During a trip to London, an idea emerged during a meeting with Marco Cappati of Fowa: to develop a series of DZO lenses (based on the Arles T1.4 VV/FF lenses) in collaboration with Collettivo Chiaroscuro. This led to an invitation to China for the Collettivo and a sponsored trip by Godox for a delegation of five members, all part of the board: Timoty Aliprandi, Alessandro Chiodo, Luca Ciuti, Stefano Paradiso, and Sara Purgatorio. The lens development project came to fruition as part of a broader exchange with the companies Dzofilm, Godox, SmallRig and Vaxis. Beyond the technical and professional enrichment, the experience proved to be an important human journey. We are publishing the reflections on this trip from each of the five CCS “envoys”.
Read also:
Alessandro Chiodo CCS, Designing the Character of a Lens
Luca Ciuti CCS, Breaking Down Prejudices
Stefano Paradiso, Dzofilm, Godox, SmallRig e Vaxis
Sara Purgatorio CCS, A Country That Listens
Discoveries
There are journeys that can’t be measured only in kilometres travelled or products observed, but rather in how many preconceptions they manage to dismantle. The trip to Shenzhen was one of those. Before leaving, I had mentally prepared myself for what I imagined would be a familiar script: impersonal companies, identical presentations, long lunches more out of politeness than pleasure. Instead, from the very first moments, I realised this journey would take a different tone – one that blended technical insight with human warmth, discipline with curiosity, in a way I hadn’t expected.
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Shenzhen 2025. Photo Stefano Paradiso
People
Each meeting was set up as a genuine moment of exchange, carefully planned and thoughtfully conducted. The companies welcomed us with big smiles, hot tea, and PowerPoint presentations – all things that, let’s admit it, can initially come across as a bit of a formality. But it didn’t take long to realise that behind that formality was a sincere willingness to listen, to gather feedback, to build a dialogue that went beyond the usual supplier–client relationship.
On several occasions, they explicitly asked us to share our impressions, to say what we would like to see in their products, what needs we feel are most pressing in our work. And it was rewarding to see that every comment was met with genuine interest, discussed and noted down, as if we truly had the opportunity to influence the direction of their development.
The convivial moments were the final proof: round tables, endless courses, light-hearted conversations that, plate after plate, grew deeper and more engaging. All within an informal yet highly professional atmosphere – a sign that for them, every detail, even the simplest, is designed to build relationships.
One thing, however, took us a bit by surprise: no one spoke English. Not even a convincing “hello”. Having travelled in other Asian countries, I had come to expect at least a basic level of direct communication – but not here. In Shenzhen, the world works perfectly well without us.
And maybe that’s the point: we like to think of ourselves as the centre of the world, but it only takes a single meeting in Shenzhen to realise that their world is already fully autonomous… and it’s us, if anything, who need to adapt.
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Shenzhen 2025. Photo Alessandro Chiodo
The Companies
The Companies
The factories we visited each had markedly different characteristics, reflecting a variety of approaches and contexts. Some were ultra-modern, located in high-rise buildings in the heart of the city; others were based in more peripheral areas, with settings more akin to the traditional image many have of Chinese manufacturing. We visited some of the most prominent companies in China’s film industry: DZO Film, Vaxis, Movmax, Godox, and SmallRig. Each had its own distinctive features and a specific approach to production, reflecting the different areas they specialise in: optics, wireless systems, camera movement, lighting, and rigging accessories.
One common trend stood out across all of them: the decision to bring quality control in-house. They explained that this marks a clear shift from just a few years ago, showing a growing focus on attention to detail and an increased ability to respond to more demanding expectations, no longer outsourcing this crucial part of the process.
Rather than describe each product or technology in detail (I’d be more than happy to have a technical chat with anyone interested), I believe it’s more useful to highlight the diversity of approaches and the shared willingness to gather external input in order to improve.
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Shenzhen 2025. Photo Stefano Paradiso
Awareness
Among all the moments, one episode with Godox gave me a clear sense of the direction their work philosophy is taking. During the day we spent testing and examining their products – light meter and colour meter in hand – we noticed that one of their 6K LED projectors emitted a light with a strong magenta cast. Picking up on our hesitation, they immediately called in one of their engineers – barely 30 years old, if that – who explained that the shift was intentional: to their eyes, the light appeared greenish, which they found unpleasant. So they had decided to “correct” it by adjusting the output according to their own visual sensitivity.
It was a telling moment, one that captures the spirit we encountered in many Chinese companies today: a genuine desire to improve their products by going beyond mere technical accuracy or standardised workflows, and instead infusing the work with something more personal and human.
We appreciated this approach for its sincerity, though from a professional standpoint – used to neutral and repeatable standards – such a choice can come across as naïve and impractical.
To be fair, the green/magenta balance could be adjusted, but we were surprised that the default setting of the product was, in our view, off-balance.
Chiaroscuro
There’s one aspect I particularly want to highlight: the human dimension of this journey. Between flights, transfers, factory visits and dinners, we had the chance to get to know one another better, to share thoughts, and to discover new sides of each other. Timoty, Sara, Luca, Alessandro and Stefano — all cinematographers, each with their own path and sensibility — are used to working independently, their encounters usually brief and sporadic. Having the time and space to truly exchange experiences, ideas and visions — beyond formal settings — was incredibly valuable, and it strengthened that sense of collectiveness which so often remains in the background.
I believe this is exactly the purpose of an association like ours: to bring people together, to build connections, to foster curiosity and collaboration. To work not only on the quality of our outcomes, but on the quality of our relationships.
This trip showed us that it’s possible to build bridges where there seem to be only distances, and reminded us that our real strength lies in the human capital we’re able to cultivate, both within and beyond our national borders.
An experience that, rather than leaving us with grand declarations, offered small but valuable lessons – along with the awareness that there is still so much to learn, and, why not, the pleasure of returning home a little richer, at least in stories worth telling.
Shenzhen 2025. Photo Alessandro Chiodo
