Heart of the Hunter is essentially an action film, and going in we knew we wanted to use the Sony Venice 2. Mandla Dube, the Director, was a huge fan of how the Sony Venice captures Dark skin tones. We also knew we wanted to shoot full frame to capture the epic landscapes of the Karoo. The options when it comes to full frame glass is a little limited, so it was exciting to know that Optimo had released a range of primes that we could look at.

It was immediately apparent that the Venice 2 and the Optimo primes paired really well together. I was already a fan of the Zooms, having previously owned the 28-340, and used it extensively as my go to long lens. The primes merged seamlessly with Optimo zooms, maintaining a clarity, but gentleness on skin tone that was really pleasing.

               

I also really enjoyed the contrast of the primes. As sensors get better and better, it is important that the glass can perform well in high contrast environments and hold the highlight details. Especially as we are able to grade detail back into highlights, the lenses need to be able to maintain that detail. We were often working in the Karoo, which is essentially a desert environment with super harsh African sun, and the lenses performed admirably.

One of the other factors that I enjoyed was access to a wide range of focal lengths. You are often limited in the range of primes in the full frame world.  

               

Overall I really enjoyed the Optimo Primes, and would highly recommend them to other DPs

Photo Courtesy of Mandla Dube and Netflix. Thanks to Benoît Brismontier and Mandla Dube for making the connexion.  

More information about the Angénieux Optimo Primes here !