Zeiss, maker of high-end cinematography lenses, has acquired UK-based camera tracking pioneer Ncam Technologies Ltd. With this acquisition, Zeiss is expanding its technology portfolio specifically for the cinema, broadcast, and visual effects industries. The Zeiss cine lens portfolio includes the Lightweight Zoom LWZ.3 for Super 35 as well as the Compact Prime CP.3 and CP.3 XD, and Cinema Zoom CZ.2.
Ncam’s multi-award-winning hybrid camera tracking technology is designed to make it possible for users to spatially track the camera indoors and outdoors by utilizing different tracking methods. “The acquired tracking data is essential for virtual production and live compositing and offers added value for postproduction,” the announcement states. This technology is to complement Zeiss’ cinema product lineup which includes Supreme Prime and Supreme Prime Radiance, Cinema Zoom and CP.3 lenses as well as recently introduced lens data related services in the CinCraft ecosystem. Together, Zeiss and Ncam aim to deliver quality, easy to use tracking and VFX solutions for professional production workflows.
“We are happy to be combining Ncam’s unique tracking technology with Zeiss’ longstanding expertise in cinema lenses, lens data and the cinema market,” says Christophe Casenave, responsible for the cine portfolio at Zeiss, adding, “This enables us to think beyond current camera tracking capabilities to offer innovative solutions especially for visual effects, virtual production and other applications.”
Brice Michoud, Head of Research and Development at Ncam adds, “The team is excited to be working together with our new colleagues at Zeiss on the next step in camera tracking technology and making it available to more users than ever before.”
Ncam was founded in 2012 and has locations in London and Los Angeles. Combining global resources of Ncam and Zeiss is planned to improve customer support and bring innovations in the cine and broadcast markets and beyond.
The announcement concludes, “Zeiss plans to ensure that every new feature and improvement brought to the technology will also benefit existing Ncam users and will offer a compelling upgrade program. A first product announcement will follow later this summer.”
