It's Lights, Cameras, Action ... and Even More Toys for Working DPs on the Paramount Lot
NAB may be the biggest show of the year, but for Hollywood-based cinematographers who don't have the time or inclination to make it out to the desert for that three-ring circus, Cine Gear Expo is a local lifeline—a friendly, manageable show packed with some of the latest innovations in cameras, accessories, and other critical gear for working DPs. Screenings for this year's Cine Gear film series — independent and student shorts, commercials and music videos — began today, and exhibits open at noon tomorrow at The Studios at Paramount. For logistics related to getting there, parking, and getting registered, visit Cine Gear's website. For a preview of what you can expect to see at the Expo, read on.
AAdynTech
AAdynTech will show the Hurricane Jr. compact, lightweight (five pounds) IP65-rated LED fixture, which outputs 650 foot-candles at 10 feet. Designed for locations where power is a challenge, it consumes .85 amps of AC current, and can operate off of 28.8-volt DC battery power, the company says. aadyntech.com
Band Pro
Band Pro is sponsoring a free screening of Baraka, projected in 70mm, at 1 p.m. on Friday, June 5, in the Sherry Lansing Theater. Cinematographer and journalist Jon Fauer will moderate a Q&A with producer Mark Magidson immediately following the film. Band Pro will also have Sony's FS7, a7s, and F55 cameras, the new Leica Summicron-C lenses from CW Sonderoptic, Red and ARRI camera controls from Semote, the new Atomos Shogun monitor/recorder, the Easy Rig Vario 5, the Lent Equip Safe Tap, and more. For dailies, Band Pro is showing FilmLight's Daylight platform, which uses FLIP real-time image processing and the Baselight toolset for on-set color grading. www.bandpro.com
BBS Lighting
BBS Lighting will have the Pipeline System Remote Phosphor LED lights that it introduced at NAB at Cine Gear. Designed in a cylindrical form factor at lengths up to four feet, the fixtures provide controllable, dimmable, and silent (no fan is required) soft light with 180-degree dispersion and without color shift or flickering, BBS says. They can be installed in single or multi-lamp banks or as standalone lights, and come in 3200K, 4300K, or 5600K color temps. www.bbslighting.com
Boland Communications
Boland will be showing to new camera-top DayBrite displays, as well as new 20-inch, 24-inch and 27-inch production monitors designed for mobile DIT carts and location production applications. www.bolandcom.com
Blueshape
Blueshape is introducing a new series of V-mount power plates and a new line of IP65-rated water-resistant batteries.blueshape.net
Blackmagic Design
Blackmagic will highlight its NAB hit Ursa Mini, a more compact, lightweight (five pounds) version of the full-sized Ursa. It comes in four different configurations—your choice of 4K or 4.6K sensor and PL or EF lens mount—and records either 12-bit CinemaDNG raw or compressed ProRes. A full-HD OLED viewfinder and five-inch fold-out touchscreen monitor complete the package. www.blackmagicdesign.com
Camera Goat
Camera Goat will be on hand with its camera slider, a four-legged shooting platform designed by DP Jeffery Garland that can be set up for smooth shots on rough and rocky terrain. www.cameragoat.com
Canon
Canon will show its new EOS C300 Mark II digital cinema camera, which boasts 15 stops of dynamic range and internal 4K recording. Introduced at NAB, the camera improves on its predecessor with a new Super 35 CMOS sensor, new image processing hardware, and a new 10-bit 4:2:2 codec. www.usa.canon.com
Cineo Lighting
Cineo has the Matchbox, a portable (3.25-inch by 5.25-inch by 1.5-inch) remote phosphor light available in a range of color temperatures designed to pour high-quality light (up to 1000 lumens) onto subjects with a 160-degree spread. The Basic Matchbox Kit includes a light fixture, power adapter, six-foot power extension, and 3200K and 5600K phosphor panels. 2700K and 4300K panels area also available. www.cineolighting.com
Codex
At its booth, Codex will show the Headcase VR rig (above), utilizing the Codex Action Cam for 360-degree acquisition, the Codex recording system for the ARRI Alexa SXT, the Codex Vault Platform and Review, and the Codex Media Vault. The Codex V-RAW Recorder for the VariCam 35 will be demonstrated at the Panasonic booth, and Codex Review Live with the Action Cam will be demo'd at the Fuji booth. www.codexdigital.com
