Ali. Sachtler has always been very true to it’s roots in Munich, Germany ‘ the home of the world famous Octoberfest. Accordingly, our colleagues in Europe will be celebrating with a Bavarian Barbeque in an Octoberfest style tent on the premises of the Sachtler headquarters. Our team here in the US is currently considering various options, but we want to make sure our celebration will be true to the Bavarian roots of Sachtler and contain plenty of food and drink.

Bob. We stay true to our roots. Sachtler was founded by working cinematographer Wendelin Sachtler, who brought in the practical know-how and experience. He also was an inventor and innovator. Now that Sachtler is a truly global brand, we have to keep close relationships with cinematographers, camera operators and assistants from all over the world. This is the only way we can truly incorporate the global demands onto our products. To keep up the innovation side, we have some of the smartest minds of our industry working in our engineering departments. Our engineers are tasked daily to innovate while staying true to the values that Sachtler has become so famous for: smart and durable products professionals can rely on to get the job done.

Ali. There are two elements at the heart of our fluid heads that all still carry Wendelin Sachtler’s “Signature”: the basic principle of counterbalance and the fluid drag modules. The basic workings of both have remained the same all along. Our line of camera stabilizing systems ‘ the Artemis range ‘ was conceived long after Wendelin passed away. That line continually evolves with more products & accessories being launched every year. This year we launched a new approach to making a vest as well as the first production carbon fiber spring arm. So, even though artemis clearly evolves the most, all of our other products continue to advance as well.

Ali. As new materials and material combinations continue to be developed at the world’s most advanced research facilities, a plateau doesn’t seem anywhere close. A special team of engineers which focuses only on innovation keep a close eye on these new materials coming out of the scientific community and evaluate their feasibility for our products. Bob. One large hurdle of course is always cost. We could make our products much lighter today, however they wouldn’t be cost efficient. Carbon Fiber is a great example where new technology was able to give additional benefit at a reasonable cost.

Ali. Working close with the industry professional that make the news, sitcoms, feature movies and much more on a daily level is incredibly rewarding. We have the privilege of supporting the artists that visually shape the world we live in. As part of our global organization we interact with professionals from most cultures and places around the world ‘ and we all have one thing in common: we strive to capture our world in moving pictures. This is extremely uplifting and humbling at the same time.

Bob:
One large hurdle of course is always cost. We could make our products much lighter today, however they wouldn’t be cost efficient.
Carbon Fiber is a great example where new technology was able to give additional benefit at a reasonable cost.

Bob. Well, just in the last few months we have introduced Sachtler’s first LED on-camera light, in the artemis line we introduced the first production carbon fiber spring arm and truly redefined camera support with SOOM ‘ the Swiss army knife of tripods. For obvious reasons, I can’t really talk about upcoming developments, but these new products will be followed up with more innovations in these ranges. Our 50 year anniversary is a great reminder of the philosophy behind Sachtler: As long as there are visionaries & creativity behind the camera, Sachtler will supply innovative tools to help capture these visions.

You can find out more about Sachtler’s company history here.