As everyone should know by now, Kathryn Bigelow is the first woman to win the prestigious Oscar for Best Director or Best Picture for her film The Hurt Locker.
What isn’t so well known is that Hurt Locker is the first Best Picture to be shot using Aaton XTRprod and A-Minima 16mm film cameras, and a Phantom digital camera for high-speed.
…continue reading The Hurt Locker Breaks New Cinematic Ground
We recently rolled out an upgrade to our website, www.abelcine.com, that includes many new features, including the ability to process international orders. Now, for the first time, our international customers can purchase items directly through the website using fast and secure Google Checkout.
Many of the features we included in this update came directly from client feedback and are designed to improve your shopping experience. To learn more about all the recent upgrades, click here.
Abel Cine Tech is now part of the Twitterverse! Stay on top of all our news, events and product announcements by following Abel on Twitter. You’ll also know when there is new technical content posted on our website, and don’t forget to subscribe to our dedicated YouTube and Vimeo video channels.
Follow us at twitter.com/abelcine today!
Do you Tango? Students who attended last weekend’s workshop hosted by Abel LA and taught by veteran instructor and respected operator Peter Abraham of Tiffen Steadicam now can! The hugely successful two-day workshop gave students the opportunity to learn hands-on the techniques of flying a camera on a Steadicam Rig. The workshop focused on the fundamentals of setting up a rig, including proper vest adjustment and how to balance a sled. Students were then taught real world techniques such “Tango” and “Don Juan” and tried their hands at flying cameras using the Pilot and the Flyer LE systems, rigs that can handle smaller to mid range cameras ranging from the EX1R to the RED. The class culminated with a long test scene that included navigating doorways and stairs. By the end of the weekend, students were Certified Steadicam Operators and most had discovered sore muscles they didn’t even know they had!
Stop by Abel Cine Tech LA, and Joe Guilfoyle, who was among the newly certified, will be happy show you his “Tango” technique and get you into a rig of your own. For more information on future Steadicam workshops, visit their site, thesteadicamworkshops.com.
Being the gear-head tech nerd that I am, I never thought it possible for me to overload on crepundia electronica (aka tech toys), until I found myself wandering through the 100+ booths at CES devoted to iPhone accessories. It hit me that CES really differs from “pro” technology shows such as NAB or IBC in its focus on marketing: trends, positioning, and hype. That’s not to say that this is a bad thing – a lot of what was shown at CES will soon come to market in a big way, and will directly influence how many of us conduct business or spend our leisure time.
Many have reported that this CES was all about 3D. I would say it was more about profitable 3D. Manufacturers have been showing 3D tech at trade shows for years, but, for the most part, the technology hasn’t changed very much. So, why is 2010 poised to become the “Year of 3D”? Because now there is a way for manufacturers to make money off of it. And this should be a good thing for all of us.
…continue reading Why 3D Will Finally Stick Around
Photo courtesy of Paul Cronin
Paul Cronin of Whitecap Video recently wrote a post on his blog detailing his first impressions of the Sony XDCAM PMW-350 (also known as the EX350) that he bought at Abel. A long-time Abel client, Paul had traveled to New York to attend our Sony EX350/EX1R launch event back in December, and was nice enough to bring along some footage that he had shot over the past year with his EX1.
In his post, Paul provides a pretty thorough round-up of the pros and cons he’s noticed, as well as a few helpful close-up shots of the various menus and controls. Some highlights he mentions are the quick power up (2.5 sec), the “cool” on-camera light options, and the pleasure of having a full size camera with easily accessible controls.
He concludes with: “I am keeping my EX1 as my B camera. With proper shoulder support the EX1/3 are great cameras. But from my first test they cannot match the sharpness, latitude, low noise, and better DOF the PMW-350 offers. Add to this having the endless choice of B4 lens options for your shooting style. The EX line of cameras just keeps getting better and the EX350 is a nice move by Sony!”
Read the full post over at Paul’s blog here.
Recently, Abel hosted a pair of seminars exploring Sony’s new XDCAM EX camera models. The events at Abel’s New York and Burbank facilities showcased the 2/3” CMOS EX350, which joins Sony’s popular XDCAM EX family. Each of the cameras in the line—the EX1R, the EX3 and the EX350—has a different feature set and form factor, which makes it ideally suited to a particular application. You can read more about these applications on abelcine.com.
At each event, Abel’s Andy Shipsides presented an overview of the XDCAM EX format and gave an EX350 camera tour. Filmmaker (and Abel Rental alumn) Ben Bloodwell joined Andy at the New York event to give his impressions of the EX350. He screened footage from a recent documentary on cyclist Lance Armstrong shot with the EX3. Veteran Network News Magazine shooter Dennis Dillon then spoke about combining the EX cameras with nanoFlash recorders and XDCAM optical discs.
Director of Photography Tim Paterson was the special guest at the LA event. He shared his thoughts on the EX350 and discussed his experiences shooting the recent documentary Michael Jackson’s This Is It with the EX1 and EX3.
Browse the image gallery above to see images from both events.
By the way, we are now taking pre-orders on the EX350, which will begin shipping right after the New Year.
