35mm Adapter Class at Gotham Digital

As digital filmmaking continues to lap at the heels of celluloid filmmaking, new tools keep emerging to help close the remaining gap in visual quality between the two mediums. Some of the most prominent recent tools in the digital vs. film image-quality battle to date are:

1. 24P video cameras
2. More affordable CMOS imaging chips
3. Affordable HD and HDV resolutions
4. Film Look Software
5. Adjustable gamma, detail and color settings

(Side Note: I wrote an article in last month's issue of Student Filmmakers magazine on 5 Ways to get a Film Look with a few more details on pimping out your video images. I'll repost it here soon, if you missed it.)

And most recently rounding out the list are a whole line up of 35mm adapters designed to attach to the huge crop of fixed lens prosumer cameras. In a nutshell, these adapters allow you to shoot with professional 35mm still camera lens which will give you a nice sharp picture and most notably the more shallow depth of field of film cameras.

The end result is more cinematic images than these cameras can produce on their own and yet another bludgeoning blow in the film vs. video battle. (Which as anyone who's not in complete denial knows that digital will ultimately win, but that's another blog for another day.)

Since the first model appeared on the market a few short years ago, a number of contenders to the 35mm Adapter crown have stepped into the ring and some have faired better than others. To help you sort through the many models and various pros and cons, my good friends at Gotham Digital, one of the better rental outfits in NYC, have just started a class to help shooters and producers understand, compare, and get better results from this powerful new imaging tool.

This brand new class will feature a side-by-side comparison of two of the popular 35mm adapter units that work with Panasonic's HVX-200 camera: The Red Rock Micro and the Letus 35mm.

After the class attendees will be given a DVD with results of the work and tests performed during the class so that they can be armed with clear examples to show to prospective clients, directors, or producers who may be in the equipment decision-making process.

Click here for info on Gotham Digital's 35mm Lens Adapter Workshop. The next one is Sunday, May 11th.

Making the Movie Blog also has a decent little online comparison of basic features and pricing for several units.