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For anyone interested in seeing a comparison of 4K with/without a Pro Mist filter check it out.

See, story telling, is like all other aspects of film-making, Whereas, a Film School can ONLY make a film school student of person, and actual, hands-on field work, will make a cinematographer, writer etc etc, of you, the way to go about with it, to to meet people with ideas, stories, narration styles etc etc. For me, apart from people, I get inspiration, from watching short films, and reading works of prolific writers like Roald Dahl and Jeffrey Archer. These two really nail the precise amount of narration (material, as well as style) necessary, in a short story (the things needed to write for a short film). Read lots of short stories, and when you start feeling that you have got the length necessary to write a 10-15 short film, you have hit the nail on the head. After that, have it reviewed by someone who writes lots of short stories (such as yours truly). I could send you one of 2 short stories, if you promise not to share them. :)

My full review of the Panasonic GH4 (final retail unit) is coming next week. Until then I am enjoying Philip Bloom's views on the camera here! A big thanks to B&H Photo & Video in the US for shipping internationally a GH4 unit with no recording limits, I got it before it was even available in Europe. Delivery took just 2 days! Impressed! Read the full article here

A lot has been questioned about this subject since it first showed up in >a> couple pictures uploaded to Redstan's flickr, or (four days later) in Andrew's first post about them, in late July, 2011. Almost three years have passed and still we don't have enough objective reviews and facts about this mod. I'm gonna try to achieve this goal here. I'm starting with a bit of history (which involves some guessing), but feel free to skip it. :) At first, it seemed that Alan (Redstan) was the one responsible for the whole thing, but now I believe he was the one who presented the the job to Van Diemen, and made a whole bunch of them at a huge cost and time. I don't think he sold any of these from the first batch, since we never heard of anyone reselling them, or using anything like that, but I might be wrong (Tony, feel free to chime in and correct me if this is wrong information). Then, time passed and a year and a half later comes Andrew Wonder, who was also featured on another EOSHD post involving a tuned iscorama, he called his "Wonderscope" and explained how he linked the pictures to Christopher Smith's machining job at Van Diemen. I come to believe it was only after this "indirect" advertising and lots of emails and questions from anamorphic shooters over the world that Van Diemen realised this "thing" could be a regular service they were the only ones able to provide. Partly thanks to Tony's many inputs on the original design and partly thanks to the sudden interest in the subject. If I'm not mistaken, early 2013 was the moment when other shooters from this forum started sending their lenses over, and we had all the fuss regarding HUGE delays in delivery and processing orders. People had their lenses trapped there for over six months, etc. Just search the forum for "Van Diemen" and some of these will be listed, followed by multiple users asking various questions about the mod. Mainly "is it worthy?", which is a VERY subjective question. I've sent my pre-36 Iscorama lens from Brazil in early December, 2013, after extensive emails with Christopher, at Van Diemen. My main concern was the time it would take to complete the job. He assured me I would have the lens back in 90 days. Recently, other forum members have reported they're >speeding the process to only a week, which is amazing (of course, this doesn't take into account the time spent during shipping). The mod is listed on Van Diemen's website, and costs £850.00 + shipping (and another £95.00 if you want special engraving). That rounds to about US$1500, which, we all should agree, is a big amount of cash. It's important to remember that not all Iscoramas are eligible for the conversion as well. Tony has pointed out that the inner workings of the anamorphot are kept intact, so if you have defective glass or bad internal mechanisms, these will be passed onto the mod. Christopher confirmed this by informing that all lenses are verified once arriving at VD's, and every single defect is reported back to the owner, as you're asked if you want to proceed with the conversion (mine has some faint markings on the rear glass). Now, what does the mod do, EXACTLY? The original Iscorama 36 weighs about 400g, has a fully plastic housing (which is pretty fragile) and focuses down to 2m without diopters (or >closer, through a hardcore mod). Rear thread is 49mm and you need some spacers to avoid hitting its rear glass onto the taking lens' front glass. Goes as wide as 50mm on a full-frame sensor and has a simple button feature for alignment. Focus throw is long (around 8mm), and if you modded yours for close focus, you need special attention so you don't drop the front element to the ground. The VD conversion weighs 680g (220g lighter than an Iscorama 54, and still much smaller than the 54 beast), because the housing is solid metal. Also, it has standard 0.8 pitch focus gears. At some point during assembly, Christopher sends you an email, confirming if focus engravings should be in feet or meters, and it focuses down to 1.1m (or 3' 7") without diopters (it's twists a little over 360 degrees, and that impresses me every time I do it), even though the closest focus engraving is 1.2m (the 1.1m mark would overlap with the infinity mark). Focus throw is 1cm long, beating the close focus mod and making your life really hard if you want a follow focus that is able to spin from infinity focus down to 1.1m. Rear threads are 58mm, and it does increase vignetting a little. It shows very slight vignetting on a Helios 44 (58mm) if stopped down, on a full-frame sensor. Aligning is still very simple, much like 1.33x lenses, where you have a rotating part with a small screw that locks the lens into position. Mine had the alignment buttons in really bad shape, so this new housing made aligning really simple, and I don't have to worry about breaking the lens apart in the process. They're also kind enough to include front and rear lens caps for safer transport. I also read - after my conversion was done - that Van Diemen redesigned the rear (clamp-like) part of the housing to avoid this extra vignetting. I couldn't find the link pointing to where I read that. If someone knows what I'm talking about, please comment below and I'll update the post! Also, if you want to improve it even more, you can follow >jaquet's tips and stuck it into a lens support so you don't even need to align it ever again. There's a recurring comparison between VD and a 54, and they are, indeed, different lenses. First of all, VD isn't necessarily multicoated, like all 54's, it's still a "medium" lens (not as small as the original 36 nor as big as the 54), but it doesn't draw so much attention, so you still have the stealth factor. Front thread is 72mm, which is a blessing for finding and using diopters, quite the opposite of the 95mm filter threads on the Isco 54. Please consider that I've owned (and used) an Isco 54 for over a year, so these aspects aren't guesses at all. The full metal body is very nice too, since many Iscoramas have had rough times since they left Isco's factory, 30-40 years ago. Mine had its filter thread broken to smaller chunks of plastic and was held together by an empty UV ring. This, added to the almost-stuck alignment mechanism, and close-focus mod made sure that I could not EVER rent the lens as it was. Damn, it's a $4000 lens, it would be nice to make some money out of it, right? VD's conversion lets you rest assured that your Iscorama will work like any regular professional lens should work: without any special information required (specially regarding quirks). Also, some other useful information not entirely related to the conversion: You should check in your country's customs office if there's a special form or procedure for items that are being sent out for servicing abroad and will return later. This will avoid paying extra taxes over the conversion costs. I know Brazil offers this option, and it's particularly useful, since I would pay a 60% tax over the declared value + shipping cost if it wasn't through this method. Plus Christopher is a really nice guy, who replies all messages and addresses every question you might have about the service. A good seller makes a hell of a difference for me.

