GEAR DREAM GLASS
ADAM ETHERINGTON BAFTA-winning and RTS-nominated cinematographer Adam Etherington, BSC, admits that with the variety on offer these days, choosing a lens can be a bit daunting. “There are so many different optical possibilities out there, and yet filmmaking and storytelling is all about instinct,” he stresses. “Your choices are about what feels right for the narrative, and what you believe will best capture the heart of the audience’s journey.” He encourages DOPs to keep researching, testing and playing – reminding us all that we can only learn through pushing creative boundaries and yes, making the odd mistake along the way. When selecting a lens, Etherington evaluates technically and aesthetically, performing a comparative test that assesses how the options handle contrast, flare, focus roll-off, colour rendition, the shape and texture of the bokeh, highlights and shadows, skin tones, image sharpness and projection, as well as the fall-off of projection across the sensor. He and the team then review If he was in a desert island situation and could only use one lens for the rest of his days, Cragg says he would choose the Cooke Anamorphic FF 75mm. “I can frame with this lens in 2.40:1, 2:1 and 4:3, and it always delivers in terms of what I want a lens to look like,” he shares. “It’s soft, but not overly soft; elegant, classy and radiant. The 75mm is the closest in composition to a 35mm or 40mm in spherical lenses. If I had to choose a spherical lens, it would be the ZEISS Standard Speed 40mm.” On the Beckham documentary, the goal was close framing straight down the lens – so close you could see the muscles twitching, capturing every emotion as it flickered across the subjects’ faces. It also had to be pleasing to look at, of course. For this, Cragg opted to shoot with the Canon K35 85mm wide open at T1.4, giving a very isolated focus. For other DOPs puzzling over which lens to choose, his advice is simple: “Test. But if you can’t test, look at examples already out there or search films you like and see what they were shot on.”
FIELD OF VISION Cooke, ZEISS and Canon lenses all get the green light from Tim Cragg. K35 85mm versions came in handy for him on the Netflix Beckham documentary
rushes with a truly unique quality. The rehousing of the optics by TLS has made these lenses a viable option in modern production, enabling us to enjoy the romance of this amazing optical elder. They were the first vintage lenses I ever really worked with, and their impact has had an enduring resonance for me.” A project where the beauty of the Panchros’ optics came into their own was Gwen (2018), a period folk horror directed by William McGregor. “The delicate optical rendering and gentle focus roll-off, combined with the soft highlights and honest but textural aesthetic of the Panchros, gave us the beautiful but truthful aesthetic we were searching for,” he explains. “The engineering of the lenses was compact and lightweight – a critical asset for us due to the remote location and rugged terrain,” he adds. “The massively improved close focus capabilities and intelligent ergonomics of the rehousing offered freedom for our storytelling in tiny, intimate locations and across a range of shooting styles.”
the results with a colourist and decide which best serves the story. When questioned on his all-time favourite lens, he goes for a classic: the TLS Rehoused Vintage Cooke Speed Panchro. “These are wonderful handcrafted optics from a bygone era, designed by artisan optical engineers containing materials which are now simply impossible to work with,” he enthuses. “They offer a characterful and painterly image rendition that resolves and performs in a way that delivers
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