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I thought I would add my project to this thread as I was somewhat inspired by it. Long story short, I modded my BMPCC to turn it into a D-mount camera.

Looks fantastic. Any interviews with the cinematographer / crew out there? They used Panasonic GH7 + Lumix 12mm F1.4 for most part https://www.eoshd.com/news/in-ny-and-la-theatres-january-major-new-movie-magellan-is-shot-on-the-panasonic-gh7/

Thank you for sharing, Andrew. This is looking great. I will watch it as soon as they show it in the cinemas over here. I am still curious to test a GH5 MK II due to it been tested by slashcam for displaying great rendering of texture and offering one of the best 4K images of any dslms out there in that regard. Its optional 1.4 crop mode makes it a great digital 4K S16 cinema camera. GH7 in 4k pixel per pixel mode might be closer to 16mm crop though. I would love a M43 sensor sized lumix pocket cinema camera with flexible cropping, like S16 1:1.66, S16 4:3 with full Super16 width, 2/3" 1:1, you name it. And while you are at it, Panny please give it an internal ND and still keep the EVF and great battery life plus full size Hdmi.:)

My Takumar 50mm F1.4 arrived and I took it out to compare it with the Voigt 42.5mm F0.95 with Sirui 1.25x adapter setup. The Voigt+Sirui is equivalent to 68mm F1.5 and the Takumar+Speedbooster is equivalent to 71mm F2.0, so a bit longer and a bit slower. In order to avoid changing lenses all the time, I did a little lap with the Voigt+Sirui, then did another lap with the Takumar and re-created the compositions from the first lap (as well as grabbing other shots too). These images have had a film-emulation applied, and have had exposures matched, but no other changes, so things like contrast and WB etc should be the same. My impressions: Voigtlander is softer at F0.95 than the Takumar at F1.4 I haven't compared them with the Voigt stopped down, but I'd probably rather get a bit more subject separation than sharper images. The extra sharpness of the Takumar makes the focus peaking a lot easier to use when using the screen (using the EVF you can see what is in focus but the monitor you need peaking on) The focus ring on the Takumar is a lot looser (not that damped but not too loose either), but of course it's backwards The extra width of the Voigt is apparent. It makes me wonder if the Speedbooster is a little less boosting than I claimed. The Sirui has a lot of coma on the edges (stretching light sources horizontally) so the bokeh seems more horizontal than vertical on lights, whereas the Tak seems to have a zoom-blur sort of effect which is a bit odd The Tak has slightly lower contrast (hard to see but I noticed it when trying to match exposures) In addition to those, I also grabbed these with the Takumar: Swirly bokeh! and it's not a Helios!! It has a nice halation/glow but the ghosts from the light sources are real. This is something I am thinking a lot about because I find them to be very distracting. Seems sharp at the edges at closest focus. The bokeh is confusing - sometimes with bubbles and sometimes not. I actually find that the response to light sources in this lens is very complicated - sometimes it stretches along the spokes of a wheel and other times along the rim of the wheel. Also something I noticed but isn't really visible in stills is that light sources pointed straight at the camera have a flare that's like a loop, like this, which can look pretty distracting too. My conclusions are: The focus being lighter and peaking being more obvious makes it a bit easier and faster to use, so much so that I changed my process to where I'd adjust the vND, then hit record and then focus in the 2s it takes the GH7 to begin recording The size and weight difference is significant and I found I was able to shoot people from a lot closer with it than the Sirui The small size and weight mean it's a no-brainer to pack on trips where I'm reluctant to pack the Voig/Sirui combo Next is to test it with an oval insert to get some stretched bokeh. As a proof of concept it certainly looks promising.

For now as a Nikon shooter, I am more inclined to shoot NRAW and do the renaming trick to R3D, than to shoot R3D as I am finding that the Nraw has more DR than the R3D and you can shoot the normal version that takes only about 370 mbs for 24 fps in 4k and 700 mbs for 6k. This is a little test of conversion of Nev to R3D. You have NEV (Nikon RAw), NEV but using the RED lut, Then the Nev to R3D renaming and finally the REDraw file. then So I need to make a little bit more test, with skin tones etc, but they are quite close to me, even more so that even between the different red cameras like the Raptor and Komodo, their is some color difference. The yellow are a little bit more saturated and the image is a little more toward yellow in the Nikon ZR redraw R3D files. On side by side test the ZR was the more yellowish of the red camera. So it might balance out in the end.

