Panavision has revealed a very interesting camera and lens package behind Steven Spielberg’s new film Disclosure Day. According to Panavision, the movie was shot by Janusz Kamiński and captured with the Panaflex Millennium XL2 and Panavision C Series anamorphic lenses, with support from Panavision New York. For Spielberg and Kamiński, this is far more than a nostalgic gear choice. It is the continuation of one of the most important director and cinematographer partnerships in modern cinema.
Spielberg, Kamiński, and the power of a long cinematic partnership
Steven Spielberg and Janusz Kamiński have been creatively linked for more than three decades. Since Schindler’s List, Kamiński has become Spielberg’s defining visual partner, shaping the look of many of his most mature, emotional, and visually ambitious films. Their collaboration is not just a matter of lighting or camera placement. It is a complete cinematic language. Spielberg brings the classical blocking, emotional rhythm, and precise sense of wonder. Kamiński brings the atmosphere: strong backlight, expressive highlights, smoke, silhouettes, texture, grain, lens flare, and deep contrast. Together, they have created a body of work in which the image often feels both grounded and mythic. That is why the choice of 35mm anamorphic for Disclosure Day feels so appropriate. This is not only about shooting on film, but also returning to a visual grammar that has defined some of Spielberg’s most memorable cinema.
Panaflex Millennium XL2 and C Series Anamorphics
The Panaflex Millennium XL2 is one of Panavision’s modern 35mm film workhorses. It is a studio-grade film camera built for serious feature production, and in the hands of a cinematographer like Kamiński, it becomes a very deliberate creative tool. Combined with Panavision C Series anamorphic lenses, the result is a format and optical signature that is very different from the clean, sharp, digitally polished look that dominates many contemporary studio films. The C Series lenses are classic anamorphic glass. They can deliver expressive flares, lower contrast, textured highlights, edge behavior, and a softer, more organic dimensionality. That kind of imperfection is exactly what can make a Spielberg frame feel alive. For a film like Disclosure Day, which appears to live in the realm of mystery, discovery, and large-scale cinematic tension, this choice makes sense. A modern digital image could have made the film feel too clean. A 35mm anamorphic image gives it weight, atmosphere, and a physical pulse.
A Spielberg sci-fi film with an old school pulse
Spielberg’s cinema has always been linked to scale, movement, and awe. From alien encounters to historical drama, from war films to intimate family stories, his images often depend on the relationship between the human face and the larger unknown. Kamiński’s cinematography amplifies that relationship through light and texture. The Panaflex Millennium XL2 and C Series anamorphics suggest a film that wants to feel physical. The behind-the-scenes images show a heavy, traditional production methodology: large camera builds, film magazines, remote heads, vehicle rigs, and a crew operating around serious cinema machinery.
The digital note
It is worth noting that Disclosure Day should not be framed as a purely 35mm production from beginning to end. Production coverage (according to IMDB Tech Spec) indicates that the majority of the film was shot on 35mm negative, while selected scenes used digital capture, including Sony VENICE 2, related work for specific situations. Anyway, Disclosure Day looks like another reminder that the Spielberg and Kamiński partnership remains one of the most important visual collaborations in contemporary cinema. Their shared language has always been rooted in light, emotion, movement, and texture. In an era obsessed with resolution, sensors, AI workflows, and ultra-clean digital acquisition, Spielberg and Kamiński are making a different statement. Sometimes, the most powerful image is not the sharpest one. It is the one with grain, flare, depth, and soul.
