Caleb Genheimer

Wondering about the focus. Both prime and anamorphic must be focused, right? If you can get that Flex-eDrive thing up and running to make it single-focus, you'll have my attention. 

I save both squeezed and untouched 1080p versions of my stuff. Stretching it out can give higher resolution without looking much softer, because the vertical lines of resolution are still sharp as a tack. Add a little grain, and you've got a really nice 2.5K image.

the stretched nature of the out of focus elements are my absolute favorite thing about anamorphic footage, and are my main motivation for enduring the hassles of a dual-focus system. It is a very painterly aesthetic. 

Just crop the sides off in post. If you're struggling to imagine where the frame edges will be when looking at your LCD, rig up some guides. Low-power ND gel material works good for some transparent black bars, just tape it on. Even if a patch makes a 4:3 mode possible, it probably would still only be 1080 pixels high, and cropped in on the sides. At least if you shoot 1920x1080, you have some leeway left and right if your framing is slightly off. It also comes in handy when you have to do a lesser squeeze (like 1.5X), which can often happen if you're focused close.

I will certainly check out that lens. Believe it or not, I'm becoming increasingly less worried with getting wide on my GH2. I love the full 3.55:1 ratio of 2X anamorphic, which gets plenty wide even with the 40mm, and I like its ability to feel wide and spacious while at the same time maintaining a tight-in intimacy on people's faces. I think my next lens needs to be a good and fast 50mm.

Here are some stills from footage I shot this evening. I'll probably use it in the music visual for a song that I am writing.   Shot on GH2 with Driftwood's Moon T5 patch, through a Kowa 16-H, Tokina ATX 0.4 diopter and a Konica Hexanon 40mm, mostly wide open at f1.8.   http://www.flickr.com/photos/68917223@N05/sets/72157634273204895  

Yes, you're right. My Kowa "reverse vignettes" (as I like to call it, because it is a vignette, but light white, not dark). If you don't like those, use a longer taking lens. But even Panavision anamorphics have those ghost vignettes. I actually kinda like them. Very distinct, and it creates a unique frame which is great for practicing unorthodox composition.    As far as the purple flares are concerned, I haven't found any good answer anywhere, but I've experienced them as well, and not just with Anamorphic, but with most any lens at wide apertures. They're pretty particular in that the light source has to be in a fairly precise position in order for them to happen.    As for flares from out of frame, you've just got to experiment. A bright, focused light is the most important part of the equation, but wide aperture and a slightly longer lens would both be good ideas as well, I think.

This is a monster lens! how wide of a focal length lens can this be used with?

Yeah, I'm with you on the old lenses. I love my Konica but I can absolutely tell that it is a the type of lens that would certainly vary a lot from copy to copy. I almost never use it wide open, as at f1.8 it is very soft and hazy. But stopped down one click to f2.8 it is quite useable. Really, I don't have any other lenses that I like using it with at the moment. I have a slew of Tamron SP Adaptall II lenses that I picked up because I was gifted the hard-to-get 17mm, as well as an nFD 28mm, and a 37mm MIR-1B. It just doesn't jive well with the others.    I'd like to get a set of matched primes or a fast zoom that it plays nice with. I've been eyeing the Tokina ATX 28-80 f2.8, but have not found anyone who has tried it with a Kowa.

@EOSHD Are we allowed to still post Ebay auctions? Although I'm not immediately in the market for anamorphics, I frequent Ebay multiple times a day, and if I see a good deal on a good anamorphic, I like to post it to the forum. There always seem to be people asking about getting into anamorphic shooting, and honestly, if my sharing an auction can help them snag a good deal on a worthwhile anamorphic, the more the merrier.

http://vimeo.com/68443110   This is my new graphic, in animated form. I created and animated it in PowerPoint (I've been animating in PowerPoint since elementary school). I then played the animation on my Dell 30" monitor and recorded the monitor with my GH2, Kowa anamorphic, Konica AR 40mm and Tokina diopter all on a tripod. Then I moved the monitor out of the scene and recorded various flares with a flashlight. Brought it all together in Final Cut Pro, set the flares as additive layers, and added some grain overlay effect. I think the outcome is something clean-cut but with a dash of organic mojo that is difficult to achieve with an all-digital animation. There's no faking those real flares!        

Trailer for a roadtrip I'm going on with two friends this July. We will be making many fun videos along the way, so follow us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram.   http://vimeo.com/67659922    

You should get the benefit of a more shallow DOF with equivalent f/stop and field of view.

One question: Where in the world are the built-in NDs?

  Do not listen to this man! I will take them for free, no need to include $10.  :D

Hi, All! here is the art film that I was projecting this past month. It is the second of two films in the series. This one was exhibited at Art-A-Whirl in Gallery 135 at the Thorp Building, projected on a wall at 1080p through my Kowa anamorphic lens as a loop with 45 seconds of blank in between screenings. It is not really made with web viewing in mind, it supposed to be viewed in an art gallery, but some folks here on the forum expressed interest in seeing my work, so I uploaded it to share with the community.   http://vimeo.com/67004028   I shot it all on GH2 with @Driftwood Moon Trial 5. I used a Kowa 16-H with Redstan clamps and a Lightcraft Workshop Fader ND Mark II, mounted on a Konica Hexanon 40mm f1.8, usually stopped down to f2.8 or even f4.   I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it is of some use. Feedback and questions are of course welcome!

