Cinetreak is a Chinese manufacturer specializing in live-streaming products with an impressive price-feature ratio. Last year, the company released the Cinelive C1, a four-input switcher with live-streaming capabilities. This time, Cinetreak is back with a more compact, all-in-one recorder and live streaming monitor: the Mixer Live.

Cinetreak Mixer Live – features

The Cinetreak Mixer Live is a compact recorder and live-streaming monitor that measures 14.8 x 9 x 2.6cm/5.82 x 3.54 x 1.02in and weighs 600g/1.32 lbs. It draws around 12W and is powered by two Sony NP-F batteries.

At the top of the unit, you’ll also find a 12V DC input port to power it externally. All of the input and output ports are located at the top of the Mixer Live and includes:

• Two HDMI 2.0 video input ports that support signals up to DCI 4K at 60P.
• One HDMI program output with a maximum resolution of 1080P60.
• A WiFi antenna that supports RTMP live stream.
• One USB-C UVC port. This port lets you connect Mixer Live to your computer and live stream.

On the left side of the Mixer Live, you’ll find a 3.5mm microphone input, a 3.5mm headphone jack, two function buttons, and the power button. Lastly, on the right side is an SD card slot to store your video recordings, upload logos and graphic assets, and upgrade the firmware.

Monitoring and recording features

The Cinetreak Mixer Live features a 5.5-inch touchscreen display with a maximum brightness of 1500nits.

The monitor comes packed with multiple monitoring tools such as peaking, false color, vectorscope, histogram, 3D LUT support, framing tools, etc. To mount it on your camera, you’ll find two 1/4″-20 mounting points at the top and bottom of the unit.

The Mixer Live can record footage to an SD card. Other than the fact that your footage will be captured in an H.264 format, in Full-HD 1080P, there is no information about bitrates. You can playback your video recordings on the unit.

Live streaming capabilities

The Cinetreak Mixer Live also has live-streaming capabilities to most major social media platforms, including TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Zoom, etc. You can live stream in either horizontal or vertical mode via a dedicated button in the menu. The Mixer Live has a built-in RTMP encoder and connects to your network wirelessly.

According to Cinetreak, the unit can also control PTZ cameras via the Visca protocol, allowing you to control compatible cameras’ zoom/focus/position.

The Mixer Live has multiple livestreaming features, including the ability to add subtitles and logo/graphics to your program output. Also, it has a built-in Chroma Keyer, you can crop in your video sources, combine the two video inputs in a PiP and PoP mode, and add a transition between your sources.

Price and availability

The Cinetreak Mixer Live is available now for $399.

For more information, please visit Cinetreak’s website here.

What do you think about this all-in-one recorder and live-streaming monitor? Do you often need live-streaming capabilities for your clients? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!

OffShoot is a media management app by Hedge, a Dutch software company behind programs like Arctic and Canister. After the last update where the brand included the Stop & Resume feature, OffShoot 24.2 sees the light with three significant add-ons to the software. 

OffShoot 24.2: three new features

With the ‘Independent Sources’ feature, OffShoot allows users to specify if they want to consider a selection of files and folders as a single Collection or as Independent Sources. This way, you don’t need to drag the folders individually to label them as was the case until OffShoot 24.2. 

The ‘Batch Review’ function allows users to review a Preset for each source separately. The new version gives us control by selecting if we want to review Sources one by one or simultaneously. The default workflow is to Batch Add the Sources, which works with workflows that don’t require a Preset or if the Preset doesn’t need the user to add data for custom elements like Project, Scene, or Take. If the Preset has custom Elements different for each source, the Batch Add Sources feature shows you the Review panel sequentially for each source. 

‘Moving files’ allows the users to move their data with OffShoot, skipping Finder and Explorer, which can make them lose track quickly. OffShoots detects when Source and Destination are in the same volume and allows us to move instead of copy it. 

