Birns and Sawyer
North Hollywood, CA
birnsandsawyer.com
We are a dealer for Panasonic, Canon, Arri, O’Connor, Lite Panels, Film Gear, Sachtler, Tiffen, Fujinon, Schneider, Element Technica, Azden, Sennheiser, Porta Brace, Kata, Anton Bauer, Miller and Steadicam, among others. We also sell directors finders, slates, and expendables.

Birns & Sawyer rents film and digital cameras and accessories. We offer Panasonic’s full line of broadcast cameras, such as the HPX3000, 2700, 2000; HDX900, HVX170, et al; Sony’s classic F900 and EX line; Canon, including the 5D MkII, XL-H1, XH-A1, XH-G1; and, of course, RED. We have a full compliment of lenses from Zeiss, Cooke and RED, P&S adapters to take PL to B4 mounts as well as Zeiss DigiPrime Lenses.

We manufacture our own line of products, BirnsGear™, a collection of crew and camera accessories designed to make the job easier.

B&S is a systems integrator, offering custom packages built to the customer’s specifications and installed on site. Live Nation uses a Birns and Sawyer integrated system to record their House of Blues concerts in over twenty locations across the United States.

We produce several events every month for peer networking and advanced education. Speakers have included representatives from Panasonic, Sony and Canon; cinematographers Allan Daviau, Jacek Laskus, and RED’s Ted Schilowitz. We have delved into camera formats and work flow solutions. Renowned cinematographer Allan Daviau took a spellbound audience through the making of E.T; the Extra Terrestrial. Sennheiser and Azden have sponsored workshops in field audio acquisition.

We’re mobile - we can be found at NAB, HD Expo, Cinegear, and NATPE.

We’re hospitable – if you’re in Hollywood, stop in for a cup of coffee at our coffee bar!

Recent activity

  • Video comment
    10 months ago
    Birns and Sawyer commented on Schneider Cine-Xenar vs Zeiss CP.2 Comparison

    Both lenses have very different qualities and things that make one preferable over another, so it's hard to say. Optically, we think the Schneider lenses are outstanding. They have very even field illumination, breathing is almost nonexistent, and they are quite sharp wide open. However, the fact that the CP.2's have a full frame image circle might lend to greater edge sharpness on smaller sensors. The size and weight differences are probably the most substantial, as Schneider sacrificed elements of the mechanical design for optical performance.

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