Ever watched CSI on television and wondered how the director of photography gets those extreme close-ups and into-the-body shots? The answer is a tubular lens—known as a Probe—by Innovision, a specialized optics company based in Los Angeles.
There are several models of Probes, but the latest is the DV Probe, a new tubular lens system designed for small format DV and HDV camcorders. It allows a videographer to deliver “money shots” by shooting in places never before possible. As the company put it, a Probe can show the texture of a single aspirin tablet or “make a soup can look like a rocket ship.”
Innovision Optics is widely known for its tubular lenses for high-end cameras, including HD cinema and 35mm film models. But to deliver high-end Probe lens technology to the fixed-lens DV and HDV camcorders made by Panasonic, Sony, and Canon was no small feat.
Innovision developed the new DV Probe system in conjunction with lens maker Schneider Optics. Together these optical companies utilized a proprietary computer design process to design the necessary optics and light transmission via high-resolution glass elements and relay optics. As a result, Innovision said, the DV Probe provides high edge-to-edge sharpness, flat field, and extreme depth of field.
In addition to the new DV Probe, Innovision Optics offers the original Probe, Probe II and HD Probe tubular lens systems, as well as a wide variety of other production tools available for sale or rental.
Post your comments below