These new features show their potential when used together, and they are an improvement to a program that keeps growing with each update.

Price and availability

OffShoot 24.2 is now available at $149 for new licenses and $79 if you need to extend an old license. A 10-day trial with full functionality is available here. For more information, please check Hedge’s blog. 

What do you think about OffShoot 24.2? Are you using Hedge’s software to organize your footage? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! 

If you power your camera rig using a V-Lock or Gold mount battery, it’s always a good idea to carry a D-Tap voltmeter in your camera bag. Indeed, when this small device is plugged into a D-Tap power source, it can provide a clear reading of the remaining battery life, thus helping you avoid unwanted shutdowns in the middle of a shot. This is especially useful if your camera and battery (or battery plate) can’t communicate with each other.

Last year, Italian company Hovervolt introduced the Volt One, a simple voltmeter with a built-in display that can be plugged directly into a D-Tap port. Now, they are following it up with a wired version, called Cable One. Let’s take a closer look!

Hovervolt Cable One Voltmeter – features

The Hovervolt Cable One is a tiny voltage meter (52x21x16,5 mm) with a color display showcasing the level of charge of the battery it is connected to. Just like with the existing Volt-One D-Tap voltmeter, there are 4 different color display options available:

• Ultra bright green (for outdoor use);
• High bright blue;
• Standard bright red;
• Low bright amber (suitable for studio applications).

This time, however, the voltmeter is equipped with a 1/4”-20 mounting point and a cable ending either in a D-Tap or a black LEMO 0B connector. You can choose from 4 different cable length options (10, 15, 20, or 25 cm).

This design allows you to mount the device anywhere on your camera rig. Moreover, the company stated that they will soon come up with a 1st AC-oriented version of this product, which will be even easier to attach on top of your focus monitor.

Finally, in addition to choosing between different display colors and cable lengths, you can customize the orientation of the display relative to the 1/4”-20 mounting hole and the direction of the D-Tap or LEMO cable to better suit your setup.

Price and availability

The new Hovervolt Cable One Voltmeter with D-Tap connector is already available to purchase for €37 (plus shipping). The LEMO version can be pre-ordered now for €47 (plus shipping) and should start shipping towards the end of this month.

For more information, please visit Hovervolt’s website here.

Do you use a voltmeter on your camera rig? What do you think of the Hovervolt Cable One solution? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!

We introduced our CineD branded CFexpress Type B 1 TB card special offer just over a month ago, and since then, hundreds of cards have been purchased by creators from 30 countries around the world. Our statistics show that some of you guys ordered a single card while many others chose to order a few. Thank you!!!

While supplies last, and to take advantage and enjoy this special offer, please visit Angelbird’s website and apply the code CineD1TB at checkout.

Angelbird, our remarkable partner for this initiative, has been busy fulfilling all those orders by engraving the cards with the CineD Logo, hand-packing every single one of them, and then sending them as fast as possible so that you guys can start enjoying using the card with your beloved camera right after receiving it.

Oh, and we hope that you did not miss out on the additional bonus we added when purchasing the card, namely, a free 10 days of access to MZed Pro, our online education platform for filmmakers and creators.

Now, while we have succeeded in making many of you happy, we are fully aware that some of our followers were disappointed to find out that the card can not be ordered and delivered to the UK, for example. While we tried our best to solve this issue with our partners, but unfortunately, we were not able to overcome it and “fix” the matter.

Rest assured, we have not given up. We are already planning some exciting future initiatives and will work even harder to find creative solutions for distributing goods we choose to market or create under our brand name.

And back to the main topic. Our special offer is ending very soon (July 31st, to be exact, or while supply lasts, whichever comes first). So, if you are in search of a reliable recording media card with a strong and well-known manufacturing brand behind it and an extremely affordable price for such a card type/capacity, then look no further. Get yours while the supply lasts!

Have you already purchased the CineD Special Edition CFexpress type B card? If so, how has your experience working with it been so far? Please share your comments with us in the section below.

