That age-old question: what gear should I get? In this episode of cinema5D essentials, I decided to answer this question once and for all, in a video as entertaining and educational as I could think of. Which Gear Should I get? For the last 9 years we’ve been constantly on a quest to find better gear to work with and make digital filmmaking easier and more affordable. As we like to work with the gear we test, my new Gear Guide is an attempt to share some of the experience I’ve had with the equipment along the way. Note that this gear guide reflects only Seb’s gear recommendations for the time being. The other authors of cinema5D will follow. Some of our regular readers will notice that the video is targeted at a broader audience looking for gear tips and recommendations. We receive requests for gear tips quite regularly but, even though we try to answer them individually, this can unfortunately be difficult sometimes due to our everyday workload. Gear Used in the Video The video should really speak for itself, so I will not go through the seven essential pieces of gear in this text. Instead, I would like to give you some background on the video production itself. Camera I used the Blackmagic URSA Mini 4.6K as it gave me beautiful, cinematic 4K rendering in a studio environment. I never use it outdoors, but in a studio environment there is no other affordable camera that’s so easy to use and gives such a pleasing picture. I went back and forth between camera and computer to check and implement my shots into the evolving editing timeline and it was an effortless process. Lens My lens of choice was the Zeiss CP.2 50mm Macro T/2.1. This is probably my favourite lens of all time and, although it’s bulky and expensive, whenever I put it on a camera I just love the image it gives me. Additionally, its macro design means I’m not as limited on how close I can get to an object. Bokeh and highlights are beautifully cinematic. Lights I mention the ALZO 3200 Low Noise in the video, which I used with the ALZO 36″ soft box. While it doesn’t have the best build quality, it is super affordable and is an extremely bright light with a great, clean white rendering. I used it as a key light for the top-shot gear photos and every single shot in the video. Due to its special design it is just a little inconvenient to use, but produces a relatively low fan noise. The second light I used was the Aputure Light Storm 120d. It has a lower output than the ALZO, but delivers good light color and is convenient to use. I used this one with a 24″ Westcott beauty dish, the best soft box I know albeit not the largest, which makes it perfect for a back light. I added two additional CTB gels to give me that blue back-light tone on my skin. The blue color in the video comes from a tiny light that will knock your socks off. The Luxli Viola 5″ is a very small LED that lets you dial in any color you like. It isn’t cheap, but it’s the perfect background color light and is super convenient to use. I have two of these, but only used one of them for the video. Tripod The Sachtler FSB-6 with quick legs was my tripod of choice. It’s getting on in years now and the FSB-8 would be a better option today, but it still gets the job done even though the URSA Mini is a bit on the heavy side. I hope you found this video and gear lists helpful. We have never had a proper gear guide on cinema5D, but I know we’re one of the websites where people regularly look for gear tips. With over 3600 articles on our site, it can be pretty hard to find stuff, so hopefully this gear guide will make things a bit easier. Let us know how you liked this episode of cinema5D essentials. And if you have gear tips of your own, why not share them with us and the rest of the world?

The Cinefade system allows you to maintain a constant exposure while opening or closing your lens aperture, resulting in a seamless transition between a soft and sharp background. We talked to Cinefade Founder Oliver at Cine Gear Expo 2017 to find out more. The Cinefade system is essentially a variable ND filter made up of two Schneider Optics circular polariser filters in a TLS Raven 3-stage matte box. One of the filters goes on a proprietary geared filter tray, and is rotated by a motor that’s connected to a cmotion cvolution Lens Control System, which translates any changes in the iris ring to an opposite exposure adjustment on the ND filter. The main components of the Cinefade system The result is a smooth change in the amount of background blur of the image, allowing you to go from a very shallow depth of field bokeh-wonderland to a sharp, everything-in-focus, deep depth of field image in one continuous shot without a shift in exposure. Check out the video below for some examples of real productions that have used the effect: As you can see, the effect looks quite unique: technology hasn’t really made it possible to pull it off smoothly in the past as it requires a simultaneous and very coordinated iris and ND pull, so it is not something that you see every day. Of course, the Auto ND feature in the Sony FS5 and Sony FS7 II also allows for the same effect thanks to the Sony electronic variable ND without any external equipment. Whatever system you choose, though, you will need a lens with a de-clicked iris ring – such as a cine lens – to pull off the effect. The Cinefade system is available for hire from Keslow Camera in Los Angeles and ARRI Rental in London, but they can also travel worldwide. For more information and to request a quote, please visit their website. Have you ever had the need to achieve an effect like this? Can you see yourself hiring the system to pull off this in-camera effect? