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DSO Trump88 with 2x oval.

the interesting thing that happens when an oval aperture disk is installed is that the overall image quality goes up drastically. - since the width of the aperture reduces to around the same diameter as if the aperture were closed down to around f4-f5.6. Since the height of the largest 2x oval (f3.2) remains the same as the diameter of a circular f2 aperture the actual depth of field remains almost as shallow as it would be with a typical f2 circular aperture. The result is a magical balance of shallowness of dof and the refinement of horizontal image quality from the smaller aperture width. also, the illumination of the sensor becomes more even since instead of projecting a circular image circle, the image circle becomes slightly brighter on the horizontal plane. - this reduces vignette and tends to create the look of a higher end lens which has been closed down to reduce vignette. The only real downside is the reduction in light transmission. However since at f2 most lenses don;t really provide a refined enough image/deep enough dof for scripted images anyway the slower lens speed just means a shoot can usually be undertaken without the need for more lighting than you;d use for a typical shoot. The 250% extra light exposure from the speed booster and the 800 base of the bmpcc somewhat makes up for the light losses anyway!

this is an interesting thread i think theres a point to be made about the dichotomy between "suffering" for ones art... and just suffering lol some say that suffering, in a word, informs your work and makes you more interesting as an artist, a storyteller, as a person. whether youve battled a deadly illness, transcended a life of crime and wretched drug addiction, or risen above abject poverty that you were born into, that story is interesting to people, and moreover gives you life experience which informs your work regardless of its literal subject matter so...thats a benefit. a benefit of going through tremendous pain, perhaps the only tangible one that i can think of: through this suffering comes wisdom; a point of view you can share through your work. but this suffering doesnt have anything to do with practicing art per se the other side of this discussion is "suffering" that comes literally from your art practice itself the number of hours you work. under extreme stress. extreme pressure. many of us are familiar with it. hell, its a thing here in LA that PEOPLE LITERALLY DIE IN CAR ACCIDENTS ON THEIR WAY HOME FROM LACK OF SLEEP. THATS A THING NOW. how does that inform your work? living that lifestyle? i dont really think it does. dont get me wrong, *I* am that person who respects your work ethic, your fighting spirit, who knows how underpaid and overworked the majority of us are. but putting your physical and mental health at risk, so youre under constant strain, impairs us creatively in the worst way, and may take actual years off of our lives. stress kills hollywood will work us to death without concern and rape our dead bodies – from PAs to gaffers to vfx artists, we all know this. and theres this underlying unasked question, this rhetorical, "Well, if you want a normal job...[just get the fuck out of here then]" that is in my experience an ingrained part of every niche in the entertainment business. and although there are reasons for that, and a history behind it, if we dont stand up for ourselves we fall into the category of people dying on their way home in an accident caused by nothing more than fatigue. that is insane on a personal note i just got over the flu – ive never been so sick in my adult life – and as soon as i started feeling better after a week of not eating or sleeping properly, running a fever, the MINUTE that i woke up with some appetite i IMMEDIATELY decided that im quitting my job. ITS BEEN MAKING ME SICK. I HAVE BEEN ILL FROM STRESS rendering my creative mind INCAPABLE OF FUNCTIONING. its a little ironic that it took a trip to urgent care for me to put immediate change into action. if only solving these problems was as easy as taking five days of antibiotics

Either a button or touch, no voice control

shot a little more tonight. street brawl.

Suffering for one's art is one thing, suffering for work is another. If any work conditions, imposed or self-imposed are making you unwell, physically or mentally - get out of that work....or re-evaluate and change. Chasing unrealistic deadlines, spreading yourself too thin and underbidding others to get work is exactly what feeds the vicious cycle. The biggest investment as a freelancer is yourself, without being able to work efficiently due to poor health from too many hours or stress situations - is literally killing your own business. A production of any worth should never expect (or be legally allowed) to push consecutive hours that endanger the health of yourself or others - if they do, walk away. If you are on a non union/ indie project that requires excessive hours, tight deadlines and poor conditions - negotiate to get those conditions changed, or at least get heavily compensated with increased pay... if they don't, walk away. For every time somebody accepts work conditions that harms them, it sets the precedent that it is acceptable. If these unhealthy conditions are self imposed due to wanting/needing to secure work - make sure it becomes a rarity, not the default. Suffering for your art on the other hand is completely fine. Set yourself on fire, take drugs, never sleep, cut yourself, drink yourself to death...whatever, It's all been done before. As long as you create art as good as Beethoven, Bowie, or Botticelli - I see no problem in having to suffer for it, if that is what it takes.

