We are pleased to share that Talamas Sales and Rentals, a broadcast equipment rental house in Boston, recently took delivery of the new FUJINON PL 85-300 (ZK3.5x85), making it the first in the region to receive the HDTV PL mount zoom lens.

Dave Talamas, president of the rental house, expects strong demand for the PL 85-300, following in the footsteps of the PL 19-90, with which they’ve had tremendous success.
Talamas credits the design of the two Cabrio lenses with providing exactly what the market needs: fast, lightweight, multipurpose lenses offering ideal focal ranges at a price point sweet spot.

While demand for the PL 19-90 has been very strong and feedback has been positive, Talamas customers were asking for something a little bit longer. When the PL 85-300 became available, the Talamas team knew the new lens’ longer focal length would be of great use for beauty shots, nature cinematography, sports documentaries, and other applications.

Talamas Chief Engineer Anthony Bottaro considers both lenses to be crossovers, as they combine the look, resolution, and other picture attributes associated with large sensor PL mount zoom lenses, but with the compact, lightweight “run and gun” functionality ENG/EFP shooters expect.

This lens seems to be particularly appealing to ENG shooters who like to be agile and follow the action. Talamas Senior Video Technician Daniel Ardizzoni tributes that to there being a digital servo handgrip right on the lens for zoom control in combination with today’s small, lightweight digital cameras.

While those shooting ENG-style are right at home with the servo unit attached to the lens, both Cabrio lens models are designed to allow cinematographers to detach the handgrip and shoot instead with industry-standard cine motors and matte boxes, as well as FUJINON wired or wireless controllers. The digital servo on Cabrio lenses has 16-bit encoding to ensure that lens data output is extremely accurate.
The FUJINON PL 85-300 offers a focal length of 85-220mm at T2.9 and 300mm at T4.0. Weighing 3.0kg with servo and 2.5kg without, the lens offers flange focal distance adjustment, 200-degree focus rotation, a short MOD, a macro function for close-ups of objects and the images captured cover a 31.5mm diagonal sensor size.

Have questions about the PL 85-300 or any of our other professional lenses? Leave a comment here, on our Facebook page, or tweet us.

Among the first to order the recently introduced PL 19-90 Cabrio ZK4.7x19 lens is Toronto-based SIM Digital—long time Fujinon broadcast and PL lens users—who ordered 14 of the lenses immediately following NAB, where it was first introduced.

A part of the PREMIER PL Mount Zoom family, the lightweight and compact lens features a first for cine-style lenses: an exclusive detachable servo drive unit that makes it suitable for use as a standard Cine PL lens or as an ENG-Style lens. SIM Digital’s use of the PL 19-90 is the latest addition to the hundreds of other Fujinon lenses they have acquired over the past 30 years (thanks, SIM Digital!)

According to Rob Sim, Founder & President of SIM Digital, the eight PL 19-90 lenses they received were immediately rented and have been used continually without any issues – a trend he expects will continue. He credits the lens’ success to the focal length of the lens and the ability to use it in an ENG scenario, making it ideal for shooting episodic television, feature films, and other multiple camera environments. Shows that have benefited from use of the PL 19-90 lens via SIM Digital so far include Rookie Blue and Beauty and the Beast.

Have questions about the PL 19-90 or any of our other professional lenses? Leave a comment here, on our Facebook page, or tweet us.

We here at the Fujifilm Optical Devices Division value the relationships we’ve built with our customers over the years, which is we’d like to recognize and thank our long-time clients at Wisconsin-based Token Creek Mobile Television, who recently purchased a dozen of our lenses to furnish its growing fleet of HD trucks.

The mobile broadcast production company acquired four XA88x8.8BESM Telephoto Field lenses, six ZA12x4.5BERM Super Wide Angle ENG/EFP lenses, and two XA101x8.9BESM Super Telephoto Field lenses. Nine of the lenses are being used in Token Creek’s newest HD mobile unit, Chippewa, while the others have been outfitted in two of their other mobile trucks, Varsity and Hiawatha.


