QuickHitRecord

I am by no means a wildlife filmmaking pro, but I've done a couple shorts in that vein. Here's one a from a few years ago, shot with the 7D:   http://youtu.be/fo_rpn3b83k   If I were you, I would stay away from the full frame cameras like the 5D for wildlife (and bird) films and actually look into micro four thirds cameras. The crop sensor will get you in a lot closer to your wildlife subjects. A 50mm on a full frame DSLR gives you a 50mm field of view, but the same lens on the Micro Four Thirds Panasonic GH3 would be a 100mm field of view. The GH3 is also weather sealed, which is pretty valuable if you are really going to be off of the grid.   Or you could always wait for the Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera. Put the Panasonic 100-300mm lens on it, and with the Super 16 (approx. 3x) crop factor on that camera, you'll have an image stabilized 300mm-900mm field of view -- that will get you really, really close. Much closer than I could get for the film above.

At a glance, the 5D looks the best to my eye, but that pesky fixed pattern noise (vertical lines) is pushing me towards the KineRaw on this one.

Most of the current settings (particularly the ones by Nick Driftwood and Lee Powell) are very reliable as long as you have the SanDisk Extreme Pro 64GB 95mb/s cards. After a year of use, I have never had any problems.

I have shot with both the GH3 and the D5200, and I have found that the GH2 (or possibly the upcoming G6) is a better value when it comes to shooting video. GH3 is pretty great all around but it has some problems with moire, and the D5200 has ugly fixed noise patterns at all ISOs. GH2 has limited dynamic range, but that can be worked around. Any banding I get is not as distracting to my eye as moire or FPN. For the price, GH2 gets my vote.

Looks good! It's some of the best Cinelux footage I have seen.

I had a film at the International Wildlife Film Festival last year, and I talked to many nature doc DPs about their techniques and some of the cameras that they were using. I was surprised by their answers. The Panasonic Varicam came up a few times, as did Red Epic, the Weisscam and even the AF100.   As a sidenote, I am actually contemplating doing another nature film, perhaps with the BMPCC coupled with the Panny 100-300mm. With the crop factor, that seems like that could be an insane combination for nature doc work.

Wow, I wasn't expecting that (in the second video, as if I need to say it)... what is the song about?

The new Cineroid EVF4RVW has an anamorphic mode. I was able to find this screen grab in the manual, which suggests to me that you can set the aspect ratio to anything you like: Or more likely, there are set increments. Has anyone used this monitor for anamorphic shooting?

It struck me while I was writing about the Iscomorphot 8/2x that perhaps there is a better way to do this. If you have ever been to over to Personal-View, each piece of gear has its own thread and the initial post includes info, photos, and video clips. If someone creates a duplicate topic, Vitaliy redirects people and closes it. I think that what we need here is a sub-forum, similar to the way that 'GH2 Hack' is right now (maybe we can call the 'Anamorphic Directory' or something like that), and a dedicated moderator who can make sure that every known anamorphic lens has its own thread. Then forum members could update it with their own findings. It's all easily searchable, and it becomes a living, self-perpetuating database of anamorphic knowledge.

It's an earlier model than the 36, so it shouldn't be multicoated the way that the 36s are -- you should get better flaring. And unlike the other non-36 Iscoramas, it should have the same rear diameter as the 36. The included taking lens is a C-mount instead of a Nikon, Pentax or Exakta like the others, but you probably won't be using it anyway. The 36 does not come with a taking lens.   Careful about the one up on eBay right now. I think that Tony pointed out that it has some separation issues.

These are very well done. What was the size of your crew for these?

Nahua, I'm always envious of you when I see your footage. That is some luscious green scenery and beautiful Hawaiian sunset. It's nice to be able to enjoy them both at the same time!

John is going to make great things with this lens!

I haven't authored one in a while, but I think that you used to be able to make a Google Docs spreadsheet editable to anyone with an email address. Also, I think that it saves versions of itself in case we get some spherical lens fanboy who tries to delete it or SPAM it.

This was a much-needed bucket of cold water over my head as I caught myself contemplating selling my brand new FS100 to buy a 5D as I ate my cereal this morning. There is ALWAYS going to be something better on the horizon. That is a certainty. The uncertainty is whether we are going to do anything with what we have RIGHT NOW. Granted, many people here probably already own a 5D. They are probably having a pretty good day and I am happy for them. In terms of ownership, I am checking out of the image quality rat race for a few years or a few festival entries, whichever happens first.

I'll be watching with great interest as we learn more about the stability of this hack. Really interesting stuff.

Maybe it could be a spreadsheet on Google Docs. That way, anyone could contribute to it.

Thanks.   Based on what you are saying, it sounds like you may have a rack-focusable 2x anamorphic that costs around 1/40 of what an Iscorama goes for these days...   This sounds too good to be true. What's the catch?

  Thanks for sharing. Can you post a picture of your setup? I'm just curious if you are able to detach the anamorphic front lens from the spherical rear lens before placing it in front of your Zeiss Pentacon.

Does the magnified focus assist still work when a monitor is plugged in via HDMI? That was a big problem with the GH2.

 Check Rich Gale's stuff. If I am not mistaken, it is mostly shot with an NEX 5n.   http://vimeo.com/65180384

Firstly, let me say that I love that you are doing this, Rich. If there is one person who can crack the code and come up with a usable, modern-day anamorphic, it's you.   Looking at the footage, I think that this still has a ways to go. But I know that it's an early prototype and that it will only improve. Personally, I don't mind the CA. I don't particularly care for the softness at the edges in some shots, but I rather like it in others. Like others have already commented, the flares look a bit harsh -- it's hard to put into words, but I think that they lack the softer edges and are more opaque than what we've come to expect from the vintage anamorphics.   The background rendering is quite nice. I would love to see a 2x version of this.   To me, this is a very exciting project, much more so than SLR Magic's concept. Please do keep us posted.

  I rented a 70-200mm f/2.8 Telephoto to use with an FS100 once. With the adapter in place, the whole camera rig was about 3' long and pretty unwieldy. But the images looked great.

  I would also love to know how you've accomplished this!

  A very elegant solution.