Cooke Optics
Cooke Optics is following up its NAB announcement of a new front anamorphic zoom lens with a Cine Gear prototype of a 65mm Macro Anamorphic/i 2x prime lens that's expected to go into production within 60 days. It has a close-up magnification ratio of 4:1:1 and a close focus of 5.5 inches from the front of the lens. This week, the company said it was hiring four more staff at its Leicester manufacturing facility, as well as installing a new edging machine and coating plant for a step-up in capacity. "The investment in new equipment and staff will help us to increase production while maintaining our high standards," said Les Zellan, chairman and owner. Cooke's Metrology Lens Test Projector will also be at the show. www.cookeoptics.com
Digital Bolex
Digital Bolex will be on hand with its line of inexpensive digital cameras, led by the new D16 MFT, a Digital Bolex D16 camera with a native MFT mount. Also on tap for Cine Gear attendees will be the D16 Reflecting Monitor Hood and the D16 Skin for protecting the camera from harsh weather conditions. www.digitalbolex.com
F&V
F&V will introduce its new Z270 Ultracolor LED Ring Light. www.fvlighting.com
Fujifilm North America
Fujifilm's Optical Devices Division will be showing its Cabrio PL cine/ENG-style lenses, its Premier PL 4K+ cine lenses, and its HA18x5.5 HD zoom. "We remain extremely optimistic about the continued growth of the Cine-Style market," said Thom Calbro, director of marketing and product development for Fujifilm's optical division. "The Cine Gear show continues to thrive and is attended by some of our most passionate customers." www.fujifilm.com
Grip Factory Munich
Grip Factory will have a flotilla of camera gear on hand at Cine gear, including the GF-8 Crane, the GF-Multi Jib and GF-Tele Jib (above), the GF-Primo dolly, the Grip Kit, the GF-Mini and GF-Maxi shock absorbers, and the Gyro Motion Gyro Head. www.g-f-m.net
International Cinematographers Guild/American Society of Cinematographers Technology Committee
ICG, IATSE Local 600, and the ASC Technology Committee are cooperating with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to present a panel discussion, ACES for Hands-on Filmmakers. A panel moderated by VFX DP Mark Weingartner and including cinematographer Curtis Clark, ASC, DI colorist John Daro, ACES Project Committee Co-Chair Ray Feeney, DIT/colorist Bobby Maruvada, and DP Theo van de Sande, ASC, will discuss the history and workflow implications of the just-completed ACES color-management standard. The panel discussion begins at 10:15 a.m. on Saturday, June 6, at the Sherry Lansing Theater. www.cameraguild.com
Intuitive Aerial
Intuitive Aerial will show its six-armed Aerigon Professional Cinema Drone, built to carry a camera system weighing up to 19 pounds. IA says the Aerigon has been used on Into the Woods, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Julie, and Black King. intuitiveaerial.com
JVC
JVC will be at Cine Gear in 4KCAM mode, with exhibits focused on the top-of-the-line GY-LS300, a Super 35 4K camera aimed at budget-conscious filmmakers. www.jvc.com
Kodak/Pro8mm
With help from Kodak, which is providing film for the initiative, Pro8mm is using Cine Gear to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Super 8 film format. At the Kodak booth, Pro8mm will display the new Logmar Super 8 camera (above), for which it will be the exclusive distributor, and will invite showgoers to shoot Super 8 film for free with hands-on demos (first-come, first-served) at 5:45 p.m. on Friday, June 5, or at 12 p.m., 1:30 p.m., or 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 6. Sign up in advance at the Kodak booth. www.kodak.com / www.pro8mm.com
Lex Products
Lex will debut the CineBox (right), a stackable rubber portable 100-amp distribution unit providing 5–20 duplex receptacles with a feed-thru feature allowing multiple boxes on the same feed. www.lexproducts.com
Light & Motion
Light & Motion will show its line of compact Stella LED lights, offering up to 12 hours of operation on built-in lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. www.lightandmotion.com
LiteGear