The FUJINON XA101x8.9 lens features a combination of wide angle and 101x zoom range, and the XA88x8.8 offers the industry’s widest angle in class with an 88x zoom range. Both telephoto field lenses feature FUJINON’s exclusive anti-fogging design to minimize lens fogging and reduce downtime due to climate change. The FUJINON ZA12x4.5BERM ENG lens features a 2x range extender and Digital Quick & Cruise Zoom. All three of the lenses boast exclusive FUJINON technology, including the DIGI POWER digital servo control system, EBC coating, and built-in F.I.N.D. diagnostics.

The Chippewa HD mobile unit was first used for a Thanksgiving Day parade telecast in Detroit. The next day, the truck was used for production of the Chicago Public School City Football Championship Game at Soldier Field, home of the NFL’s Chicago Bears. Chippewa is also set to be used for NBA game coverage, and is expected to be in high demand for many upcoming live sporting events.


Have questions about our lenses or outfitting an HD truck? Leave a comment here, on our Facebook page, or tweet us.

Welcome to part 2 of our Q&A with highly-respected Director of Photography, Guy Mossman of Vox Pop Films.

What do you view as emerging trends in the industry today?
 
Technology is evolving very quickly in the industry and seems to be driving creative decisions.  It’s easy to get carried away with the next great thing. For me, listening and being present to capture story and character is paramount to good storytelling and trumps everything else. The public, however, is increasingly hungry for great visuals to complement the creative storytelling.  The non-fiction DP has to be adept at both.
 
An obvious trend in the industry today is a shift toward the use of bigger sensors in smaller cameras. Audiences and producers want that shallow depth of field, ‘cine’ look. I do a lot of handheld cinematography for reality shows and commercials, so I need a camera that I can hold and run with for 8-10 hours in intimate, tight situations and use without focus pullers, monitors, or even an AC on smaller productions. Cine-style lens manufacturers are catching on and incorporating ENG form factors into newer designs. All this means smaller crews and lighter production – but not necessarily lighter production values. For the verité cinematographer, it’s an exciting time to be shooting.
 

Do you have a favorite "go-to" camera and/or lens?
 
Lately, I have been shooting with the Canon C300 with a variety of PL and EF mount lenses. I look forward to trying Fujinon’s Cabrio lens on the C300 and Sony F3.
 
 
What did you do before you started making documentaries in 2000?
 
I taught art to high-risk youth at a high school in Colorado. That led me to the Peace Corps, which led me to journalism school, which led me to documentary filmmaking.
 
What are the most significant changes in filming from when you started?
 
For me, as a newcomer to the film scene, the two biggest changes have been the swift evolution from SD to HD to 4K, and most significantly, the shift to tapeless workflows. Non-fiction producers and networks are still slowly getting used to the tapeless workflow. I have found a way to make it work pretty reliably in most conditions. Other than this, it’s pretty much the same: people are people.
 
What are you working on now?
 
In 2008, I started Vox Pop Films with my wife, Lisa, to produce and direct commercials. When we are not doing commercials, Lisa and I are working on our first feature documentary together called "Patient 13." It follows a small team of quirky, eccentric inventors and scientists on the verge of engineering a cure for Type 1 diabetes. The lead inventor has Type 1 diabetes himself and insists on being the 13th participant in his own trial. We should be in production through 2014. Lisa has Type 1 diabetes as well, so it’s a topic very near and dear to us.
 
I also freelance for other directors, and lately have been focused on establishing myself as a DP in the commercial world.
 

What is something you think people would be surprised to know about you?
 
I’m a pretty laid back guy, so most people are surprised to learn I was a lead- singer for a punk rock band in Charlotte, NC during my high school days. We were called Slam Chowder.  We drank a lot of Yoo-Hoo.  Our hit was called “Daddy was a Vegetable.”

See more of Guy Mossman's behind-the-scenes photos on the set of "Buck" here.

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