April 10, 2018
NAB 2018
Turn Your Phone into a Cinema Camera with this Adapter
Cinematic International Company Limited has a DOF adapter for your phone.
Ever wonder what it would look like to have a Leica or Cooke Lens on an iPhone or Samsung? Well, wonder no longer. Cinematic International Company Limited has a product that will connect almost any lens to your phone. It's basically a phone case with a DOF lens adapter that allows you to turn your phone into a working cinema camera.
No Film School's complete coverage of NAB 2018 is brought to you by Adorama, My RØDE Reel, and Blackmagic Design.
More of No Film School's coverage from the NAB showroom floor:
Your Comment
16 Comments
No. Please don't. Please. If you're going to buy or rent cine glass, might as well make it worth it with a nice camera too.
April 10, 2018 at 4:25PM
To use that kind of lens on a phone is like to drink sangria made with an old, good and expensive wine. Don't forget to put a lot of ice cubes.
You can buy a black magic pocket camera for less that one of those phones, however some only want to use one of those phones for shooting video. It is like, "Hi folks, I have the solution for everything (a smartphone), where is the problem?"
April 10, 2018 at 5:24PM, Edited April 10, 5:24PM
invest your money in lenses, they hold their value better than cameras.. then you can use the camera that you probably already have in your pocket and rent a body for bigger projects :)
... or something like that.
April 10, 2018 at 9:34PM
I would buy this just for fun. Already got the iPhone, already got the lenses. Even if I ever need a third camera, I can just take out my phone and shoot with some glass I'm already bringing to the shoot. All in all, don't take this product too seriously; I think it's fun.
April 11, 2018 at 12:28AM, Edited April 11, 12:28AM
"adapter that allows you to turn your phone into a working cinema camera". It takes a bit more than putting a lens (any lens) on a phone, or any other camera, for it to suddenly become a cinema camera. You guys should know what you're talking about, but it clearly looks like whoever is writing these articles has no idea...
April 11, 2018 at 3:57AM
Some of you are getting way too high on your high horse about this. If you prefer a traditional cinema camera, go for it. This is a tool just like anything else. Don't like it for your work? Then don't use it and let the free market speak for itself. The fact is real artists have used smartphones to produce professional quality work like Sean Baker with "Tangerine" and Steven Soderbergh with "Unsane" (just this year). Not to mention Beastgrip seems to have done ok for themselves. So it makes sense that a tool like this would be the next step in the evolution of smartphone filmmaking. Don't forget Red is making a smartphone of their own too. Wouldn't it be cool to have cine-glass on that phone? I'd want to see what that looks like.
April 11, 2018 at 8:32AM
No. An iPhone has a native of ISO of like what... 50 or 100? And the whole point of Soderbergh and Tangerine is that you're working with a small minimalist package. Just the phone or a basic anamorphic adapter. If you start adding a DOF adapter, light transmission cuts in half usually so you're looking at 25 or 50 on the ISO. I'd rather shoot on an a7s.
April 11, 2018 at 10:03AM
Yeah. I don't think they're trying to compete with Sony. They're trying to compete with Beastgrip. If you don't see the value in something like Beastgrip, you won't like this either. I'd rather shoot on an a7s also. And I'd rather shoot on a Red instead of an a7s. But it also depends on what I'm shooting. I can imagine certain applications for something like this. They're small but I can imagine them.
April 11, 2018 at 11:31AM, Edited April 11, 11:47AM
I want to see 'Unsane' because of the story itself, but the visuals are definitely anything to write home about.
April 11, 2018 at 10:08AM
Yep. You're 100% right that the story is ultimately what matters. What camera you use is irrelevant. So who cares if someone wants to attach their iPhone to expensive glass. I'm curious to see what that looks like but I'm more interested in knowing what someone does with it. I didn't think someone would ever shoot a feature on a mobile phone but I was proved wrong. So I'm just saying, let's keep an open mind.
April 11, 2018 at 11:37AM, Edited April 11, 11:51AM
"What camera you use is irrelevant", absolutely not true.
April 11, 2018 at 10:52PM
I think phone technology advancing the way it is is great for young filmmakers, since there's no reason nowadays that anyone with an idea can't start making short films on their phone. I just don't know what Soderbergh is trying to prove and when it comes from him it feels like an Apple ad (to me at least) instead of someone legitimately thinking an iPhone is their best option to make a film with.
However I am coming at this having only seen the trailer. Perhaps the film itself will change my mind, but I feel like the 'This was shot on an iPhone' is currently more of a marketing gimmick than anything else. Had Tangerine been shot on a Black Magic camera or something, it likely would not have had nearly the same level of attention that it had.
April 12, 2018 at 2:32PM
The ignorance of people who are in a position that they could never see themselves needing a product like this, therefore feel a product like this is useless, is frustrating. Get off your pedestal and realize that there is an entire world out there (with far more people that the ones who live in yours) of filmmakers who don't have money pouring out of their pockets, and could run into situations where products like this are useful.
Case in point: I'm leading a team which has been funded with a very low budget ~$50K to produce the first three episodes of a pilot series. The series is high concept, VFX heavy, and per the broadcaster required to be shot in 4K. We're in a small town where equipment rental just doesn't exist, 95% of the gear we used is our own, including our FS7. We have a C100 but the 4K requirement put it out commission.
There were several times where an alt angle of a single take moment like a stunt or complex setup would've been great to have. One day we were lucky enough to have another guy come in with his RED, but that was it. We pretty much had to shoot the entire series on one camera. I would've loved to have the option of throwing an extra lens on a phone and use it for a quick coverage or insert shot on some of our action scenes. For a one or two second insert of something that couldn't be reproduced, it would've been a great boost to our production value. Instead, we have a few big moments that are stuck with one wide coverage shot.
My point is, stop looking at the world of filmmaking through your perfect, professional lens. How many of you got your careers started with janky-ass self-made rigs, hanging cameras out of cars or doing ridiculous things like faking a dolly move on rollerblades, building cheap mounts out of plywood and duct tape? You probably wouldn't be where you are right now if you and the people you worked with didn't get creative and think outside of the box, and products like this are just a new tool to help new filmmakers do exactly that. This industry is harsh enough as it is, check your privilege at the door sometimes and be happy that crazy innovations like this are helping more people bring crazy dreams to life, so that one day they won't need these tools anymore either.
April 11, 2018 at 6:18PM, Edited April 11, 6:18PM
That’s redicilous! “High concept” more like high producers and crew. Smells like a reality show. I wouldn’t do a pilot for less that $250,0000 and actually pay people what they’re worth.
April 14, 2018 at 3:41PM
How much is it and would it facilitate old Nikkor lenses?
April 11, 2018 at 9:08PM
These type of adaptors have been on ebay for a few years now, They always look cheap and nasty. I can't imagine this will be any better. How? The girl didn't seem to know much about it. Yeah, I'd give it a miss unless you like parting with your money on useless equipment. Or someone show me something good shot using this
May 2, 2018 at 12:43PM, Edited May 2, 12:43PM