DP Rudy Blahacek with 1st Assistant Camera Operator Scott Cowan on the set of the television series “King,” shooting with a FUJINON PL 18-85 T2.0 zoom lens.
WAYNE, N.J.—Three Canadian-based Directors of Photography (DPs) recently rented a complement of Fujinon Premier PL Mount zoom lenses from Sim Video—a leading Toronto-based broadcast and film equipment rental company sci-fi television series for broadcast on NBC/Universal’s SCI FI Channel, CTV, and Lifetime.
The three notable Canadian DPs—Mike McMurray, David Perrault, and Rudy Blahacek—chose Fujinon Premier PL zoom lenses to shoot sci-fi television series for broadcast on NBC/Universal’s SCI FI Channel, CTV, and Lifetime. In choosing equipment for these productions, they selected from the Sim Video PL lens inventory which includes: Premier PL 18-85 T2.0 zooms, Premier PL 24-180 T2.6 lenses; and Premier PL 75-400 T2.8-3.8’s. Designed for high-end 35mm film and digital cinematography, the Fujinon PL Mount product family offers focal lengths ranging from 14.5mm to 400mm.
DP McMurray, CSC, has been using the Premier PL lenses to shoot “Warehouse 13,” an American fantasy/drama series for the SCI FI Channel. “In shooting ‘Warehouse 13,’ equipment reliability is crucial. Fujinon lenses are workhorses in the film industry, especially for TV series work, because they produce crisp, clean images and color-match extraordinarily well with each other,” he explained. “The Fujinon Premier PL 18-85 T2.0 is an excellent wide to mid-range lens, while the Premier PL 75-400 T2.8-3.8 takes care of all my long lens needs. But my favorites are the two Premier PL 24-180 T2.6’s that I use with my A and B cameras because, with their wide focal lengths, lens changes are minimal.”
DP Perrault, CSC, has also been using Sim Video’s Fujinon PL zoom lenses to shoot “Alphas,” a new action thriller series for the SCI FI Channel featuring five ordinary people who acquire super human physical and mental capabilities. “I’ve been using the Fujinon Premier PL 75-400 T2.8-T3.8 and Premier PL 18-85 T2.0 to shoot season one of ‘Alphas,’ and they’re both beautiful lenses,” Perrault said. “These compact lenses offer broad focal ranges, great coatings, and flare rejection qualities, nice markings for focus, and in particular, gorgeous ‘bokehs’ on the 18-85.” Considered the mark of an exceptional lens, a bokeh is the blur in the out-of-focus areas of an image. While some lenses produce bokehs that are unpleasant and distracting, Fujinon PL Mount lenses have the distinction of rendering very aesthetically pleasing blurs.
Regarding the Fujinon Premier PL 18-85 T2.0 lens, DP Blahacek said, “I will always carry this lens in my package. The resolution is amazing, and the lack of aberrations coupled with the fast T-stop put this lens in a class of its own.” Blahacek has been using this lens for almost two years to shoot several projects including: “Score: A Hockey Musical,” a film featured at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival; “Salem Falls,” a TV mini-series to air on Lifetime in 2012; and “The Listener,” a sci-fi TV series now in its second season on CTV, Canada’s leading broadcast network.
