Canon supplied one of the first production CN-E 30-300 Cinema Zooms for AbelCine's optical technicians to evaluate. We put the lens through our usual battery of tests, and we were very impressed. The 30-300 has excellent contrast and sharpness, with very low flaring and high corner-to-corner resolution and brightness.

Sony just announced the NEX-FS700 camera and, lucky for us, they brought it by for a quick peek. It has all the features of the FS100 but with some big improvements including a 3G-SDI output, ND filters and high-speed recording options.

The new Phantom Miro M320S high-speed camera has just been announced by Vision Research. This is the new flagship in the Phantom Miro line of ultra-compact high-speed cameras, whose form factors open up a new world of creative possibilities for super slow motion cinematography.

Recently, a colleague of mine asked about how to set up the Ki Pro Mini for use with the Canon C300. With the latest firmware (v3.0), the Ki Pro Mini can be triggered to record via the C300, as well as record in 24p (23.976 to be exact).

With more and more cameras shooting in flat-looking Log modes or RAW, the topic of LUTs on set and their implications in post have become big points of discussion. At the same time, there are many cameras that utilize the more traditional Scene Files for control of color and contrast. Furthermore, there are cameras like the ARRI ALEXA and RED EPIC that offer their own unique types of image control. With all these different formats, the difference between LUTs, Looks and Scene Files can be confusing, so in this article I explain the terms and discuss how these files are applied.

In this last part of my Sony F3 and S-log series, I go over how to generate 3D LUTs that can be used with external LUT boxes and in post. In order to do this I use an HD Link Pro from BlackMagic Design and, to control it, a program called LinkColor.

In this third part of my series on the Sony F65 Workflow, I go over how to use Sony's SR Compression format. In the latest firmware revision, the F65 is able to record in the SStP (Simple Studio Profile) video format, also known as the SR Compression format. This is the same format found in the F35 and other HDCAM SR recording cameras. Right now, the F65 can record in the SQ Mode (at 440 Mbps) to the SR Memory cards, with HQ and Lite options available in the future.

In the fourth part of my Sony F3 S-log series, I explain how to create Look Up Tables (LUTs) to be used in the camera. When shooting in S-Log, the F3 allows you to apply a LUT to an output of the camera, letting the operator visualize how the image will look after post-production correction.

Last year in our booth at NAB, AbelCine showed a prototype of the new Canon CN-E 14.5-60 T2.6 Cinema Zoom lens. We were very impressed at the time, and in recent private testing, were even more pleased. Now that the release version is shipping, AbelCine's optical technicians have put this new PL-mount zoom through a battery of evaluations, and we are very excited by the results.