At Nodal Cine, we believe in providing filmmakers with the tools they need to bring their vision to life. Our unique and innovative PL Mount focal reducer is the first of it’s kind, allowing you to unlock the full potential of your PL Mount lenses.

 

My name is Joshua Chiara and I’m the founder of Nodal Cine.  As a cinematographer with over 15 years experience, I’ve used many camera systems and lens combinations to try and bring the artistic vision of myself and my collaborators to life in the best possible way. I quickly learned I needed things that weren’t commercially available. This need is what inspired me to build my first custom PL Mount focal reducer for the M43rds system.  This was the beginning.

 

When the RED Komodo came out, I loved using it. However, since I mainly shoot anamorphic, I knew I wanted a focal reducer to take full advantage of those lenses. When Atlas Lens Co announced their Mercury Series lenses, I knew they were for me, but since they are full frame and the RED komodo is Super 35 I knew I needed to update my focal reducer to work with Super 35 sensors. After we tested the Mercury lenses with the Focal Reducer, we decided that the combination of the two would be ideal for a lot of filmmakers, so we decided to make our Focal Reducer available to everyone.

 

With the Nodal One Focal Reducer, lenses look and feel more like how they were intended, especially anamorphic lenses.  Here are some key features of the Nodal One PL Mount Focal Reducer:

• Increases field of view by 0.71x.
• Gain 1 stop of exposure.
• User shimmable. (all reducers are calibrated before they ship)
• Back focus adjustment for quick +/- tuning in the field. 
• RF Mount currently with more mounts in the future.
• Mount lock system for maximum rigidity.

We’ve successfully tested numerous lenses, including Atlas Mercury and Orion anamorphic primes, Sigma FF ART Primes, DZO Vespid primes, Laowa OOOM zoom, vintage Helios and MIR primes, vintage LOMO anamorphic primes, and Cooke anamorphic primes. All of them work beautifully with the Nodal One Focal Reducer, letting them live up to their full potential!

 

Launching with an RF mount, additional mounts are on their way.  We have E-mount planned next, with M43rds and other mounts coming soon.  We are currently working on an Alexa mount for the first ever Focal Reducer compatible with the Arri Alexa.

 

*Adapter currently in working prototype stage.  Upgraded visual, functional, and optical elements will ship out at the end of this campaign.  Stay tuned and check back for updates.

 

What We Need & What You Get

I formed Nodal Cine to bring this adapter to everyone.  And that’s where you come in!  We’re crowd-funding the initial batch of focal reducers so we can get this product out into the world.  All the funds raised will go to paying for machining and optics for the initial batch of units.  All suppliers are in place, as is our build process and shipping system. All we need now is the funds to place the necessary orders and start shipping these out to you!

 

The Impact

Cinematography is an artform, just as much as every other art that goes into making great film. It just so happens that our job as cinematographers is highly technical in addition to being creative. The more resources we have at our disposal, the more effectively we can bring both our vision and that of a director from concept into reality. Often working with limitations from gear or funding, I’ve had to make compromises in the past, sacrificing parts of my vision because we simply couldn’t make the camera do what I wanted. By creating the Nodal One Focal Reducer, we’re solving at least one small part of that frustrating reality. By giving cinematographers the ability to do more with the cameras and lenses they have, we’re putting one more tool into the hands of cinematographers and empowering them as fully creative, visionary artists. 

Risks & Challenges

Aside from the very minor possibility of a supply chain delay, there’s very little risk associated with this launch. All suppliers are in place, all systems and workflows have been set up, and we know, without a doubt, the Nodal One Focal Reducer works.

Other Ways You Can Help

1. Follow us on all of our social media channels!
2. Spread the word! Tell your friends, colleagues, and collaborators.
3. Follow the campaign and stay up to date with our progress.

 

Join us on our journey as we revolutionize the world of camera technology. Pre-order the Nodal One PL Mount Focal Reducer today!