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In my short experience of shooting anamorphic on the BMCC 6KFF at a 1.6x squeeze in open gate 3:2 I found that detail increases a great deal when the video is rendered in 4K. The resultant video is 2.4:1 at 3840 x 1600, and if you think about it, you take the horizontal resolution down to 3840 from 6048 a scaling factor of 1.575 whilst the vertical resolution reduces from 4032 to 1600 with a factor of 2.52. that's a better scaling factor than filming in 8K 2.4:1 7680 x 3200 and rendering at 4K which of course has a scaling factor of just 2 on the vertical axis. There is plenty of information to play with and you can achieve Incredible detail. My first test video: The main issue in my opinion is correcting for distorted uprights and awful bokeh, not necessarily in distance objects but most certainly in out of focus areas in front of the subject which can look very ugly and it's made to look worse by the fact that the resolution is so good. There are a couple of examples in clips from the video below. That's why I returned this anamorphic lens, not because of a lack of resolution as that was fantastic.

I think if by the end of the year, there is no kind of solid rumour, never mind any official announcement, I'd start to get concerned personally. Then if by Spring, the same, then I would be extremely worried...but I don't think it will happen. Concerned/worried, why? Because 3/4 of my kit is L Mount and whilst it would still work for X amount of time, it would not forever and value would plummet. But at the same time, not really concerned because even if I got say just 3 years pro use out of it and sold it all for buttons, it would have been an OK cost vs turnover proposition. But I don't think that will happen. I think Lumix just have a bit of an image/marketing problem more than anything rather than a product-line one. If they get the next gen S1R and S1H right, (I don't think they will do a vanilla 'S2' as the S5ii fills that role) then it carries on. If any S2R/S2H flops for whatever reason...which if that was the case would either be because they got the product spectacularly wrong, but more likely too late to market and/or marketing, then yes, I think their longevity would be doomed. They would do themselves a big favour IMO by at least having some kind of strong official hint re. what is coming!

I get that and see that but would like it without a horizontal flare cutting through someone’s face 😜

Don’t forget to turn on the recording device and/or press the record button.

It is accurate that everything is just a look. Narrative film is about evoking an emotion by manipulating light and sound. I like to think of everything as a thread on a tapestry of interwoven emotional effects. Every choice we make -- spherical vs anamorphic lenses, levels and types of diffusion filters, lighting ratios, EQ profiles for dialog, etc -- is both a point on a gradient rather than a binary choice between extremes, and also works with all of the other choices to craft a specific look and sound. And every thread is interpreted by the audience based on their prior experiences. So yes, anamorphic is a look that carries both its denotative properties such as oval bokeh, flares, and distortions, and also its connotative properties that, depending on the audience, might evoke the feeling of big Hollywood action movies. Or for a different audience and in a different context, it might parody big Hollywood action movies. Haha I agree, I typically dislike lens flares in video. Sometimes I take photos with a cool flare because it was interesting at the time. I love the footage! And that's interesting about the cliffs falling into the sea. I've definitely thought about getting some of those Sirui anamorphics. I'd say that most shots in this test don't specifically highlight the anamorphic qualities, so for this particular content, I would be just as happy cropping a spherical lens. In that sense I agree that it's not specifically about resolution, and the choice of lenses is highly dependent on the type of shots in that particular project.

Listen to it

I've been on this forum a long time, and I've never seen any indicator in this thread or anywhere else that @Benjamin Hiltonis trolling, or is anything other than a decent guy. There are a couple ways to look at it imo. I'm a very procedural person, in that I conceptualize end result as a function of the inputs. If I know the inputs, I plan the output in my head, and that's how I approach a shoot. On the other hand, I know people who have no idea how big their sensor is, but also produce better films than I do. They look through the lens and know what they want. If the end result looks good, who cares if you're using 40% of the sensor? Neither approach is wrong. But I do believe that products should have accurate and complete specs.

That sort of makes the decision! Anything "magical" is good. And moving from BM to FX30 (albeit with various stuff in-between such as the AX53 etc.) is an AF step I am looking forward to.

The C200's AF was marginal at best when compared to any current AF system, it is also a massive camera by today's standards with mediocre IQ (I have one). Are you actually going to buy a camera for just one project? Why not rent instead? Renting for a week or two is far cheaper than buying. I rent things like lenses all the time when I need something for one project.

I just got a FX30 last week and I'm finding the AF almost magical! Of course, this is the first camera I've had with anything close to state-of-the-art AF, but it's really revelatory how well it works.

Slow motion with Versailles in the background https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C3Qqwf-JA0 Congrats to the French for the great organization and the amazing locations!

Watching the Olympics and seeing the bullet time replay systems they had set up at most of the events, I thought that Olympic Broadcasting Services must have bought shit loads of them and it might spark a resurgence, albeit niche, of interest in them. On closer inspection, they were Z-Cam. Considering that Panasonic are an actual sponsor of the Olympics, that must’ve been a kick in the knackers.

Anamorphic is just a look, take it or leave it. Technically anamorphic lenses tend to "downgrade" the footage resolution wise. Does that actually matter? No, not in the least tiniest bit. It can really add to the story on some projects, and semi ruin it on other ones. I'm not the biggest fan personally.

I hate actual lens flare, in my opinion when it comes to lens flare from photography lenses used for video or in photographs there is nothing more annoying than lens flare. I am guessing anamorphic lenses flare in a much more complimentary way than the lenses that I own because I do everything I can to avoid it during a shoot. My lenses when they flare completely ruin the contrast and clarity, and usually the flare is a very undesirable odd pattern that is burned into the footage. It is on my list of complaints regarding my Canon EF 24-105 F4.0 L lens, even with the lens hood on it, it flares uncontrollably if the sun is at just the right angle.

I’ve never really understood the appeal of anamorphic myself and absolutely hate those flares. Whether it’s a big budget movie or a wedding ‘film’, it adds nothing and to me is the opposite and is like bad audio, - intrusive and avoidable. As has already been mentioned, if a wide screen ‘crop’ or end result is the intention, just shoot for that in the first place. I do wish more cameras had crop marks but Lumix is great in this regard as you can add them and reduce the rest by 25/50/75/100% which is fantastic. Just shoot with a wider lens. It doesn’t even need to be at a higher res, just a wider lens. IMO. Unless I am missing something? Oh yes, the difficult to work with in camera anamorphic squeeze, the out of focus corners, warpy and edges and odd bokeh. But apart from that, it’s fooking cool man 🤪

I hope they aren't going to pull out of the market as they've finally produced what we've always wanted, the usual solid Lumix cameras but with good AF! There are loads of super offers for Lumix camera at the official retailers here in Spain. Free 85mm 1.8 with every S5mk2 as well as discounts on other packs with more lenses. I hope that doesn't mean they are clearing out stock before closing shop!