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Hi, all! I personally would like to have a space to discuss new developments in anamorphic lenses, how they compare to tried-and-true options, and perhaps even where things may be headed in the not too distant future. My copy of Andrew's Anamorphic guide is, I think, up to date, and yet it simply doesn't touch on some of the newer stuff that's come out. (Andrew, if you're reading this, get your hands on an FM Module, and a Rectilux, and push SLR Magic for some info on their 2X Ana.) The FM Module seems promising: works well with Schneiders, but the Schneiders themselves have some distortion problems . . . may yet work even better with other projection anas. The Rectilux looks to be more or less the same kind of optical solution as the FM Module, albeit bespoke, and I suspect higher quality too (though at the moment mostly vaporware). Andrew wrote one article on a 2X from SLR Magic, and I have not heard anything since. And honestly, I wasn't impressed with their 1.3X (nor were others. They seemed to be quickly resold by early adopters, same with the VanDemien ISCO. There are several on the 'bay already.) So what do people think? There are of course the old faithfuls: Iscoramas, LOMOs, and a smattering of vintage single-focus options. How does it all stack up? I'll start things off by saying that I'm cautiously optimistic about the future of 2X Anamorphics

Hi Jimmy, I've only ever used the FS700 with the internal codec. I've used it countless times, but haven't experienced the full potential with the Odyssey. The dynamic range is superb though on the FS7, you can pull it around quite a lot in post, if exposed correctly. I didn't maximise the dynamic range as I slightly underexposed the image to retain the highlights in a location with bright light and dark shadows. It isn't raw though. It's much better than the FS700, however, don't think that this camera is a quick setup, small kind of thing. A lot of work needs to be done on set with profiles such as Slog3 and it also gets a bit heavy on the right arm after a while. My back & arm was destroyed after the shoot, had to get the girlfriend to rub it better! The FS700 is a lot lighter although a pain in the ass ergonomically. Also, if using the Extension Module - you really need another person to help out. Once you add that thing on, this ain't no one man band!

​I don't think the gorillas will appreciate that! But a few big ones might scare the police for a while.

I filmed a short documentary in the tramway last month, we send a mail for a permission to the company, they never answered so we just went for it. We where well prepared and everything went very well, we didn't had any major problem. The crew was small which made everything easier and faster. Be prepared and scout the places you are going to shoot in, so you can solve creative and technical problems before the shoot. Just try to be discret and to always have someone watching out for the police.

Yeah, the performance on the right is pretty shady!

Good suggestion jcs. That should be nearly instant btw because it's not re-compressing anything. Another thing to note is that a screengrab of the QuickTime player window might not accurately represent that file (I've heard lots of designers complain specifically about qt player). Save out a static to do a "fcheck" in something else, Photoshop etc. "ffmpeg -ss 00:00:04 -i myfile.mov -t 1 -pix_fmt rgb24 myfile.tif" <= that will save out one frame 4 seconds into a clip as 8bit uncompressed rgb tiff. An open source fcheck utility: http://opensource.mikrosimage.eu/duke.html

What's youtube compression got to do with permits?!

Kind of reminds me of this: Great stuff!

Rodney Charters, highly regarded director and cinematographer, talks about using the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera side-by-side with an Alexa, what 4K acquisition means in "his" world as a high-end cinematographer, and his love for the Alexa, and what it makes this camera special.

Lovely guy. He bought my GH4 Shooter's Guide last month

FM Lens + Cinelux ES + Olympus OM 85MM @ f.2

I just tried the UV filter in the 50mm super takumar prime lens and mi cinelux 1 with FM is MUCH BETER AND BIGGER flares, thank you Hans for the advise.