The name “Fisheye” comes from its inventor, physicist Robert W. Wood. In 1906, he developed a lens that should have mimicked how a fish would see the world underwater. Originally – as in the case with anamorphic optical systems – it had nothing to do with film and photography and was mostly used for sky research, to study cloud formations in meteorology. That changed in the 1960s, and since then, we can enjoy its narrative powers in our favorite movies.

Style through aberrations

In the MZed course “The Art and Science of Lenses,” filmmaker and educator Tal Lazar explains the term “aberration,” which we might often come across in regard to lenses (and especially extreme ones like a fisheye). The technical definition goes like this:

Aberrations are the failure of an optical system to focus all of the incident light rays coming from a point on the object to an image point.

A definition from the course “The Art and Science of Lenses”

However, as Tal Lazar adds, the truth is that every lens has aberrations. In fact, it’s what gives them their personality. And that’s exactly what we want, isn’t it, for things to have character? So when we look at what’s called a “barrel distortion” – an aberration that is specific to a fisheye lens – we handle it not as a mistake but as a creative tool.

What is a fisheye lens?

The mass production of the fisheye lens started decades after its invention in the 1960s. That’s also when it first saw a film set in the psychological horror “Seconds” by John Frankenheimer.

A typical circular fisheye lens captures extremely wide angles of view, around 180 degrees (going up to 220° in some cases). Its focal length might be 8 to 10mm or even shorter (or longer, depending on the camera sensor). As we already discussed, this creates a severe distortion at the edges of the image and sometimes even a black border surrounding the spherical shot. You’ve surely experienced this effect already, but if not, just imagine looking into a mirrored glass ball.

Narrative use of a fisheye lens

So, what does this unique look bring to the table? First of all, it allows us to keep an object or a character in the middle of the frame and the viewer’s attention, but at the same time, reveal as much of the environment around them as possible. That’s why action cameras such as GoPro particularly love the fisheye lens, and we often see it used in extreme sports sequences. When an athlete wears one, it intensifies the audience’s experience as they ride, say, a mind-blowing downhill trail.

At the same time, the distorted quality of the fisheye image can give us the impression of looking through a porthole or that reality suddenly wobbles and transforms. That’s where visual storytelling and working with subtext begin to play an important role.

Peeking through the porthole

One of the recent examples is Yorgos Lanthimos’s Oscar-nominated feature “Poor Things.” This film is a bizarre experience on its own, but what makes this weird notion even more intense is the movie’s use of rare visual tools. Together with cinematographer Robbie Ryan, Yorgos picked for the production five lenses in total, and among them – a 4mm (T2 OpTex Super Cine). The fisheye look occurs quite unexpectedly in some scenes and makes us feel as if we are peeking through a porthole into the extraordinary world of Bella Baxter.

What else does this look achieve? First, the ultra wide-angled perspective brings us, the viewers, closer to the characters – as if we could almost step through this porthole and appear in the living room with them. Secondly, it breaks our expectations. We’re used to wide establishing shots that help us place ourselves in the scene and the film space. The fisheye lens of “Poor Things” does the opposite. It disorientates the audience and causes our minds to take a moment to adjust, which is, well, Lanthimos’s intention throughout the whole story.

Fisheye look as a disturbing element

“Poor Things” wasn’t the first time director Yorgos Lanthimos and cinematographer Robbie Ryan relied on a fisheye lens for the visual storytelling. A couple of years ago, they used the same tool in a dark comedy period drama, “The Favourite,” although for a slightly different reason.

The film’s plot is set in early 18^th century Great Britain, and of course, a fisheye lens looks out of place, adding to the absurdity of the story. Here, the distorted perspective heightens the jumbled mess of emotions of the protagonist, Queen Anne, and her two lovers, Sarah and Abigail, competing for her attention and power. As in the case of “Poor Things,” this film is a surreal experience in general, and we’re never quite sure where the characters’ allegiances lay. Using such an extreme lens emphasizes the bizarreness of the protagonist – who’d rather play with her 17 rabbits than govern – and her court.

