Brian Caldwell

Brian Caldwell earned a Ph.D. in Optics from The University of Rochester in 1988.  He has more than 30 years experience in the fields of lens design and optical engineering, with more than 100 different manufactured products to his credit.

In 1988 he founded Optical Data Solutions to develop LensVIEW, an extensive database of more than 30,000 optical designs from the patent literature.  After working as an optical designer first at Projectavision, and then at Concord Camera he founded Caldwell Photographic Inc. in 2001 to do independent consulting, and to develop and manufacture optical products.   

In 2014 Brian embarked on the design and manufacture of a series of anamorphic prime lenses.  The result, announced in 2019 as the Caldwell Chameleon anamorphic lenses, combine the widely admired design and look of classic anamorphic optics with highly efficient and skilled manufacturing to produce a series of lenses that will be as affordable as they are desirable.

Nic Sadler

Nic Sadler graduated from Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia in 1985 with a BA in Communications & Film Studies. He began working as a Production Assistant, then later as a 1st Camera Assistant in film and television before moving to London in 1989. For the next six years he worked primarily as 1st Camera Assistant to John Mathieson (BSC).

In 1995 he began his career as a Cinematographer in his own right. He has since shot 200 music videos, 30 concert films, 500 commercials, numerous TV shows and three award winning feature films.

Nic moved to Los Angeles in 2005 to continue working as a cinematographer but also to expand his horizons. He co-founded Chemical Wedding in 2009 to create software tools for the film industry. The first of these was Helios, an application for the iPhone or iPad that helps filmmakers predict the position of the sun for location shoot planning. In 2010 Artemis Director’s Viewfinder  was released on both iOS and Android platforms. Artemis is one of the most widely used tools currently in the film industry and in 2018 was awarded a Technical and Engineering Emmy for its contribution to the film industry.

In 2016 Chemical Wedding expanded to manufacture a physical viewfinder system known as Artemis Prime, the optical system being designed by Brian Caldwell. Nic has since become an advisor on the production of the Caldwell Chameleon lenses.