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Here are a few iscorama pre-36 shots thrown together for those interested - I took my camera and Rama to a local car meetup with this thread in mind. My injured back prevented me getting the low angle dynamic shots and closeups I wanted, but you get the idea. A sunny day with lots of chrome is always a good test to see if a lens has any CA or highlight/contrast edge bloom issues. There is some fine alias/ line buzzing artefacts due to warp stabiliser being used on almost all shots (no tripod and was high on painkillers). I'm sure the Bolex can match the iscorama (perhaps beat it) on sharpness, but as I've always noticed with the Rama - it tends to simply be as sharp/clean as the taking lens that you use with it. My other kowa lenses with Core DNA attached could have achieved similar results, but not at such wide aperture on 58mm on FF - and definitely not in such a compact and light form factor as the Iscorama.

"The Cooke Book and A Cooke Look Back" free 74 page pdf for bed time reading http://www.musitelli.com/site/files/Cooke_Histoy_Book_by_FDTimes.pdf

Frankly at this point anything you read from the motivation guru industry on social marketing isn't worth much at all. Books on how to become "known" and the like. The authors know damn well that the way things worked for them won't work for you (technically they will, but nowhere near as well) which is why they're willing to tell you all they know for a $9.99 ebook. Also the internet is the great haven for survivorship bias as for every Andrew Kramer making huge money with the internet and social media there are tens of thousands doing the same things and seeing zip So basically, if everyone else is instagramming their way to great gigs, then don't expect anywhere near their success starting from scratch. Learn to manipulate Google and Youtube because I'd bet 99 out of 100 filmmakers don't know jack shit about search engine optimization and you can sweep up a nice audience there (and then make real money selling "seo for filmmakers" books and seminars five years later) Personally, you won't find me on any social media, because I don't have time to do it halfway, and unless you're willing to go all out (and become the aforementioned D list celeb instead of a filmmaker) your time is better off face to face networking and building referrals from that. I've built a creative career with zero percent social media presence, 20% web presence, and 80% face to face presence

I can weigh in on this. About 18 months ago I was frustrated because I'd get a lot of very flattering positive comments and reviews about my work, but not really seeing the benefit of this financially. Unfortunately these days, if you're able to give yourself a great social media presence but you're work is mediocre (as compared to a poor social media presence with incredible work) - it's more likely the former will be more successful. I've been studying the "business" and "social media" side of things on a course, and although it would take me far too long to say everything here, the overall conclusion is that marketing does come before your art. Social media is the No.1 distribution platform, so if you're not bothering with it, it could be very difficult to get anywhere. I've only just now, this week, picked up my social media strategy. I'm not being false, I'm not doing monetised reviews or any of that crap, I'll just be documenting what I do in bite sizes, and what value I'm able to deliver and help out (in a very non-salesy, authentic, organic, real way). I'm just going to be myself. I'll show what I'm doing as it is. I'm also camera shy. So there's that too. The difficulty I've had is my creative side feeling starved. The benefit is, I'm hungry to create and the artistic side is about to receive a mighty, mighty push. I advise anybody to use social media to show your work and value. But be real and authentic, or the audience will see the "fakeness" a mile off.

Hey Lens Geeks, I went onto Mr. Gale's website and saw that his DSO Trump lenses have been removed and replaced with these really cool looking APOGEE lenses. They come as set and cost a significant amount of cash. I congratulate Rich on making these lenses so awesome and sought after, but I don't have the funds for that set, even though they look perfectly featured. I'm looking for any other type of well constructed, modified vintage type lenses that portray unique flare, artefact and bokeh in the images. I understand there's loads of olds stuff on eBay, but I'm really looking at something more polished and solid to work with. Maybe also some people who change the bokeh look in Helios lenses (but not shit). Also, I'm wondering if anybody knows of any accessories that also add an effect, such as any lens filters. This is what I know of so far: Lomography - they have some cool looking lens sets, like he Petzval, and have a Kickstarter on this portable Neptune set. MotionSix - they have tinted and anamorphic flare filament lenses on offer. I've used a 29mm from them with a fixed 3.5 oval aperture. Flares are very nice, but lens was difficult to focus and extremely soft. LensBaby - never used their products, so can't vouch on the quality and features. VidAtlantic - they do lens filters and anamorphic oval mods. Don't know what they're like. MeyerOptikGorlitz - they are making modern versions of their legendary soap bubble bokeh lenses, like the Trioplan. Anything to share / know of / blah blah / etc etc ??

