Caleb Genheimer

IMO it is best to first make your timeline and decide your delivery resolution/ratio. Then drop in your footage and stretch the horizontal by scaling it 2X.

IMAX has a new laser projection system that should outclass all other projection technologies once it arrives. Use of laser means that blacks are true blacks (aka there is zero light hitting the screen). While there IS still a place for film projection, I don't doubt for one second that laser will be able to precisely replicate the feel of analog projection should the need arise. I just hope that some day it is available to consumers because the DR would make for an excellent color-accurate image for CC work.

Get a Rectilux and you're set. The Sankor is decent quality. Rectilux plus a projection anamorphic is the cheapest single-focus setup. Anything cheaper is a gimmick or is junk quality.

It's pretty great. Visually awesome. I personally would massage the audio a bit more, especially the sound effects. Even if it is a cheesy b-movie vibe with blatant sound library effects, they should still be mixed correctly. Trust people to take notice anyway. i would also cut almost half of the lines that each character says at the beginning. "Is that your woman out there in the car?" "Yes sir." "She said y'all just moved to the area." "Are you sure this is the same house?" "Ted said it needed a little work." "Is that his trailer?" "We're gonna have to toughen you up me n you gonna be neighbors." "What?" See how that flows and still makes sense without the other lines? That's one thing I had to work hard to teach myself when editing my own work: if a line is unnecessary, you cut it. Even if you wrote it, doesn't matter. The dialogue has to have a conversational flow, and that means timing things right too.

I use a Konica Hexanon f1.8. It is not a great lens on its own, but it is a pancake with very simple optics, which yields great results with the Kowa if stopped down to f4. I'm looking at getting the Voigtlander 40mm f2 pancake as an upgrade, but I just spent a lot on the rangefinder so it'll have to wait a bit. Here is my first video with the rangefinder on my Kowa/Konica setup: https://vimeo.com/142703300

I use a 40mm on NX1 for 2.40 ratio. It's the widest I've found that still covers nicely.

The real challenge with small gimbals is eliminating movement. This may sound counter to the purpose of a gimbal, but remember, these are only 3-axis. They don't stabilize lateral or vertical shift, so any movements to that effect (bouncing from walking being the most common) will still translate into your footage. Bigger gimbals like the Ronin give more steady footage due to their inertia from being heavier. Of course, increased weight has its own drawbacks. I currently run the Ronin M, but I've also run the original Ronin. The weight difference has a serious effect on shift stabilization even between those two gimbals. With practice, an operator can learn to minimize bounce with special walking techniques, but overall the "bounce" of step remains the key difference between steadycams and gimbals. I am hopeful that soon more gimbals will integrate some form of 4th axis stabilization to eliminate bounce, but on these small, literally handheld gimbals, it's really the biggest limitation by far, OSMO or other brands.

I would suggest a lens support, yeah. I'm probably going to get my Redstan front clamp welded to a lens support for maximum stability.

AC7 was the best I could find. Not as inexpensive as the chinese options, but you get what you pay for. If you want niche pro features like desqueezing 2X and cropping it to 2.40, you have to pay for it. If you don't have a monitor now, the AC7 is a good long-term investment and very useful in most situations, even if you aren't shooting scope.

Shot some footage of people and faces hanging in an apartment tonight. It was handheld, but I'll post some examples hopefully tomorrow.

depends if you're using the full sensor too. On S35, as long as my target aspect is 2.40:1, I can use a 40mm prime.

I'll jump on the Kowa bandwagon too. It's capable of going the widest out of any 2x projection Ana. It's not obscenely large. It is plenty sharp, but doesn't look "Zeiss clinical" like modern Schneider/ISCO lenses. It flares nicely, but it reacts well to changing the "taking" lens. Want to change the look of your Kowa? Just change the taking lens! I've used a Mir-1b and it just about nails the "LOMO" look. In short, it's by far the best all-rounder/bang-for-your-buck lens (all flavors: 16-H, 8Z, Bell&Howell)

Looks like you're over exposed by two or so stops

Probably. But keep in mind this is induced and worse-case (pointed directly/near directly at the freaking sun with no lens hood, neutral density or mattebox.) I think even a generic rubber hood would've blocked these out in most shots, and a proper mattebox should cut all flares save a direct light to the face. i don't really mind the look of them, but it's very obnoxious and a little disconcerting that the "blue blobs" don't move much even with camera movement. They're very static and as a result, they almost come across as a fake overlay. SLR Magic has something here that lives up to their name. I suspect that the Rangefinder has some fairly fancy, well-tuned optics to get results this good, and that usually includes lens coatings.

