Judgement Day – VMI Publishes Lens Comparison Videos Cinematography, Lenses In a break from tradition demos, VMI invited 40 camera department professionals to come and shoot their own tests across full frame lenses from Cooke, Gecko, Tribe and Sigma on either Sony Venice or ARRI Mini LF. No agendas. No hard selling. Just creative people doing what they do best.
The Creative and Technical Differences between Full Frame and S-35 Cinematography Fully Updated Article, April 2023: To shoot Full-Frame or S-35? Are there really artistic reasons for shooting on FF? What are the advantages and what gear will I need?
Phantom VEO 4K demand scales new heights Super Slow Motion Read how in the 5 years since VMI pioneered stocking the Phantom VEO 4K, it has become the go-to camera for many genres including natural history.
Shooting Large DoF with InfiniProbe lenses Cinematography, Lenses @vmitv New VMI blog post: A considerable effort is given to creating a shallow depth of field (DoF) to create a more cinematographic look, however there are occasions when a large DoF is needed. Here’s how to achieve this.
Vintage Lenses are Still Cool Lenses To reflect that VMI’s wide range of vintage and vintage-look lenses, we have redefined the vintage category on our website to now includes 14 different types of sets of Vintage/Vintage-look … Read more
Is This the End of 8K TVs? Technology 8K TVs are so power-hungry, that they are now about to be banned from the European Union, so does this mean that the quest for higher and higher resolution monitors will now cease? My private 4K TV is in the A+ efficiency category but 8K sets are currently classed as G, so is 8K doomed?
Too much lighting choice? Let’s cut through the confusion Lighting British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan made an optimistic speech in 1957 that “we have never had it so good” and the same can be said of lighting today! With so … Read more
Z CAM: Does This Powerful Underdog Have a Future? Cameras Did you know that the American heist action feature film “A Day to Die” was shot entirely on Z CAM E2-F6 and S6? Also, did you know that the E1 … Read more
Mid-range cameras don’t mean compromise Cameras At VMI we’ve noticed a recent trend among filmmakers and wondered if you agree? We’ve spotted that a significant number of productions are ‘trading down’ from using traditional top of the range cine-cameras…
VMI’s Latest LED lights to join our fleet Lighting This is a short article to profile the very latest modern low-energy lighting fixtures that we have added to our fleet, most of which will be available to see at our 2022 lighting workshops.
VMI is Infinity’s Prime UK Rental House Lenses VMI has a long-standing relationship with Infinity Photo-Optical who makes the Infiniprobe TS160 probe lenses. Barry Bassett, VMI’s Managing Director, has been recognised as being their ‘Nelsonian Award’ winner back … Read more
VMI replaces all Sachtler Video-18 & 20 Tripods to latest Flowtech Design Grip VMI has replaced its entire fleet of Sachtler Video 20 tripods to the latest Sachtler Video 20S1 heads with the newly designed Sachtler Flowtech 100 legs, since they are faster to setup, are lighter, easier to carry and offer greater stability.
WORKING RESOLUTION: CONSIDERATIONS & BEST PRACTICES Cameras, Media, DIT and Streaming Netflix have published a very useful article, which takes an in depth look at the concept of a working resolution and outlines the best practices for image scaling throughout the production lifecycle…
New generation of Auto Focus lenses now available with E and EF Mounts Lenses Auto Focus is here to stay and whilst this is not a panacea to force all focus-pullers to retrain, the increased adoption of Full Frame (which necessarily makes focussing more critical than S-35 or APSC formats) and the enhanced development of the technology, makes this functionality more useful and as a result, we are noticing an increased interest in it.
What real world Cinematographers think about using Infiniprobe lenses Cinematography, Lenses The Digital Cinema Society presents an exploration of Micro/Macro cinematography with three DPs including Bill Bennett, ASC, James Mathers, and Cameron Cannon. The trio photograph a variety of shots in order to evaluate these exceptional lenses and also share their insights in behind-the-scenes coverage.
Brand New VMEDIA on-line database V2 Media, DIT and Streaming, Technology With so many different recording formats, memory card types, media sizes, compatibility issues and upgrade requirements, it can be a challenge trying to find compatible memory cards or SSDs for your camera or recorder. However, Lewis has been extremely hard at work to make this easier for you with the VMEDIA Online Database V2 which is organised into the most popular brands and sortable by camera model, which gives details on compatibility, data rates and approximate recording times too
Some S-35 zooms already cover FF (you just didn’t know this!) Lenses This is an extremely brief article to help to explain a lesser-known but extremely valuable tip. In summary, film zooms designed to cover S-35 sensors, will also cover Full Frame as well IF used with a 1.5x extender and this is built into several zoom lenses already, such as the Canon Cabrio zooms.
Netflix Approved UHD 4K cameras Cameras, Technology Here is a list of Netflix approved UHD cameras as of November 2020.
Macro and Micro Cinematography Cinematography, Lenses We all love to see images of extreme magnification to show a world which we can’t experience with our own eyes but just like all cinematography, this is hard to do well. The choice right lens for the specific shot is key and this article aims to explain the differences between Close Up, Macro and Micro photography/cinematography and in particular, to introduce the cinematographer to a relatively recent new type of lens, which are called Nelsonian Lenses made by Infinity Photo-Optical and which use microscope techniques to create unique images which are not possible using traditional optics.
Latest Canon EF lenses increase functionality of latest Canon 5D/C300 III/C500II cameras Cameras, Technology Canon’s autofocus technology has continued to improve and the latest dual pixel CMOS AF system is the most sophisticated ever, allowing smooth, high-performance focus tracking and face detection on the Canon C300 Mk II and C500 Mk II cameras.
Beginner’s Guide to Depth of Field Cinematography, Lenses This article is written mainly for those who want to know the very simple concepts which allow camera operators to manipulate the Depth of Field in order to make them look more cinematic.
How to achieve the most from the Canon C500 Mk II Cameras A brief article written by DP Clemens Majunke on how to achieve the most out of the Canon C500 II
An account of a successful Sigma Lens Day held on 13 February 2020 at VMI Lenses VMI held a Sigma lens day on 13 February 2020 in London.
A VMI guide to lens extension tubes and diopters to reduce the minimum focus distance of lenses. Cinematography, Lenses Connecting a lens tube behind the lens will move the lens farther away from the camera’s film plane or digital sensor, which allows the lens to focus much closer than … Read more