Last week I had an insight into just how responsive Sony are becoming in rolling out support for their cameras. As users like myself and Paul Antico discovered soon after the FS5 was released the image had some issues. The very week I bought my camera Sony were in touch by email - I was then tasked to shoot some tests and send the XAVC footage to their engineers in Japan so they could work on analysing the problem. The detective work complete, Sony have now just released a statement saying they've identified the bugs and will squash these in upcoming firmware updates. Read the full article

Posted this in the low con filters thread, but - old hasseblad "soft" series 4x4 - sets of 3 often go for $50 or so. This is the "light" filter (there's medium and heavy in the set). Pardon my aging saggy mug!

Jonesy, this particular location is an alley right behind the building we have a production office in. The amber light in the BG comes from the top of my building and the neighboring one. The green light in the foreground comes from a parking lot just out of frame (screen left). Didn't use any light of my own here. But chose the location because of the nice color contrast between amber and green, and staged the actors to work within those restrictions. wanted to add that this hits on what i love about anamorphic bokeh (real or faux). it has a subtle but important affect on how your foreground subject is separated from the defocused background. it pops a little more, creating a distinct character to the image that you don't get with straight spherical lenses.

i read the price wrong, sorry! usualy vintage ultra wides are crazy expensive.

That's a great price for that lens!!! Looks like you got a nice sample too. It really softens up that NX1 sensor nicely. I have a small set of FL lenses, I actually like their character more than the FDs. My favorite one being the 35mm f/3.5... I have the older model with the rubber focus grip.

lush. It's the grain I love from the bmpcc. - as shown in this gif. running base iso in night time where a lot of the areas of a frame are underexposed, then applying a careful colour noise reduction in raw - leaving the luma grain sharp and intact renders a superbly filmic look. I've had lots comments of how nice the 88mm, 0.58x sb and bmpcc work together and have not tried the combo myself. the defocus rolloff on this shot looks great - as I;ve said, that sb 0.58x is creating a very good mimmic of a bigger 35mm format. I also like the lower frame rate that gif is exhibiting. is that 15fps?

Yeah, the aperture discs change the character of the defocus. The ovals mimic anamorphic bokeh.

I have just finished two short videos from last year vacations. Shot with 5d3 with ML installed in raw.

Zeiss lenses really are amazing. From any era, with any manufacturer. From the Zeiss Jena to the Zeiss Milvus, there is something special in their glass. I recently bought the Contax Zeiss 50mm 1.7, I haven't had the chance to give it a good workout yet, but from the minute shot of my cat... It looks great. Uh oh... I feel a Distagon in my future... I need a second job.

Yeah, I waited forever for it to arrive. It's pretty fresh! I just got my Patona power supply for it sorted this week (didn't just have Canon stuff around being a MFT system shooter and all). I guess retailers ship 'em out when they get their small quantities in, so you're best off, if you really want one, to order as soon as you can and then keep your fingers crossed they'll get a shipment from BMD in, within a few weeks from ordering and there isn't a massive waiting list for 'em. I think it might take a while for them to just be readily availlable. The VA takes SDI 4K, but I haven't got any HDMI to SDI solutions around, so it's HDMI 1080p for the occassional V-Log L mainly. Recording ProRes out of the GH4 is really nice to have, even if just FHD. Didn't do more than running some tests out of the box. Now will have to update the firmware and see what that's like. But so far... it looks well worth it... especially since I'm probably going to get the BMMCC with it. 4K is cool to have, but solid 1080p doesn't really bother me. As everyone already mentioned, it's probably one of the most pleasing images for the money... and now it has global shutter and the battery doesn't run out on you in a blink of an eye, as well as now you'll use a dedicated monitor, instead of the iffy display on the back. - Actually, if you don't mind a demo unit, they have one for direct ship out over here: http://www.one4av.com/ex-demo-blackmagic-design-video-assist.html?___store=default_en&___from_store=default

Saw it yesterday on the IMAX. I used to be really into Malick, Herzog, Tarkovsky and probably any other slow, elegiac-landscape director I could find (Sokurov springs to mind) but these days I have little patience for such films. If I want to enjoy the beauty of nature and life I go outside and open my eyes. The Revenant though was something else. It really impressed me in a serious way. It was sooo beautiful to watch on that huge screen - not just the images but the camera movement as it connected to the story. I'm even considering going to see it at the IMAX again because it will never be the same for me again. Even 4K on a 60" TV or projector won't cut it I don't think. I could talk about the film for ages but suffice to say I can't remember the last time I was so hooked on the actual physical experience of being in a cinema. Truly a work of art. I can't think of a better experience in terms of just soaking up cinematography (& not just pretty images but connected to the story). Really worth traveling to an IMAX to see before it's too late IMO.