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Leica has just announced a new set of primes for the 65mm Cinema format, compatible also with smaller sensor sizes. The Leica Thalia spherical lenses are compact, come in 9 focal lengths, and will cover a 60mm image circle. The new Leica Thalia lens line. The Leica Thalia collection has been designed with large format cinema in mind – think Alexa 65 and Vista Vision (RED Weapon 8K VV). The large image circle, however, will also enable their use on smaller, more regularly-used formats in Super35 film and digital. Leica has announced 9 focal lengths straight off the bat, with no drip-feeding over time: 24, 30, 35, 45, 70, 100, 120, and 180mm, with T-stops ranging from 3.6 to 2.2 (see the graph further down for itemised T stops). The Thalia lens line features a PL mount, with i Technology contacts for providing metadata. Their uniqueness doesn’t stop at the rather niche large image format, however. Leica are pushing hard for recognition with their aperture construction – 15 rounded aperture blades that provide a perfect circle throughout the range on all focal lengths. “The innovative iris design of the Leica Thalia lenses maintains a circular iris through all aperture stops, creating a cinematic bokeh that comes alive with character. Out-of-focus elements maintain their structure, which further adds to the sense of dimensionality in the image.” One of the aspects I find particularly impressive is their weight and size. Anyone who appreciates the compact size and weight of the Leica Summicron-C lenses will be glad to hear the the Leica Thalia line has maintained a slim design, despite its intended use for large format. The weight varies from just 2.4-3.75lbs (1.06-1.6kg) and length doesn’t exceed 6.9” (175mm) Here are some key specifications of the Leica Thalia line: There is no word on pricing just yet, but don’t expect these to be cheap. Just for reference, a single Summicron-C (designed for smaller format) is over $15k, so be prepared to add a good few $$$s for the 65mm versions. If you’re keen to check them out, the Leica Thalia range will be on display at NAB 2017. Do you shoot with Leica lenses? What do you think of the new Leica Thalia line? Let us know in the comments!

It’s always a challenge to find the right type of project for gear reviews – so when I had the opportunity to test the new ZEISS Batis lenses on a video project of my choosing, it sounded like a great fit when director Nicola von Leffern asked me to shoot her new music video for “Those Goddamn Hippies” (English solo artist Tom Marsh). Here’s the behind-the-scenes video shot by Patrick Zadrobilek and Gunther Machu (edited by Patrick): The production Within very little time, the director Nicola von Leffern and “Those Goddamn Hippies” were able to pull together a great ensemble of extras, two great dancers and the beautiful location of an old bread factory here in Vienna, Austria, which can be hired for all kinds of events. I organized a great camera and lighting crew as well as a great group of behind-the-scenes filmmakers and photographers (full credits at the bottom). For the shoot, we had a full set of ZEISS photo lenses as we didn’t want to include any higher-budget lenses like the ZEISS CP.2’s which I usually use on shoots like this one. The aim was to use very decent photo lenses that can be hired or bought for much less than the CP.2’s, and give them a go for video production. Apart from the Batis 2/25 and 1.8/85, I used ZE primes (15mm, 18mm, 21mm, 28mm, 85mm, 100mm Macro, 135mm) on a Metabones Speedbooster (EF-E) and the Loxia 2/35 and 2/50 on the Sony FS7 and Sony A7s on this shoot. It wasn’t easy to adjust all of them to the follow focus and matte box due to different diameters, but we did what we could in the very tight shooting schedule that we had on that day. Sony A7s with ZEISS Batis 2/25, in the hands of Nino Leitner Not specifically made for video First off, let’s put this straight – these two new lenses (Batis 2/25 and 1.8/85) are not made for shooting video. They are predominantly photo lenses, even more than their “older siblings”, the ZE/ZF primes, for various reasons. However, the fact that ZEISS developed two relatively short and very lightweight new lenses from scratch at a price that is in the reach of many (they are much less expensive than, for instance, a CP.2 lens) made them sound interesting. And when I took those lenses to my vacation with my A7s to get to know them before our shoot, I was amazed by the quality of the bokeh, which is hard to put in words … but judge for yourself on some of the photos I took. Both the 25mm and the 85mm lens sport a pretty consistent look when shooting wide open. Display This is new on a lens, the Batis come with a built-in display. Once you switch to manual