Let's not forget Nikon had no cine line, it was a clean buy with zero conflict of interest. Canon and Sony already have full cinema lines, so buying ARRI would create instant internal turf wars. Canon’s C-series and Sony’s VENICE would clash hard with the Alexa pipeline. At this point the wild card that makes the most sense is Apple. They could scoop ARRI up without blinking, keep it running as a prestige pro division, and then quietly bake LogC + ARRI color science straight into the iPhone Pro pipeline. Zero internal conflict, huge marketing flex, and a perfect fit with Apple’s long-term imaging strategy.

I don't think there's much wrong with the slower sensor to be honest, I have come round to it, and I really like the FX2 as well - the images speak for themselves and it's one of the only cheap cinema cameras with both a proper EVF and mechanical shutter, and we all know that hybrid is where it's at... And again worth saying that unlike Panasonic S1 II - it is in the body of the flagship pro camera, not in the cut-price shell of a mid-range consumer camera. The partially stacked sensors are of course the current cutting edge, a7 V will be great but only if you NEED the speed. I don't shoot much 4K120p or 60p. Cinema 24p is still my most valued spec in terms of frame rates and as for 30p, it is still a TV / YouTube frame rate and doesn't look cinematic. Getting all this sensor talk in perspective, we'll go back to the very start. Canon used a Panasonic CCD in their first 1D DSLR, their own pioneering CMOS tech was not yet ready in time so they switched plans. Then, from the first Canon 1DS it was ready to go - BUT CMOS at this time was much slower than CCD. The 1D classic is the only FAST pro sports cameras ever made with a CCD! In the following years Canon were able to go from behind with CMOS and take the speed crown away from CCD sensors. The in-line A/D line-by-line readout tech of CMOS is what enabled video. Sony in 2005 commercialised their first CMOS sensor in the Sony R1 APS-C bridge camera. It had video only in terms of it could do live-view. The 10MP raw photos still stand up today. The way CMOS handles dynamic range is also different to CCD - a linear sudden blow-out in the highlights, but on CCD a more film-like non-linear and gradual highlight roll off and it was not until the Sony a7r III in 2018 that CMOS started to match CCD for colour fidelity and latitude. That is 18 years of development progress. The a7 IV sensor is a faster version of one of that chip, one of the most groundbreaking sensors of the last 25 years. 33mp instead of 42mp, but it sped up to enable a 7K full width pixel readout rather than pixel binned 4K. In 2025 it's still one of the only mid-range cameras to go past the 24mp mark. I think for £1500 that is a decent offer? Have you seen the a7r III's images? It's absolutely stunning, in some ways beats an a1 and z8. The a7 IV's "slow sensor" is at that level. From those very early days in early 2000s, video took another 8 years following the debut of CMOS - first with the Nikon D90 and then with the 5D Mark II. It took a further 6 years until 2014 for anyone to make a 4K capable full frame CMOS sensor. The a7r II was the first to do oversampled 5K->4K in S35 mode and full frame pixel binned 4K. Oooooodles of stuff has been shot since on this camera and on many other cameras with a similar level of rolling shutter. Of all the specs I care about, rolling shutter only occasionally presented itself as problem in the real world. I've owned countless full frame cameras... Panasonic S1, S1R, S1H, Sony a7s III, Sony a1, Nikon Z9 and Z8 but sold all of them. The only mainstay for me is the GFX 100. The only thing the faster Sony and Nikon cameras offer to the creative process, is speed and less rolling shutter. If action sports and slow-motion is your bag then great. When the a9 III with global shutter (and the slightly noisy base ISOs) comes down to under £2500 I might consider one of those but until then...For cinema... I think the a7 IV and FX2 are the best images you can get for the price. Although the Panasonic S1H has the edge in low light, and for HDMI RAW output to a hateful Ninja, it lacks the autofocus, the ecosystem of E-mount, and also of course the small and light body size.

