Lindsey Optics has announced the Brilliant² Rota-Pol Circular Polarizer that is designed to fit 4” x 5.65” cine matte boxes that allows you to rotate the included 138mm Round Brilliant-Pol Circular Polarizer. They have also announced 5 new 4″x5.65″ Brilliant² Tray Mount Close-Up Lenses.
Brilliant² Rota-Pol Circular Polarizer
The Brilliant² Rota-Pol is designed to place a rotating polarizer in a 4×5.65 matte box, even if the matte box does not have a rotating filter stage. In matte boxes with a rotating stage, the Rota-Pol is quick to insert and once installed, it’s fast and easy to adjust. It does not cause any interference with rods in a rod mounted matte box. The Brilliant² Rota-Pol Circular Polarizer comes with a 138mm Round Brilliant-Pol Circular Polarizer with 38% transmission, resulting in a 1.5 stop light reduction (a neutral density value of ND 0.45). The tray has a large 5.1″ clear aperture, which means the polarizer can be used even when working with wide angle and large zoom lenses.
Polarizers are extremely efficient at reducing reflections on glass, water, and other reflective objects. They also saturate blue skies and increase color saturation in landscapes by reducing micro-reflections in the scene.
The system features a unique mechanical design that includes an all-aluminum main gear in which the Polarizer is mounted. The main gear rests on internal Delrin rollers so the rotation of the filter will be smooth and won’t slip. The main gear is driven by aluminum thumb wheels that are geared with standard 0.8 pitch gear teeth for use with motorized wireless remote systems. Rotation of the polarizer can be done by spinning either of the two thumb wheels by hand or with a motor mounted on the 1/4–20 thread in the handle
As with all circular polarizers, the Brilliant Pol Circular Polarizers are constructed with two internal components, a linear polarizer that will reduce reflections when rotated and a “quarter-wave plate” that spins the light entering the camera lens, preventing any cross polarization inside the camera and lens system. Lindsey Optics Brilliant-Pol Polarizing Filters are constructed using Schott B270 “water white” optical glass and have a broadband multi-layer anti-reflection coating that is claimed to dramatically reduces flare, stray light and ghost images caused by filter to filter reflections. Contrast and color saturation are also said to be increased. They are ground and polished to be very flat and are claimed to not cause distortions or focus shifts, even with long focal length lenses. The filters are ground and polished on double-sided lappers. They are flat to the highest industry standard, confirmed by a Zygo Phase Shift Interferometer. They are claimed to not cause distortions or focus shifts, even with long focal length lenses.
As far as competition goes, Revar Cine also makes a Rota-Tray 4×5.65/138mm with Circular Polarizer ($599 USD). Bright Tangerine makes the Clash 138 ($597 USD) matte box which can take any standard 138mm circular filter, including polarizers, diopters, split-diopters and FX filters like diffusion. Formatt Hitech has a 138mm Hi Def Circular Schott-Desag B270 Crown Optical Glass Polarizer ($342 USD).
The Brilliant² Rota Pol rotating polarizer works with ARRI, Bright Tangerine, Chrosziel, Vocas, and other professional matte boxes. The Brilliant² Rota-Pol Circular Polarizer retails for $599 USD and they are available now.
Brilliant² Tray Mount Close-Up Lenses
Along with the new Brilliant² Rota-Pol Circular Polarizer, Lindsey Optics have also unveiled 5 new 4″x5.65″ Brilliant² Tray Mount Close-Up Lenses. These are available individually or as a set, and are offered in values of +1/4 Diopter, +1/2 Diopter, +1 Diopter, +2 Diopter, and +3 Diopter.
So what is a 138mm diopter and what does it do? In case you aren’t familiar with diopters, they are used to shorten the close-focusing distance of normal fixed focal length or zoom lenses. This allows the camera to focus closer to the subject and achieve a larger image size. In simple terms, they are like putting a magnifying glass in front of your camera’s lens. Diopters are the simplest and least expensive method of close-up photography and are an alternative to using a dedicated macro lens. There are also such things as Split Diopters, which can create a number of effects in camera. Effects such as splitting focus into two fields, or creating interesting shots for dream sequences.
The unique tray mount design allows quick and easy insertion and changes of close-up lenses in both clip-on and rod mount 4″x5.65″ cine matte boxes. The Brilliant² Tray Mount Close-Up Lenses use Lindsey Optics 138mm Close-Up Lenses (Diopters), which are permanently mounted in 4″x5.65″ trays. The tray has a 5.1″ diameter clear aperture that allows you to use the diopters with large and wider-angle lenses.
The +1/4 diopter and +1/2 diopter values fit in one matte box slot. The +1 diopter and +2 diopter values use 2 slots. The +3 diopter uses 3 slots in the matte box.
As far as competition goes that is a hard one. Most 138mm diopters don’t come in 4″x5.65″ trays. ARRI makes a 138mm Diopter Stage for Matte Boxes which retails for $600 USD. Schneider makes a range of 138mm diopters in various strengths. These retail for around $430 USD each. Tiffen also has 138mm Close-up diopter filters available from $333.50 USD.
The diopters are $550 USD each. A 4″x5.65″ Brilliant² Tray Mount Diopter Set is $2,750 USD. They are now available to purchase.
