SHIGEO MIZUKAWA’S GIFT. El regalo de Shigeo Mizukawa. THANKS, TAK! ¡Gracias, amigo Tak!

(En español, al final)

This photograph takes pride of place in my HAL9000 editing room.

On his third visit to Galicia, my friend of almost thirty years, Tak Kohyama, owner of Japan’s largest motion-picture film laboratory (CLICK HERE), arrived this time with something I had not been expecting and which, for someone like me, could hardly have greater sentimental value: a gift from my much-admired Shigeo Mizukawa, the designer of what I consider to be the finest small-format motion-picture camera ever produced, the Fuji ZC1000.

The ZC1000N from Shigeo's personal collection, dedicated to me.

And this was no ordinary gift, but a ZC1000N from Shigeo Mizukawa’s own personal collection, specially prepared for me and engraved on its metal body with a personalised dedication in Japanese and Spanish, handwritten by Shigeo himself.

Those who know me, or who have followed this blog over the years, will understand what this means to me. The ZC1000 has been part of my life since long before I could ever have imagined that one day I would personally meet the man who designed it. 

In the Coast of Death (Galicia, NW of Spain)

I first learnt of its existence when I was an eleven-year-old boy, and that extraordinary Japanese camera lodged itself somewhere in my mind from that moment onwards, eventually becoming, over the passing decades, not only my favourite camera but also the tool with which I have shot some of the most important cinematographic works of my life. But Shigeo did not send me only the camera he designed and for which he will go down in the history of cinematography.

 

A 21ST-CENTURY FUJINON FOR A ZC1000N.

The ZC1000N arrived accompanied by a truly exceptional lens: a FUJINON UA13×4.5, 4.5–59 mm (code HA13x4.5BDEZD-T48), belonging to the 4K Plus Premier Series — in other words, an extremely high-performance professional lens designed by Fujifilm for 2/3-inch broadcast cameras. It is a lens born many decades after the ZC1000 which, by means of a B4-to-C adapter, allows two very different eras of Fuji engineering to be brought together in a single camera-and-lens combination.

At this point, an important technical clarification is necessary. The adapter is entirely mechanical and contains no optical elements, so it introduces no multiplication factor and does not alter the focal length of the lens. The Fujinon therefore remains exactly what it is: a 4.5–59 mm, which becomes a 9–118 mm when its built-in 2× optical extender is engaged. However, nominal focal length is one thing, while the angle of view I ultimately obtain on the ZC1000N film frame is another.

In my initial checks, still pending actual filming tests, I have compared its coverage with two references I know extremely well: the 4.6 mm on my Elmo 3600 Album and the extraordinary 5.5 mm EBC Fujinon designed specifically for the ZC1000. On the ZC1000N, the new Fujinon provides a field of view slightly narrower than the Elmo’s 4.6 mm, but appreciably wider than that of the 5.5 mm Fujinon.

By practical comparison, my provisional estimate is that its angle of view on the ZC1000 is approximately equivalent to that which a 5.1–5.2 mm lens designed for this format would provide, although I must emphasise that its actual optical focal length naturally remains 4.5 mm. Film itself, once I carry out the first controlled tests, will allow me to determine precisely how the combination actually performs.

The lens also has something particularly important in an adaptation of this kind: back-focus adjustment, allowing the flange focal distance to be finely adjusted and the lens to be precisely matched to each individual camera body. Once correctly set, focus can remain consistent throughout the zoom range, something essential in a professional lens with such an extensive focal range.

One feature of this lens that is a genuine technical treat for someone like me, who shoots projects in the natural world and has taken a ZC1000N to places where changing lenses can range from inconvenient to simply impossible, is its built-in focal-length extender, which allows me to go from an extreme wide-angle to a considerable telephoto reach without ever removing the lens from the camera.

At the Collegiate Church of Santa María del Campo in A Coruña—opposite General Franco's house and the place where he used to attend Mass.

HT-EBC: THE FUJINON PHILOSOPHY TAKEN TO THE EXTREME.

But what makes this zoom extraordinary is not merely its focal range. The UA13×4.5 belongs to Fujifilm’s professional 4K Plus Premier family and employs technologies which, many decades later, represent the evolution of the Fujinon EBC optical philosophy that has fascinated me since childhood.

Among them is HT-EBC, High Transmittance Electron Beam Coating, an evolution of Fuji’s celebrated EBC coatings, designed to achieve high light transmission whilst reducing internal reflections, ghosting and flare. I have always been fascinated by the look produced by the finest EBC Fujinons: high contrast, deep blacks, clean colour rendition and that particular three-dimensional quality which, even when shooting against the light, seems to make subjects physically separate themselves from the background.

In these professional generations, Fujifilm combines its advanced multi-layer coatings with special ultra-low-dispersion glass and sophisticated correction of chromatic aberrations in order to maintain high levels of resolution and contrast throughout an extraordinarily extensive focal range. There is, moreover, a historical continuity that I find particularly appealing. Fuji Photo Film began very early on to take control of optical-glass production and the development of its own lenses, an industrial tradition from which the FUJINON name would eventually emerge and which, through successive technological advances, continues into Fujifilm’s present-day professional cinema and broadcast lenses.

I therefore find this combination fascinating: a ZC1000N conceived by Shigeo Mizukawa during the great era of Single-8, equipped with a lens representing the evolution of Fujinon in the 21st century. Old and new united by the same Fuji philosophy, in a combination that belonged to its designer, the great Shigeo Mizukawa, and which he dedicated especially to me.

Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia

MORE THAN TWO KILOGRAMS OF LENS.

Such a marvel does, however, have one drawback: its weight. In its complete professional configuration, the UA13×4.5 weighs well over two kilograms which, at my age, is a problem when shooting hand-held.

Fortunately, a significant proportion of that weight comes from the systems required for professional broadcast use, functions that I simply do not need. As I have always preferred to work manually — focus, zoom and aperture, as I have done throughout my life — my intention is to remove the zoom and iris servo systems that are unnecessary for my cinematographic use, thereby reducing the weight of the complete assembly by perhaps around 800 grams — although, for the moment, that figure is merely a conjecture.

