Zak Forsman

Down and Dangerous was shot on a Panasonic AF100. We have two more movies in post right now, both shot on the GH4.

We need more Zach's in here!

I mostly gravitate toward crime fiction. Started a production company with my childhood buddy called The Sabi Company nearly a decade ago. We've made 7 or 8 features in that time. As well as a handful of shorts. Our latest, Down and Dangerous, was our first genre picture and the first to not lose money.

We've also created Artis Entertainment to distribute our titles directly and through partnerships with other distributors. Most recently, we signed with Paramount to distribute Down and Dangerous internationally. To a filmmaker like me, that is an unforgettable milestone that I'm very proud of, even if it is a bit like winning the lottery.

The next movies include more action, a sci-fi survival story, a neo-noir, and hopefully countless others. I have no other creative or professional ambitions in life other than to make movies until i'm dead.

yeah. not drastically so, but definitely sharper.

the rear thread is 77mm, the front is 82mm. my Redstan adapters/clamps work perfectly.

i use 82mm Hoya ProND with the Rangefinder and an adjustable top flag instead of a matte box to control flares.

This is at a T/2.8 on a GH4 using a Kowa Bell & Howell with the Rectilux, followed by the SLR Magic Rangefinder. For each, I am seated as close as focus would allow. Forgive the sloppy alignment issues, I rushed this. Must get back to writing so i actually have a movie to use this stuff for...

also, if you're wondering which one looks more like the Kowa on it's own, it's the Rectilux. The Rangefinder adds warmth, blue flares/haze. Preference for either is left up to individual taste, I suppose.

the concept lens they showed at CineGear was made with the optics from a 70mm taking lens, 2x Anamorphot and a Rangefinder, all placed in a single housing. the benefit of having them all together would be to eliminate alignment issues, which a lot of users of anamorphic projection lenses seem to have trouble with.

I would avoid wide open apertures with the Rangefinder unless you want a "dreamy look" because it tends to add a touch of blooming. Get it down to an f/2.8 or more and it really shines!

as you know, going to a T/.95, it will introduce some softness and purple fringing (this is true for the Sigma Art & SLR Magic taking lenses I have) so i typically stay at a T/2 or smaller aperture. in a low contrast scene where fringing might be less noticeable, those wide open apertures could work though. And of course, there are ways to remove purple fringing in post.

and yeah, the breathing is very much like how anamorphic lens from the 1970s would breath. for example, here's an example of how Lomos breath on focus pulls. the apparent change in "squeeze factor" is what is referred to as "anamorphic mumps". 

https://vimeo.com/96882585

more anaMOREphic...

Here is The Rectilux 3FF-W with a 25mm from SLR Magic at T/2.8 on a GH4. I'm prepping for another feature in the next couple months and wanted to start making direct comparisons between the Kowa Bell & Howell and the Schneider ES Cinelux. First, I wanted to see CUs of an actor as well as some focus pulls. 

I have Redstan clamps for it. http://redstan.com

yeah, GH4 on the Natural profile. taking lens was an SLR Magic 25mm T/.95 set to a T/2.8 I think. Kowa B&H.

very cool. it was a nice surprise to wake up to today's firmware upgrade (v1.7) which adds auto-focus to existing EF mount speedboosters too. guess I can stop eyeing that Kipon adapter.

the GH4 has a 4:3 anamorphic mode, so it unsqueezes to 2.66:1. i then extracted the standard 2.39:1 frame from the center of that.

one thing i know for sure is there will be no witness marks on the budget version. not sure what else might be stripped away. here's some more clips I shot a couple hours ago.

yep, set the anamorphic and taking lens to infinity and slap the Rangefinder on the front.

a few more clips. forgive the camera bounce on the focus pulls, I hadn't had my coffee yet.
 

These are like new, barely touched. These pair nicely with either of SLR Magic's Anamorphots (2x or 1.33x) to allow closer focus. The set sells for $300 new and I'd like to knock fifty bucks off that and sell it for $250 shipped to anywhere in the USA. Comes with original case. Payment via PayPal preferred.

This is the first thing I shot with the Rangefinder. Just a simple rack focus followed by a look at the effect it has on the flares (adds more blue basically). The focus mechanism is very, very smooth. This is paired with the Kowa B&H. I'll try it out on the SLR Magic Anamorphot tomorrow.

https://vimeo.com/134275447

SOLD!!

​i don't know what kind of effect that would have. i think it would be okay. but i wonder if adding extra distance between the rangefinder and the lens might have any undesirable results.

no reason it shouldn't. you might need a Redstan clamp to give yourself some threads to screw it on though.

I have one arriving today via UPS. Eager to see how it stacks up. My understanding is it have a 77mm rear filter thread and an 82mm front filter thread. So yes, it would attach with step-up rings. And the focus ring is a 240° turn.

Here are some clips shot specifically with this lens.