  I'll agree totally, the original EF BMCC is here and gone. That's exactly what I mean by turmoil. All of this is changing so fast, and yes that is a good thing in many ways . . . but a tricky thing to navigate as someone hoping to upgrade. I haven't bought any Blackmagic products yet, and I very well may not. But I maintain that sensor size IS an important factor, and furthermore that fullframe is not always the best option (of course, a fullframe sensor with various crop modes like the ML5DIII essentially covers all bases). I'm still hoping (probably in vain) for something with better controls than both the Blackmagic and the DSLR cameras, but that's just me. After having gone mirrorless mount, I'd rather not give that up. The adaptability is incredibly useful.    For those with Canon cameras, this is an incredibly good thing as they can start shooting some really nice RAW footage if they want. But for someone with zero Canon gear wanting to get into RAW video? I guess I don't think I'd advise them to go out and get a MKIII for that. I know that there will "always be a better cam tomorrow", but in this case especially, I don't think we'll have to wait long. Blackmagic cracked the door, ML just opened up the floodgates. Any new cameras henceforth will have to seriously consider including RAW as an option. Otherwise, why would anyone upgrade to . . . say . . . a 7DII/5D4/whatever? They already kill in stills mode. All of this is good, but I'm going to wait until there are a few more out of box RAW-capable cameras out there before I pick my poison (so to speak), because once I get one, I'm going to be using it for a long time. I can't afford to switch bodies on a whim every time something new hits the fan.

I for one will be waiting in the wings with my trusty GH2 until the dust settles. This RAW camera turmoil isn't over by a long shot. I personally doubt it will seriously hurt Blackmagic in its current form. The truth is, the Blackmagic cameras and Canon cameras are completely different animals in more ways than just the codec. Add on top of that the fact that the Blackmagic cameras are purpose-built for RAW right out of the box, and it really is hard to say they'll take a hit from this. If faster CF cards come out and MagicLantern can really get this nailed down and reliable, then maybe. But even then, it is a modification-type solution, not a purpose-built RAW camera. There's something very appealing about recording straight to SSD. There's something very, very appealing about global shutter. And on top of that, full frame photographic is not an industry standard and will not play very nice with most cinema glass . . . whereas the Blackmagic 4K cam certainly will. I'm not saying that what MagicLantern has done is not significant, it is. But when something is this amazing for free, a better solution will probably show up as a product soon after. In my book, Blackmagic are slowly moving into prime position to deliver a true knockout hit. Sony could certainly do the same tech-wise, but they price too high. What MagicLantern has proved is that Canon could tech-wise as well, though they either weren't smart enough to implement this or were unwilling to do so for some reason. So I'm going to sit tight and see how it plays out. Sooner or later a real pro-quality and full-featured cinema RAW camera will be available from one of these companies. Until then, I'm going with the GH2. It was and still is very inexpensive, yet perfectly capable in the right hands, as many of these cameras are. But I've become increasingly aware of other features besides RAW that are almost more beneficial, like built-in ND, XLR or similar pro audio inputs, Zebra, Peaking, and alternative aspect ratios (for anamorphic). Such things seem basic because they've been around for a while, but their benefit is not lessened by that.

Hi, All! I had posted a week or so back about some art gallery bound films of mine that I was projecting this past weekend. Here is the first of two films in the series. This one is maybe a month old, and was in a show then at Bethel University in their Johnson Gallery. I displayed it on my Dell U3011 which I built into the wall just for the show along with a laptop for playback. It is not really made with web viewing in mind, it supposed to be viewed in an art gallery, but I uploaded it to share anyway.   I shot it all on GH2 with @Driftwood Moon Trial 5. I used a Kowa 16-H with Redstan clamps and a Lightcraft Workshop Fader ND Mark II, mounted on a Konica Hexanon 40mm f1.8, usually stopped down to f2.8 or even f4.    This is the first, and has certain things that make it very successful in terms of capturing my concept for the project. But technically, I think I prefer the second film even though it is simpler in some ways.   I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it is of some use. Feedback and questions are of course welcome! (Note: I'm going to go ahead and post this, but Vimeo might initially be still in the process of converting the clip.)   http://vimeo.com/66619124

Yes, where is the 2X Ana?! The whole point of Iscos is that they don't give absurd aspect ratios from 16:9. With this hack, you can do what aspect you want, so there's no excuse to not be shooting 2X Ana, none. 

Hey, I'm not complaining about Kowa prices, I'm actually quite happy, because I got one when they were $500  :D  I'm hoping to upgrade soon, and the more I can get for the Kowa, the better. 

Maybe this is an unanswerable question . . . but when for the love of all that is good in this world do the patents/copyrights/whathaveyou on the Iscorama focusing system expire and/or become fair game? It seems like the kind of thing that ought to expire after a set time of not being utilized. Who owns the rights to this stuff, and has anyone ever offered to take it off their hands? I mean, seriously. I know it is a unique optical system but come on. If they could make them back then, someone should be able to make them nowadays without too much hassle. 

I'm still holding out for my "perfect cam" 4K S35 RAW SSD XLR ND Global Shutter Mirrorless with good dynamic range and preferably with anamorphic-friendly aspect ratios too. The new Blackmagic Production cam comes awful close, except for the nonsensical EF mount and no ND. I still have hope that it will show up one day. 'Till then, 'tis GH2 for me. I just saw Upstream Color in a pristine digital cinema, and it lacked for nothing in image quality. It's certainly not all about the camera, but the right tool can make the job much easier.

Hi, everyone!    I'd love to invite you all to my Senior Thesis art exhibition at the Thorp Building in NE Minneapolis during the Art-A-Whirl event this weekend.   I've been working on this non-narrative landscape video piece for the past four months and I will be projecting it through my Kowa, which I also used to film it. Stop by if you have time, there is lots to see besides my work, my colleagues have some incredible art as well.   http://nemaa.org/art-a-whirl/dates

That rolling shutter looked pretty minimal to my eyes . . . that's some pretty harsh whip panning before it really gets bad. It's probably pretty unnoticeable in most shots, certainly correctable.