It's absolutely pointless even talking to these people (if they are indeed real people), we are so far apart and they are so far down the rabbit hole thanks to social media. The great tragedy is that the internet in it's original concept was supposed to level up people's knowledge of the factual world and to broaden their minds, connect them with other cultures and other people. The way the billionaires have just completely subverted the technology is horrific and they are all mega rich as a result. Zuckerberg should be in jail. On social media, even the order of comments under a post swaps around depending on who the algorithm believes you will agree with most, so the counterbalance of views just never gets seen. And the end goal of all of this was never to break society - that's just collateral to the main mission, which is shareholder value. And if Zuck and Elon weren't bad enough and all the dark money sloshing about from Russia, I am equally as disgusted at the so-called "moral" liberal elite of tech leaders who stay silent on the destruction of our society and community cohesion in the name of profit. Like Tim Cook for instance.

So you feel it in your bones that something is wrong with society and that corporations are doing a lot of harm, turning the frogs gay and so on. What was it specifically about the aquarium exactly that triggered these feelings? The science of fish? Some naughty toads? A pink goldfish? The financial institutions, like it or not, along with food and oil, are needed for civilisation. I'm not saying they can't or shouldn't be reformed, and refocused so the interests of the people are put first ahead of offshore tax dodging profit-making. It is true that neo liberalism and big business has failed to make society or communities better, it has failed us and the environment, they are parasitical and we really need someone to turn to in these dark times who can do something about it. I am just confused as to why that hero has to be a pedophile rapist with criminal convictions and fraudulent businesses, a fascist and a racist, old as hell, fat and stupid, born into privilege, a cold heartless landlord and a cultural wasteland of a person who likes to fawn over supermodels and traffic women. No names of course. A clue... it's not Bill Gates or the boss of Pepsi. Ah yes the NGOs and USAID are at the root of all evil aren't they wanting to end world hunger. Ah yes Russia that hero state where the quality of life for most people barely rises above the grade of heavy depression and alcoholism, and for good reasons. A shit economy, stripped of its dignity by a mafia state, which likes to routinely arrest and murder it's own citizens, and one that likes to spend countless billions on a hybrid war with Europe and the UK rather than spending it on fucking hospitals. You really believe he's moving away from the imperialist clutches of wall street? What are the actual things which have occurred to suggest wall street is weaker under Trump? He's had 4 years 2016-2020 in power and now again embarking on another term and as far as I can see the stock market has never been more of a bubble, more damaging and more highly inflated and inequality of wealth never worse especially in the US. And this is not me spouting an opinion, there's factual evidence for it, not that you'd trust any of the journalists who'd trojan the inconvenient truth into your pathetic little fantasy land.

Because I will do literally anything to avoid eBay, I am willing to let some of my favourite gear go for knock down prices. I have a mint GH5S which wants to find a good home 🙂 I also have a Nikon Zf if anyone is interested in some full frame Fuji-style shooting. This is loaded with my pre-release Fuji film styles for the Nikon Z mirrorless cameras. £500 should do it for the GH5S and the Nikon Zf price is negotiable. The stuff is in the UK - collect over coffee in the Peak District or Manchester. Or post within the UK or Europe. I'll be going back to Berlin soon. I also have a couple of compacts which wish to depart the crowded EOSHD HQ and go on a shoot. Canon G12 (CDD) and a Sony RX100 VA. Prices of those can be discussed below if you're interested!

The gatekeeper is talent.

8k30p with oversampling and 8k30p in Super35. 16 stops of DR with triple base ISO.

Even mushy 1080p from the t2i looks better than 8K/12k except for DR. The best tech from the past 5-10 years is IBIS. Any new full frame cameras have good 1080p raw without a crop?

Dude, my infomercial will be future-proof! In 10 years, humans will evolve and they'll be able to see that 12k detail on their phones. Adapt or die, man!

I love 1080p footage. To make 4K look good, you have to throw all kinds of filters at it. I can’t even imagine 8K, let alone 12K — that’s just crazy territory. Even 4K already shows every skin pore, sucking all the magic out of the image. 1080p still hits that sweet spot where the detail supports the story. Hyper-sharp 4K, 8K, and 12K just end up turning the story into “look how ugly that person is.” The narrative goes in one ear and out the other. I can’t help wondering if there’s some level of collusion between computer manufacturers and camera companies. What if 1080p was always “good enough”? That would be a huge let-down. Why buy a new computer if a 10-year-old one can do just as well — aside from saving ten minutes on an export? Granted, with a 12K sensor, I imagine moiré would disappear for good, giving you an incredibly clean 1080p file if the downsampling is done properly.

