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 like ARRI Alexa Mini/LF or Sony Venice to instead using mid-range cameras, like Sony FX-6, FX-9, Canon C300 Mk III and Canon C500 Mk II etc. The reason? We think producers (or rather DPs) have realised that they can achieve similar production values by using mid-range cameras whilst saving budget on camera hire.
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
The Creative and Technical Differences between Full Frame and S-35 Cinematography Introduction Film making has always had ‘pinch points’ of innovation, some of them more successful than others and in recent history more often than not driven by the retail thrust … 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
VMI evaluation of whether the Canon C500 Mk II is any good? Technology The Canon C500 Mk II may look like a C300 II but it has been completely redesigned and we think that in this configuration it becomes a fully-featured 4K camcorder … Read more
An Ideal Marriage – How to build a kit hire relationship that lasts Other Most GTC members will either regularly or occasionally need to hire items of camera equipment, whether it be a full kit for a long, ongoing shoot, or a one-off lens … Read more
Anamorphic and Full Frame Lens Tests, including a 57 Video Playlist. Lenses Do you ever wonder what a Zeiss Supreme looks like next to a Zeiss Masterprime? or what about a Tokina Vista next to an ARRI Signature prime, or even how … Read more
VMI evaluates the Canon Sumire Primes – the first Canon lenses designed with character Lenses Canon’s latest lens group, the Canon ‘Sumire’ lenses have landed at VMI and 2 sets of 14mm-135mm primes are now complete.
Capturing Wildlife in Super Low-light – all you need to know Cinematography Filmmakers wanting to shoot in extreme low light or even no light conditions have never had it so good. Camera technology had advanced to enable the recording of the most unbelievable images in almost total darkness.