Experimenting with the character’s perception

A distorted field of view can also be quite handy in representing a distorted reality, such as during hallucinations. That’s the visual aesthetics Darren Aronofsky’s “Requiem for a Dream” knowingly goes for. One of the protagonists, Sara, slowly spirals deeper into addiction by popping diet pills. She believes she is going to be a star on a TV game show. The television is central to her house-bound life, and appearing there becomes her ultimate fantasy. When her first full-blown hallucination of this sort occurs, the camera switches from a “normal” wide-angle to a fisheye lens.

How does this image make you feel? Me, personally – intimidated, disturbed. Sara goes through inner turmoil, and the lens transfers it brilliantly. Moreover, fisheye mimics the curvature of the television screen. So, when Sara hallucinates, it feels as if she now lives inside the TV. And when the fisheye look starts appearing in real-life scenes, like visiting a doctor’s office, we know her transition into a deluded drug-addict is complete.

The Truman Show

Another character who literally lived inside the television was, of course, Truman Burbank, portrayed by Jim Carrey. Sure enough, director Peter Weir also went for a fisheye look that appeared here and there throughout the story. For example, let’s rewatch a scene together:

The fisheye lens not only reminds us that Truman is constantly under the heavy eye of surveillance cameras but also represents the shape of a television screen. This way, we watch his life from the same perspective as his fans. Reminds me of the “Inception” concept, if you like.

Conclusion

The fisheye look might seem “too much” for a film when you’re deciding on a perfect lens for your story. Yet, as we’ve seen above, it produces a range of distinct and intense impacts on the audience, manipulates our perception, and amplifies the emotional response. The secret is – to apply it with knowledge and purpose, and the magic will start to work.

What’s your take on the fisheye lens and its narrative powers? Have you used it in your films? If so, why? What was the purpose of such a choice? Do you have any other great film examples that feature this look? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Feature image: film stills from “The Favourite” and “Requiem for a Dream,” combined with a film poster for “Seconds” by John Frankenheimer, 1966.

Full disclosure: MZed is owned by CineD.

Additional sources:

• “Cinematic Storytelling” by Jennifer Van Sijll, 2005;
• Nashville Film Institute

Lexar is well-known for their data storage and memory solutions, such as their memory card Lexar CFexpress 4.0 Type B Diamond. With the Go Portable, they’ve truly come up with something interesting – a super-compact SSD that attaches to your phone or camera with an included hub featuring four Type-C ports, providing both storage and connectivity solutions in one package.

So how small is small…

Turns out – very small. The kit is impressively compact, measuring just 2.71×1.71×0.32in (6.88×4.35×0.81cm), while the Portable SSD itself is only 1.71×0.98×0.32in (4.35×2.48×0.81cm). This means the overall width of the kit is slightly narrower than that of an iPhone 15 Pro & Pro Max. Additionally, the SSD’s thickness is only 8.25mm/0.32in, which is close to that of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and the entire kit weighs only about 35.83gms/0.079lbs, so its design should make it easy to attach to a phone and shouldn’t interfere with handheld recording. Plus, it offers up to 2TB of space.

The Hub

The hub features a variety of connectivity options, including four Type-C ports, enabling connections for a Portable SSD, microphones, power banks, and more. One port supports up to 30W PD charging and offers a transfer speed of 10Gbps. The versatility this hub offers will not only let you record Apple 4K ProRes videos externally but simultaneously handle audio and charging needs.

The Go Portable has a USB 3.2 Gen2 high-speed interface that features read speeds up to 1050MB/s and write speeds up to 1000MB/s.  The unit comes with a silicone protective case, has an IP65 rating for dust and water resistance, and can withstand drops of 1 meter, according to the company.

