1tkman

​Yes. Be patient, it's a one person company, not a big Nikon/Canon/Zeiss type of company.
To answer the question: I mainly had contact with him over email when I ordered mine, through the same mail address as listed on the site, http://dogschidtoptiks.co.uk/contact.html.

I love this, thanks Rich!!!!

Few days ago I saw this video on Richard's Vimeo channel and I must say that this FF58 Quasi 1.5 ultra low contrast looks beautiful on A7S. The image has enough detail but still has that very soft and organic feel. The other great thing is that this is a rare occasion when even if the image looks almost washed out, to me it feels great just like it is and I wouldn't change it much in post. Great job Richard is all I can say, both filming and enginering.
 

​My vote is for Olivia Glass....
Although DSO worked for me....
Bob

Shoot was conducted with three Nikon AIS taking lenses: 35mm f/1.4, 50mm f/1.2 & 85mm f/2. There are a few close-ups in there where I used their new +1.8 diopter too.
 

Took the SLR Magic Anamorphic 2x out this afternoon.

And shot a variety of compositions and taking lenses (35, 50, 85) with some friends who also happen to be terrific actresses.

The top and bottom frames were shot on a GH4 with a Nikon AIS 35mm f/1.4 @ f/5.6 and the middle CU is with a Nikon AIS 50mm f/1.2 @ f/5.6.  
Will post video later.

This kinda reminds me of this:

Well, that is most definitely their loss. I find you, your words and your work an inspiration as I'm sure, do many other people and your name next to a post is a sure mark of quality.

I interpret this post as a bit harsh, but maybe that's not your intension. I just like to think of EOSHD as a safe place to explore questions.

I interpret this post as a bit harsh, but maybe that's not your intension. I just like to think of EOSHD as a safe place to explore questions.

Can't find any specs for SLR Magic in terms of F-stop, only T (transmission number), guessing it's F2.0? In 4K and 2.3 crop, a 10mm F2.0 lens is equivalent to a 23mm F4.6 on full frame. Not too shabby, and not particularly shallow DOF. The Voigtlander 10mm F.95 is 23mm and F2.2 equivalent- much tastier for shallow DOF. I have the Voigtlander 25mm F.95 and love the look on the GH4. The fact that the lens isn't super sharp wide open really helps the GH4 look more filmic (without needing to add a filter (which will affect highlights, etc., something that blurring in post can't match. Also, noise grain on soft image looks different than blurred noise grain in post)).
The specs for the SLR Magic F.95 25mm CINE II look very similar to the Voigtlander. Is SLR Magic using the same lenses/internals as Voigtlander for that lens?

Here's the Azden SGM2x on location from a b-roll excerpt.  You can see my co-director in the upper left of the screen holding the shotgun about 3.5 feet from the guy at which she points the mic, and the pickup the mic gets from the woman in which she does NOT aim the shotgun.  The mic was plugged directly into a Zoom H1.
The audio compression of these clips I made is probably too high, but this should give you a hint at real-world performance:  http://www.path88files.com/Mieko/TESTS/Chikori-San_Printer1_bRoll.mp4
Also, here's that ew100 lav wireless in action with the H1.  Personally, I can't imagine a shooter not wanting some sort of wireless mic system!  http://www.path88files.com/Mieko/TESTS/Chikori-San_Printer_1.mp4

In my opinion they just wanted to create exactly that look. Vision 3 500 has also much more grain - obviously as 50 or 200t. And the also preserved that rough grain for a reason.
They could have gone even furhter for my taste and shoot that on 16mm - would have given an even "rawer" look to it. I like it very much. It is so refreshing to see film!

Sony's AVCHD cameras are great as long as the scenes are such that the codec holds up. With deep focus and lots of motion the footage breaks down to a level where no sharpening / post processing can help it. With my Nex-5 the codec is an unnecessary obstacle that I have to work around all the time. It is just too bad that Sony did not release a firmware update XAVC-S for A6000, that camera could produce so much better video with a better codec! There has been rumored over at sonyalpharumors that there might come an A7000 camera this year, but who knows...
My recommendation: try to give D5200 and D5300 some testing in a proper camera shop, see if you can figure out if the film mode workflow is something that could work for you.
Otherwise I think some of the Panasonic or other m4/3 cameras will be your best bet.

Most people online are looking to learn something new. At one point I focussed on resolution and detail, then sound, lighting, story and script writing, legal/IP, editing/post, advertising, etc.
This thread is titled,"The Skin Tone Holy Grail". It implies learning about what are great skin tones and how to achieve them.
While it is reasonable to point out that certain cameras have better or worse skin tones, the spirit of the thread is to learn 1) what are great skin tones and 2) how to achieve them for various cameras and conditions.
Many posts are argumentative for the sake of argument and ego and don't contribute anything significant to learning how to achieve great skin tones.
To be more productive, this forum could use moderation. That would start with no more antagonistc posts by the site owner, who leads by example, and by said site owner to maintain etiquette and politely keep threads on topic when they dissolve into unproductive arguments.

I preferred the cat video.

​l
Hey, insightful! Thanks for these thoughts.

