CASE STUDY MARK SHARMAN
of the kit. With each lens weighing in at 0.9kg – which is remarkably light for a lens of this type – it made for a much more comfortable set-up. That’s a hugely important factor when you’re working across the length and breadth of a boat for long hours, late into the evening.” In time Mark aims to adapt his housing with a port extension and a lever to allow manual adjustment of the 18-35mmMK’s non-electronic aperture, and once this is done the shorter of the two zooms will become his underwater lens of choice. Getting close to nature For anyone who is passionate about wildlife, the thought of working up close and personal to some of the world’s most
are dedicated cinema lenses with all the benefits this offers the filmmaker,” he says, “plus they would fit directly to the FS7 without the need for any adapters. They were also much more affordable compared to previous Fujifilm cinema zooms, and so I decided to try them out for my topside work for Wild Alaska Live . “Another early experience was a job working on a Shark Week project for the Discovery Channel in the Bahamas. I was filming topside and using a drone from a boat for the duration, so camera and lens choice was crucial, and the MK pair did a great job. As well as giving me the ‘look’ I was after I wanted to undertake some on-the-shoulder sync filming, which is very dependent on the overall weight
the ability to seamlessly move between focal lengths. “Up until now I’ve been working with a selection of Canon EF lenses,” he says, “a 16-35mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm. They need to be used with an adapter, which is not ideal, and of course they are stills camera lenses, which again means they’re something of a compromise. I also use a Nikon 17-55mm on a RED Dragon underwater with a Metabones adapter, and although this is also a photographic lens it’s been used a lot because it offers a very useful zoom range that’s ideal for the kind of things that I’m doing.” Always on the lookout for kit that might benefit his operation, Mark took a keen interest when Fujifilm announced the launch of its MK zoom pair, the 18-55mm and 50-135mm, both T2.9, last year, and the fact that they were supplied in Sony fit made him all the more determined to try them out. “I was intrigued by the fact that these
“These are dedicated cinema lenses with all the benefits this offers the filmmaker”
ABOVE While the Sealux housing with Sony FS7 and accompanying monitor housing is fairly large it’s so well balanced underwater that it’s easy to carry around and use.
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PRO MOVIEMAKER AUTUMN 2018
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