focus, it lights up and shows the focus distance, which is constantly adjusted in realtime if you change the focus on the barrel and/or the aperture (with is controlled through the camera). The additional numbers show you the range of depth of field, which is useful as well. This is definitely a helpful guide as other measurements are missing on the lenses entirely, and it gives you an idea about “where you are” just by making a very short glimpse at your lens. Autofocus The Batis lenses are the first autofocus lenses made by ZEISS (not counting the Sony / ZEISS co-branded lenses marketed by Sony). They are E-Mount native lenses. Of course, autofocus is a feature that is of limited use in video applications, but this is slowly changing. With better and more accurate autofocusing systems in newer cameras, and the omnipresence of gimbals, autofocus systems gain more relevance every day. For the production of this music video, I shot on the Sony FS7, and used the A7s for all gimbal shots on the MoVi M5. All the fast-moving dancing shots in the music video were shot on the MoVi M5 in just 2 takes, using the ZEISS Batis 2/25 lens – with autofocus. As the entire music video was shot within only one shooting day, we needed to move efficiently, so I decided to go with the autofocus instead of a remote follow focus like the Redrock Micro Remote, which would have made me slower and less able to “dance” with the performers due to the added weight. The autofocus reacted relatively slowly (but this is due to the A7s’s autofocus functionality which isn’t as great as with other cameras), which wasn’t a big problem as I decided to step down to f/5.6-8 depending on brightness, with a Heliopan Fader ND in front of the Batis (I have a 72mm Heliopan, adjusted to the 67mm Batis diameter using step-down rings). It turned out that the autofocus worked really great on these fast-paced shots despite various changes in how far the performers were away from the camera. On the dolly track – thinking with director Nicola von Leffern (right) and 1st AC Sonja Aufderklamm   Manual Focus – Focus by Wire When focusing manually, the display (as expained above) on the lenses turns on and shows focus distance and depth of field area. The focus barrel is not mechanically connected to the focus of the lens – it runs through a motor that does the adjustments. Like Sony/Zeiss FE lenses, it uses the “focus by wire” method, which means that the focus distance on the lens barrel changes depending on how fast you move it. If you move it very fast, you focus from macro to infinity (or vice versa) very quickly. If you move it slowly, you have very fine differences and can perform a very precise focus manually. However, this feature makes focus marks utterly impossible – and focus pullers have to work with markers in order to be able to make their jobs properly. However, I found it works very good to operate the focus on the lens intuitively on your own as a camera operator, but of course that isn’t an option on many shoots. Considering the price bracket these lenses are in though, I can see them used often on budget-aware shoots were a focus puller might not be available. Dancing with the dancers, on a MoVi M5 and the Sony A7s with Batis 2/25   MoVi M5 – by Tony Gigov Reviewing the MoVi shots after our 40 degrees Celsius dance … Lighting We used natural light on all the dancing scenes, with the odd bounce every now and then. On the close ups of the singer we used Maxi Brutes gelled for daylight and shooting through a large butterfly (silk), same for the “army scene”. We were on a budget so we were kind of stuck using these heavy lights as we were shooting high speed most of the time and those were the only ones with the necessary output that would not flicker at the same time (on the budget we had available). Good suggestion by my gaffer Christopher Macher, however very cumbersome to handle those heavy lights. We used a hazer to get interesting light shafts in the amazing location from above. Conclusion The Batis lenses should be considered by video shooters who need a very lightweight option on their E-Mount cameras, who don’t work with a focus puller or focus marks, or who own a gimbal like a MoVi M5 or DJI Ronin, as the low weight is perfect for these devices. Photographers who shoot on E-Mount cameras like the A7 series should get the Batis lenses if they are looking for decent autofocus, low weight and a very sexy new kind of bokeh. It goes without saying that these lenses are extremely sharp, which is usually ZEISS’s top priority when designing lenses. They are certainly not as sharp as the OTUS line, but they also come in in a different price bracket!   