LiteGear is showing its thin, lightweight LiteMat LED lighting fixtures, designed to create soft light without diffusion. They are available in tungsten, daylight, or hybrid Kelvin color temperatures. www.litegear.com
LitePanels
LitePanels will show the Astra 1×1 EP, the Astra 1×1 E, and a new Bluetooth option for controlling intensity and color from a mobile device. www.litepanels.com/en-US/
Marshall Electronics
Marshall Electronics will have its CV200-MB, a two-inch-long weather-resistant HD lipstick camera with a 2-megapixel 1/3-inch sensor and a 3.6mm lens. It's designed to be hidden in vehicles, employed for POV shots, taken out in the rain, and put in other situations where a show would benefit from a tiny, rugged camera. www.marshall-usa.com
Matthews Studio Equipment
Matthews Studio Equipment will be showing its new generation of VATOR III heavy-duty lighting stands, designed to hold fixtures weighing up to 200 pounds, and three new car mount systems first seen at NAB—the Indie mount for small cameras, the Freedom mount for larger camera packagers, and the Brauer Hostess Tray mount, the door-mount system designed for shooting with the window rolled up or down. Also coming to Cine Gear are the Kerri Kart, the FloatCam DC-Slider Plus, and the Do-All and Mini Slider stands. www.msegrip.com
Motion FX
Motion FX will be at the YoYotta booth showing its ThunderPack DIT workstation, which uses very clever design and aluminum and carbon fiber components to pack 40 TB of storage, LTO archiving, a WiFi router, and 588 Wh of lithium-ion battery power into a carry-on case. motionfx.eu
Panavision
Panavision will screen test footage from director Quentin Tarantino's forthcoming The Hateful Eight, shot by Robert Richardson, ASC, in Ultra Panavision 70 and projected in 70mm anamorphic. The screening and discussion take place at The Paramount Theater at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. www.panavision.com
Pictorvision
Pictorvision, maker of the Eclipse, Cineflex, and Wescam systems, will be talking full-size aerial rigs as well as drone cinematography at the show. Pictorvision is one of the companies that has FAA approval to fly drones for commercial purposes, and flies a Red Dragon on its PV-HL1 for up to 15 minutes and on its PV-HL2 for up to 20 minutes. Heavier payloads of up to 20 pounds can be flown, but for shorter periods of time. The company's PV-ML1 unit carries a Panasonic GH4 camera package. www.pictorvision.com
Schneider Optics
Schneider will be displaying the Cine-Xenar III and Xenon FF motion-picture camera lenses, along with Schneider's new 114mm wide-angle adapter, its MPTV filters (including the new Confetti True-Streak filter), 92mm filters for the Leica Summilux, and the rugged iPro 6 caase for the iPhone 6. www.schneideroptics.com
SmallHD
SmallHD will show the 501 five-inch on-camera HD LCD monitor, including a new Sidefinder configuraiton using the 501. www.smallhd.com
Sound Devices
Sound Devices is previewing the Video Devices PIX-E series of camera-mounted field HD monitors, which is expected to begin shipping next month. The high-end PIX-E7 boasts a seven-inch 1920×1200 IPS display, 3G-SDI/HDMI IO, and Apple ProRes 4444 XQ recording. www.videodevices.com
Sumolight
Sumolight's new bi-color LED Sumospace fixture is adjustable from 3000K to 6000K and outputs up to 1,200 foot-candles at 10 feet with 500 watts of power consumption—the company says it matches the output of a 6K spacelight with the power consumption of an LED. sumolight.com
Switronix
Switronix will show the VoltBridge battery monitoring platform, which debuted at NAB, where it was part of Offhollywood's OMod for the Red Weapon. VoltBridge transmits battery data to iOS and Android devices, allowing up to 25 devices to be monitored on a tablet or smartphone. VoltBridge uses a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) UART installed in the battery mount plates to transmit the data—at least the voltage, and in some cases percentage levels and hour-and-minute countdowns. Users can set levels for low-battery warnings that are sent via push notifications. www.switronix.com
Zacuto
In case you've been thinking about investing in Zacuto's popular Gratical HD Micro-OLED viewfinder, the company will be offering a special bundle combining the Gratical HD with a Recoil Rig. www.zacuto.com
