At NAB 2024, Johnnie spoke with Emmy-winning filmmaker and wildlife cinematographer Bob Poole and FUJIFILM North America’s Vice President Victor Ha at the FUJIFILM/FUJINON booth. They discussed the experience of using the FUJINON Duvo HZK25-1000mm lens on an ARRI ALEXA 35 while on safari in Kenya, which sounds like quite a trip (forgive the pun!). So let’s see what was involved in getting this lens over to Africa, and whether it was worth it! Bob was raised in Kenya and his very first film for National Geographic was about elephants. Last year at NAB 2023, Bob met Victor Ha, and after discussing the pros and cons of using the Duvo lens on safari, Victor told Bob he wouldn’t know if it worked until he tried it. So, the decision was made to ship the lens to Kenya and have Bob use it on an elephant safari – no mean feat with a lens that weighs 28kg/61.7lb. Although Victor notes that this was considered Bob’s project, he sent out a BTS (behind-the-scenes) documentary crew, along with the lens, for support. Shooting with the Duvo lens on safari. Source: FUJINON The set-up for the safari – and filming elephants Of course, the lens’s weight (in fact, the entire weight of the set-up attached to the car) was a concern, as was the fact that the safari was off-road under bad conditions with dust, wind, and rain. To prepare for the set-up, Bob flew to Africa beforehand and “chopped up and re-designed” the...
Published By: CineD - Wednesday, 24 April