A closer look at the specs

Lexar Professional Go Portable SSD

• Capacity: 1TB/2TB
• Speed: Up to 1,050 MB/s Read Speed and 1000 MB/s Write Speed
• Interface: Type-C (male)
• Interface Protocol: USB 3.2 Gen2
• Dimension (LxWxH): 1.71 x 0.98 x 0.32in
• Weight: 0.029 lbs.
• Materials: Front made of plastic (PC+ABS); back composed of aluminum alloy
• Protection: IP65 rated Dustproof/Waterproof; 1-meter drop resistance
• Warranty: 5-Year Limited Warranty

Hub (Expansion Dock)

• Speed: Transfer speed of 10Gbp/s
• Interface: 4 Type-C ports with the following functions (see diagram): Port 1 connects phones or computers via adapters or cables. Ports 2 and 4 connect to the portable SSD, microphones, etc. Port 3 connects to power adapters, power banks, etc., providing a maximum PD 30W charging rate to the host device. (Port 3 also supports transfer speeds of up to 10Gbp/s)
• Interface Protocol: USB 3.2 Gen2; PD
• Hub Dimension (LxWxH): 2.71×1.71×0.32in
• Weight: approx 0.05 lbs.
• Materials: Front made of plastic (PC+ABS); back composed of aluminum alloy
• Colors: Silver
• Warranty: 5-Year Limited Warranty

Price and availability

The Kickstarter campaign for the Lexar Professional Go Portable SSD is starting soon. To be notified when it goes live, sign up on this link.

At the end of every crowdfunding-related article, we remind you to be aware of the risks when backing a project on a crowdfunding platform. Also, please read the platform’s use and remember there can be significant delays when delivering the product. Some projects don’t get delivered at all.

What do you think about this SSD kit? What’s been your go-to for recording when you’re on the go? Let us know in the comments below!

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This week’s show sponsor is FUJIFILM – Watch this week’s one-minute tip at 17:09 in the show and learn how to quickly change frame rates using custom settings without going into the menu! Thanks to FUJIFILM for supporting the show.

In this week’s episode, Nino and Johnnie explore the shifting future of filmmaking based on the current cost-cutting in Hollywood and how the strikes might have motivated that, the appeasement policy of big studios and streamers with AI companies (instead of taking them to court). They also analyze the recent Paramount deal and the involvement of big tech companys in the entertainment space.

This episode features a segment on the world’s first generative AI camera, exploring its potential and the skepticism surrounding its practicality, and the teasing of a new AI platforms aiming to become the “Netflix of AI” for auto-generated episodes of your favorite shows.

Stay tuned until the end to catch updates on the OConnor Ultimate 2575E Platinum Edition Fluid Head, the Matthews Middle MAX Menace Boom Arm, and the CAME-TV Pocket 3 Multifunctional Shock Absorber Arm.

Don’t forget to like and subscribe to our Focus Check podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. Enjoy the show!

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:27 – Hollywood is in Decline – Union Strikes Partly to Blame, Says Scott Galloway

https://www.cined.com/hollywood-is-in-decline-union-strikes-partly-to-blame-says-scott-galloway

18:17 – The Netflix of AI? – Fable’s Showrunner Platform Lets Users Create Custom Episodes

https://www.cined.com/the-netflix-of-ai-fables-showrunner-platform-lets-users-create-custom-episodes

25:28 – Is the First Generative AI Camera on the Horizon?

https://www.cined.com/is-the-first-generative-ai-camera-on-the-horizon

37:55 – iodyne’s Creator Series Released – A Glimpse Into the Way an Artist Thinks

https://www.cined.com/iodynes-creator-series-released-a-glimpse-into-the-way-an-artist-thinks

42:23 – OConnor Ultimate 2575E Platinum Edition Fluid Head Introduced

https://www.cined.com/oconnor-ultimate-2575e-platinum-edition-fluid-head-introduced

