If you're a lover of sports and cinematography and love to swat up on that is the best cinema camera on the market or what are the recent Netflix-approved cameras, you are going to love this story about a lens that has changed the way the NFL is captured forever.
Enter the Optex 33:1 – a Canon broadcasting lens that has been modified as a cine lens. Only 15 were ever being sold worldwide - and NFL Films owns two of them.
Its huge 33x zoom range means that it can shoot a wide-shot of the whole football stadium - and then crop right into the ball in the receiver's hand in the end zone. The effect is made even more dramatic, by being situated just a few inches off the ground, to give a worm's eye view of the action
The lens was rehoused by Optex in London, England, to be a fully-fledged cinema lens with T stops and 0.88 gearing so that it could be used on the very best Hollywood cameras to create NFL Films - which is very impressive back in 1998!
How one camera lens turns an ordinary throw into a picture-perfect shot 🎥#NFLFilmsPresents: The Optex 33 to 1 pic.twitter.com/N16RvhYMcVNovember 21, 2023
Above: this film gives a brief history of the Optex 33:1 lens, and how it is used to dramatic effect during NFL games by its operator
As you can see from the film above the range this lens has is incredible, and to be able to capture extreme details from wider establishing shots in mere moments is a skill in itself, but to keep it sharp, on track and composed it complete sorcery and I am in love with this lens and its no wonder NFL Films has such a big following - incredible!