Canon 5D MkIII ML Raw filmed with a Canon 24-105 IS f4 lens and converted with MLRawViewer to C-log DNG's: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7jxay72e2zEMzF6b3JzRGd3cGc https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7jxay72e2zEdlFJNWlqOUJVYUk https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7jxay72e2zEdmZwbFRCY1ZueFk (This was an earlier ML version with silent DNG's, no audio included.)

Go for one very good card not 2. SLI does not speed up Premiere. I have 2 GTX 960's in my system and Premiere crashes on every render unless I disable SLI.

Well, I already have the BMD Video Assist for use with the GH4 and contemplating selling off two BMPCCs to order a BMMCC (indeed: global shutter or rolling w/ 60p and increased batterylife!). But I'd rather use it like this, not too different from a vari-angle grippy camera such as the GH4: ... than how Blackmagic showed us like this: Just looks a little awkward. And how are you going to mount it and what if you're taking a break, how would you even put it down?

For all those people saying ML has never crashed, well they're lucky - but it does & they will experience it one day. Battery life is of no concern on the Pocket, as it lasts about 45/50mins & since I shoot ProRes HQ, when my SD card is full and needs changing, I change the battery at the same time. RAW is awesome, but I've only needed to use it twice and that's simply because 10bit ProRes is amazing! The whole Full Frame thing is of no concern to me - I love S16 sized sensor & the way it looks. My cheap speedbooster get me to M4/3 sized sensor, which is nice too and one day I'll get the metabones for normal cinema standard size, but don't feel the need just yet. Also, if you like adding grain to your footage, the Pocket produce one of the nicest looking of all the cheap cameras (really is Alexa-like) when you underexpose or have to raise exposure in post - so no more grain in post needed!

Great thread idea, unfortunately the first couple of upload links have already expired. Andrew, maybe you could post some instructions for people who want to share their files, to post them on a permanent hosting platform? Mattias, would it be possible to reupload those RED files again? Would love to try them out in FCPX. Here are a couple BMPCC ProRes LT files with the 14mm Lumix lens at ISO800: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByLAHzgYdPquTFVZaVZOZy1FY3M/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByLAHzgYdPquOHY5NW1hOXYzWXc/view?usp=sharing

for 10 seconds at a time, and stills, yeah 5d, but if you want most reliable raw video and don't love tiny sensor, maybe BMCC - probably still cheaper than what you're looking at. better resolution than both, great sensor size when speedboosted, best blackmagic image I've seen, better battery life (but trickier when it dies... probably battery solution needed). 5d raw is great though of course. can't wait to see what you can do with this edit: plus the bmcc is huge.....

Editready is really a great piece of software. Man, shot some interviews today. I keep thinking to myself "This body was a thousand bucks!!!"

Kidz - buy a pocket & a cheap speedbooster (RJ are the best - don't get sucked in to the marketing of spending the same amount of money on the metabones) and if you don't fall in love with the footage, then you'll be forever chasing that camera which doesn't exist. Honestly, with the pocket you don't even have to use RAW - if you can't shoot & grade ProRes HQ 10 bit footage then you should put down your camera & walk away! Also, ML will crash & when it does you'll curse the day you ever thought that it was 100% stable (it did it to me on a paid job & I was lucky the client was understanding - it fucked me & fucked me hard!). What a lot of people who rave about ML won't tell you is that the ML developers have pretty much stopped developing RAW on Canon cameras, as they are doing so much work on another camera's firmware. One of the ML developers or ex-developers is on this forum & raves about the Pocket - enough said. I was like you at one point & I just stopped searching after using 10bit footage - the only camera that will replace my Pocket is the soon to be released Micro version & even then I'll keep my Pocket cam. Suck it & see - wait a little as the prices will drop once the micro comes out!