Music Video Post-Production I can’t thank everyone who has been involved with this production enough. First off, hats off to director Nicola von Leffern who invested so much time in her vision of this music video, from pre-production to post-production. Then to everyone who worked on and off screen on the shooting day – it was one of the toughest shoots ever because of over 40 degrees Celsius / 100+ degrees Fahrenheit in the shooting location. The two dancers Karin Pauer and Mario Lopes were absolutely amazing in both their dancing and acting, as well as their endurance. Thanks to my gaffer Christopher Macher and best boy Patrick, who came up with creative lighting solutions on a tight-budget shoot (the selection of lights was limited due to high speed shooting flicker issues and a restricted budget for lights). Thanks to my two camera assistants Sonja Aufderklamm (1st AC), who didn’t have an easy life with all these different lenses regarding focusing, and Owen Kilgour who was a great grip and 2nd AC. Big thanks also to the behind-the-scenes crew Patrick Zadrobilek, Gunther Machu and Tony Gigov as well as other creatives who don’t want to be named, for documenting the process so perfectly and extensively. Last but not least one of my biggest bows goes out to editor Andreas Ribarits, who – like ages ago when he edited our C500 test short “ALEX” – came onboard this project at the very last minute and then poured all his heart and soul into the edit to finish it in three days. The same is true for colorist Daniel Hollerweger, who did one heck of a job matching Sony FS7 and A7s which looked really apart on this job, and creating a look that underlines the mood of the song perfectly. THANK YOU ALL! This was a great production. Sony A7s prepared for MoVi M5 gimbal with Lockport HDMI protector, and ZEISS Batis 2/25 on auto focus.   DISCLAIMER: ZEISS supported us in the production of this music video. I am personally a brand ambassador for Zeiss products, and they were looking for a showcase for their new lenses – so when the music video project came along, it looked like a perfect opportunity to offset some of the cost of this low-budget production with the support of ZEISS’s contribution. The contribution was entirely used for location rent, gear hire (especially lighting equipment) and some essential crew support. ZEISS also wants me to be open about my experiences with the lenses for video use (which isn’t their main purpose), which is exactly what I am (please read the review above!), so please don’t worry about a “biased review”. I am aware sponsored shoots like this one are a very delicate balance but if all involved parties agree on ground rules first, it can definitely work, like in this case. #gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */ Behind the scenes Reviewing the MoVi shots after our 40 degrees Celsius dance … Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Nino Leitner on Freefly MoVi M5 and A7s with ZEISS Batis 25mm – Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Getting the A7s ready for the MoVi M5 – Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Sony FS7 with a ZEISS Batis lens, operated by Nino Leitner Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Getting the A7s ready for the MoVi M5 with the Heliopan VariND filter – Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Dancing with the dancers, on a MoVi M5 and the Sony A7s with Batis 2/25 Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Getting that top shot … Nino Leitner on Freefly MoVi M5 and A7s with ZEISS Batis 25mm – Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Nino Leitner on Freefly MoVi M5 and A7s with ZEISS Batis 25mm – Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Nino Leitner on Freefly MoVi M5 and A7s with ZEISS Batis 25mm – Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Nino Leitner on Freefly MoVi M5 and A7s with ZEISS Batis 25mm – Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov Behind the scenes by Tony Gigov MUSIC VIDEO – Those Goddamn Hippies – Drift – CREDITS: CONCEPT / DIRECTING: Nicola von Leffern CINEMATOGRAPHY: Nino Leitner MUSIK: Those Goddamn Hippies DANCERS: Karin Pauer & Mario Lopes EDITING: Andreas Ribarits COLORIST: Daniel Hollerweger GAFFER: Christopher Macher AD: Sarah Scherer thosegoddamnhippies.com facebook.com/thosegoddamnhippies

Earlier this month Metabones announced firmware V0.41 for the Canon EF to E mount adaptor, promising to fix the frustrating aperture flash Sony FS7 and A7s users experience when using Canon lenses. In this article I check out how successful the update is. Many people have migrated from Canon to Sony camera systems of late, pound for pound there’s no denying Sonys dominance of the current market. Many of these people will have also brought with them an EF lens line. Sony still have a way to go in terms of offering a wide variety of professional E mount lenses, plus it makes sense financially; if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. However, users of the Sony FS7/A7s will all tell you of the… quirks when adapting EF to E mount via Metabones adaptors. The main problem lies in aperture adjustment. When opening the aperture, the iris will open to max before closing back down to the desired f-stop. The result is a bright flash every time you adjust exposure. It shouldn’t be a deal breaker, adjusting stills lenses on a native mount body won’t give you smooth adjustments like a manual aperture lens, however the flash is somewhat frustrating. Metabones Firmware Version 0.41 for the Canon EF to E mount Mark IV promises to fix the issue, along with a few other features. Here’s the list of updates: User may choose between lens OIS and IBIS using the lens’ IS switch (except for some Tamron lenses). If the lens’ IS switch is ON, lens