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I have experimented with the Beastgrip 1.33x and 1.55x adapters using full frame cameras and wide/normal to short telephoto lenses (35/40/50/75). I have tried with my slow Leica M lenses, which are usually pretty forgiving on coverage. These Anamorphics will cover full frame and are easy enough to attach to the M mount lenses with a 39 to 37 step down ring. the 1.33x is definitely a better fit for the 35 & 40mm lenses, as the 1.55x has a pretty wide FOV. Results are similar to the above samples, with soft edges and major distortion. But definitely plenty of character. Next time I take a stab at it, I'll post some samples.

Yeah - sounds almost as good as Fuji already. 😅

Quick review after the shoot this morning. I used the Pyxis as a roaming camera for a lecture hall presentation, so it was basically a 4th angle... which is a good thing. Face detect is a no-go for this situation; too many faces. I normally use the wide area AFC window on my Panasonics with great success panning across people in their rows, shots of hands writing and typing, group discussions, etc. I tried to replicate shooting this way with the 12K... no good. Pretty unpredictable. Sometimes it would perform exactly as I'd expect, other times it would refuse to change focus, other times it would hesitate, other times it would stutter back and forth between points. I used the Sigma 28-105mm f/2.8 today. I tested across a range of focal lengths and focus sensitivity settings. I stuck with a reasonable aperture of f/4.5 as well. It actually did better when zoomed in >85mm. Maybe the compression or blur helps it. I don't know. Overall, I'm not discouraged by this, though. This is a great first effort and I fully believe it will only get better.

It took a minute to find a link to what you're talking about. Doesn't seem to have made it to many of the usual suspect forums yet. Hopefully AF on Pyxis 12K means that the same is coming to Ursa LF sooner rather than later! https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=239482

Well it’s happened! Blackmagic released a beta firmware adding PDAF to the Pyxis 12K. I’ve been playing around with it a bit tonight. It’s really impressive for a first effort. The face detection mode is superb for a standard solo interview. AFC is pretty great but takes a bit to get used to, because it operates a bit differently than my Panasonics. The object tracking mode is its weakest at the moment. That needs some real work. The other nice feature with this update enabling linear focus throws and the ability to set rotation degrees on focus by wire lenses. If this firmware will work with Tilta’s upcoming PL to L adapter, I’ll be veryyyyyyy happy. Going to try it out on an actual shoot tomorrow.

I also found this video below, which combines a cheap adapter from Aliexpress with 17mm rear-filter and the Viltrox 28mm F4.5 lens. He just sticks the mounting plate from the smartphone clamp for the anamorphic directly onto the Viltrox lens with tape, so hardly and ideal situation, but it is more proof of concept, and it covers FF too! Test image: Video:

Yes, the Beastgrip might well be a better candidate - not only due to having a filter thread I can convert to but also potentially with a larger rear aperture for better coverage! I found this comparison between the Moment M-series (left) and Beastgrip (right) which shows the rear openings: Some rough measurements of the Beastgrip suggest that the rectangular opening is almost exactly 17mm across, which would make the image circle significantly larger than my Neewer, which uses a 17mm threaded mount. The rectangular opening looks to be on a separate plate - I wonder if that could be removed somehow to really open up the rear element? Wow - full frame coverage! I really didn't expect that, and it's very encouraging to hear! I also realised the 1.55x makes everything pretty wide, and have been contemplating what FOVs I'd want to get and what focal length taking lenses I'd need to use to get them. You reminded me of my ultra-cheap Risepray 35mm F1.6 C-mount lens, which has a 37mm filter thread. Assuming it doesn't vignette (and therefore doesn't need any cropping) that would give me a 45mm F2.1 equivalent lens, which would be pretty good for shooting street and run-n-gun like I do.

I'd be happy to help you test it, I'll join the group later today. Have about 25 android phones!!! I can imagine how difficult it is on Android to test on so many OS and hardware combos, the number is just insane. I am actually working on a stills camera app for Android and iPhone at the moment. So have been learning the ropes for just over a year now

Vintage anamorphic adapters are optically imperfect in very pleasing ways, but are large, expensive, difficult to find and setup, and can be slow to use (double focusing etc). Modern smartphone anamorphic adapters are optically imperfect too, but are small, cheap, easy to find and setup, and designed for AF cameras so should be incredibly fast and easy to use. Of course, the first question is about coverage, and this might surprise you, but modern smartphone sensors are approaching MFT sensor size. GX85 with 14mm F2.5 lens (no adapter) - I took a photo so this is open-gate MFT: GX85 with 14mm F2.5 lens and Neewer 1.55x anamorphic adapter in-front of the lens (de-squeezed): Full-sensor coverage and no vignetting visible. Can it cover S35? Who knows! Looking at this image it's much blurrier on the bottom than the top, but I was just holding the adapter in place so maybe I didn't have it exactly centred vertically, but it should give an idea of the image quality. It's obviously lens-dependent though, as this is the GX85 with the TTartisans 17mm F1.4 in 16:9 movie mode (no open gate)... Coverage.... isn't ideal! However, with the 2x digital zoom on the GX85 and de-squeezed you get this: This equates to about 44mm FF equivalent, and reminds me of some of the more funky vintage anamorphics. Perhaps the most impressive thing is the form factor. This is a 1.55x anamorphic setup probably more pocketable than a BMPCC4K, and that's literally got "pocket" in the name! Those just show the adapter leaning against the lens, as I am yet to work out how to mount it properly. The challenge is that this adapter has a 17mm rear thread which is smaller than any step-down ring I can find, so I'll probably have to go DIY to mount it. People have suggested I drill a hole in a metal lens cap, or get the smallest step-down ring I can find and glue a washer to it where the inner diameter of the washer matches the thread size. I'll have to experiment, but there are options. That whole rig weighs less than my Sirui 1.25x anamorphic adapter on its own.. 627g vs 744g!! It's early days for this idea, but the coverage surprised me and I think makes it a real option for shooting actual projects. The fact that the 14mm looks so clean and the 17mm so dirty means that buying one of these probably gives you as many looks as you have lenses, so potentially quite a few. I'm yet to play with how it looks at different apertures and focus distances, but they'll probably give some variety as well. The above were shot at F5.6 or so. If you stretch the 16:9 files from the GX85 you get 2.75:1 so super widescreen and you can crop the sides if you wanted to. On something like the GH7 with a 4:3 open-gate it would be almost exactly 2:1, a very useful format. It's not just MFT either. I've heard quite a number of instances where people want to go for an older look and will use a S35 cinema camera (like a RED) in a lower resolution mode and combine that with some vintage optics to get the look they want, or used the Alexa S16 mode and S16 lenses. Lots of cool stuff has been shot like that and when you have to de-squeeze in post then cropping a bit takes very little extra time on real projects. In a way these are perfect for low-budget anamorphic experimentation if you're interested in optics with some character and getting a range of looks from just one purchase.