Thanks! I think it's partly down to the fact that shallow DOF/shooting at max aperture is still a fairly popular thing. I'm gas guilty as any. I forced myself to stick to f4, and I have to say, the results are very evident. 40mm on S35 just feels very filmic.

totally warrants a reply. Too zoom-y, exactly. excellent terminology. I'm saving up for a Voigtlander . . . either the 40mm f2 pancake, or the regular 40mm f1.4. The Konica was given to me in a bag of old photo crap. Just happened to be a good pairing for the anamorphic, but it's high time to upgrade to something sharper. I feel like I'm SO close to having a very easy-to-use anamorphic setup. A few tweaks to the lens support system, and I'm there. Edit: I've got a little video compilation of these clips almost ready, too. The magic comes alive with some motion.

I'm certainly going to be using a matte box next time in order to avoid the flares, as I agree with you completely. Again, this was a test. Better to be aware of the flares so I can take measures to avoid them when they're unwanted. It's a shame, really. The Kowa has wonderful horizontal flares, but there's no way to get them without also introducing the big blue blobs. Flynn, the Kowas are from the 80s (most of them), so they're pretty much on par with lenses from that era. IMO they're the most versatile projection anamorphic. Not as "Zeiss clinical" as a Schneider, not as vintage as a Moller, but they can go the widest and tend to take on the character of whatever prime lens you use them with. KOWA FTW. The trick is finding a prime lens that they work well with. Pancakes and lenses with simple optics tend to work the best. Obviously, the Rangefinder is brand spankin new, and other than the blue flares, it really is wonderful. I'm also using a SmallHD AC-7, so I can now focus and de squeeze anamorphic as I capture it. Whole different ballgame and really, really gratifying setup to work with. Yes, there are a few other "variable diopter" systems available right now, and I'm sure some of them have a slight edge over the Rangefinder. But pre-ordered for $400 with focus scale, this sucker is hard to beat bang-for-buck. I did find myself using the focus scale to rack focus consistently over multiple takes. With a better follow focus that might not be necessary, but I'm personally glad I got one with marks.

Hi, All! Here are some screen grabs, from my first UHD video test with the new SLR Magic Rangefinder/Kowa 16-H/Konica 40mm/Samsung NX1. http://www.flickr.com/photos/68917223@N05/albums/72157659802564846/with/22182848755 I've done only small, simple corrections to these images, nothing drastic beyond a tiny bit of sharpening and levels tweak. This is more-or-less how this setup renders things straight to the camera. Hopefully some video will come soon, showcasing wonderful, easy focus pulls! I did one test previous, (right out of the box of course, and it was not properly executed.) With some careful tuning of the "taking" prime lens' focus, I was able to get sharper results in this second test. The Kowa and the Rangefinder are nowhere near their max resolving power, that much is clear. The small Konica Hexanon 40mm pancake is unfortunately the culprit. Even at f4 (which all of these were taken at), it just isn't tack-sharp in the fine details. It's good enough to warrant UHD instead of HD, but it doesn't quite "pop" in the sharpness department (an attribute of good 4K that I've found very appealing.) The Rangefinder is what is creating the prominent (large) blue "bokeh" flares, and in doing so, it robs the Kowa of some of its flare intensity. Not sure how I feel about that. Other than the change to flare characteristics, the Rangefinder leaves the image pretty much identical to what the Kowa and Konica do without it on front. It does breathe, but only a little bit, and I happen to like a touch of breathing on anamorphic.

Great composition! What camera/scope setup are you using?

Pre-production planning started on this over a year ago, but several storyboards, four shoots, and countless edits later, and here it is! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMXefwksoeU

I have a 16-H (similar/same as 8Z/B&H). Ive be been eyeing up the two Voigtlander 40s (f2 pancake and f1.4) The Helios 58 I'm sure is great, but that's a much longer lens, and IMO anamorphic looks best in the wider focal lengths (or at least, wide is the real challenge with the projection anas)

Hey, all! I am back to shooting some anamorphic now that I have a Rangefinder, but I've been out of it a while, and I'm curious as to what lenses you all prefer (taking lenses), especially on the "wide" side. I have a 40mm Konica Hexanon that works ok, but it is very sloppy and wobbles the image. It was sharp enough for HD, but now I'm doing some 4K stuff. One I've been looking at is Voigtlander's 40mm f2. It is a pancake design like the Konica, but I suspect it's a much better lens. thoughts?

Rectilux is working well so far on my Kowa 16-H

Hunt For Red October is one of the most gorgeously shot anamorphic films ever. All the lights and lighting changes in those submarines are fantastically dramatic. Thanks to the anamorphic bokeh and flares, the submarines truly become characters in their own right.