The ALEXA Mini has generated lots of excitement partly due to the form factor, which lends itself to many types of cinematography. The other day I had the opportunity to meet up with Snehal Patel at Arri in Burbank, California. Together we went over a variety of builds for the ALEXA Mini.

The Atomos Shogun has become a top choice for off-camera monitoring and recording. Its lightweight and feature-rich design make it ideal for acquisition from HD up to 4K.

Recently, we have seen a lot of great work using the RED and the Gates housing, particularly with the Canon EF mount installed on the EPIC and EPIC DRAGON. This is a powerful combination that takes advantage of the easy-to-use design of the Gates housing and the flexibility of REDRAW files.

At AbelCine, we often use the term "stills to motion" to describe a still photographer making the transition to cinematography. We've held various events and tours based on this concept, and we've fielded recurring questions around shooting simultaneous stills and video. Many of the shooters we speak to would prefer to focus on either stills or motion, but are often asked by their clients to provide both.

As you might know, we offer a variety of workshops on DIT & Engineering topics, and we are often asked about what you might find on a DIT cart. Speaking with many DITs and building on my own experience, I put together a souped-up cart for demonstration purposes and created this video series on the Anatomy of the DIT Cart. On the cart you'll find a variety of hardware used on set today, including scopes, routers, monitors, and storage.

Recently I had the opportunity to test the brand new IBE Optics PLx1.4, which just started shipping this month, out in the field. I chose to test it alongside the PLx2 in a pure run-n-gun situation in various spots around Chicago.

Canon's Cine-Servo 17-120, with its versatile zoom range and 31.7mm image circle, has proven to be popular with our clients. However, depending on what camera you are shooting with, there are extra items to take into consideration, such as adapters, power options, support, and more.

AbelCine is excited to be Gates Underwater's first Proud Partner Dealership, meaning we are authorized to offer sales and rental of Gates Underwater equipment to our clients. In this blog, I want to introduce the basics of Gates housings and the factors involved in underwater photography.

A few months ago, Canon introduced their new CN20x50 IAS lens, which features an impressive focal range of 50mm-1000mm at T5.0 to T8.9. A Super 35mm lens with this focal length and zoom ratio is very rare, but it certainly has many applications in sports and nature documentary situations. The lens is 4K-ready, with an image circle of 31.4mm, and is available in either a PL or EF mount. It also features a 1.5x multiplier for additional reach of 75mm-1500mm.