The Caldwell Chameleon anamorphic story begins after a lifetime of dedication to the art and science of optical engineering. Caldwell lenses represent a benchmark in precision-engineered cinematographic optics. Having developed hundreds of advanced optical systems for mission-critical applications, Brian turned brought his expertise to cinema with the goal to design an entirely new lens with all the best features of modern optics and all the elegance and beauty of Hollywood – a lens of enduring significance.
Brian Caldwell, crafting optics for over 40 years.
With more than four decades of experience across multiple industries—including aerospace, military, consumer products, and cultural/fine arts—visionary lens designer and optical engineer, J. Brian Caldwell, has to his credit over 500 design projects, a dozen patents, and 150+ different, successfully-manufactured products, including the Speed Booster TM series of focal reducers and the Caldwell Chameleon anamorphic lenses.
Brian earned a Ph.D. in Optics from the University of Rochester in 1988. He then started 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 engineer first at Projectavision, and then at Concord Camera, he founded Caldwell Photographic Inc. in 2001 to develop and manufacture state-of-the-art optical products.
Unique Optical Architecture
The result is the Chameleon range—several lines of mechanically and optically optimized cinema lenses, purpose-built with minimised image breathing, zero focus shift (“mumping”), and a proprietary design architecture refined over more than ten years of R&D. These lenses are the product of aerospace-grade tolerances, advanced multi-element design, and rigorous optical simulation, offering visual performance that precisely captures the emotional and spatial intent of each frame. Utilising a Wallin-style focusing method, the design incorporates cylindrical and spherical element groups engineered to deliver a beautifully balanced aberration profile across the series.
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