The ZC1000N bearing Shigeo’s dedication, however, will not be a workhorse camera. It will occupy a special place in a display cabinet in my collection and the body will remain there, because for me its value is no longer financial, or even cinematographic: it is sentimental and historical. The magnificent 4.5–59 mm, however, will be another matter. That I certainly intend to use from time to time on my working ZC1000N. To do otherwise would almost be a sin.

Land´s End of the Roman Empire, in Galicia (Finisterre in Spanish or Fisterra in Galician)

ANOTHER GIFT: TAK’S PROTOTYPE.

But the surprises did not end with Shigeo. To celebrate our almost thirty years of friendship, Tak also gave me his personal slow-exposure device for the ZC1000, which he no longer intends to use.

Time Exposure machine prototype

I have owned a later version since around 2008, when I bought one from him, but the unit he has now given me is particularly interesting because it is an earlier beta version, larger and heavier, but also incorporating several features that disappeared from subsequent versions, including a frame counter, a handle and a metal finish that give it that delightful appearance of a prototype built to work and experiment rather than to sit in a shop window. It represents another small fragment of the modern history of the ZC1000 that has come into my hands directly from Japan and, moreover, from the very person who designed and used it.

A present of pure silver!!!

TEN FUJICHROME R25N CARTRIDGES FROM 2012

There was also a third gift. Tak brought with him ten cartridges of Fujichrome R25N from the final batch, dating from 2012. This particular gift comes with a question mark attached. The films come from a batch that Tak has just discovered in a warehouse and which, unfortunately, was not refrigerated, so not even he knows what condition the emulsion may be in after fourteen years. 

Checking one of the cartridges with the little PX300

I have therefore decided to sacrifice one of the ten cartridges for a test with my tiny PX300. Once I have shot this test, we shall process it in my own studio and discover what remains, fourteen years later, of that wonderful Fujichrome R25N. If the result is good, I shall still have another nine for a project that will give people something to talk about. If the result is bad, at least we shall have learnt something.

GALICIA WITH TAK.

Naturally, cameras, lenses and film were not all that occupied Tak  during this third visit to Galicia. We travelled together to Santiago de Compostela, where we visited the tomb of the Apostle St James in the Cathedral; we ate seafood on the Costa da Morte, that stretch of the Galician coastline whose name recalls the countless shipwrecks caused over the centuries by its stormy waters, reefs and cliffs; and we also toured my city, La Coruña, which Tak already knew from his previous visits. Tak missed the tram and the panoramic lift at Monte de San Pedro.

The garage of IB Cinema

Some of the things we believe will always be there eventually become memories. Perhaps that is why, as time passes, certain objects acquire a meaning that completely transcends their usefulness. This ZC1000N is one of them.

I have filmed with the ZC1000N for much of my life. My other ZC1000s also have extraordinary stories, but none quite like this one that Tak has brought me, which comes from the personal collection of the man who designed the camera, bears an engraved dedication that Shigeo wished to make especially for me, and has travelled thousands of miles from Japan to Galicia in the hands of another friend with whom I have now shared almost thirty years of friendship.

We spent several hours watching S8 films blow up to 16 mm

For that reason, it will remain in its display cabinet, because every time I look at it I shall inevitably remember the eleven-year-old boy who one day discovered that, in Japan, there was a camera called the Fuji ZC1000, and thought that it must be about as close as one could possibly get to the perfect motion-picture camera.

More than half a century later, I still think much the same.

Only now, incredibly, I have in my display cabinet a ZC1000N that once belonged to the man who created it.

Thank you very much, Tak! But, most especially, thank you very much, Shigeo Mizukawa!

La Coruña airport

EL REGALO DE SHIGEO MIZUKAWA.

En su tercera visita a Galicia, mi amigo desde hace casi treinta años Tak Kohyama, propietario del laboratorio cinematográfico más grande de Japón (PULSE AQUÍ), llegó esta vez con algo que yo no esperaba y que, para alguien como yo, difícilmente podría tener mayor valor sentimental: un regalo de mi admirado Shigeo Mizukawa, el diseñador de la que considero la mejor cámara cinematográfica de pequeño formato jamás producida, la Fuji ZC1000.

El regalo no es un regalo cualquiera sino una ZC1000N procedente de la colección personal del propio Shigeo Mizukawa, especialmente preparada para mí y grabada sobre su cuerpo metálico con una dedicatoria personalizada en japonés y español de puño y letra por el propio Shigeo.

Quienes me conocen o siguen esta bitácora desde hace años saben lo que esto significa para mí. La ZC1000 forma parte de mi vida desde mucho antes de que pudiera imaginar que algún día llegaría a conocer personalmente al hombre que la diseñó. Supe de su existencia cuando era un niño de once años y aquella extraordinaria cámara japonesa quedó desde entonces instalada en algún rincón de mi cabeza hasta convertirse, con el paso de las décadas, no sólo en mi cámara predilecta, sino también en la herramienta con la que he rodado algunos de los trabajos cinematográficos más importantes de mi vida. Pero Shigeo no me envió solamente la cámara que él diseño y por la que pasará a la historia del cine.

UN FUJINON DEL SIGLO XXI PARA UNA ZC1000N.

La ZC1000N llegó acompañada por un objetivo realmente excepcional: un FUJINON UA13×4.5, 4,5–59 mm  (código HA13x4.5BDEZD-T48)  perteneciente a la 4K Plus Premier Series, es decir, una óptica profesional de muy altas prestaciones concebida por Fujifilm para cámaras broadcast de 2/3 de pulgada. Se trata de un objetivo nacido muchas décadas después que la ZC1000 y que, mediante un adaptador B4–C, permite reunir en un mismo conjunto dos épocas muy distintas de la ingeniería de Fuji.