Thank you. It's quite apt that you mention this, as we are currently looking at bringing another person in. It's the first time we've been challenged by general health matters, and as the company are pretty much a main two, if one of us croaks then that's 50% of the operation down. Both of us? The ship doesn't sail. Music video production is exceptionally battering these days. The cost has gone down and the expectations have gone up. So to meet budget, you have to come up with some wild (yet creative) solutions just to meet budget. As our development has also crossed into commercial work, the work is far less physically demanding but the process can be mentally rigorous. My daily tasks involve shooting, lighting, full editing, grading and media management, gear prep, gear maintenance and repairs, treatment and pitch writing, shot lists, visual research, sales and quotes, client admin and management, web design, social networking, driving, purchasing, location scouting, financial admin, meetings and other random bollocks. I can just about handle it. One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was "you are only as good as the people around you". Previous to that advice, I had to carry a lot of productions literally single handed as others were either not pulling their weight or were undermining the project. Not all, but plenty. Since, the team I have around me are very positive, supportive people who look after each other immensely. It's a big deal.

yeah, when we crew up, we are very careful with who we hire. you'd be surprised how many people are forthcoming when you ask them, "tell us how you handled a stressful situation on a previous production". so many people are happy to admit they flipped out, or made a bigger mess of the situation. we've been very fortunate to have avoided any major drama on our sets over 7 features. most of that is due to my producing partner. he's great at finding good people.

Come on, obviously not. I've just personally had more instances where clueless ladies have been the brunt of the problem - getting more stressed, uptight, flapping around etc. it's the stress, not the hard work that tires me out.

I had a bout with stress dealing last year with a bad client and it put things into perspective for me. Heart problems arose. Not fun. Personally, I'm not sure, for me, that the idea of of a suffering "artist" (or, in my case, "craftsman") is worth it. However, I do get the sentiment of why suffering for art is noble. An artist desires to be emotionally invested under high stakes for their creations to have a particular energy behind it. Finding philosophical truths and paradoxes can be an emotional difficulty; much less figuring how to bring them into an existence that fits one's oeuvre. But, not all storytelling needs to come from that sort of place. Also, I'm not into the idea of being a work-a-holic. The notion of being prolific because you have to express yourself is okay. But the notion of being prolific because you want more jobs and more money is somehow morally wrong to me. I don't buy into that at all, be that at a cultural level or at an artistic level. I guess I could understand busting my ass and sprinting hard to work on something like "Ida", for instance, but I wouldn't feel good about myself if I did something like that to help create the next Transformers movie. And that's not saying that "Ida" is a great piece of art. But it does have a certain quality in it's craft that gives it more value --to me. As it is, I float in my little pond content on being the fish I am --and aspire to be. As long as I progress on my terms, I'm cool with it. Other creative's muses may push them harder and down a more tortuous path, but we're all different and tell the stories we're gonna tell. I wouldn't want to be around for those first 5 days. How about the self-important males that do the same? Do they get a pass on being idiots or something?

I think working 8;30-6.00 + travelling an hour each way to get to the same office job day in-day out, then drinking and snorting cocaine to forget their boring life (or worse, having to fulfil the needs of a partner who does the same, - on your two days off going to the super market, clothes shopping, does more damage to the body and soul than a lifetime of sporadic long days on set. Not that I've had much experience on set but from my handful of situations where I've been involved in film making on a production basis I hated with a passion the art of collaborating with hopeless wannabe film makers. I expect I;d have enjoyed working as a runner on a Kubrick movie since there was method to the madness, but when you see just how dumb, jumped up and backstabbing most of the people involved at the lower end of the spectrum are, it is draining. Noisy and self important 'creative director' females unable and unwilling to carry gear are the biggest drain on the creative process when working on crap jobs. The main problem with film makers is that they all seem to smoke and drink lots of coffee. This ain't gonna help their already confused sleep patterns and stress. I think if I ever direct my own film I'll ban coffee and cigarettes from set and instead make people drink lemon water. Everyone would be a lot fresher and positive 5 days into a crap job.

Did lots of lens tests today during our morning walk. Haven't edited, will probably use it for a review. But I puled some frame grabs. Closest Focus at 24 mm (20 cm) Closest Focus at 240 mm (50 cm) 240mm Lets you keep distance (but of course less background). "Shallow" depth of field 24 mm f2.8 "Shallow"depth of field 80ish mm f4.0 "Shallow" depth of field 240mm f5.6

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Looks like they paid the kid in wine. His mouth is so black!

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