Blog Angénieux Interview with DP Zhu Yongkang – The Unique Charm of Angénieux Lenses in Creative Work
Director of Photography Zhu Yongkang, a Beijing Film Academy graduate whose credits include films Sniper and Cliff Walkers, television series Crossing the Yalu River, documentary Finding the Starlight in My Heart and the award-winning short Vengeance, is known for his masterful representation of the dynamic interplays between actors, the setting, and the camera. In this interview, he shares his in-depth experiences with the Angénieux Optimo Primes and EZ lenses and how he maximises their unique advantages in his work.
What was your impression of the Angénieux Optimo Prime lenses? What do you think are their unique technical or artistic features? What was your experience during the actual shooting?
This was my first time using these high-end prime lenses from Angenieux, and I was very satisfied with their performance on both a technical and artistic level. As my teacher Yuan Jiaping from the department once said, “the Optimo Primes is impressive in eight aspects: image quality, clarity, brightness, uniformity, accuracy, suitability, size, and durability.”
Technically, they exhibit almost no distortion, even at wide apertures, and boast remarkably accurate color reproduction, maintaining consistent edge-to-edge sharpness and brightness. The exceptional light transmission is a game-changer, allowing for detailed capture even in challenging low-light situations. The consistent, moderate damping force of the focus ring provides focus pullers with a comfortable and reliable experience, crucial for maintaining consistent focus under demanding conditions.
How would you define the characteristics of Angénieux prime lenses? How do the lenses help you create and shoot?
The Angénieux Optimo Primes excel at realistic reproduction. Their ability to capture details and reproduce light with exceptional stability is remarkable. In the film Your Gaze, the depth-of-field transitions created a beautiful sense of layering, perfectly capturing the interplay between characters and their environment, generating a warm and soft light that resonated with the film’s emotional core.
What were the main considerations for the choice of focal length in different scenes in the film Your Gaze?
To emphasize “geographical determinism,” we primarily used 24mm, 35mm, and 50mm lenses to connect characters with their surroundings. These focal lengths effectively captured the interaction between people and their environment, maintaining image clarity and subject definition even at wide apertures.
For scenes of self-reflection, we employed longer lenses (100mm and above) to isolate characters, amplifying feelings of loneliness and alienation by compressing space and heightening emotional tension. Interestingly, both the Optimo Primes and EZ lenses produced smooth, unblurred bokeh, facilitating seamless transitions and enhancing spatial depth within single shots.
Did you use any other colour filters during the actual shooting process?
In Your Gaze, we minimised color filtering, using only black magic filters. This decision was based on the Angénieux lenses’ exceptional ability to accurately reproduce color and detail. Their accurate reproduction capabilities are, themselves, a form of artistic expression. We aimed to preserve the rich detail of the shooting space, and the Angénieux lenses consistently delivered, even in high-contrast scenes, reproducing details accurately without light distortion.
How do you mix and match the prime and zoom lenses?
For this project, we used the Optimo Primes 18/21/24/28/32/50/75/135, the EZ2 22-60mm, EZ1 45-135mm, and the new EZ3 68-250mm. Zoom lenses were typically employed for fast-paced scenes or shots requiring spatial compression, whereas prime lenses were favored for capturing interactions between characters and their environment. The remarkable compatibility between Angenieux’s prime and zoom lenses ensured seamless transitions and consistent image quality throughout the production.
About the new EZ3 68-250mm, first, I like that its modular design allows for compatibility with a wide range of cameras and imaging components.
Secondly, its robust temperature compensation proved invaluable, mitigating the effects of daily temperature fluctuations and saving considerable time on set.
Thirdly, improvements in size and weight are significant, making lens changes remarkably efficient. Furthermore, the feel of the zoom ring is excellent. And, if I may discreetly disagree with my teacher, Yuan, I’d add that the lens’s size, weight, and optical image stabilization make handheld shooting surprisingly doable, especially at focal lengths above 135mm—of course, always within the context of the script.
What types of projects do you feel the Angénieux Optimo Primes set is best suited for?
These lenses are highly versatile, excelling in diverse projects. As I mentioned earlier, the strong light performance realistically captures the details and emotional nuances of life, particularly in high-contrast, low-light environments, producing rich picture layering.
In the interview, DP Zhu also shared deeper perspectives on his lens use and creative vision. He emphasized that a cinematographer’s role is not only to capture the image, but more importantly, to convey the interplay between the actor, the setting, and the camera itself through the choices in perspective. This discussion not only highlighted Zhu’s deep technical understanding of the lens (considering the 8 major factors of the lens, namely image quality, clarity, brightness, uniformity, accuracy, suitability, size, and durability), but also showcased his thoughtful and practical approach to filmmaking.
