In November 2018, Oscar-nominated cinematographer, Bradford Young ASC (Solo: A Star Wars Story, Arrival, Selma, A Most Violent Year) and film industry technologist Neil Fanthom banded together with five like-minded industry investors to form TRIBE7. Their goal was simple: to examine 20th century motion picture film technologies and reimagine those technologies as new products for filmmakers.

In recent years, optical technology used in filmmaking has advanced at an incredible pace and modern cine lenses have evolved into complicated, finely tuned instruments. Many of the artistic qualities present in cherished optics from the first half of the 20th century no longer exist in modern lenses. TRIBE7’s first venture led to a tunable set of seven motion picture lenses inspired by these lenses of the past.

This new range of cine lenses experiments with distortion, sharpness, contrast and flare; characteristics reminiscent of optics from the 1950s and 70s – the golden era of experimental filmmaking. The lenses were given the codename BLACKWING7, inspired by the revival of the Blackwing pencil and the story of the lost ‘analog’ pencil craft. The images produced by a BLACKWING7 lens are painterly, organic, and represent an analog look in a digital world.

Manufactured in low volumes, the BLACKWING7 lenses come in three tuned variants and, similar to the Blackwing pencil series, each is inspired by a unique story enabling artists to define their vision. TRIBE7 is proud to have been influenced by the Blackwing story. This collaborative limited-edition pencil set explores elements of reflection, light and shade as tools of expression in cinematography. Each pencil is imprinted with the “Blackwing x TRIBE7” logo and the seven lens focal lengths currently available in the BLACKWING7 range: 27, 37, 47, 57, 77, 107 & 137mm.