Precision lens manufacturer Cooke Optics will bring lenses from its three ranges – S4/i, Panchro/i and 5/i – to IBC 2012 in September, including a prototype of a 65mm lens for the Panchro range. The company reported that it is expanding its production capacity with more new hires at its Leicester, U.K. factory to meet increased global demand for PL glass.
“Many broadcasters around the world are switching from cameras with 2/3-inch sensors to those with PL mounts that give a full-frame 35mm picture, such as the Sony F3, F35 and F65, the ARRI Alexa, as well as RED and Canon cameras – and therefore they need lenses to go with them,” said Les Zellan, chairman and owner, Cooke Optics. “Digital images are clean and pure but don’t have much personality. Cooke lenses handle color and contrast in such a way that they give a warm, organic and much more visually pleasing quality known as the ‘Cooke Look’ that audiences respond to, while still retaining full resolution to beyond 4K. This filmic quality is what persuades broadcasters and film-makers to choose Cooke lenses time and again.”
Recent high profile projects that have been shot with Cooke lenses include the Emmy Award-winning television series The Borgias and M. Night Shyamalan’s forthcoming feature After Earth, which is the first feature film to be shot on the Sony F65 camera.