People fight over who has closer DR and latitude to Alexa 35, then apply a LUT that drops the DR to 6 stops to look like Heat 1995.

Here's my dumb-ass-getting-older-by-the-second-opinion: In an era where some people are starting to look back at 80's and 90's films while saying, "Why don't movies look as good as that anymore"? I'm not eager to jump into the high-resolution-hyper-DR-fray. The best looking film I ever made was in 1080p on consumer cameras before I really was trying to do a hell of a lot with color grading. There's GOT to be a push back at intense IQ realism in cinema sooner or later, right? Right? Ah, wtf do I know?

A couple of years ago, I was saying on Forums that Arri would fail, and people were calling me stupid. Ohhh its image is so special, etc etc how peasants could understand this. But the problem is you can't sell a lot of 70-100 000 usd cameras, the market is what it is, even more so when you have very capable cameras coming for much less. You reach a level where that 5% more cannot justify the 10, 20x the price. Before you had the highend market where camera cost/rent is peanuts compared to the overall cost, but that secondary market, the people that used to rent those highend cameras, can now buy a camera that will do 90% of what they need, and will rent only 10% of what they used to do. Arri and most US/german companies are going to be eaten by the Chinese ones. They still live in the rental business, for camera and other gears light lighting etc. The principal of the Chinese is that they will produce affordable equipment for the many, that will help them also produce for few highend that they will sell. You will find Aperture/Godox/Nanlight models that will cost less than a hundred dollars, to 4k led light costing more than 10 000 USD. They will sell a thousands of the 300 USD 300 watt cob monolight, for perhaps every 10 000 USD 5000 watt one. But those thousands of 300 USD lights will help them for R&D for those big lights. same for camera, imagine if Arri had repackage the original Arri LF in a more affordable casing, taking out some features of frame rate and sell it for 10K. They would be selling thousands of them, perhaps at the detriment of their higher ends, but those thousands of 10k models would overall bring so much money.

I just think it's a form of culture rot and US cinema will go down with the ship. The west is in decline and it's time for China to take over at the top of the world order, and that includes cinema. Better start learning Mandarin.

One thing this test shows is that the Nraw seems to have better DR and secondly the ZR has great DR/latitude. It is scoring 5 stop above and 3 to 4 stop below. So you are at 8+ to 9 stop of latitude which is very good. Very close to the Panasonic S1ii, Red raptor and for reference the Alexa LF is at 10 stops. I put the link to the video below, he has an English version sub, that is his own voice and not AI.

Thanks John for the app suggestion. I use PhotoMechanic for pics and have done for probably at least a decade and it’s my culling software. I do think it was having identical named files 🫣 in both S1RII’s that was causing me the issues because at first I thought it was the latest stoopid Premiere update, but seems the stoopid one was the user…

I second it, in terms of the A7 cii. High Iso grain is not as blotchy as in the A7iv, and honestly, the evf was one of the reasons to switch from the A7iv. The body is so big that the centered evf is very uncomfortable to use, at least when you have a big nose like me. Additionally, it somewhat flashes the eye in a rather stressfull way. From that perspective, I find the more ‚low res’ evf on the A7c ii to be more comfortable to use. While video on that sensor is beyond any doubt, with stills, I‘ve struggled on both cameras to get the raws right, i.e. realistic, more often than not. Counterintuitively, the highlights are more malleable than the shadows, and the greens tend to be rather harsh and hard to bring back into line.

Nothing beats a jet2 holiday.. I mean Chinese prices. Brand new S5II for only $1100

A very good example of why used beats new yet again. The sony a1 is now cheaper than the rumoured Sony a7 V at £2999. So there you go... Absolutely zero reason to buy an a7 V 🙂

I’m in the same boat. Trying to time it so that the Sony A1 price vs features hits the sweet spot. I think we’re nearly there. I always talk about the Japanese auction sites but again, right now there is a promotion on Buyee and Mercari with 15% off coupons. Not sure about shipping and import tax to the UK from Japan but it’s still a great deal right now. Found one private party with very low shutter count and light photo use. $2,781 after the 15% discount applied. tempting…