En este punto conviene hacer una precisión técnica importante. El adaptador utilizado es puramente mecánico y no contiene elementos ópticos, por lo que no introduce ningún factor de multiplicación ni modifica la distancia focal del objetivo. El Fujinon continúa siendo, por tanto, exactamente lo que es: un 4,5–59 mm, que mediante su duplicador óptico interno 2× se convierte en un 9–118 mm. Sin embargo, una cosa es la distancia focal nominal y otra el ángulo de campo que finalmente obtengo sobre la película de la ZC1000N.

En las primeras comprobaciones, todavía a la espera de pruebas reales de filmación, he comparado su cobertura con dos referencias que conozco muy bien: el 4,6 mm de mi Elmo 3600 Album y el extraordinario EBC Fujinon 5,5 mm diseñado específicamente para la ZC1000. El nuevo Fujinon proporciona sobre la ZC1000N un campo ligeramente menos angular que el 4,6 mm de la Elmo, pero apreciablemente más amplio que el del Fujinon 5,5 mm.

Por comparación práctica, estimo provisionalmente que su ángulo de campo sobre la ZC1000 equivale aproximadamente al que proporcionaría un 5,1–5,2 mm concebido para este formato, aunque debo insistir en que su distancia focal óptica sigue siendo, naturalmente, 4,5 mm. Será la película, cuando realice las primeras pruebas controladas, la que permita comprobar con exactitud el comportamiento real del conjunto.

El objetivo cuenta además con algo especialmente importante en una adaptación de esta naturaleza: ajuste de back focus, que permite realizar un ajuste fino de la distancia de registro y optimizar la compatibilidad del objetivo con cada cuerpo de cámara. Una vez ajustado correctamente, resulta posible mantener la correspondencia de foco a lo largo del recorrido del zoom, algo fundamental en una óptica profesional de semejante amplitud focal.

Una prestación de este objetivo que es una autentica golosina técnica para alguien alguien como yo, que filma proyectos en la naturaleza y que ha llevado una ZC1000N hasta lugares donde cambiar de óptica puede ser desde incómodo hasta sencillamente imposible, este objetivo cuenta con un duplicador de focal incorporado, lo cual me permite desde un gran angular extremo hasta un teleobjetivo considerable sin retirar la óptica de la cámara.

HT-EBC: LA FILOSOFÍA FUJINON LLEVADA AL EXTREMO.

Pero lo extraordinario de este zoom no es solamente su recorrido focal. El UA13×4.5 pertenece a la familia profesional 4K Plus Premier de Fujifilm y utiliza tecnologías que representan, muchas décadas después, la evolución de aquella filosofía óptica Fujinon EBC que tanto me ha fascinado desde niño.

Entre ellas se encuentra el HT-EBC, High Transmittance Electron Beam Coating, evolución de los célebres tratamientos EBC de Fuji, concebido para conseguir una elevada transmisión luminosa y reducir reflejos internos, imágenes fantasma y flare. Siempre me ha fascinado el aspecto que proporcionan los buenos EBC Fujinon: contraste elevado, negros profundos, limpieza cromática y esa particular sensación tridimensional que, incluso a contraluz, hace que los sujetos parezcan separarse físicamente del fondo.

En estas generaciones profesionales, Fujifilm combina sus avanzados revestimientos multicapa con vidrios especiales de muy baja dispersión y una sofisticada corrección de las aberraciones cromáticas para mantener elevados niveles de resolución y contraste a lo largo de un recorrido focal extraordinariamente amplio. Existe, además, una continuidad histórica que me resulta particularmente atractiva. Fuji Photo Film comenzó muy pronto a controlar también la producción de vidrio óptico y el desarrollo de sus propias ópticas, una tradición industrial de la que terminaría naciendo la marca FUJINON y que, con sucesivas evoluciones tecnológicas, llega hasta los actuales objetivos cinematográficos y broadcast profesionales de Fujifilm.

De modo que esta combinación me resulta fascinante: una ZC1000N concebida por Shigeo Mizukawa en la gran época del Single-8 equipada con una óptica que representa la evolución de Fujinon en el siglo XXI. Lo antiguo y lo moderno unidos por una misma filosofía Fuji, en un conjunto que perteneció a su diseñador, el gran Shigeo Mizukawa, y que me dedicó ex profeso. 

MÁS DE DOS KILOGRAMOS DE OBJETIVO.

Semejante maravilla tiene un inconveniente; su peso. El UA13×4.5, en su configuración profesional completa, supera ampliamente los dos kilogramos, lo cual, a mi edad, es un problema, en rodajes cámara en mano. 

Afortunadamente, una parte importante de ese peso corresponde a los sistemas necesarios para su utilización profesional broadcast, funciones que no necesito. Como siempre he preferido trabajar manualmente —enfoque, zoom y diafragma, como he hecho durante toda mi vida—, mi intención es desmontar los sistemas de servo del zoom y del diafragma que no sean necesarios para mi utilización cinematográfica, reduciendo así todo lo posible el peso del conjunto en, tal vez, unos 800 gramos (de momento es una conjetura). 

La ZC1000N con la dedicatoria de Shigeo, sin embargo, no será una cámara de batalla. Ocupará un lugar especial en una vitrina de mi colección y el cuerpo permanecerá allí, pues para mí su valor ya no es económico ni siquiera cinematográfico: es sentimental e histórico. Sin embargo, el maravilloso 4,5–59 mm será otra cosa. Ese sí pienso utilizarlo alguna vez con mi ZC1000N de trabajo. Lo contrario, sería casi un pecado. 

OTRO REGALO: EL PROTOTIPO DE TAK.

Pero las sorpresas no terminaron con Shigeo. Para celebrar nuestros casi treinta años de amistad, Tak me regaló también su dispositivo personal de exposición lenta para la ZC1000, que ya no piensa utilizar.