46:13- Krypton OR Cinema Prime Lenses Coming Soon – A Collaboration with Whitepoint Optics

https://www.cined.com/krypton-or-cinema-prime-lenses-coming-soon-a-collaboration-with-whitepoint-optics

51:13 – Matthews Middle MAX Menace Boom Arm Released – Compact and Heavyweight

https://www.cined.com/matthews-middle-max-menace-boom-arm-released-compact-and-heavyweight

53:07 – CAME-TV Pocket 3 Multifunctional Shock Absorber Arm Released

https://www.cined.com/came-tv-pocket-3-multifunctional-shock-absorber-arm-released

We hope you enjoyed this episode!

You have feedback, comments, or suggestions? How do you feel, is Hollywood declining, and how does it affect you? Write us at podcast@cined.com. 

I’ve been listening to Scott Galloway’s insights on his podcasts Pivot and The Prof G Show for a while, and he is known to deliver thought-provoking sound bites about the economy, but usually not about the film industry. That was until I listened to the latest episode of “The Town” podcast by Matthew Belloni, in which he gave a scathing assessment of the situation Hollywood is in and how much, in his view, the unions did their members and the industry as a whole a disservice with their recent strikes. And I think he has a point.

Hollywood’s Big Big Tech Problem – Scott Galloway on “The Town with Matthew Belloni”

The entire episode is worth a listen:

Why the strikes gave the studios the perfect excuse to cut costs

Scott Galloway was critical of the writers’ and actors’ strikes, saying they lacked leverage and allowed the industry to reshape itself during the strike. He argues the strikes resulted in a transfer of wealth from union members and smaller streamers to Netflix. Galloway believes the gains made by unions (e.g., 5% wage increase, AI protections) were insignificant compared to the losses from being out of work for months. He suggests there are now fewer writers making money post-strike, with overall buying and orders down, and that the strikes gave the streamers the perfect excuse to cut excess costs and projects as they were already in the middle of an unsustainable “streaming bubble” in cutthroat competition with each other.

At a time when the studio spending was out of control because of the fierce competition between the streaming platforms, which of course benefitted the authors and the creative community through a lot of work, the strikes “forced a multilateral pause in spending” which allows them to reevaluate their spending and figure out who they really need and don’t need.

Scott Galloway on “The Town with Matthew Belloni”

What should have happened: unions and studios joining forces to sue AI companies

Galloway argues the unions should have partnered with studios to fight against tech companies and AI rather than fighting each other. He advocates for studios to sue AI companies for crawling their content without compensation and criticizes the entertainment industry for not being more aggressive in protecting their interests against tech companies and AI.

After all, in other areas of media, such as newspaper publishing, publishers like the New York Times are suing OpenAI for “stealing” their content to train their large-language models (LLMs), and major record companies are suing AI music startups Udio and Suno for “mass infringement” of copyright (we reviewed these AI music services recently). One has to agree with Galloway and wonder why the film industry is still running an inconsistent appeasement policy with AI companies rather than squeezing them in court.

If the union had any sense, it would be spending all of its money to hire very aggressive law firms and get every single studio on their side. They should be partnering together to try and figure out a way to sue the shit out of all LLM’s and AI companies such as if they’re crawling their data. They participate in those revenues. Instead, they’re fighting each other and all they’re doing is making Netflix wealthier and letting the AI and LLM’s continue to crawl their data. 

Scott Galloway on “The Town with Matthew Belloni”

Paramount Pictures sold to son of tech billionaire

The recent announcement of Paramount Pictures being taken over by Skydance, David Ellison’s production company, might only underline the fact that Hollywood is selling out to big tech instead of fighting it in court – after all, David Ellison is the son of billionaire Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, a tech giant who’s heavily involved with generative AI data centers. (This takeover was announced weeks after the recording of Galloway’s interview with Belloni, which is why it’s not a topic in that podcast.)