Yeah I hope canon, sony or panasonic would just buy up ARRI just for its patents. Like Nikon did with RED (the nikon ZR looks amazing). If somebody would buy up ARRI and trickle down their patents in a 2K body they would own the filmmaker space and these camera's would fly off the shelves. (Event video etc might be a different game, where fast AF is more important, but heck these big 3 companies already have decent enough AF today as is). But sadly also a sign that the old ways of working is done for. AI will eat lunches, social media has killed traditional video jobs (artfull and skillfull). watching TV has declined, watching slop filmed with an iphone with crazy transitions and bad lighting has become the norm. (as it feels more real to the consumers, and I get that, but also sad to see jobs, careers and also art plummet). Even the actual movies that are being release over the last 15 yeras have been disneyfied. (cute animal, jokes, woke characters, ...) Not sure if anyone watched the new predator movie. The beginning of the film was great, and the ending was great, but man the middle part with bud, woke synthetics and the friendship arc just sucked.

I had a go with an FX2 yesterday. The tilting EVF is great. As are all tilting EVFs.

Camera market is a total sideshow for Zeiss, whose main income stream is from EUV lithography machine lenses, as a partner with ASML -> TSMC. The iPhone CPU is etched into silicon using Zeiss glass. These big companies are interested in growth. They'd rather buy an unprofitable, but growing company, than a profitable but stagnant one. The Chinese might buy ARRI for the patents and branding. Only if it stays in German hands will they continue as a cinema camera manufacturer. That's what I think anyway and I could be wrong, we'll see.

Totally agree on this take. We use the 7IV along with an FX6 for doc shoots, a solid camera all around. It kind of just does everything really well, with an absolutely solid image to boot.

They're already closing down their pro services, and no way they invest in a zero growth business when they kill their own zero growth businesses. Canon can't do it. That would be all against their ego. They and their customer base believe Canon color science is best in the world, and thats why they have 50% market share. They're like "we ain't need nobody". Sony will have a integration nightmare if they do it. Arri systems are in conflict with the whole Sony line up. Also it would be an official admission that the electronics/AV giant couldn't get the color science right and eventually had to go shopping. Nikon acquisition of RED unintentionally made this perception that its a preferred approach in Tokyo. But it isn't. Nikon had to choose between two costly options and the acquisition was cheaper. In China, its only DJI who can gain a lot with Arri reputation in its arsenal, but I don't think Germans are comfortable with giving away this German icon to Chinese. Zeiss would be the perfect owner. A German brand with enough money, so the brand stays in the country, and they're heavily invested in high end part of the cine market.

If Panasonic would wake up, they could be the ones to get their hands on Arri. They already have a collaboration for the color profile, and Panasonic no longer has the professional division. But, as you say, the old Japanese guys have completely lost their minds. Could it be a Chinese company that pulls off the big coup?

It’s really good fun to shoot with too, especially with small manual primes (Thypoch Simera-c).

I am one of the weirdos that bought an fx2. Sold my FX3 for it which may sound very strange! I wanted the viewfinder and a more detailed image plus the ability to crop. The bonus is that it is a great stills camera too. I paid £2050 through Panamoz which I think is a pretty good price for what you’re getting I.e a hardy, proven, no fuss image gatherer which is what I need for my very unsexy corp jobs.

If you had my eyesight and shoot exclusively off the rear LCD in both bright sunlight and super low light…

Nice work 🙂

Just one dealbreaker for me with both the A7iv and the FX2, - the rear LCD. I would rather it was fully articulated like the A7RV, S1H, S1II etc, but it’s not. Not a dealbreaker on it’s own. But just 1 million dot? That’s a more than a bit shit, especially re. the FX2 as it’s APSC cousin, the FX30 has a 2.3 million dot LCD. If I was going to go in a Sony direction for my needs, it would be back to an A7RV for stills and a pair of FX30’s for video. And my old trio of Tamron zooms I dearly miss…

Curves are available in the advanced settings when creating custom picture controls (which you can the upload as recipes).

I wish someone in Nikon or RED explain what they did and what these codes actually do. NRAW show less purple noise at extreme underexposure but colors are all over the place. R3D NE is in a pool of purple noise, but colors are intact.

You don't love anything except huffing those "alternative truthers" farts. I guess when you eat enough of the shit pies those types of people serve you, you eventually forget what shit tastes like and start enjoying it.