For the small time filmmakers, sometimes I feel like popularity is the only thing that matters. literally posting a lot about filming, and becoming a personality, is said by many to be very important, even just for submitting to a festival.. like it's not just about the quality of your film. I feel really weird about advertising myself, especially to friends and family, and pretending I'm interesting I'd rather slowly build up a following on vimeo by making films I'm proud of maybe.. which is obviously possible, but yeah.. do any of you do this? Thoughts?

If it's Super 35, yes. If it's MTF (2x crop) mount? Nope.

Ah, good find. So that would be: http://ironglassadapters.com / http://www.ebay.com/sch/ironglassadapters/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=&rt=nc&_dmd=2 / https://www.facebook.com/pg/Ironglassadapters-180601889122103/posts/

Oh no no! There's a setting that allows you to simply press the button in and you can then release it and still hold focus. Edit: The operation you MUST engage is "AF/AE Lock Hold". Once you set this to 'on', you press the button to lock focus, release it, and it holds your focus. To me this is absolutely, 100% essential, to make this a terrific way to avoid so many of the AF issues.

Ya you totally can. I've been shooting full manual for years now on MoVIs. Having good AF is great but not needed.

The Sirui carbon version is the established one that has a lot of good reports from users for this type of self standing monopod. Ok comparison video here

Yeah mine is the older one. I bought it when it first came out, 2014 or 2015 I think. it doesn't have any contacts on it. I'll take a pic of it tomorrow and post it.

I would not mind at all if Panasonic releases it with a MFT sensor, *if* that means the camera can hit a very low price point such as say US$3.5K?? Who wouldn't want a GH5 with built in NDs, SDI out, TC, and XLR for US$3.5K!

Maybe one of the new Libec hands free monopod might be a compromise when out and about Jon?

There is a guy in the Ukraine that sells customized lenses called "IronGlass".on ebay His Helios 44-2 aluminium follow focus gears are US $25.00 each and much better than a lot of plastic ?hit

I must say that so much of this discussion is based on specs for the camera and it seems not a lot of real experience with the cameras in question .... I recently moved from a Canon 7D ML RAW to a 5D3 ... but the files were off WB wise ... convinced that the GH5 was the real deal but the files were a bit less compelling ... returned it for a 5DMkIV in spite of all the expert advice on this forum. For me .... 1.7 crop is an advantage ... never shoot that wide for video ... too boring .... and for landscapes and wildlife that I film it helps to have a bit of a crop. Rolling shutter ... well at my age I do not whip my hair nor my cameras .... not chasing fast moving cars or trains. And the codec is a non-issue for me. CF and SD card prices have plummeted ... should I mention the $4K in RED proprietary SSD cards I had for my EPIC? Color if not within the ballpark is hard to control ... most other issues have fairly easy work arounds. And Canon color is so good ... no matter what level you enter the product line. DPAF almost instant magnification in LV wonderful build quality easy to view exposure preview .... in spite of the spec deficits if you know how to use a camera it works and works well. The 4K is consistent color correct and motion seems to be very good. GH5 has IBIS and dual IS ... the only place where the 5DMkIV is deficient. But with a decent gimbal and fluid video head ... no contest. Big sensor even with a crop has great high ISO ... noise is a non-issue if light is worth capturing. So here is a bit of a weird video ... vertical capture ... on a monopod as the garden does not allow tripods. Light was all over the place as cloud cover broke and reformed. No plot ... not cinematic ... just a look at motion and color. Same for the second ... just a look at different color and perspective. Password is 5D4 for both ... and I will delete these in a day. Thanks, Bob

The new canon FF in 2018 is still speculation and even if that happens we can count on Canon to be another disappointment in the video department. They'll probably only have 4k30 perhaps with no or little crop. With DPAF and canon color it will still be nice though. Meanwhile Sony will have 4k60 and much more stuff, the GH6 will probably be 8k, etc Yeah there's 4k on the 5D4 but the thing is so crippled that it's useless. Just good to put a "4k ready" sticker on the box.

I think it's important for people to see that you're working and remind them that you're out there. I follow tons of local filmmakers and the ones who I see posting set-pictures or stills from a project are the ones that stay in the front of my brain. When I need to bring on an extra shooter, the first people I think of are likely to be the ones who I've most recently seen sharing their work. You can pimp yourself out however much you want (or not), but we as filmmakers shouldn't be afraid of sharing our work.

