Chris Lange

I have acquired this lens, but the aperture seems not to work. It stays wide open when I try to change f-stop.

Is it a common flaw with this lens? Any suggestions on how to fix.

I've attached two images of the lens.

Thank you for any help...

Chris

I guess the ability to do both is better; versatility, creativity, knowledge. It's important to continue to learn new tools and techniques. Thanks.

The closer singles appear to have soft light coming from the side, so that faces have a slightly darker side. Like Stuart said, I wonder if one soft light is lighting table, and slight positioning of actors with smaller hard light sources are bounced back into faces.

I have been on sets where a DP often settles with the available light, believing it to be suitable or the best option.

I understand that some feature films are shot entirely with available light, or some with only minimal supplementary lighting. In this regard, the DP is chosen because of their understanding of exposure, composition, and visual storytelling language.

Why does it sometime seem like a director, producer, or various crew members expect the DP to use big cinema lights in order to be a real DP?

Thanks for the comment. I think maybe you're referring to mood perhaps. I appreciate that. I love Bergman's films.

Would love any critiques of my new reel!

Is it working? What can be improved upon?

Thanks!

Chris

Hello,

I just put up my first cinematography reel. I would really like any thoughts, impressions, or critiques from some of the cinematography community...

The work represented is from various narrative shorts over the last few years.

Thanks very much!

Thanks Dom and Simon,

That information helped me, and is interesting! For the 16mm lenses, It is now apparent that the regular 1.9 Xenon is older to me. The Xenon's actual amount of glass is much smaller as well.

I think I understand the differences of "arriflex-cine-xenon" vs "cine-xenon" for the 50mm now. I think I will probably stick to the arriflex-cine-xenon for most work, as it has a slightly refreshed design.

Thanks!

Chris

I have a few Schneider Arri standard mount lenses, but I am a little unsure of their history/differences:

Of two 16mm lenses, one is labeled only Xenon f1.9/16mm; the other is f2/16mm and is listed as Arriflex-Cinegon.

Of two f2/50mm lenses, one says "Made in Germany" and the other "West-Germany," both which also differ with labels of "Arriflex-Cine-Xenon" and "Cine-Xenon" respectively.

Can anyone help point out some of the differences?

Thanks much,

Chris

Well thanks for all the information and real senario examples. As the nature of the shoot is more spontaneous, I think I'll go 500T for more versatility at night.

Thanks,

Chris

Hi,

I will be working on a student film on S-16mm. Trying to weigh my options in regards to differences between 200T and 500T Vision 3.

My lenses open to 1.2, so that's pretty wide. I have access to lights, so that's good too. However, most of the film is at night, interior and exterior. If I light my key to 2.8 in each film stock, what will the differences in drop-off if I am going for fairly contrasty lighting? I like the idea of a finer grain with 200T, but will my shadows look grainy if my lighting is uneven and contrasty? Would the drop-off into shadow be more natural with 500T? I just don't have enough experience to assess these things because I haven't shot at all with the new 200T. Thanks.

-Chris

Curious...What film is this?

Thanks.

Curious...What film is this?

Thanks.

Hello,

I have acquired a Kinor that has been rebuilt to be 2-perf. It has worked on a feature film well in this capacity; however, It is now "out-of-phase".

Can anyone recommend a repair technician in the US?

Thanks,

Chris

Well...It is the digital transfer I am looking at, so perhaps this is occurring in the timing, as I chose "scene to scene". Perhaps the timer should have let it be a little darker? I don't know.

Should I project the negative to see if that is clean? What is a good way of seeing if the negative is in better shape than the transfer reveals?

Thanks for the help,

Chris

Months ago, I had sent film to one lab with Fuji 400 stock. This was underexposed by a stop, though the results were with a desired amount of grain, and it seemed fine.

Newly sent rolls of the same stock to a different lab, under similar exposure techniques: the result was much more grainy. Now it came back too noisy for me.

Is there something that the lab can do in the developing stage that increases grain?

Any thoughts?

-Chris

Thanks for the suggestions, comments...

We really roughed this shoot in, and to my surprise it worked well. We framed the key window out of frame and ended up using the HMI fresnel. We gelled it much warmer than expected, as the scene required stylization as a flashback. We used an additional 1k in a smaller corner window, aimed in the same direction as the HMI. The omnis provided our fill level.

Prior to this setup, we were falling behind schedule. I was surprised at how fast we were able to make the setup work. It happened very quickly, in a sort of creative rush. We managed to rough something in, and it looked great via color temp and gelling. I suppose my choices were artificial or unnatural, as I ended up using much CTO. In the end, we found the look for the stylized flashback that felt like a warm morning light. It held an idea of sensory memory.

I enjoyed the process, but have not idea of its truth yet.

Chris

Hello,

For a student short, I plan to shoot at a diner at night, which we need to make look like DAY. We'd like a beam of sunlight coming through a large window to hit a character (his left side) sitting at a table with his breakfast. My plan is to bring up the ambience of the room to an appropriate level that feels like daytime. This ambience will be a few stops lower than the strength of the beam coming through the window, which will be visible via use of a hazer. My strongest light is a 2k HMI fresnel, which will be used for the beam. I will supplement this with a 1k fresnel for a background window, behind sitting character, for a beam directed at the same angle. The room fill will be achieved via bounced 600w Omnis with CTB.

Does this seem like an appropriate setup?

Thanks,

Chris

This was very helpful. Thanks a lot! In trying to replicate the field of view of the EX3 test, I will have to increase my focal length choices for RED.

Chris

I did a test on an SONY EX3 (with stock zoom lens) prior to a rental of RED with 35mm lenses. How can I figure out what the equivalent focal length would be for a 35mm lens using RED at 16x9 RAW 4k? For instance, I would like to know what lens would work to achieve a similar focal length of 25mm on EX3? Any help on this will be much appreciated. It will be nice to go out on my first RED shoot. Nice to learn new things.

Thanks,

Chris

In Ohio is ideal. Thanks.

Hello,

I have access to a matthews dolly with skatboard wheels. Can anyone point me in the diretion of a rental house that has flex track for such a setup? Circular, and curved movements.

Thanks,

Chris

What materials can you use to see beams of light in a subtle way? Such as to mimic dust in the air? I'm always amazed when I see it, but it's usually the result of some natural occurrence. How does one manufacture it?

Thanks,

Chris

Well, thanks for the insight. That helps. Good points regarding sensor size and marketing.

It seems that the cherished thing about new technology always references a limited DOF, when that's not always necessary to make an elegant or appropriate style. What happened to staging in depth, such as Renoir or Welles? The wide angle lens and some interesting blocking!

I know it depends on the story though. Just a blunt statement.

Chris

Why do most discussions refer to this camera as a documentary camera as its main use?

Chris