by Jason Hernandez
To be good at my job I have to adapt to any situation and overcome any hurdle on a daily basis, whether it’s light, people, stealing locations and even avoiding police, I need to be ready at all times. To do this, it is necessary for me to know my gear because there is no asking for another take because there are no other takes. This type of shooting keeps me on my toes, even if the lens that I have on is not the right one I still need to sneak in the shot. This all stems from my background in filming skateboarding which I have done for the past 15 years.
For my most recent project, “Church’s loves Compton”, I used an Alexa Mini and Sony α7S II. We shot anywhere and everywhere, we chased light and used bounces and kept it natural. On the Alexa Mini, I used an Angenieux 28-76 zoom for interviews and an ARRI/ZEISS Ultra Prime 20 mm/T1.9 for wides and portraits while keeping the Sony α7S II strapped to me with Batis 2/25 and Batis 1.8/85 for B-roll and candid shots. I also used the Sony with an Otus 1.4/55 at f/1.8 on a Movi M5 for the scene where the kids riding the bike together in front of the electrical towers at dusk to capture the details in a low light setting. Shots like these on a low f-stop really show the quality of the ZEISS lenses and it would be hard to trust another lens in this situation.
The Batis line is like cine glass in a smaller package.
Jason Hernandez
Another feature that I liked and quickly became attached to is the light up LED on the lens, it came in handy when my camera was balanced on the Movi and I could easily check focus right on top of the lens. For example the first shot where the kids are joking around free styling was with the Batis 1.8/85 on a Movi and the scene where I kept circling around the kids at night fall was shot at f/2. That’s the beauty of this lens, it weighs nothing and you’re basically getting an 85 mm cine prime lens for quarter of the weight. For me, the weight of the lens means a lot because I am typically riding a skateboard, hanging out of car or running around a field while operating a Movi so the lighter the gear, the better. The compatibility between the ZEISS lenses and these two totally different cameras are outstanding, they were the right tools for this job.
I really enjoyed using the Otus and Batis line and I cannot wait to purchase a set. The only negative feeling I had with these lenses was when I had to return them 
Watch “Church’s loves Compton”, directed by Andrew Litten
About Jason Hernandez
Jason began shooting skateboarding by accident – literally by an accident when he was 17 years old trying to make it as a professional skateboarder. He was shooting his first skate ad introducing him as the new am for Acme Skateboards. During the shoot he ended up blowing out his ankle. Reconstructive surgery and a year later he could push around but not pursue his dreams of being a pro skater. As he still wanted to be around his friends and the skate scene he hijacked his best friend’s camera to film his other best friend. He feels lucky being able to do what he loves from this day on. He has worked for TransWorld SKATEboarding magazine where he made seven films with Jon Holland. Fom there he went to work for Habitat Skateboards, and spent the last six years at Nike making four full length skate films for them.
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