Of course, Christopher Nolan uses a modified medium-format SLR to preview shots on set!
The director, whose critically acclaimed filmography includes The Dark Knight, Oppenheimer and The Odyssey, has a penchant for film, vintage lenses and practical effects. He famously doesn’t own a smartphone and recently described himself as a “techno-skeptic” to the New York Times.
And now an Instagram post from sunny16lab (embedded below) has highlighted the legendary filmmaker’s penchant for a modified Pentax 67.
Originally called the Asahi Pentax 6×7, the medium format camera was launched in 1969 and spawned several variations, the last being released in 1999. These cameras were designed to take 120 and 220 film, but Nolan’s Pentax 67 is gutted, essentially making it an extremely cool optical viewfinder for previewing shots on set.
According to the sunny16lab post, Nolan’s camera has been modified by IMAX, replacing the shutter assembly with a custom mount adapter that can house IMAX-compatible cine lenses.
This enables both Nolan and long-time collaborator, cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, to preview shots using the correct field of view.
Initially I was confused, because the camera’s aspect ratio differs from that of the 15/70 IMAX format. But that has apparently been remedied via custom frame lines – and with both IMAX and 6x7 featuring a width of 70mm, there’s virtually no crop factor, enabling the filmmakers to get an accurate composition.
As you can see from the images, it even has IMAX branding beneath the pentaprism.
All this seems very on-brand for Nolan. This certainly isn’t the first time he’s been linked with unusual analog methods of checking framing. He’s often photographed alongside his trusty analog Casio Portable Color TV, which he typically wears around his neck for checking framing.
Personally, I love learning about Nolan’s process. Clearly he’s a huge fan of imaging in general and it certainly shows when you watch his films, because the framing is always on point.
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