It actually makes sense. He mentioned that European sales are up and that it wasn’t efficient to have each country running its own Pro Service. A single centralized service for all of Europe is logical—after all, it is one market, and one service center is enough to cover it. Plus, the European market benefits from a 5-year warranty, which is far more generous than what’s offered in the U.S. That level of coverage is already considered enough by U.S. standards and makes American pricing less competitive, whereas European prices for other brands are often higher anyway. I also get the impression that they’re preparing to offer additional types of services in Europe.

Ha! Ans it's said one is supposed to get more conservative as they get older. For me, I just can't shake capital being the vehicle for fascism. Souped up and hot-rodded to fly down the drag strip. And, yeah, since pseudo-capitalism is now global and we're on the verge on climate collapse? Woo boy. Buckle up. Yup, sure is hard not to be conspiratorial about it all. As someone once said, have a nice day "you fucking dumbasses" 😉

I had an Alice cam on order. they are scammers, I have zero proof of Alice cams actually delivered to buyers. My second wave cam was never ready to be delivered, even when wave 4 funding was being done. At one point they asked for a full payment to get on the delivery list. Never was I contacted to pay the remainder for an existing, ready to ship unit. now prominent Youtubers are posting about the new cam with Zero reference to the previous gen, as if it never existed. So there was no scam either…

I like this way of marketing to give the camera to youtubers with low number followers and turns out they're talented and need more recognition.

I have many questions about your Sirui setup 🙂 How easy is it to focus and what's the min FD when combined with the Voigtlander 42? Are these shots wide open at F0.95 on the Voigtlander? Could you go wider, with the Sirui? Voigtlander 17.5mm? It really is a lovely result you've posted and would be happy to see more. The GH7 is such a good choice when you have optics as good as the Voigtlander Noktons are... and anamorphic is the cherry on top. Makes me want to get a GH7 in fact.

Panasonic did much more overall than BM.

A great read, Kye. Way to roll with the punches. It's neat to have what is probably the only instance of this lens in use with this camera in the world. I look forward to seeing your footage with this setup.