Hollywood is “a vanity industry in structural decline.”

Being an economist and looking at the numbers, Scott Galloway gives a scathing assessment of the film industry.

He suggests the streaming market is consolidating and predicts further industry reshaping. Galloway advises young people to be cautious about entering the entertainment industry, describing it as a “vanity industry” with structural decline. He believes the future of entertainment is shifting towards smaller screens (e.g., TikTok, YouTube) and away from traditional Hollywood productions.

As an example, he quotes that 87% of people in SAG AFTRA didn’t have health insurance last year because they didn’t make more than $25,000, while only the top 10% can make a decent living, with the top 1% taking in most of the money.

Are we filmmakers just chasing an unrealistic dream?

It’s interesting and sobering to hear the thoughts of an outsider of the filmmaking industry giving an assessment of the state of things. Are too many people chasing the Hollywood dream when it’s not something that has a big future in our world? Is Hollywood in decline? Sad to think about that and admit it, but I am curious about your takes on this. Sound off in the comments below, I would love to get a discussion about this going.

Old Fast Glass is a Los Angeles rental house specializing in high-end digital cinema cameras, film cameras, cinema lenses, and camera accessories. During NAB 2024, we met Mark from OFG to discuss their custom cinema camera based on the FUJIFILM GFX100 II image sensor.

Recently, Old Fast Glass collaborated with Ancient Optics, another LA-based company specializing in rehousing old, high-quality lenses. From this collaboration, they introduced the STATERA Full-Frame+ Anamorphic Primes, a set of lenses that balances a classic look with modern performance. 

STATERA: balance between old and modern

The name STATERA comes from the Latin word meaning “balance,” so the philosophy behind this set is straightforward. Inspired by iconic anamorphic lenses from the 1970s and 80s (Todd-AO, Cineovison, Technovision, and Nippon Scope), the set consists of a 35mm, 40mm, 50mm, 75mm, and 100mm lens sharing a T2.1 maximum aperture and a 135mm T2.9 lens available in PL mount for FF+ format.

The STATERA lenses pleasantly render faces thanks to their focus system that minimizes distortion. According to their creators, the lenses don’t suffer from extreme field curvature, which is helpful for framing people in different parts of the image, from center to edges.

Bokeh has a “cat eye” shape that resolves organically and starts to swirl towards the edges, producing a controlled amount of Petzval effect. The lenses feature classic single-layer coatings for an organic flare with controlled saturation. All lenses feature a 15-blade circular iris and match in focus and iris gear position, with a focus rotation of 300°. 

Price and availability 

Ancient Optics is now selling 20 STATERA lens sets. The list price is $165,000 for the set of 6 focal lengths: 35mm, 40mm, 50mm, 75mm, 100mm, 135mm.

For more information, you’ll have to write to Ancient Optics directly, but expect a delivery time of 6-9 months. The 50mm, 75mm, and 100mm are available to test and/or rent only at Old Fast Glass. Old Fast Glass offers all customers C2C access to the lens test footage shot at its headquarters, allowing customers to share the footage with their team in real-time with the benefits of Frame.io. 

What do you think about the STATERA lens set by Old Fast Glass and Ancient Optics? Would you like to test them for future projects? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

After releasing the highly affordable HD7H on-camera monitor a month ago, Chinese monitoring solutions specialist Portkeys is already back with one of their first director’s monitors: the HS8. The company continues to offer affordable monitoring solutions for filmmakers and content creators, and the HS8 is no different, as it comes packed with many exciting features for its price range, such as HDMI and SDI video input/output ports and a built-in Sony NP-F dummy battery plate with power passthrough, that can be used to power camera accessories such as a wireless video receiver.

