Cinematographer Declan Quinn Brings Decades of Cooke Lens Experience to A Suitable Boy with S4/i Primes
data-src=https://creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/avatars/263018/5fa08c562aaf4-bpthumb.jpg data-srcset=https://creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/avatars/263018/5fa08c561c0e7-bpfull.jpg 2x class=lazyload avatar avatar-80 photo height=80 width=80 />
Brie Clayton January 15, 2021
0 Comments
When it came time to select lenses for the Lookout Point's six-episode series of Vikram Seth's bestselling novel A Suitable Boy, DP Declan Quinn knew exactly what he wanted: Cooke Optics' flagship spherical S4/i primes.
Produced to extremely high production standards and directed by Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair, A Suitable Boy tells the story of spirited university student Lata (Tanya Maniktala) as she comes of age in North India in 1951, at the same time as the country is carving out its own identity as an independent nation and is about to go to the polls for its first democratic general election. The series involves more than a hundred characters, many belonging to one of four extended families.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/15223657/DeclanQuinn2_1200-1024x681.jpg alt= class=lazyload wp-image-2350256/>Mira Nair has been trying to make a live-action adaptation of A Suitable Boy ever since its publication in 1993, but the BBC Studios-owned UK production company Lookout Point only recently secured the rights. I've worked with Mira for a long time, with a history that goes back to 1996 with Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love and Monsoon Wedding in 2001, which was a homage to the book of A Suitable Boy, said Quinn. Aesthetically we're on the same page. Mira starts with a look book'; paintings, fashion and location pictures from her first scouting trip to India, then I add images from other movies or photographers and we narrow everything down to create a cinematic grammar for the story.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/15223710/DeclanQuinn3_1200-1024x683.jpg alt= class=lazyload wp-image-2350257/>The series was shot in 4K with four Sony Venice cameras - two each for the primary and second unit - and both units started out with full sets of Cooke S4/i primes (16/18/25/32/40/50/75/100/135mm) and a set of re-housed vintage Cooke Speed Panchros, all from One Stop Films of London.
Quinn first used Cooke lenses in film school in the 1970s. I knew they were something special, he said. I love the Cooke vintage lenses, the 25-250mm big Varotol zoom lens and then the 20-60mm zoom, it is just a beautiful lens that covers the focal lengths I like for hand held work. The sharpness and ability to keep close focus is unparalleled for a zoom lens of that time.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/15223818/DeclanQuinn4_1200-1024x683.jpg alt= class=lazyload wp-image-2350259/>Quinn's only problem with using his vintage 20-60mm zoom today is that it doesn't cover large format sensors. I just can't go all the way wide - 25mm is about the widest in 4K, he noted. But in 1998, Quinn found another set of Cooke lenses to love. When the original S4/i primes came out, I tested them. That's all it took for me to use them on every film for years, and I also started experimenting with vintage glass, like the Cooke Speed Panchros.
Quinn was so comfortable with his choice of the Cooke S4/i primes that he didn't even do any lens tests. I've got a long history with this lens and the Cooke Look . I knew what Mira was after and the S4/i delivered what she needed, while giving me what I needed: true colour, flesh tones - where the warmness of the Cookes worked wonderfully with the warm Indian flesh tones, sharpness across the entire field, a coating that's great for flare and exterior work, and reliability in a hot and dusty environment. The S4/i's were a solid choice for this project.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/15223830/DeclanQuinn5_1200-1024x683.jpg alt= class=lazyload wp-image-2350260/>One major change made after the first week of filming was to discontinue using the vintage Speed Panchros. They flare differently than the S4/i does, explained Quinn. With the S4s, I have more control with the flare and colours, so I decided to stick with the S4/i's because it is easier to grade when intercutting footage shot by two different units.
With a very dialogue-driven script with many characters, Quinn's tendency was to approach A Suitable Boy with natural light and to see faces most of the time, as opposed to silhouette. We would have the camera move through a scene from a certain character's perspective - usually Lata's [the story's heroine]. Tom Walden, our A Cam/Steadicam operator would keep a moving master shot where most of the scene played out. This wasn't a wide shot, but a very useable shot where the camera would flow through the space to follow the gist of the conversation. It was all choreographed, and we would use cuts to cover the other characters as they needed to be covered.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/15223854/DeclanQuinn6_1200-1024x683.jpg alt= class=lazyload wp-image-2350261/>Quinn's hero lenses for A Suitable Boy were the 32 and 40mm. Those have been my favourites for most of my career, said Quinn. They represent the human visual perspective the best and are great at separating the actors from the background. And with a 2:1 [18:9] aspect ratio, the 32/40 combo works very nicely.
