Angénieux Honored by Society of Camera Operators with Technical Achievement Award

Mr. Pierre Andurand, President of Angenieux, Mr. Rodney Charters, ASC, CSC, Mr. Dominique Rouchon, International Sales Director

Thales Angenieux announced they are the recipient of the 2012 Technical Achievement Award from the Society of Camera Operators (SOC). The Award recognizes the design of the Angenieux Optimo series of hand-held zoom lenses: 15-40, 28-76 and 45-120mm. The Technical Achievement Award was presented to Thales Angenieux during the 2012 SOC Lifetime Achievements Awards Ceremony on February 19, 2012 in Los Angeles, CA, at the Leonard Goldenson Theater at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

“On behalf of everyone at Thales Angenieux I accept this award with much gratitude,” said Pierre Andurand, President of Thales Angenieux. “I would like to thank all the Optimo fans and users who have made Angenieux lenses the most recognizable and sought after zoom lenses in studios and production sites all over the world. Angenieux’s goal has always been to provide you with the most innovative and highest quality products. I understand that some people here consider that the movie ‘The Artist’ from Michel Hazanavicius is a beautiful gift from France. I would like to tell you that this SOC award is also for us, in return, a fantastic gift from Hollywood, that I will be very proud to bring back to France. I’m sure that this award will bring Angenieux’s staff extreme pleasure, enthusiasm and motivation, to continue to do what we have been doing for years: helping to bring your ideas and storyboards into imagery. Thank you very much and Vive le Cinéma!”

The Angenieux Optimo series of hand-held zoom lenses combine unique design elements of light weight and compactness, with high performance characteristics of fast aperture, no ramping and minimal to no breathing. Especially favored by hand-held and Steadicam operators, the trio is appropriate for all camera configurations and used in a variety of shooting styles. With the same gear positions, weight and front diameter, the three lenses can be swapped quickly with minimal to no re-balancing on the Steadicam. The combined focal length of 15mm to 120mm grants unmatched versatility within the most usable focal range, while reducing production time and cost. Outstanding image quality and unique, high precision zoom guiding mechanism for perfect tracking round out the features. Additional specifications include:

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- Focal lengths: 15-40mm, 28-76mm, 45-120mm
- Fast aperture of T2.6 and T2.8, no ramping
- 320 degree focus rotation with over 50 focus witness marks (no breathing or minimal breathing)
- PL mount; Image coverage of S35+ or 31.4mm diagonal image coverage
- Superb contrast and color reproduction
- Light weight 4.2-4.3 lbs (each)
- Compatibility with Angenieux 1.4x and 2x extenders

Rodney Charters, ASC, CSC, presented the award. Best known for his work as DP on hit television shows “24 hours” and “Shameless”, he is a long time user and a fan of Angenieux lenses. Rodney was also one of the first people who got the opportunity to test the new 45-120 zoom lens: “The 3 short Angenieux zooms 15-40, 28-76, and 45-120 are revolutionizing the way we shoot television. With their speed, light weight and close focusing, they are the perfect tools for the organic handheld digital age.”

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Guillermo Navarro, ASC, AMC, who won the 2006 Academy Award for Best Cinematography for the film “Pan's Labyrinth” and worked on the “Twilight Saga’s”, “I am Number Four” and “The Resident” said, “Optimos are my first choice in approaching the story I’m telling because they are such a loyal translator of my vision. For me, they are literally the most important pieces of equipment, along with the camera. What I see with my eyes is perfectly translated by the lens and, because of its truthfulness, either the film gets printed with that or if it’s digital, the media registers very, very accurately what I’m intending to do. For Pacific Rim, my first digital movie – set to release in 2013 – since the weight of the camera is so light, I can use the 15-40 zoom on the Steadicam, which I am using every day. The door has really been opened for me to use the close focusing 15-40 as well as the 28-76 as hand-held or Steadicam lenses.”

The February 19th SOC ceremony was a fundraising event for the Vision Center at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Attendees watched a short documentary entitled Know The Glow™, produced by Bonnie Blake of the SOC and directed by Alexis Ostrander, showing how simple photographs could aid in detecting children's eye diseases. Founded in 1979, the SOC has donated over $160,000 for their adopted charity.

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