An update... My 2.8-12mm zoom lens arrived and I've completed the mods. It's a nail-biting tale of daring and disaster, but as sure as Hollywood using action cameras with zoom lenses, has a happy ending nonetheless. First impression was that the envelope with the single layer of bubble wrap that was protecting the lens had lost its air long ago, probably while still in mainland China, but concerns of damage were quickly alleviated when I discovered this this is a beast, is heavy, and is made completely of metal. It's also somewhat larger than I anticipated.. here it is next to the camera and existing 8mm lens: I put it onto the camera and couldn't get focus, even if I screwed it all the way in. Naturally, my first impression was to take the camera apart, and modify it to get infinity focus, however it later turned out that this was wrong, and that I had screwed the lens into the camera too far, but back to me going down the wrong path... Camera in pieces: The bit I chopped off thinking it was the only barrier between me and cinematic goodness: It was around this time I realised my error, and that the lens got good focus (across the whole zoom range) with only 2 turns of the lens into the mount. This meant that clearance between the rear element and the sensor wasn't in danger, so I installed the IR Cut filter onto the rear element of the lens. Luckily this lens had a flat rear-element, which made getting the IR filter also flat quite a straight-forward process. I found success with the previous lens by using PVA woodworking glue, which dries clear and holds the IR filter securely (which I accidentally tested by dropping that lens ~1m onto a tiled floor and it stayed on just fine!), so here's the filter: I applied the PVA with a pin and I find that if you give yourself a big lump of glue then you can tell how quickly the glue dries by watching your lump dry, which isn't required in this case but is useful if you glue somewhere that you can't see: Next job was to modify the front plate to allow the lens to sit where it needs to. In this case the front part that clips in needs to be removed: It comes out easily and looks like this when mounted back on the camera: You can see that the mount in the camera is only plastic, which is quite concerning for robustness, but it also presents another problem, which is that the focus and zoom controls on the lens are stiff in parts of their range, and the lens would rather twist in the mount rather than adjust, so my previous trick of putting plumbers tape into the threads did nothing. This is where the story takes a turn - I decided to glue the lens into the mount. I did this for a few reasons. Firstly, this lens give the focal range I need and so I wouldn't need to change it ever again. Secondly, it will help resist turning in the mount, and will also make the whole thing more robust. In terms of risks, I figured that if I needed to remove the lens for some reason I could potentially break the seal on the glue and get it out. If that didn't work then I might break the lens thread in the camera, but maybe not enough to prevent other lenses being used that go deeper into the camera (the previous 8mm lens I had in there went in quite a way). There was never going to be damage to the new lens as it's all metal, including the mounting threads. Worst-case is I kill the SJ4000, which was under $100, and could be replaced. So, I went for broke, and put in quite a lot of glue, both onto the lens and the mount. I made sure to dry it lens-down so that any squeeze-out would drop down the outside of the lens rather than on the inside of the lens mount and potentially onto the sensor. I waited until my lump of glue was completely dry, and then put a battery in and fired up the camera. Disaster. You will note that the windowsill is in focus, so the diffusion is not from poor focus. I suspected some kind of haze from the glue, considering it was fine with the lens installed prior to my glue-up. I have a theory about haze. If something can become a gas and then solidify onto a surface, then it must be able to become a gas again and everything that condensed should evaporate again leaving a clean surface. Assuming that it doesn't perform a chemical reaction or anything. I thought that PVA is water-soluble, so I figured that the haze could simply be condensation, considering that the little chamber between the lens and sensor would have been where a lot of the water would have gone. First attempt to cure it was the late afternoon sun: I pulled the battery and SD card after taking this shot, to remove power and the possibility of them being damaged, and to also let more air in and out via those openings in the case. After sunset I fired it up again and the haze had turned into evenly spaced strange little globs, maybe 10 across the width of the sensor. I didn't get a photo of that, but I thought that movement was good, showing that whatever it is isn't stuck there forever. I left it there overnight and thought I'd contemplate the next strategy the next day. The next morning..... BINGO! Like a phoenix rising from the ashes! I suspect dry air from the air-conditioning gave it the time required to dry out. So, having flirted with disaster but avoiding peril with great skill luck, what do we now have? FOV at wide end: FOV at long end: iPhone 8 FOV: My completely non-scientific analysis suggests that it's about equivalent to an 18-60 lens, and the f1.4 aperture should mean that exposures are good until the light gets low, which is good because the sensor is likely to have poor ISO performance. So, how is it to use? Well, if there was a competition for least par focal lens in the world, this would be my nomination. Each end of the zoom range has its infinity focus setting at each end of the focus range, and if you go from being in focus at one end of the zoom range and take the zoom adjustment to the other end then the bokeh balls are 1/6th the width of the frame (I did measure that) so it's not a subtle effect. I checked if the zoom and focus rings should be locked together but they deviate slightly over their range. The locking pins are useful for controlling the zoom and focus, but if you screw them in completely then they lock the controls, so I'm thinking that I should glue them in place so they're solid. I'll have to be careful not to get glue into the mechanisms but that shouldn't be too hard. So, how the @#&@#$ do you focus using the 2" 960x240 LCD screen? Why, by using the up and down buttons on the side to engage the 4x digital zoom function of course! In terms of natural diffusion and flares, the lens also looks promising, and I've already noticed a round halo if you put a bright light in the centre of frame, so that should be fun to play with. There's probably little chance of this lens ending up in the clinical lens thread! I've matched the colours to the BMMCC via the test chart, so already have a nice post-workflow for it too. I haven't shot anything with it, but will do soon, and considering its size it should be quite easy to film in public without drawing too much attention. So, is it a pocket cinematic beast? Only time will tell.

Another vignette.. I'm now officially over the IR sensitivity. It makes people look, well, awful. I'm also a bit over the focal length being a bit too long for some situations. Lucky, I have IR Cut filters on order, and I say filters, because I'll need one for this lens and one for the new lens I have on order, a 2.8-12mm zoom lens. This will give around 20-85mm equivalent FOV, and (I think) has a focus control, so I might be able to focus closer too, so that will be fun. I also found the quality setting on the camera was not set optimally, so did a modes test and found the best looking settings, and also optimised a grade and saved it as a Powergrade in Resolve, so now I can just apply it whenever I want and save time pixel-peeping in post. Here's the modes from the camera: and here's the powergrade applied, with each shot having the edge softening optimised to cancel out the halo from the sharpening and compression applied: The middle one looks best, so that's what I'll go with. The goal of this project was to get me shooting and doing smaller projects and it certainly has done that, so that's a success in my book.