American Cinematographer - December 1960 - 40

PRODUCT REPORT

venience of zoom operation that re¬
sults in smooth, readily duplicated
zooms.
Zoom Speed Variable

FINGERTIP CONTROLS mounted on panhead handle enable cameraman to operate zoom lens in or
out from the normal and more convenient position behind the camera. Speed of zoom can also
be varied.

Motor-driven Zoom Lens
Pushbuttons mounted on panhead handle afford
convenient control of the zooming action
By

JOHN

MOTOR-DRIVEN zoom lens is something many motion picture camera¬
men will find advantageous-especially
those associated with industrial and
technical film production. Such a lens
is now reality - the product of the
combined technical genius of Angenieux, the French Optical works, and
Arnold & Richter, West German man¬
ufacturers of Arriflex cameras. Angenieux has provided the zoom lens and
Arnold & Richter the motor-driven con¬
trol unit that makes it zoom in or out
at the touch of a button. The two units
are pictured in the accompanying il¬
lustration, mounted on an Arriflex 16
camera.
The Model 70 Angenieux zoom lens,

746

FORBES

which Arriflex Corporation of Amer¬
ica is marketing as one of several
items of companion equipment for Ar¬
riflex cameras, has a zoom range from
17mm to 70mm. The conventional
model is equipped with the usual handlever zoom control. The motor drive
and control unit added to the lens, con¬
verts it to automatic operation.
The lens control unit consists of a
miniature electric motor and gear
mechanism (1) which is mounted di¬
rectly on the zoom lens barrel (2) by
means of a special split-ring clamp
(3). The control unit is mounted di¬
rectly back of the camera on the pan¬
head handle, as illustrated (4), af¬
fording the cameraman finger-tip con¬

Two buttons on top of the control
unit activate the zoom lens action-one for zooming out and the other for
zooming in. A third control permits
varying the velocity or speed of the
zoom. This is done by means of a dryrun, determining the desired speed,
then setting the control for that speed.
Zooming speed cannot be altered dur¬
ing the interval of zooming.
The miniature drive motor operates
from the same 8-volt D.C. battery pack
as the camera motor.
The motor-driven zoom combination
is ideally suited for use with Arriflex
cameras, which afford direct throughthe-lens focusing and viewfinding by
means of the camera's reflex shutter
system that permits viewing the scene
continuously as it is being photo¬
graphed. It permits, also, the "dryrun" technique previously mentioned
for establishing the rate of zooming
speed.
Helpful in Industrial Filming

Engineers in industry and techni¬
cal research and the motion picture
cameraman working with them in the
production of analytical, report, and
factual films related to their work will
recognize the advantages inherent in a
motor-driven zoom lens control which
enables the cameraman to concentrate
his attention entirely on the subject
matter seen through the camera finder,
operating the zoom lens simultaneously
with panning action, or with the cam¬
era in static set-up by means of the
conveniently-located finger-tip controls.
Considering the prices that have
been asked over the years for variou?
lever-controlled zoom-type lenses, cost
of the motor-driven zoom combination
described above seems attractive: The
Model 70 Angenieux zoom lens sells
for $399.00. The motor drive is
$249.50-$648.50 for the complete out¬
fit. According to Arriflex Corporation
of America, there is a nominal instal¬
lation charge for mounting the motordrive when the units are purchased
separately. ■

AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER

American Cinematographer - December 1960

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