https://www.eisa-awards.org/awards/nikon-zr/ Interesting to see the Nikon ZR taking EISA’s Photo/Video Camera 2026–2027 award. On paper, I can understand it. The overall package is unusually strong, particularly for the money, and Nikon has clearly managed to turn the RED acquisition into something rather more tangible than a logo on the box. Still, awards like this always make me wonder what is actually being judged. A camera can be outstanding as a specification sheet, and even as an overall product, while still having one or two behaviours that matter disproportionately once you start using it seriously (codec implementation, processing, noise reduction, workflow, etc.). That does not necessarily make the award wrong. It just shows how different “best camera” can look depending on whether you are judging features, image quality, value, or the less glamorous realities of actually shooting and finishing a project with it. The ZR may well deserve the trophy. I'm rather more interested in whether Nikon keeps refining the bits that do not fit quite so neatly on the award plaque ; ) That said, kudos to ZR! EAG :- )

But speaking of ‘peak camera’, what would be a future, ‘next gen’ option for me, not because I needed it, but because I wanted it? A better built, chunkier, fully articulated rear 4 inch LCD, spec of the S1Rii, ‘S9ii’ body. Essentially take the whole internal spec and articulation of the S1Rii and pop it in and on a ZR/FX style body. Now that truly would be a Thanos with all the stones camera for me!

It’s never sorted! Well it both is and it isn’t… For circa 15 years, without any manual or handbook, I have been exploring hybrid capture as a one man band and there have been; limits (earlier on), many (many!) dead ends and of course compromises. 2026 has been the first year I can truly say, yep, I can no longer find fault. Further tweaks, for sure, one of those being possibly…and even though I have just got it, swapping the gimbal and L10 for the Pocket 4 P. But for the main stuff, as things stand, there are no ‘better’ options, only sideways moves. The S1Rii is quite simply, in my opinion, the best hybrid camera, or put another way, the least compromised, but I’d stick with the former and say best. The combo of; size, weight, picture quality for both stills and video, at a flick of a switch, is superb and more than enough for my needs. The fact that it’s in essentially a modified S5ii body has proved for me to have been a good choice. Yes, I still prefer the S1H body, but the reality is the difference in size & weight is an entire prime lens so… The S5ii just gets in with job, - a workhorse static unit, but in other uses, really is not real world far off the S1ii. The S9 could be better built IMO, but the quality of the output offsets some of that for me and as mine is in an XLCR full cage jobbie, it’s actually bigger and heavier than the S1Rii, even with a Smallrig half cage…which is why it lives on a lightweight tripod. Nope, the tweaking & twiddling will never be over, but 100% there is nothing further I ‘need’ to do and scrapped previous plans to try 3 slightly different set ups for the rest of the season as they were primarily based on using the Sigma 28-105 for stills, but I’m done with lenses much over 500g for all day handheld work and a lens like that, for all day use, really does need a battery grip, especially if continually rotating into a portrait orientation and back and it’s that combo really that makes it undesirable to me, ie, it’s 2kg+ combo compared with something a little over 1/2 of that.

Well that was an easy decision… Put the battery grip on one of the S1Rii’s and then the 28-105 and… …immediately took both back off and put the prime back on. The battery grip is being returned and the 28-105 getting welded on to the S5ii with battery grip that lives on a chunky medium-weight tripod. NOT ever going back to any big zooms or anything that requires a battery grip. The best system (for me) at this current time is the one I’ve been running.

Raw Log Camera Demo – looking for closed testers (Android) The first signed demo bundle is ready for closed testing on Google Play. I am looking for Android users who can test the app and report bugs or usability issues. Current focus: • RAW and RAWC recording • IT8 calibration and color profiles • Astro mode • Motorola Edge 50 Pro and other Android devices Google requires at least 12 testers to remain opted in for 14 days before Open testing becomes available for this new developer account. If you would like to help, please join the tester group: https://groups.google.com/g/rawlogcam-closed-testers After joining, please reply with the Google account email used for Play Store testing. I will share the Play opt-in link and test instructions with the group. Demo recording is limited to 20 seconds. Feedback about drops, exported H.265 playback, GPU preview, RAWC stability and IT8 behavior is especially welcome.

It Was Just An Accident (2025) by Jafar Panahi is an amazing film with sequences shot in secret in Tehran...