Press Release
Sydney, 15 July 2013 – Melbourne-based digital cinema specialists Inspiration Studios are known for their professional workflow solutions from pre-production to on-set expertise through to post production. Recently the company was commissioned to provide the camera and offline workflow and equipment for Wonderland, the TV series produced by Fremantle Media for Network TEN to screen later this year. With Wonderland requiring the latest state of the art HD lenses, after a period of evaluation, Inspiration Studios decided to purchase four Fujinon Cabrio lenses from ARRI Australia.
The Fujinon PL 19-90 and 85-300 Cabrio lenses feature an exclusive detachable servo drive unit, making them suitable for use as a standard PL lens. The Cabrios also feature flange focal distance adjustment, macro function and are LDS (Lens Data System) and /i metadata compatible. With 19-90mm and 85-300mm focal ranges and weighting only 2.7kg and 3.3kg respectively including servo motors, these lenses have the longest focal range available in lightweight zooms.
Inspiration Studios’ Cail Young explained, “We already have a great relationship with Stefan Sedlmeier and the ARRI Australia team having purchased multiple ALEXA cameras and a set of Alura lenses in the past. So when we were looking for the best lenses to shoot Wonderland with we gave Stefan a call and set up a lens test day at ARRI’s Lane Cove HQ.”
The lens test consisted of an ARRI ALEXA M camera and a wide array of ARRI Alura Zoom and Fujinon Cabrio lenses.
Young continued, “It was our DOP Russell Bacon, Pete Wells, myself and a trolley full of lenses in ARRI’s demo room. The new 19-90mm and 85-300mm Fujinon Cabrio lenses were stunning and produced amazing results so we got exactly what we were looking for. It’s great to have a partner like ARRI Australia as they really walk the walk where equipment and service is concerned, whether theirs or from other manufacturer’s, the level of support is till the same and it’s this high level of support that keeps us coming back.”
With the decision to purchase two new 19-90mm and two new 85-300mm Fujinon Cabrio lenses made Inspiration Studios asked Sedlmeier if they could us ARRI Australia’s HQ to prep and test all of their equipment for the Wonderland shoot.
Young added, “In true Stefan fashion this request was also no problem. So we brought all of our crew, camera truck and equipment to Lane Cove and got to work. It’s such a great space and Stefan and his team really can’t do enough to help, so the whole experience was perfect. I’m delighted to say that everything went well and on set as well as in the demo room Fujinon’s Cabrio lenses are again producing spectacular images. It’s no wonder these lenses are being used more and more for high-end cinematography as they really are the perfect set for TV series work. As a DOP Russell is particularly impressed with the Cabrio lenses and we all agree these lenses should become the workhorse in TV for many years to come.”
Fujifilm Australia General Manager Optical Devices Marc Van Agten said, “We are delighted that inspiration Studios chose Fujinon Cabrio lenses and that they were able to get them along with such excellent service from Stefan and his team at ARRI Australia with whom we have a excellent relationship.”