Dispongo desde alrededor de 2008 de una versión posterior que le compré entonces, pero la unidad que ahora me entrega es especialmente interesante porque se trata de una versión beta anterior, más grande y pesada, pero también con algunas características que desaparecieron posteriormente, entre ellas un contador de fotogramas, un asa y un acabado metálico que le confieren ese delicioso aspecto de prototipo construido para trabajar y experimentar, no para ocupar un escaparate, en lo que representa otro pequeño fragmento de la historia moderna de la ZC1000 que llega a mis manos directamente desde Japón y, además, procedente de quien lo diseñó e utilizó.

DIEZ FUJICHROME R25N DE 2012.

Hubo, además,  un tercer regalo. Tak trajo consigo diez cargas de Fujichrome R25N pertenecientes a la última partida, de 2012. Este obsequio viene acompañado por una incógnita. Las películas proceden de un lote que Tak acaba de encontrar en un almacén y que, desafortunadamente, no estuvo refrigerado, por lo que ni siquiera él sabe en qué estado puede encontrarse la emulsión después de catorce años, así que he decidido sacrificar uno de los diez cartuchos para realizar una prueba con mi diminuta PX300. Una vez filmada esta prueba, la revelaremos en mi propio estudio y veremos qué queda, catorce años después, de aquella maravillosa Fujichrome R25N. Si el resultado es bueno, me quedarán otras nueve para un proyecto que dará que hablar. Si el resultado es malo,  al menos habremos aprendido algo.

GALICIA CON TAK.

Naturalmente, no todo durante esta tercera visita de Tak y su mujer a Galicia fueron cámaras, objetivos y película. Fuimos juntos a Santiago de Compostela, donde visitamos en la Catedral la tumba del Apóstol Santiago; comimos marisco en la Costa de la Muerte, ese tramo del litoral gallego cuyo nombre recuerda los innumerables naufragios provocados durante siglos por sus aguas tempestuosas, bajos y acantilados; y recorrimos también mi ciudad, La Coruña, que Tak conocía ya de sus anteriores viajes. Tak echó de menos el tranvía y el ascensor panorámico del Monte de San Pedro.

Algunas de las cosas que creemos que siempre estarán allí terminan convirtiéndose en recuerdos. Quizá por eso determinados objetos adquieren con el paso del tiempo un significado que trasciende completamente su utilidad. La ZC1000N es uno de ellos.

He filmado con la ZC1000N durante buena parte de mi vida. Mis dos ZC1000 poseen también historias extraordinarias, pero ninguna  como ésta que me regala Tak, que procede de la colección personal del hombre que diseñó la cámara, lleva grabada una dedicatoria que Shigeo quiso hacer expresamente para mí y ha recorrido miles de kilómetros desde Japón hasta Galicia de la mano de otro amigo con quien comparto ya casi treinta años de amistad. Por ello,  permanecerá en su vitrina, pues, cada vez que la contemple recordaré inevitablemente al niño de once años que un día descubrió que en Japón existía una cámara llamada Fuji ZC1000 y pensó que aquello debía de ser lo más parecido a la cámara cinematográfica perfecta. Más de medio siglo después, sigo pensando prácticamente lo mismo. Sólo que ahora, increíblemente, tengo en mi vitrina una ZC1000N que perteneció al hombre que la creó.

¡Muchas gracias, Tak!, pero, muy especialmente, ¡muchas gracias, Shigeo Mizukawa!

NEW? NIKON GRIP: HALF A CENTURY AFTER SHIGEO MIZUKAWA. ¿Nueva empuñadura para Nikon: medio siglo después de Shigeo Mizukawa.

(En español, al final)

Nikon has recently registered a curious design in the United States which immediately caught my attention. It is US Design Patent D1,147,122 S, granted on 8 September 2026, covering a camera accessory whose appearance suggests a possible application within Nikon's new cinema ecosystem.

It should be pointed out that this is a design patent rather than a utility patent: Nikon is therefore protecting the appearance of the accessory, while the document neither explains its internal functions nor confirms that it will eventually become a commercial product. Yet one only has to look at the drawings for a question immediately to spring to mind for anyone familiar with the history of Japanese cine cameras.

What does that grip remind us of? For me, at least, it is impossible not to think of what I regard as the most ergonomic handgrip ever devised for a cine camera: the one designed more than half a century ago by Shigeo Mizukawa for the Fujica Single-8 ZC1000. And mentioning Shigeo gives me particular pleasure.

ZC hadgrip: designed by Shigeo in early 70´s

I have the immense honour of enjoying his friendship since our mutual friend Tak Kohyama introduced us personally in Tokyo, around 2004 or 2005, and we have remained in contact ever since. During that meeting I also had the opportunity to interview him at length about the genesis of the ZC1000 and Fujifilm's extraordinary family of Single-8 cameras, for the British magazine International Movie Making, edited by Roy Salmons, and the Teutonic magazine Small Format, edited by Juergen Lossau.

Mizukawa is one of those people who normally remain hidden behind the name of a great corporation, even though their ideas end up accompanying us for decades. He designed a substantial proportion of Fuji's Single-8 cameras and, of all of them, his masterpiece was unquestionably the ZC1000.

Nikon handgrip: a design from 2026

A 2026 DESIGN... OR AN IDEA FROM HALF A CENTURY AGO?

The new grip patented by Nikon and that of the ZC1000 are separated by more than fifty years of technological evolution. I am not suggesting, of course, that Nikon copied Mizukawa's design, nor is there any information that would allow us to claim direct inspiration, but the conceptual similarity is fascinating, to say the least.

First of all, there is the idea of the CLOSED-LOOP GRIP. Instead of the traditional, more or less vertical cylindrical handgrip, Mizukawa conceived a long, hollow structure for the ZC1000, allowing the fingers to pass completely through it and providing an extraordinarily secure hold on the camera. Furthermore, it was by no means merely a passive component.

The ZC1000 grip houses four additional AA batteries, supplementing the four fitted inside the camera body and providing the power required for the higher filming speeds of 36 and 72 frames per second; it also incorporates an electromagnetic release and the FTS synchronous-sound connection. As with the Nikon, design and function are united within a single component.

