silvertonesx24

Nice stills. I really enjoy the 2x anamorphic bokeh, and a carnival is a perfect location to showcase that.

nice lens, really sharp image, as long as you're got a rail system prepared to support it

  Diopters effectively magnify the image, so it'd use more of the center of the lens, thus "helping", or probably more accurately- masking- the issue.

That's a property of this anamorphic, and also the reason why I got rid of it. Sharpness along the edges is terrible.

Sounds like a common scam http://www.ebay.com/gds/EBAY-SCAMS-SECOND-CHANCE-OFFER-HOW-TO-IDENTIFY-THIS/10000000001398410/g.html

Never heard of anyone renting out anamorphic lenses, you'd probably be better off buying then selling when you're done with it, and you can get plenty of workable options for sub-$1000- Kowa, b&h, Isco, Schneider, etc.   If you're shooting with a 1DC I'd recommend LA7200 even if it isn't sharp as the ones above it works with much wider focal lengths which is important with full frame cameras.

Yes this a good lens if you want pure sharpness, probably the sharpest one from my experience. It's big though, definitely need a rail system for support.

  No practical use. Paperweight

  I built something like this video a few years ago. It was pretty easy, just cut the LA7200 and then use a macro focusing rail and some screws to mount the outer part. I was able to focus within a foot or two, but eventually gave up on the LA7200 altogether as I found the lack of sharpness unusable.

  Regarding the diopter, I would start with these for cheap. 82mm threads. 86mm might work too.   http://www.amazon.com/82mm-Close-Up-Filter-Diopters-Magnificatoin/dp/B008HSAGXI/   Regarding the math, I honestly have no idea how that works. A +.5 or +.4 diopter is going to be rare though and much more expensive than +1.   With some of my taking lenses I know I've focused sharply just under 10 feet with these. I haven't done any official tests though.

A vid anamorphic clamp and some rail supports will mount this nicely. I don't know much of the history of this lens except that all variations of this lens (Isco Gottingen, Schneider Isco, Iscorama, etc) are all optically and mechanically identical as far as I've seen. They were used by movie theaters on film projectors and cost around $4000 when new.   The anamorphic image you get from this will be very sharp, even wide open. You won't get any flares as it is multi-coated. It's pretty easy to drop a diopter in the front barrel for closer focus.   The only big downside is the size and weight.

Should have stated- full frame. Anamorphic- a variety of 2x lenses. I'm pretty well covered with the 58mm Helios, just would like something longer for the B+H anamorphic which vignettes

I know the Helios 58mm is a very popular one for anamorphic shooting, I was just wondering if anyone had any recommendations in the 100mm+ range for anamorphic lenses that vignette.    

  It may be driving up the prices. But you have to take the good with the bad I suppose. Perhaps an anamorphics from ebay testing thread would be better.   I purchased a B & H anamorphic because of a member here who did a nice test and snapped some pictures of the setup in this thread.

Also, I put in a bid on this, was told I won, and was asked to pay with Western Union (which I would never do) and said I'd only pay with Paypal. Seller asked a few questions about currency conversion, getting money from Paypal to bank, etc, and I told him that it'd probably just be better to go with the guy from Italy that he mentioned to me as it sounded like an easier transaction.   BTW, I don't think you'd ever need to do a BIN ebay auction as Andrew suggested. From my experience, paying with a credit card through Paypal is double protection.

  Anamorphic prices are completely unpredictable. There's no baseline, it's really just which one has the best looking production in it's demo video (which include much more than just the lens of course). You pay extra for a researched lens with a slick video vs. something that no one has ever tried before, as there's more risk in knowing what you're getting.

I have one of these- a half-coated one that can shoot around f/2.0 that's usable and sharp enough. It's a great concept, but really I've had a hard time using it for anything other than tests, because of the focusing mechanism (or lack thereof)

Exact same thing here...

Looks like Amazon Prime ran out of 64gb Komputerbay cards. Lol.

Andrew, the sample footage in the OP is broken.   I am a ML donor, does that mean that I have access to this daily firmware? I have only 600x cards though. At least those will only get faster and cheaper.

Great writeup, Andrew. I thought your posts on the original BMCC were much too defensive and I greatly prefer this pragamatic, disinterested view.   I guess that's because personally I am trying not to get too hyped up over cameras any longer. If there's anything I've learned over the past few years, it's that people who buy the latest generation are getting burned faster and faster. Even as a professional paid very well for my work I can't see spending more than $2k at best on new camera technology. Just look at a $500 hacked GH2 + $400 speed booster (if that ever comes out) and drop the rest on glass and accessories as you see fit. Maybe I'll get a Production Camera next year, or the year after, and meanwhile I continue to invest in glass.   Also, why is everyone so keen to get some C mount glass on the Pocket Cam? All of the C mount stuff I tried years ago on my GH1 was optically garbage and every piece I had was eventually sold off.

Between   44m-4   http://www.ebay.com/itm/KMZ-HELIOS-44m-4-2-58-Russian-Lens-SLR-M42-Pentax-Nikon-Canon-EOS-Sony-NEX-44-2-/251213581132?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item3a7d7f0b4c   and   44m-2   http://www.ebay.com/itm/KMZ-HELIOS-44m-2-58-Russian-Lens-Canon-EOS-EF-5D-50D-60D-300D-500D-Mark-II-44-2-/181063474197?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item2a28395c15   Is the 44m-4 better because I can get the anamorphic closer to the taking lenses?

no longer available

  No, I'm suggesting that his budgets allow him to work around big problems that we in many cases cant. Need to shoot in a car or a small office on a 2.7x crop? No problem for Mr. Aronofsky, knock down a wall, build a set, use a complicated rig or a rare and expensive lens. We usually don't have these options and have to rely on DOF and full frame to make the best of tight situations. As lousy as the 5D codec is, there's no way the BMCC would replace it for me. l enjoy the 35mm Zeiss + 5D look for subjects and raw isn't needed for most clients. My cinematographer can make up for dynamic range. So for now, I don't find it to be superior, and especially with the shipping issues, I'll wait.

  I'm not sure how this is relavant. Darren Aronofsky has million dollar budgets, million dollar talent, million dollar locations backing him up and helping him work around problems. I'm as tired of the 5D 50mm 1.4 focus-searching look as anyone, but I'll admit it's saved me more than a few times when trying to give a cramped dingy doctor's office a quality cinematic look, which most clients associate first with shallow DOF and next with good cinematograpy. I was very tempted by the camera, but this was my main consideration into deciding to invest $4000-5000 (BMCC plus mandatory computer and storage upgrades) in quality glass instead.   I'll wait for v2, or something from a different manufacturer. It'd be nice to have a camera dedicated to ProRes 444.   Also I agree with the sentiment that this blog has gotten way too defensive of BMCC lately.