Focused on Film since the 1960s: Half a century behind the camera

Otto Nemenz has been supplying camera equipment to the Hollywood film industry for many decades. He talks us through his business principles, the rapid shift to digital, and what to expect from movies in the future.¹

For over 175 years, the people at ZEISS have asked the question: How can we challenge the limits of imagination? In celebration of that vision, ZEISS has partnered with thought leaders and great minds from around the globe for ZEISS Beyond Talks, giving them centerstage to speak about their own work, visions, passion and issues that are affecting our world moving forward.

I've been here in Los Angeles for about 55 years. I got into the film industry almost right away when I came to the United States in 1964, and I've been working with cameras and lenses ever since. A lot of people normally retire at this age – I just turned 80 years old – but I enjoy what I do so much. My work became my hobby.

It’s very important to keep the people who work for you happy. If someone doesn’t like their work, even more money won't do it. So I try to keep all the people who work for my company happy. I listen to them and provide a secure job. When things get slow, or when there's a strike and so on, I never let anybody go or cut salaries. We just stay home, duck down and do other things. It’s worked for me for the last 55 years. At least so far!

What’s special with my company is that I went through all the stages in the business; being an assistant cameraman, an operator, and a director of photography. So I know what's going on behind the scenes. If a director of photography wants to do something to create a specific kind of look, I can pretty much determine what he wants. We can basically change the look of a lot of the lenses and give the director of photography close to what is needed.

When I started working in this industry everything was on film – there was no digital equipment around at all. Then suddenly digital cameras came onto the market. It happened very quickly.

We all had to go through the change and shift to digital, which we did fast. I think the whole company was changed over to digital equipment in about three months or so. I would say about 15% of our work is still film and the other 85% is digital.

So is it better? It's doubtful – it just looks different. A lot of pictures are still being shot on film, as certain directors prefer the film look. We kept a big assortment of our film cameras intact and we maintain them constantly. They can be used anytime.

I do not see very big demand for 3D. It comes and goes. Since I've been in business it’s come back at least three times. It totally disappeared, then it came back again, and once again after that before disappearing completely. I do not see a very big push for this system.

The cameras are getting smaller and lighter, and the lenses are also becoming smaller, lighter and faster. There is a limitation there though, because if something becomes too small then it's just very difficult to use and doesn't work for your needs anymore.

I can see having different irises in lenses and creating a certain look, especially an autofocus look that you'll be able to control by changing irises. There's a lot of things you can play around with in order to create this certain image on your camera.  

The biggest challenge is going to be the way we'll look at pictures. I think 360-degree cinema is coming and I would like to go that route. People are always going to find ways to look at their favorite show or film – either at home or in a big theatre.