With large format sensors becoming more commonplace, Quinn does have some experimenting to do. The S4/i are great lenses, but I'm looking forward to testing the S7/i for larger format projects.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/0
Most recent headlines
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
KPop Demon Hunters Stars Visit Berklee for Weeklong Celebration Andrew Choi and EJAE, who voiced the film's main characters and contributed to its soundtr...
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
Three 12-kilowatt Advanced Electric Propulsion System thrusters, supplied by L3Harris Technologies, form the core of Gateway's propulsion system. Pictured i...
16/12/2025
The challenge facing America's defense industrial base is not just about speed - its about rebuilding the foundation that makes speed possible. Our nations ...
16/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
16/12/2025
SEVILLE, Spain Canal Sur, the public broadcasting service for Andalusia, Spain, has completed a total technology refresh based on Pebble's resilient, softwa...
16/12/2025
NEW YORK Teleprompting hardware provider Telescript International has acquired all software code and intellectual property previously owned by Telescript West. ...
16/12/2025
As cable operators face increased competition from 5G fixed wireless access providers, a new report from Ookla Research finds that T-Mobile is the FWA speed lea...
16/12/2025
Apple has announced a major upgrade to the Apple TV app for device owners outside the Apple ecosystem with news that the Apple TV app for Android now supports G...
16/12/2025
Space42 grows Direct-to-Device partner ecosystem through a Memorandum of Underst...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Emma Appleton, Fares Fares, Frida Gustavsson and Jakob Oftebro...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Docu-reality My Korean Boyfriend Gets a Trailer and Premiere D...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
16/12/2025
RT Sport Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December.
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
16/12/2025
Singer -songwriter Brian Kennedy has been announced as the final celebrity dance...
15/12/2025
Harlem Globetrotters Celebrate 100th Anniversary With New Brand Campaign From Th...
15/12/2025
Top L-R: La Tierra Del Valor (The Home of the Brave), Mangittatuarjuk (The Gnawe...
15/12/2025
L3Harris will leverage 15 years of experience supporting the E-4B Nightwatch and...
15/12/2025
CONWAY, Ark. In a notable example of how the loss of federal funding is forcing public stations to make massive cuts and operational changes, the statewide pub...
15/12/2025
BOULDER, Colo. Public Media Venture Group (PMVG), Venture Technologies Group (VTG), and WQED have completed a multipart agreement that they say will significant...
15/12/2025
Cape Town, November 13, 2025 - SES and International artist and humanitarian, Fo...
15/12/2025
Luxembourg, December 15, 2025 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Abra Group launched fast and reliable multi-orbit inflight connectivity service on t...
15/12/2025
How Rivian s Design Puts Drivers First-And Why That Matters Published on Dec 15, 2025 Categories: Business Solutions
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Sha...
15/12/2025
Space42 and Cobham Satcom completed the full range of advanced terminals for the...
15/12/2025
15 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan Delivers First Starlink Direct to Cel...
15/12/2025
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor finds himself the topic of year's cracker jokes
Oasis, David Harbour, Celebrity Traitors and Angela Rayner all feature in this y...
15/12/2025
Comscore Expands Cross-Platform Campaign Measurement to Include Audio and Social New capabilities strengthen cross-platform campaign reporting suite; CCR rebran...
15/12/2025
NVIDIA today announced it has acquired SchedMD - the leading developer of Slurm, an open-source workload management system for high-performance computing (HPC) ...
15/12/2025
RT .ie has reached one billion page views this year and is on track to finish 2025 2% ahead of last year. Average time spent on the site is up 3% on 2024, with ...
15/12/2025
Modern workflows showcase the endless possibilities of generative and agentic AI on PCs.
Of many, some examples include tuning a chatbot to handle product-supp...
13/12/2025
Powering Client Growth: Horizon Deepens Nielsen Partnership, Enabling More Effic...
13/12/2025
In a move that will help it offer more flexible and less costly programming options, YouTube TV has announced that it will be launching YouTube TV Plans with mo...
13/12/2025
SINGAPORE Magna Systems has designed, built and completed what is believed to be the first full UHD and IP-based OB truck in Southeast Asia for a Singapore medi...
12/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Everything You Need to Know for Next Week's Big Sho...
12/12/2025
Hailey Gates at the Atropia premiere (photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
12/12/2025
Last month, Spotify announced a new collaboration with the ATP Tour, the global governing body of men's professional tennis, aimed at bringing the next gene...
12/12/2025
CONWAY, Ark. In a notable example of how the elimination of Federal federal funding is forcing public stations to make massive cuts and changes in the way they...
12/12/2025
Wisycom and DPA Microphones announce the appointment of Ren Moerch as Group Product Director, Wireless, a strategic leadership role that will guide the combine...
Cinematographer Declan Quinn Brings Decades of Cooke Lens Experience to A Suitable Boy with S4/i Primes 
