January 2014

January 2014 www.tvbeurope.com

Lens technology changes slowly, because (except for some low-end plastic lenses) it uses glass, which takes time

TVBEurope 23 The Workflow

Sensor requirements loom large for lenses

The biggest advance in lenses recently has been driven not by some new type of glass, but by larger camera sensors. David Fox reports

“THE BIG change in lens requirements in recent years is due to the move from 2/3-inch 3-CCD cameras to large format, single sensor cameras,” says Stefan Czich, general manager, Broadcast and CCTV Products, Pyser-SGI (Fujinon’s UK and Ireland distributor). “The growth in demand for 35mm PL glass has been predominantly driven by the camera manufacturers,” agrees Sebastian Kanabar, sales manager, Prokit, UK distributor for Schneider-Kreuznach’s Cine-Xenar III PL- or EF-mount prime lenses (available in 18, 25, 35, 50, 75 and 95mm focal lengths). “Six years ago there were a mere handful of cameras with a Super 35mm sensor. The Red One was the most affordable option, but even that involved an investment of tens of thousands of pounds. Alongside that were the ARRI D21 and the Sony F35, which required a greater investment.” Today more than a dozen

different video cameras have a ‘large sensor’. “For the lower value cameras, the Sony EA50, Canon C100, Blackmagic Cinema Camera, clients often opt to go for stills lenses, usually due to their budget. For the higher value systems clients appreciate the need for better glass. Around the launch of the Red One and ARRI Alexa, we saw a huge surge in demand for high-quality cine glass. And in the last 24 months, with the launch of the Canon C300 and C500, and the Sony F5 and F55, this has just continued. Next year the launch of the Amira should maintain the demand,” adds Kanabar. “The biggest change in lens technology is the resolution of the sensor,” agrees cameraman Steffan

Open wider: ARRI’s new UWZ 9.5-18 Ultra Wide Zoom

Pollitt: “The super-wide angle 35mm Stadium Lens is ideal for a Red or Alexa”

Hewitt, founder/director, Polecam, which supplies miniature lenses to fit the small cameras often used with its system. But “it’s not always about

pure resolution. Look at Cooke Optics. It’s not necessarily the best image, but it is the right image,” he adds. At 4K, cameras are starting to push the boundaries of traditional lens systems, although “you do find a lot of people going back to 16mm and other older lenses, because they actually were fantastic quality”. Lens technology changes

slowly, because (except for some low-end plastic lenses) it uses glass, which takes time. “To physically make a lens still takes just as long as it did 20 years ago,” says Hewitt. “If I order lenses today from Resolve Optics [which makes the world’s smallest zoom for miniature cameras, the Z10], it still takes 12 weeks, because it takes that long to grind glass.” Just like the rest of the industry, the small cameras he often works with are moving to larger sensors — from 1/3-inch to 2/3-inch chips, “which means we can access a range of HD prime lenses that

compliment the sensor”, he says. The tiny C-mount camera can be used with Kowa’s small new 10 megapixel prime lenses. “I’ve just come back from Dubai shooting the Ladies European Tour Golf Finals with a lovely wide-angle prime that really complements the Antelope Pico high-speed minicam.” He used a Polecam and Pico with the new

Prime time: The new Canon CN-E35mm T1.5 L F lens

Kowa 5mm wide-angle (85º field of view) lens, which gave him “massive depth of field” at 280fps (which turned a two second shot of teeing off into 15 seconds of analysis — “the commentators loved it”). Single 2/3-inch sensors are now fitted to many small cameras (Indiecam, IO Industries, LMC and LMP), and the 5mm gave negligible distortion,

In for a long stretch: The 40mm is one of Cooke’s new Anamorphic/i range

compared to the “huge distortion” of the equivalent 2.5mm lens on a three-chip 1/3-inch camera. It also opens to F1.6, compared to F2.2 on the 2.5mm.

Prime directive Kanabar believes that “the single biggest determiner for lens design in the next few years will be the advances in sensor

Lenses square up to inertia

METADATA HASbeen an approaching technology in lenses for several years, but even when the lenses can deliver it, it is either not being captured or nothing is being done with it in post. Cooke Optics is now working with other companies to make lens data, such as its /i2 Technology, more relevant to what users do in post and to make it simpler to capture. “/i2 Technology is the next generation of our intelligent metadata system, augmenting normal lens metadata (iris, focus) with the inertial movement of the lens. So, if you are tracking a shot and someone walks in front of the marker, the inertial data software will automatically find that track,” says

Les Zellan, chairman and owner, Cooke Optics.

Cooke has worked with Pixel Farm, with its PF Track, “to assist them in either making a solvable track more accurate or, if it loses the track, making the two ends meet,” he explains. “This is a big issue. Tracking software is very accurate on 97% of shots, but on the 2-3% it can be expensive.”

Cooke is also working with Codex Digital on recording the metadata. “Although there are several /i2 cameras (ARRI, Sony and Red), they all treat the data differently. They all can record our lenses, but what they do with it is out of our control.” To avoid this data going astray, Codex is also making a small

Zellan: /i2 Technology should ensure you don’t lose track of tracking data

stand-alone metadata recorder that will plug into the lenses and also record timecode. It will also be usable with non /i2 cameras.

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