After shooting and editing extensively with the 5D3 (H.264 + RAW), Sony FS700, GH4, and A7S, based not only on my personal opinion, but on feedback from actors/models/clients, cameras which produce better skin tones are preferred. I found this out by shooting the same scenes with multiple cameras and reviewing the results with others. Doing research online I found that skin tones were the single most important element for cameras used to make money. Resolution, frame rates, viewfinders, ergonomics, etc., are all very important too, but skin tones are number one. Skin tones affect emotion, and emotion is used to tell a story or sell a product.
What cameras provide the best skin tones? ARRI and Canon. What cameras are used the most professionally? ARRI and Canon. What cameras are used the most in Oscar winning films (last few years)? ARRI. What DSLR was used most in feature films? Canon (5D, 7D, 1D): http://shotonwhat.com/?s=5D. Why did the C100/C300 far outsell/outrent the FS700, even though the FS700 has way more features (and can even look full frame with a SpeedBooster)? C100/C300 produce better skin tones with less effort. 
In the end, it's possible to get similar, sometimes even better (rare/unusual lighting conditions) skin tones from the GH4 and A7S vs. the 5D3, however on average, the 5D3 requires a lot less time and work.
How do we know when skin tones are better, when it's so subjective? Shoot the same scene with multiple cameras then show the results to multiple people for feedback. Some DPs do a ton of testing to figure this out before shooting a feature: http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2013/10/arri-alexa-vs-canon-c500/

It does not currently desqueeze, but many of the features are not currently enabled, such as playback and custom 3d LUTs. Perhaps desqueeze is on the todo too?

"Get ready for this" - I remember liking that song as a little boy... Didn't expect to hear that song today :)
 
 
I like a lot of what I've seen from the A7S. My main nitpick with that camera is the Sony color science.
 
When I compare the Sony colors to the Nikon colors that I'm so used to - there is something odd with the color science of Sony Alpha cameras. I've struggled with trying to get same color and same white balance out of my NEX-5R as I do with the stills from D800 or the near ancient D200. Since the struggle is there with raw, movie mode and jpegs, it's some other processing characteristic of the cameras that is the issue.
 
 
With raw stills I've found that no matter what I do, there's some kind of cast that just isn't there on my Nikons (not even on the old D200). Colors seem off compared to what I saw when I captured the still and compared to the Nikons not mattering how I adjust the white balance in Lightroom. If I shoot a portrait on D800, I find in most light situations that I can tweak it and say that is very close to what I saw with my eyes at the scene. In good light / low ISO, D200 is usually not that far from what a D800 can achieve colorwise, I can get fairly close to natural colors.
 
What I find with the Nex, is that I either have a magenta cast for the whole face, or I lose the reddish colors that you often find in shadow areas of a face as well as the reds for lips. Instead, the whole face has a uniform yellow/brownish skin color and a lot of skin color nuances are lost. If I want skin colors close to natural skin color, I'll have to resort to a lot more post-work than just adjusting a few sliders in Lightroom.
 
Also, in dramatic/high contrast scenes, containing higher dynamic range: you just can't adjust white balance and expect the shot to look good all the way from deepest shadows to brightest highlights. You'll have to pick best white balance for midtones + highlights, or best white balance for midtones + shadows.
 
I assume Nikon does some processing to create a better color / white balance output for the full dynamic range in their processing that Sony does not.
 
In Brandon's video, as well as in many stills and videos from Sony alpha cameras, I can recognize these color tendencies that I've struggled with: getting skin tones natural looking in a variation of light conditions, getting nature scenes in dramatic/high contrast light to not have extra color casts.
 
 
Don't take me wrong on this one. I like the A7S and what it can do. But I'd really love it if it came with Nikon colors out of the box. My ideal camera at the moment would be some kind of mirrorless blend of D750 and A7S, although the A7S as-is comes close.
 
 
EDIT: Oh, and I forgot why I got interested in commenting in the first place - great shots Brandon! I really like the camera movements, brings such a natural organic feel to the footage. Is it mostly handheld? Monopod? Are you using stabilisation in post? I need to learn :)

Hi guys! I'm an anamorphic newbie and just bought the SLR Magic Anamorphot. I'm planning on using it with my BMCC, BMPCC and also for timelapse shooting with my Canon 5D Mark II.
 
I would like to know the details on how to stretch images and setup the correct aspect/pixel ratio on AE CS6.
My normal workflow for timelapse editing is as follows:
 
Shoot RAW images with Canon 5DII
Deflicker on LRTimelapse
Color correct on Adobe Camera RAW
Import to Adobe After Effects CS6 to reframe, pan, zoom
Export Pro Res HQ 1920x1080
Edit on FCP7
 
I would like to take full advantage of the 5D full frame and stills aspect ratio and output 2.5k and Full HD (horizontally) footage. I will probably edit the timelapses directly on Adobe After Effects.
 
Thanks in advance for your help!

Let us know if you find a better solution for mounting the Shogun. I use a hotshoe at the moment with my DP7 and it's always moving b/c of the weight.

http://www.back-bone.ca/
 
Save this link for when the new models do arrive! 

Peter Buck!!! Rock On Reid!