Although I'm no social media expert, I presume the reason for your question is, you love working with cameras and want to up the living you are able to make using them...with all humans there is a certain level of marketing taking place....our choice of clothing when going out with someone and on and on...and most successful artists are very good at marketing themselves...and this goes far beyond social media...let's say....you're a painter....you succeed in talking a gallery into giving you a show....opening night comes and now, all who come to see your show AND expect good quality face time with you, the artist....they are buying you as well as the work...of course, most people are not cut out for this...but...as Luke mentioned, their approach is low key....there is a quality of life they choose to accompany what they do....on the other side of the spectrum is Casey and it's him you buy, when you watch his Vlog....The in between is huge and where you fit, is for you to evaluate....only you can answer that question...Terrence Mallick is famously reclusive...no larger than life public persona....in fact, absolutely none...so sometimes sheer brilliance alone is enough, though that is surely the exception...the reason Casey is so popular (never heard of him till 3 weeks ago) probably has to do with the fact that what you see, is who he is...he's enjoying himself and it feels authentic, whether it's your thing or not...so the trick IMO is really to gauge where you are...how public can you go....if you won an Academy Award, could you get up there and accept (Mallick would, and probably could not!)...I can only speak for myself, but I think a lot of filmmakers are behind the camera because they're shy....of course many are not!...I do think the most important question to oneself is, can I handle it if my work takes me where I hope it does....my sister-in-law is a good example....she's a printer/painter but for my taste really a graphic artist....she'll never cut her ear off for a prostitute, but have made a great living, as her work looks good in corporate worlds, or great for decorators to use in homes they do...but most importantly, at her shows she owns the room...so though nothing specific in advice for you, I believe the philosophy is always the same...

The only work I've gotten via social media is making DCPs for indie filmmakers. But that doesn't exactly pay the bills. That's more for what my dad used to call "walkin' around money." My bread and butter is cutting featurettes and other marketing content for the major studios. And those jobs come from real life relationships. That being said, I've somehow put together 15,000+ film-industry related followers across FB, twitter and IG. Not a ton, but it has raised my profile enough that when I bring a film to a distributor, they already know who I am. And I think that helps curtail any lowball offers or shady practices, i assume because they know I have an audience -- not that I would wield my social media presence as a weapon, but you know. To me, this question boils down to "do you want a fighting chance to have people to see your work?" and I do. An active social media presence is not the only a powerful component to achieve that.

Well that cost more than I had hoped, but the new machined aluminum collars fit great, and have been dropped off for anodizing. Now I just need to order some lock screws. Once I get everything back, I will post pics of my B&H mod Mk II. Should be ready by the beginning of June.

Yep, I'm always banging on about this in the office. Buying your followers to look good doesn't create any kind of organic high quality. I'd rather have 50 followers who offer great insight, communication and value rather than 500,000 random buggers who couldn't give a monkeys. Here's my take on social network needs and where your ideal audience could be.... I'm only just this week sorting it the f**k out so I don't die of starvation from lack of self created content sharing on social media. Facebook Fun, informative and interesting content that's widely appealing and shareable. You HAVE to "boost" for anyone to actually see anything though. It does work. Very powerful if done right. Instagram Visually exciting, conceptual, artistic content. This is where you show off your stylish stuff. Twitter Personal insights and conversations. Sadly I've never got into it. Don't think I ever will. Zzzzzzzz. LinkedIn Powerful as fuck if you're hooking up with other professionals for work. Should be a priority if you're doing filming for work. Snapchat Where you're you. A human. A selfie human. I'm signed up but I'M PETRIFIED.

@Andrew Reid Truth is, that only Samsung has Dual Pixel technology in their mobile phones, so I would guess there is some kind of licensing going on. Co-operating with Samsung would be very positive for the older players, such Canon and Nikon, that seem to missing some innovation in the connectivity/touch screen/mirrorless era. Samsung is the only other sensor manufacture that can make a dent to the Sony-owned industry. Also, there are a lot of us, even here, preferring the C100/FS5 form, as our workhorses, and dSLR/mirrorless as B or C cameras to our workflows. Also, A7sIII needs more things than better AF to compete with these kind of cameras (C200/C100iii-Panasonic light mini).

Theres plenty of DP's who have gotten work through vimeo and instagram. Just listen to the wandering DP podcast where some of the newer players talk about hoe theyve established themselves. But its important to have good work to show before going wild with social media.

If you don't need the speedbooster style optics I bought one of these years ago and the machining is in a whole other league...all his adapters are first class manufacturing. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Canon-FD-FL-lens-mount-to-micro-4-3-MFT-GH4-Blackmagic-ciecio7-adapter-/251021722531?hash=item3a720f83a3:m:msoDJIVcy6LCbjL_OsnADaA