I'm selling my full set of Yashica ML Prime lenses with metal lenses hoods and flight case. 24mm f2.8 28mm f2.8 35mm f2.8 50mm f2.0 50mm f1.7 42-70mm zoom f 3.5-4.5 135mm f2.8 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231233759495?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1586.l2649 superb full set of prime (full frame) lenses so can be used on Canon 5D, RED EPIC , GH4 , GH3, G6 Sony A7, BLACKMAGIC CINEMA CAMERA , BMPCC ETC WITH METAL LENS HOODS AND CAPS Yashica ML primes are some of the most sought-after vintage manual focus lenses. widely regarded as Carl Zeiss Distagon Equivilants the Yashica ML prime lenses are superb for Cinematography. The ML series was the pro line of Multicoated lenses developed and produced by Yashica (Kyocera), to sit between their consumer grade DSB line and the state-of-the-art Zeiss T* within the Contax / Yashica system. According to 'Lens Doctor' Eddie Houston, these lenses were the 'L-series of the era' Being 35mm format lenses, they cover Full Frame (Canon 5D, 1D, 6D etc.) They perform extremely well even at wide open aperture when used on a 'crop frame' system. 180+ degree focus throw allows for accurate control - ideal for cinematography use with a Follow Focus kit. Included here are: these lenses are full metal casings - no cheap plastic like kit lenses. all have full metal lens hoods added - these just screw on the front and help stop lens flare - and large lens caps for the front hoods (see pics) rear lens caps are also included The set comes in a aluminium flight case PM me if you are interested I will do a reduced price for EOSHD memebers.

And I think Daniel is talking about a 50mm and 85mm equivalent. Your 25mm should be fine for portraits but I would second the zoom lens. ND is essential. Try and use it for everything outside instead of increasing shutter speed. Your shutter speed should stay approximately double your frame rate. So if you shoot 24p then shutter at 1/50. Also, I don't see why you need three shoulder rigs, especially if you value traveling light. Personally I would just stick to your pocket rig and maybe think about something like a Zacuto Z-Finder Jr instead of that dot-line. But yeah, I would say prioritize a zoom lens above all. A kit 14-140 is relatively inexpensive, especially the old f4-5.8 version. It's not the best piece of glass in the world but I think you'll appreciate the versatility. Just stick to the 25mm inside. And yeah if money is a concern I would put the lens above the go pro but that's just me.

Great Sanveer - you agree with me. But now my question again - how and where can we inspire each otheron the story telling ;)

@Daniel - I know how the technics helps to tell the story. I started this tread just to reach out to others for a way to inspirate each other on how - instead of talking about the newest camera's only. But maybe EOSHD isn't the right platform. ;) @Axel - I didn't see those subtopics sorry for being so blind - I'll check ten The guys of Stillmotionfilms http://www.vimeo.com/stillmotionfilms gave me a lot of inspiration lately on the story telling bit. I was looking to something more interactive with opening this tread.

If you have watched Malick's films it's pretty hard/impossible to argue they are not predominantly shot on short focal lengths.... sure there is some shallower focus stuff but the style is overwhelmingly built around short focal lengths. I'm not saying its better, but saying full frame is better would be just as silly. Aren't most motion pictures are mostly shot on super 35mm size sensors which are closer in size to aps-c not full frame? Regardless neither is or has to be "better" than the other so cool ya jets. And for the record I don't shoot on an "iphone", nor am I some kid with a 5D who thinks more out of focus the background is the more "filmic" and "cinematic" my shot is.

  It ends up being a 0.9x crop with BMCC Speed Booster if you compare it to the typical Super 35mm sensor size. I.e. it goes larger than Super 35mm, but still a 1.4x crop over photographic full frame.