss for digital cameras like the ALEXA through broadcast studio and ENG work to the new breed of digital SLRs, such as the Canon 5D and 7D, which he says can be used with “any glass”. A trend Truslove identifies these days is converting systems to the PL format lens mount, which was originally introduced by ARRI back in 1982. The fashion for adapting lenses so they can fit on a wider selection of cameras is now extending beyond the PL system. MTF Services recently launched a range of optical adapters to enable HD B4 lenses (with 2X extender engaged) to be used on the Canon 7D MkII and the Canon C3000, along with its first foray into electronic adaptation. The MTF EFFECT comprises a control unit

with three mounts for the F3, FS-100 and AF101, plus additional image stabilisation. Equipment supplier BandPro, which has offices in the US and Germany, is seeing demand for the IB/E HDx35 adapter, particularly through its Munich branch. This unit enables B4 mounted broadcast lenses to be used on PL mount cameras, giving operators the option to use long range, powered zoom lens, such as Funjinon or Canon, on S35 single chip cameras like the Sony PMW-F3 and ARRI ALEXA.

background out of focus. With such sensitive chips the solution is to reach for a stack of ND filters changing that f16 to f4. The problem arises because standard ND filters stop the visible light but leave the IR component to swamp the sensor causing colour changes often seen as blacks moving to purple or brown. Unfortunately, this does not happen in a uniform way making electronic

Effective Filters

While there is nothing that could take the place of a lens to do the job it was designed for, there was the thought that with the coming of digital intermediate (DI) technology in post-production the days of in-camera processes - such as filtering and special physical effects like sunbursts and mists - would be numbered. The reality is very much the opposite, for both practical and creative reasons. The advent of big sensor digital cameras like the RED, Sony EX1/EX3 and the ALEXA has highlighted the problem of infrared(IR) pollution. This occurs when the camera operator wants to make use of the very characteristic that a large sensor promises i.e. a shallow depth of field typically throwing the

Schneider IRND filter range

compensation difficult, so it was clear that an optical solution to control the wayward IR component was required. Tiffen were among the first to develop a filter for this specific issue in 2009 and way before that for stills cameras. The first range of filters to be developed were the Hot Mirror and then the IRND range. The T1 IR was based on the company’s ColorCore technology and specifically designed for digital cameras with an enhanced red response, including the RED, Sony EX1 and EX3 and others and the application was later extended to the ARRI ALEXA. A further development produced the T1/2 IR filter, which has now been combined with the T1 to create the Tiffen Far Red Control Kit. Robin Thwaites, Tiffen’s International Director of Sales, says as well as dealing with the specific problem of IR, filters continue to be popular for creative in-camera work, although this does tend to follow fashions. “We can spend one year selling one type of filter family and then the next selling something completely
CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

ARRI’s Alura lightweight zoom

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In Broadcast February 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of In Broadcast February 2012