Nikon's new proposal once again displays that characteristic elongated, open silhouette: generous space for the fingers and, on its outer surface, a large textured gripping area. Visually, for those of us who have been using a ZC1000 for decades, the association is immediate.

Nikon patent

THREE POINTS OF SUPPORT.

But the brilliance of Mizukawa's solution lies in far more than its appearance. The ZC1000 was conceived to perform exceptionally well when filming hand-held. Its grip makes it possible to hold securely a camera which, depending on the lens fitted, can become a fairly substantial piece of equipment. And to this must be added another masterly feature of the ZC1000's design: the rear support against the forehead.

The grip, the hand supporting the camera and the forehead thus provide three points of support, resulting in remarkable stability for a cine camera whose range of capabilities has never been surpassed, something I know very well because I still use it in precisely this manner more than half a century after it was designed.

My ZC1000N continues to travel with me and to shoot under conditions that Shigeo Mizukawa could surely never have imagined when he began designing it back in 1971. From polar temperatures to heavy lenses, anamorphics and unconventional configurations, that ergonomics continues to demonstrate today that it was not merely a stylistic flourish, but an extraordinarily well thought-out solution.

Nikon patent

SHIGEO MIZUKAWA: THE MAN BEHIND THE CAMERA.

Meeting Shigeo Mizukawa personally in Tokyo more than twenty years ago was an unforgettable experience for me, because I was able to talk to the man who had conceived a camera that had been part of my life ever since I first learnt of its existence, when I was just eleven years old.

Mizukawa explained to me many details about the development of the ZC1000 and the evolution of the Single-8 system. We also know that the ZC1000 project was conceived from the outset not simply as a home-movie camera, but as a genuine cinematographic system, expandable through accessories and designed for applications far beyond those normally associated with small-format filmmaking.

The first production camera appeared in 1974 —in 1975 in Spain, while General Franco was still alive— with specifications that remain extraordinary even today: a robustly engineered C-mount for interchangeable lenses, a guillotine reflex viewfinder, forward and reverse running, each with its own independent claw so that the frame line remains unchanged, a digital frame counter, two variable shutters —rotary and guillotine—, controlled superimpositions, single-frame exposure, filming speeds ranging from 12 to no less than 72 F.P.S., and remarkably low power consumption —more than one hundred cartridges from four lithium AA batteries. All this was combined with exceptional ergonomics, of which the handgrip was a fundamental part.

WHAT IS TRULY MODERN?

More than half a century later, Nikon has presented the design of a new cinematographic handgrip which, when viewed from the perspective of a ZC1000 user, looks remarkably familiar. Perhaps this demonstrates something we sometimes forget in our contemporary obsession with describing every product as “new”: although technology ages rapidly, good design, such as Shigeo's, does not.

An electronic camera from 1974 may become outdated in certain components. A film emulsion may disappear. An entire cinematographic system may cease production. But when somebody solves an ergonomic problem properly, the solution can survive for generations.

I have no idea whether Nikon's designers have ever held a Fujica ZC1000 in their hands, but what I do know is that, when I look at the drawings of this 2026 patent and then at the grip of the ZC1000 that I continue to use today, I cannot help smiling.

More than half a century ago, an extraordinary Japanese designer had already arrived at a remarkably similar solution. That designer has a name: SHIGEO MIZUKAWA. I´m honoured to be able to call him my friend. Bravo, Shigeo!

ZC1000 in the later N version

¿NUEVA? EMPUÑADURA NIKON: MEDIO SIGLO DESPUÉS DE SHIGEO MIZUKAWA.

Nikon acaba de registrar en Estados Unidos un curioso diseño que inmediatamente llamó mi atención. Se trata de la patente US D1,147,122 S, concedida el pasado 8 de septiembre de 2026 y correspondiente a un accesorio para cámara cuya apariencia apunta hacia una posible utilización dentro del nuevo ecosistema cinematográfico de Nikon.

Conviene precisar que se trata de una patente de diseño, no de una patente de utilidad: Nikon protege, por tanto, la apariencia del accesorio, sin que el documento explique sus funciones internas ni confirme todavía su futura comercialización. Pero basta contemplar sus dibujos para que a cualquier conocedor de la historia de las cámaras cinematográficas japonesas le venga inmediatamente una pregunta a la cabeza:

¿A qué nos recuerda esa empuñadura? A mí, desde luego, me resulta inevitable pensar en la que considero la empuñadura más ergonómica jamás concebida para una cámara cinematográfica: la diseñada hace más de medio siglo por Shigeo Mizukawa para la Fujica Single-8 ZC1000. Mencionar a Shigeo me produce una satisfacción especial.

Tengo el inmenso honor de mantener amistad con él desde que, gracias a nuestro común amigo Tak Kohyama, le conocí personalmente en Tokio, hacia 2004 o 2005, y desde entonces continuamos en contacto. En aquel encuentro tuve también ocasión de entrevistarlo extensamente sobre la génesis de la ZC1000 y la extraordinaria familia de cámaras Single-8 de Fujifilm, para la revista británica International Movie Making, dirigida por Roy Salmons, y la alemana Small Format, editada por Juergen Lossau.

Mizukawa es una de esas personas que normalmente permanecen ocultas detrás del nombre de una gran compañía, pese a que sus ideas terminan acompañándonos durante décadas. Diseñó buena parte de las cámaras Single-8 de Fuji y, entre todas ellas, su obra maestra fue indiscutiblemente la ZC1000.

¿UN DISEÑO DE 2026... O UNA IDEA DE HACE MEDIO SIGLO?

La nueva empuñadura patentada por Nikon y la de la ZC1000 están separadas por más de cincuenta años de evolución tecnológica. No afirmo, naturalmente, que Nikon haya copiado el diseño de Mizukawa, ni existe información que permita asegurar una inspiración directa, pero la similitud conceptual resulta, cuando menos, fascinante.

En primer lugar está la idea del ASA CERRADA. Frente a la clásica empuñadura cilíndrica, más o menos vertical, Mizukawa concibió para la ZC1000 una larga estructura hueca que permite introducir completamente los dedos y sujetar la cámara con extraordinaria seguridad. No se trataba, además, de un simple elemento pasivo.