Portkeys HS8 design and main features

The Portkeys HS8 is the first director monitor from the brand. Built of aluminum alloy, the HS8 weighs 675g/1.48 lbs and measures 208 x 133.7 x 50.5mm/8.18 x 5.26 x 0.20in. As people around the set usually touch the monitor, there is a user-replaceable protective glass that screws in front of the display, which is a nice add-on.

The 8-inch screen has a resolution of 1920 x 1200, a maximum brightness of 1,100 nits, and a contrast ratio of 1000:1. When you invest in this kind of gear, you want it to perform in as many situations as possible, and with these numbers, the monitor should perform in low-light interior scenes as well as exterior daylight shootings.

Another essential characteristic to look for in a monitor like this one, no matter its price range, is how color-accurate it is. In that regard, every HS8 unit is color-calibrated before it leaves the factory and features a 10-bit (8+2 FRC) panel.

Portkeys HS8 – a versatile director monitor 

Regarding connectivity, we can find the video and power input ports at the bottom of the monitor, which are recessed to prevent accidents. These ports include one DCI 4K60P HDMI and one 3G-SDI 1080P60 video input port, and an HDMI and one 3G-SDI video output port. Both video output ports support resolutions up to 1080P60. Furthermore, the Portkeys HS8 supports cross-conversion from HDMI input to SDI output and from SDI input to HDMI output. A 3D LUT can be output via the SDI and HDMI ports to assure consistency throughout the monitoring stages.

At the bottom, there is also a 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB-A port to install updates and custom LUTs. A DC 7-20V power input with a locking DC 5.5×2.1mm barrel connector powers the monitor for an extended time via a V-Mount/Gold Mount battery and the included D-TAP to screw-in DC power cable.

The HS8 features a dual Sony NP-F battery plate. Portkeys reports that two Sony NP-F970 batteries can power the monitor for around five hours. One of the most interesting characteristics is the addition of a Sony NP-F power output dummy battery with power passthrough (8V/10W) to connect and power a wireless video receiver at the back of the HS8. This plate can rotate 360° via the big yellow knob at the center.

At the back, we have VESA 100 x 100 mounting points to install the monitor on different supports by an optional monitor mount. At the top, the Portkeys HS8 has four user-assignable buttons, an On/Off switch, a button to switch from HDMI to SDI input, and a dual-function menu/scroll wheel.

For increased versatility, the unit features four 1/4″-20 mounting points with locating pins on each side of the monitor. In most scenarios where you would use this monitor, many accessories will be around, so it is always good to have the possibility to rig gear without the need for a cage. Anyway, the monitor could also be used bare without adding much weight to your monitoring setup for run-and-gun situations.

A suite of monitoring tools

The Portkeys HS8 features a bunch of tools that can be displayed simultaneously for a better and more accurate monitoring experience:

• 3D LUT monitoring with 3D LUT SDI output. Custom LUTs can be loaded via the USB-A port at the bottom of the monitor.
• RGB and Luma Waveform/Histogram exposure tools. Adjustable Zebra tool.
• Customizable False Color with 13 different colors, including ARRI False Color.
• Anamorphic image de-squeeze with all the standard ratios (1.33x, 1.5x, 2.0x) and customizable aspect ratio from 0.25 to 4.0x.
• Peaking and Zoom functions.
• 3G SDI Level A/B auto output and SDI transform from Progressive to Interlaced capabilities.
• Framing tools: crosshair, check field, guides, grids, rectangle crop.
• Audio meters.
• Monitor adjustments: black level, backlight, contrast, color temperature, sharpness, chroma, brightness, tint, HDR HLG, OSD Flip mode.

Price and availability 

The Portkeys HS8 is now available to order and retails for $399/€421.95. The monitor ships with a D-Tap to locking 5.5mm power cable, a screen cleaning wipe, a USB key, a set of M3 Allen screws, an Allen key, and replacement cup head gaskets for the protection screen.

For more information, please visit Portkeys’ website here.

What do you think of the Portkeys HS8? Have you used monitors from the brand in the past? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!