OIS is used and IBIS is turned off automatically. If lens’ IS switch is OFF, IBIS is used instead. To turn off all IS, hold down the WO button on the adapter while switching the lens’ IS to the OFF position. IS is always turned on during magnified focus assist for ease of manual focusing Added autofocus support for some legacy lenses on A7 series Eliminated iris flicker when opening up the iris from a slower aperture to a faster aperture in Green mode on FS series, NEX-VG series and A7 series in movie mode. Eliminated iris tick noise while zooming a variable aperture zoom lens in Green mode Does it work? Check the below video where I’ve tested it. The initial clip is using the older 0.40 firmware, followed by results after 0.41 is installed. I’ve outputted to an Atomos Ninja Blade with overlays so you can see the aperture adjustment in action. Sony A7S with a Canon 50mm f/1.2 Music  – Lights Motion | Our Time is Now. Provided by The Music Bed. I went ahead and tested all my in-house lenses also, I won’t bore you with the results, but after quick testing I can confirm the same results as the video for the following lenses: Canon 8-15mm f/4 Fisheye | Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 | Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 | Canon 16-35mm f/4 IS | Canon 24-105mm f/4 IS | Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 II | Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art | Canon 50mm f/1.2 | Canon 85mm f/1.8 | Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II | Canon 100mm f/2.8 Marco L. The update now puts Sony cameras in the same boat as native EF mount camcorders (EOS C series) in terms of visual aperture adjustment. At 1/3 stop increments you’ll never get a perfectly smooth change. However this dramatic fix now means aperture adjustments may be suitable mid take for certain genres of filmmaking. Check here for download of Metabones Firmware 0.41 and instructions of how to update your adaptor.

At NAB 2015, Sony didn’t have any big camera news – the FS7 had their US premiere but it has already been in the market for a while since it was introduced about 6 months ago. However, we discovered something really interesting, an easy oversight, when Sony’s Bill Drummond was giving us a walk-through at their booth: the Sony X180, a semi-shoulder camcorder similar to the dated EX3, features an extremely intriguing feature that we have never seen in another camera before: It’s a unique kind of combination of an electronically controlled fader ND that automatically adjusts to the exposure set by the aperture that can be adjusted manually. The effect is an image that seemingly keeps the same exposure but the depth of field changes as the aperture is adjusted. This kind of combination is something we haven’t seen before in a camera and it allows creators to make shots that we truly haven’t seen before. For now, this is only in the X180 camera but we can clearly see this being implemented into future Sony cameras down the line. How and if this can be integrated into interchangeable lens cameras remains to be seen though.

ZEISS has announced a completely new line of E-Mount prime lenses, Loxia, which cover the full 35mm (photo) sensor size. The first two that will be announced are 50 and 35mm versions, both of which start at f/2. They are completely newly designed E-Mount lenses specifically aimed at users of Sony’s A7 line, namely the A7, A7R and A7s – the last one of which is a beautiful camera for video shooters due to its insane low light ability and the quite decent built-in 50Mbps 8-bit XAVC S codec. These are fully manual lenses targeted at photographers and filmmakers who want to work with a very small kit. One of the Sony A7 series’ biggest advantages is the small size of its bodies. One downside is that many out of Sony’s range of E-Mount lenses (also the ones born out of a cooperation between Sony and Zeiss) is limited in terms of speed (most of the lenses aren’t faster than f/4). There are some faster primes but they are mainly made for autofocus and therefore not ideal for video use. The new Loxia line is entirely created by ZEISS without Sony’s involvement, and that’s why they went down the fully manual route.

Sigma just announced one of the fastest zoom lenses for DSLRs that we have ever seen – the 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art lens for APS-C sensor DSLRs. It’s the world’s first constant f/1.8 zoom lens. A typical speed for high quality zoom lenses is f/2.8, so 1.8 is a big step up from that (don’t forget, after all aperture is an exponental value, meaning that every stop more gives you twice the amount of light. The only fast zoom lens that comes pretty close is the Olympus 14-35mm f/2.0, but that’s a Four Thirds model. It makes a HUGE difference to have faster lenses, even if it’s only a one or two stops more. And so far, one of the biggest problems of zoom lenses was the fact that they were nowhere near as fast as fast primes (that typically come in at f/1.4). Sigma’s new f/1.8 zoom is only half a stop away from that – pretty impressive. UPDATE, June 14: Pricing is out and it is spectacularly low for such a fast zoom lens – $799! It is available to preorder from B&H now. Available July 31.