La empuñadura de la ZC1000 alberga cuatro pilas AA adicionales a las cuatro instaladas en el cuerpo de la cámara, que proporcionan la energía necesaria para utilizar las velocidades superiores de 36 y 72 fotogramas por segundo, además de incorporar un disparador electromagnético y la toma para sonido sincrónico FTS. Como en la Nikon, diseño y función unidos en una misma pieza.

La nueva propuesta de Nikon vuelve a presentar esa característica silueta alargada y abierta: un espacio generoso para introducir los dedos y, en su parte exterior, una amplia superficie de agarre texturizada. Visualmente, para quienes llevamos décadas utilizando una ZC1000, la asociación resulta inmediata.

TRES PUNTOS DE APOYO.

Pero la genialidad de la solución de Mizukawa no reside únicamente en su aspecto. La ZC1000 fue concebida para poder filmar extraordinariamente bien cámara en mano. La empuñadura permite sujetar firmemente un conjunto que, dependiendo del objetivo utilizado, puede alcanzar un peso considerable. A ello se añade otro elemento magistral del diseño de la ZC1000: el apoyo posterior contra la frente.

La empuñadura, la mano sosteniendo la cámara y la frente forman así tres puntos de apoyo que proporcionan una estabilidad sorprendente para una cámara cinematográfica con unas prestaciones nunca superadas, algo que conozco muy bien porque sigo utilizándola de esta manera más de medio siglo después de que fuese diseñada.

Mi ZC1000N continúa viajando conmigo y filmando en condiciones que seguramente Shigeo Mizukawa jamás imaginó cuando comenzó a diseñarla en aquel lejano 1971. Desde temperaturas polares hasta objetivos pesados, anamórficos o configuraciones poco convencionales, aquella ergonomía sigue demostrando hoy que no era una ocurrencia estética, sino que estaba extraordinariamente bien pensada.

SHIGEO MIZUKAWA: EL HOMBRE DETRÁS DE LA CÁMARA.

Conocer personalmente a Shigeo Mizukawa en Tokio hace más de veinte años fue para mí una experiencia inolvidable, pues pude hablar con el hombre que había concebido una cámara que forma parte de mi vida desde la primera vez que supe de ella, cuando tenía 11 años.

Mizukawa me explicó muchos detalles sobre el desarrollo de la ZC1000 y sobre la evolución del sistema Single-8. Sabemos, además, que el proyecto de la ZC1000 fue concebido desde el principio no como una simple cámara doméstica, sino como un auténtico sistema cinematográfico susceptible de ampliarse mediante accesorios y preparado para aplicaciones muy superiores a las habituales en el cine de pequeño formato.

La primera cámara de producción apareció en 1974 (en 1975 en España, todavía en vida del general Franco), con unas prestaciones que siguen siendo extraordinarias: montura C para ópticas intercambiables de recio diseño, visor réflex de guillotina, marcha adelante y atrás, cada una con su garfio independiente para que no haya variación en la línea de entrada, contador digital de fotogramas, doble obturador variable  (circular y de guillotina), sobreimpresiones controladas, exposición fotograma a fotograma, velocidades desde 12 hasta nada menos que 72 F.P.S. y un consumo energético mínimo (más de cien cartuchos con cuatro pilas AA de litio). Todo ello, con una ergonomía excepcional, en la que la empuñadura es parte fundamental.

LO VERDADERAMENTE MODERNO.

Más de medio siglo después, Nikon presenta el diseño de una nueva empuñadura cinematográfica que, contemplado desde la perspectiva de un usuario de la ZC1000, resulta sorprendentemente familiar. Quizá esto demuestre algo que a veces olvidamos en nuestra obsesión contemporánea por calificar cualquier producto como «nuevo»: aunque la tecnología envejece rápidamente, un buen diseño, como el de Shigeo, no.

Una cámara electrónica de 1974 puede quedar superada en determinados componentes. Una emulsión puede desaparecer. Un sistema cinematográfico entero puede dejar de fabricarse. Pero cuando alguien resuelve correctamente un problema de ergonomía, la solución puede sobrevivir durante generaciones.

Ignoro si los diseñadores de Nikon tuvieron alguna vez una Fujica ZC1000 entre sus manos, pero lo que sí sé es que, cuando contemplo los dibujos de esta patente de 2026 y después miro la empuñadura de la ZC1000 que continúo utilizando, no puedo evitar sonreír.

Hace más de medio siglo, un extraordinario diseñador japonés ya había llegado a una solución sorprendentemente parecida. Aquel diseñador tiene nombre: SHIGEO MIZUKAWA. Me honra poder llamarlo amigo. ¡Grande, Shigeo!

ZC1000´S 50th ANNIVERSARY: TAK KOHYAMA INTERVIEWS SHIGEO MIZUKAWA.

My friend, the Japanese film producer Tak Kohyama (also owner of Retro Enterprises), interviewed yesterday to the great and only one Shigeo Mizukawa, the engineer whose greatest creation, the ZC1000, has gone down in history as the best motion picture film camera ever designed (an honor that Ivan Watson accurately predicted "will retain forever" , at this point in the film of story of film industry).

The ZC1000, which went into production half a century ago, has carried in my life  fifty years of tireless victories, from the sands of the desert to the frozen Antarctic.  I still film with the ZC1000, refilling the film cartridges with Kodak film personally.

Shigeo Mizukawa with Tak Kohyama

• The ZC1000 has features that no other film camera offers or will have:

MOUNT FOR INTERCHANGEABLE  LENSES. 

Only a few cameras offer this feature,  essential for my use: most of the Beaulieu models, the Leicina Special and the ZC1000; The winners are the Leicina Special and the ZC1000 for their extremely resistant mounts capable of withstanding very heavy lenses (but it is necessary to clarify that the Leicina uses a special bayonet from the brand, while in the Beaulieu, although they have a universal C mount, there are quite a few lenses that cannot be focused). In the case of the ZC1000, with a truly compatible C-mount, this one is also made of bronze!, like the giant Talos. 

VARIABLE SHUTTER ADJUSTABLE IN ANY POSITION. 

In the Leicina Special the shutter is fixed. In the Canon 1014 XLS, which only allows filming in two positions, 150 and 220 degrees, shutter is electronic, prone to faliure, specially in hard situations. The variable shutter is essential not only because I usually shoot, for a sharper frame, at 120 ºC, but, sometimes,  and with film over 100 ASA, the only way to reduce the light without filters (which I prefer not to use) is with the shutter at 80º and even at 40º, with whose apertures it is as if I were shooting the 100 ASA at 50 and 25 ASA respectively.

DIRECT LIGHT PATH FROM THE LENS TO THE FILM, without passing through prisms or semi-transparent glass. 

Only the Beaulieu and the ZC1000 offer this feature thanks to their guillotine mirror that alternatively allows all of the light to pass to the film or the viewfinder. This technology, in addition to allowing you to enjoy a very bright image in the viewfinder, produces a flicker that mesmerizes the cameraman, with a supreme cinematic sensation that makes you feel that the cinema is flowing onto your retina. There is a problem with the Beaulieu: its mirror is also a shutter, which on certain occasions produces some exposure errors. On the other hand, the ZC1000, in addition to the oscillating mirror, has its own circular variable shutter, for perfect exposures in difficult situations. In addition, it is faster: on the ZC1000, in low light conditions, at 24 frames per second, it allows you to shutter at 1/54 compared to 1/87 on the Beaulieu 4008.

LOW ENERGY CONSUMPTION. 

ZC1000 requires very little power: just four regular AA batteries (except when shooting at 72 frames per second). When the camera is on but not working only consumes 10 mA (compared to 40 mA for the Bauer, and even more for other models). The consumption, filming at 24 f.p.s on the ZC1000 is 360 mA.

The battery compartment is very well insulated, it can be replaced with a warmer one in a matter of seconds and, in addition, the camera has its own special leather exterior battery compartment for low temperatures.

Mini camera, in this configuration

TRANSFORMABLE INTO A MINI CAMERA. 

In my latest documentary in Antarctica, some of my filming would be in a mini helicopter with only one rotor, with very little space. The only cameras that can be adapted are: the ZC1000N with the Fujinon 5.5 mm lens and a Soviet grip instead of the normal one or the Leicina Special with the excellent Cinegon 10 mm fixed focal.

ERGONOMICS AND GRIP. 

I really appreciate that while I hold the grip with one hand and hold the lens with the other, at the same time, I can rest it firmly on my forehead. Only Leicina, the Bauer A512 and the Fujica ZC1000 score in this category, with the ZC1000 being the winner due to the extreme ergonomics of its handle, the availability of two electromagnetic release triggers and the provision with not one, not two, but no less than three tripod threads (up to 4, on certain models!), one of them on the top, very useful in certain special shoots that a documentary filmmaker who works as a lone wolf comes across.

Mini camera!, in this configuration

SUPREME FRAME STEADINESS. 

The ZC1000N provides a picture steadiness unattainable by any Super-8 camera (the closest is the Nikon R10), thanks to two features of the Single-8 system: 1) the in-camera metal pressure pad, which firmly presses the film against the window, instead of being "floating" as in Super-8; and 2) pull of the film after the window, and not before as in Super-8 cartridges (in position -3 to -2); The ZC1000, in addition, has a double claw, after the gate window, that pulls from frames +2 and +3 to +3 and +4. Another additional claw, above the window, pulls the film in reverse when it is necessary to shot in reverse without changing the frame line.

Double claw here in +3 and +4

CIRCULAR IRIS WITH MANUAL CONTROL. 

Leicina Special has a very ugly rectangular-looking iris of its 6-66mm lens. The most comfortable system meter control, for handling with gloves, is the one the ZC1000 has: there are no automations to disconnect or break down since the exposure adjustment is always manual.

My interview to Shigeo in Tokyo in 2004, for the British magazine "International Movie Making" and the German "Schmall Film"

REVERSE FILMMING THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE FILM AND WITHOUT VARIATION IN THE HEIGHT OF THE FRAMING LINE. 

Only the ZC1000 meets this requirement, described above. Many of the effects achieved with this technique can be replicated in post-production, but myself prefer do this effects during the shooting

MECHANICAL FRAME COUNTER, EVEN REGRESSIVE. Another exclusive advantage gives the ZC1000. The Beaulieu 7008 Pro and 9008 also have a frame counter but it is not mechanical, but electronic, with an LCD panel that does not work at extremely low temperatures.

LENS WITH MACROFOCUS AT ANY FOCAL LENGTH. 

Only the ZC1000 offers this technical feature using ALL THE FOCAL LENGHTS.

RELIABLE METHOD OF CONTROLLING FILM ADVANCE IN FORWARD OR REVERSE. 

One of the defects that makes me most nervous about Super-8 cameras is that, especially in timelapse filming, it is not possible to know if the cartridge is advancing correctly. This does not happen, however, with the ZC1000 because, like all Single8 cartridge cameras, a small porthole-type window allows you to observe the rotation of one of the cartridge's axes.

SLOW MOTION. 

We can only count here on the Beaulieu and the ZC1000, the latter being my favorite due to the greater stability of the image filmed at 72 frames per second, a merit not only of the pressure pad in the camera but also of the direct path of the film in the cartridge.

LOW NOISE AT 24 F.P.S. 

Of top level cameras,  quietest, in my opinion, are the Beaulieu 9008 and the Canon 1014 XLS but a well maintened ZC1000N is very near.

FACILITY FOR SYNCHRONOUS SOUND RECORDING. ZC1000 which allows you to use both Cine Assist (digital sound recorded with your mobile phone) and FTS (in sync with a Sony WM-D6C stereo tape recorder). Of course, the old Puls Sync system, too.

THE BEST GOOD LENS COATING. 

My favorite is Fuji's EBC of the original ZC1000 lenses, which is applied electronically and doesn't peel off or degrade over the years. The Schott T-coating that can be found on the Leicina, the Nizo Professional and the Bauer A512 Mark II is very good but it has an Achilles heel: a rear group of lenses from these Schneider optics, glued with Canada balsam, to these heights of its life it presents, in special light conditions, a halo effect: its cleaning is only within the reach of experienced optics experts at a very expensive cost.

SUMMARY. ZC1000 (1974 - 2024) 50 YEARS OF VICTORIES. The Fujica ZC1000N, introduced in 1974 (half a century ago!), emerges as the true champion.  From its superior ergonomics,  reliability, and ability to shoot in reverse without change in the frame line, to impressive slow speed and a foolproof method of film advance verification, this camera stands as the ultimate choice for a serious filmaker specillay in extreme locations and without possibilities for "surgical" interventions.

Shigeo and Tak, yesterday

THE COUNTERPOINT. Nothing is perfect and everything has its Achilles heel. In this case, it is not due to the camera but to the film loading system: the ZC1000 is designed to film with single-8 cartridges, which were marketed by Fuji between 1965 and 2013. In this type of cartridges, to fit fifteen meters, the film base is required to be made of polyester, which, unfortunately, is no longer available, having to use the much inferior (for archival purposes over centuries) triacetate (also less flexible at low temperatures) and which, as it is thicker , only accept 10-12 meters per cartridge (only about 90 seconds of filming at 24 frames per second!). Film must be preloaded in the cartridges by the filmmaker himself, as no commercial film is available in Single-8 cartridges (except very small batchs by Retro Enterprises or Click & Surr).

Photograph of Shigeo with a prototype of ZC1000 in wood!, presiding the HAL 9000 room in my small production film company

WHEN THE ZC1000 WAS JUST A DREAM OF SHIGEO MIZUKAWA...

When the best movie camera, the never sufficiently praised ZC1000, was still in the project phase on Shigeo Mizukawa's desk, already in March 1972 it caught the attention of Peter Dean, from the British magazine FILM MAKING, who wrote (sic):

Cover of March 1972 issue

Zooming in on the hardware scene, we come up with an interesting camera that Fuji brought out in Japan as part of the Single-8 system. It looks as though somebody has been carefully studying the Beaulieu 4008 ZM because they have produced --on paper at least -- the latter´s spitting image. The new Fuji Single-8 8Z 1000 (even the name sounds similar) will accept interchangeable lenses from 16 mm cameras in standar C-mount, has a mirror shutter, and pulse outlet for syncronised sound. One intriguing feature which I can´t wait to see is said to be an interchangeable reflex viewfinder. Now that´s something the Beaulieu hasn´t got (or any other 8 mm camere for that question), although the Beaulieu does go some way towards it by having a ground glass focusing screen which you can switch in or out of the finder. And, of course, the Fuji offers all the well-known advangages of the Single-8 cartridge: accurate film transport, ability fo reverse any amount of film at any stage of filming, precission pressure plate. Final Fuji trump card is ther new Super 10x zoom, from 8 to 80 mm (...) 

Part of the text of the article

Anyway, I believe Fuji have wisely set out to capture some of the professional market with their new model? It does seem more logical to use Single-8 than Super-8 professionally. If only the could  (a) make an even thinner base and double the running time of the cartridge; (b) bring out a fast colour film, and (c) call that colour film Kodachrome, all might be swept before them.

Ignacio interview to Shigeo Mizukawa for a British and a German magazines

• IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR THOSE FILMMAKERS WHO WISH TO INCORPORATE SUPER-8 INTO THEIR PROFESSIONAL OFFER:

For those readers in the professional field who believe it is convenient to offer Super-8 in their service portfolio, I always recommend Pro 8mm, the same provider used by Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee or J.J. Abrams.

My recommendation is proven: it certainly makes me proud to work with Phil and Rhonda Vigeant, whose efforts on Super-8 have been recognized by the ASC.

At Pro 8 mm they serve in Spanish and English, in the following link, and shipping to Europe takes only 3 days!

The complete catalog of products and services can be seen at the following link:

PRO 8MM

CUANDO LA FUJICA ZC1000 SE ANUNCIABA EN SELECCIONES DEL READER´S DIGEST

Me suscribí a Selecciones del Reader´s Digest con once años y aun mantengo la suscripción, casi medio siglo después. Si ahora la revista carece de anuncios, en aquella época, en que ostentaba el récord de ser la publicación mas vendida de España, era muy distinto: cada número era un auténtico tocho con abundante publicidad, muchas veces de apretado texto. 
El entonces distribuidor de Fujifilm en España, Mampel Asens, fue un anunciante asiduo, y no era extraño ver anuncios tipo columna de las cámaras de cine Fujica de single-8, en blanco y negro, reservando los de página completa a color para los carretes Fujicolor,  hasta que un día, en 1976, ¡apareció un anuncio de la Fujica ZC1000 a página completa y también en color! 
No me lo podía creer. Además, ¡vaya publicidad!, detallando de forma pormenorizada las excelencias técnicas de una cámara de cine que no han sido superada por ninguna otra ni, a estas alturas, lo será jamás. 
Este anuncio me dejó una huella tan grande que estuvo colgado en  mi habitación de adolescente, me acompañó durante mi época universitaria en el Colegio Mayor Sant Jordi de Barcelona y, desde hace lustros, se encuentra presidiendo la sala HAL 9000 de IB Cinema, junto al retrato de su diseñador el ingeniero nipón Shigeo Mizukawa, a quien tuve la fortuna de conocer personalmente en Tokio en 2005 y tengo el súper honor de ser una de las sólo 65 personas a las que ha admitido en su Facebook personal. 

• Aprovecho para adelantar una exclusiva: la empresa japonesa Retro Enterprises comenzará a vender muy pronto cartuchos Single-8 para la Fujica ZC1000 cargados con la emulsión Kodak Ektachrome.