dahlfors

Any idea on what resolution the live view output is over USB? For the Nikons, I think it will be far below the quality of the HDMI output, and probably not even better than monitoring on the rear LCD.   Too bad the only solution with tablets is to use USB since no tablets have HDMI-in. I'm still hoping that some tablet manufacturer will find it reasonable to include HDMI-in sooner or later...

richg101: Haha - unexpected to experience the combination of Mazzy Star, anamorphics and cats... 

  Specific ones.   On the D800, D7000 & D7100 it works like this:  - A few simple color profiles can be created and edited through in-camera menus. - Custom color profiles downloadable from the net can be placed in a special folder on the memory card, which the camera will search for when you get into the menus. From there you can then load the custom color profile. - The Flaat color profiles are not the same as the simple ones you can create in-camera. They are more advanced custom profiles which can be created with Nikon's own softwares View NX 2 & Capture NX 2. If you're interested in finding out more about how to load or create these, there's some info in the D800 manual at page 172: http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/dslr/D800_EN.pdf   I'd doubt the D5200 is much different with the custom color profiles. Maybe a bit dumbed-down considering the in-camera menu options.   Here's a test of Flaat picture styles on Nikon D800 (test is not done by me, it's just one I looked through when I figured out the picture styles myself): https://vimeo.com/52227075

  I've used it on my D800. I would use it if I really need lots of dynamic range above all, but only then. I prefer the way Neutral or my own custom color profile look. My own custom profile has same settings as the Standard profile, but a bit less contrast.   According to the D5200 manual, the loading of custom color profiles functions just as it does on the D7000 and D800: http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/dslr/D5200RM_NT(11)01.pdf (check from page 90 and onwards, Custom color profile).

Personally I'm using the Epson V700 scanner for scanning negatives & dia. I rarely ever shoot any film anymore, but I got lots of film yet to scan...    Epson V700 is not of the quality of a drum scanner, but it produces great results. Good thing about it, is that you can scan medium format film as well if you start shooting that. There's also a few cheaper models from Epson that scan in a little smaller dpi, but with roughly the same features.   If you get the 3rd party software Vuescan you can also do multipass scans into .DNG format - and use Lightroom RAW processing on your scans. This is especially useful on photos with a high dynamic range.   The F3 is a great piece of a camera. Give it some service and the camera will outlive all the current DSLR's :) The prime lenses that Nikon built in that era are usually good quality lenses.     /p/: From my experience with negative film, I don't find that negative film has that much more useable image data than what the best modern sensors can capture, like Nikon D800 with 14.4 EV steps: http://goo.gl/D0Xu4   This fellow comes to the conclusion of around 15 usable EV steps for film, although he mentions a theoretical 20 EV steps: http://archive.bigben.id.au/tutorials/360/technical/hdri/   But yes, I wouldn't say digital sensors yet beat film in that regard - but they are good enough that it doesn't really make a difference (unless you really could get 20 EV steps out of film in some special way. I haven't seen any ability to push that much out of any film I've shot).

  Beautiful beeldlab, beautiful. Thought I'd just take a quick look how sharp the Kiptars are. Forgot about that and got caught by your footage :)

My setup is using rings from cheap UV filters with glass removed. 49mm UV filter for the iscorama, then upsizer to 52mm. To make it easier to fit the Iscorama (and my Isco Ultrastar projection lens) I chose to go with Nikon lenses that all have 52mm filter thread. Got 50/1.8, 50/1.4, 85/2, 105/2.5 and 200/4. Depending on how close the front glass is on different lenses I need to add one extra set of uv filter rings for some lenses for some extra spacing.   Such a setup is great with the Iscorama - since then you can just align it by pressing the buttons.

If you are new to video - my very best advice is: bring a laptop or plug your camera into a tv at the end of the day. The best way to improve your techniques is by shooting and reviewing the footage. Also, experiment when you have the time to do it!   By doing so, you will quickly learn what you like / don't like or what you did right / did wrong. Then you will have experience and a better idea of how to shoot the next day :)

  A few things about the Nikon situation:   Nikon doesn't have the same long digital video background as Canon, Panasonic or Sony. They were the first to get out the D90 DSLR with video - but they never had DV & HDV cameras, so they are a bit of a latecomer to the video market. Stills photographers have constantly remained their main focus.   Also, remember the floodings in Thailand and tsunami in Japan? Nikon was the camera company that was hit the hardest by these. Nikon's main factories were in Thailand and Japan, and both were hit very seriously. If you compare with Canon, they also have factories in China, where Nikon didn't have any manufacturing except the lower end lenses. If you compare with Canon and Sony they also have a lot of other tech segments and factories that weren't affected. This means that as a percentage of total revenue, these companies weren't affected as much by these natural disasters.   Nikon D800 was delayed at least six months due to these events.   With that in hindsight, when looking at what Nikon has recently released lately in the form of video capable DSLRs, it does seem like they are putting efforts to video. But, they are likely slowed down in their process due to the disasters they've gone through. Since a large margin of Nikon's profits are for lenses - they are most likely interested in selling cameras for video use as well - so they can sell even more lenses.   My personal belief is that Nikon surely is observing the growing market with digital video cameras and that they don't want to miss out the potential growth of their business. But, considering the past and the current situation for Nikon, I still think it's quite a while until we'll see anything else than DSLRs with film mode + HDMI like the current generation (D5200, D7100, D800).   One interesting thing to note is that Nikon recently patented a new mount for mirrorless APS-C cameras. That could be an interesting sign of things to come...

  How would you compare the Isco Ultrastar to the Schneider? Any pros/cons?

You should be able to monitor from HDMI input with a black magic intensity: http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/intensity/

Hehe. I hope I'll get some weekend when I can sit around and edit :)

I'm learning filmmaking besides my fulltime job, and unfortunately I haven't found much time to edit the footage I shoot yet. I put up one short clip for a few friends to see though, so I thought I might share it with you guys as well.   https://vimeo.com/59350324     Sadly enough, I found out that the fine detail was lost and that the sand which is blowing around in the foreground was quite blocky when vimeo had recompressed it. The original footage looks a whole lot better. If you guys have any tips on how to get the best anamorphic footage possible on vimeo/youtube, I'd love to hear them. I'm wondering if a 2538x1080 source uploaded to vimeo would have resulted in better video than the 1280x544 video I uploaded...   Also, I'm quite happy about how nicely the D800 is handling the dynamic range in this shot. In the light where I shot this footage I know that my old Nikon D200 stills camera wouldn't have captured a still with this much dynamic range in it.

I'll try to remember to check it up on my lens later today (never actually tried how it functions without having it on the camera).   Bummer, I had forgot that the lens is out of town.   However, I checked out the section that you are linking to:   "The focus ring cannot be turned manually without disengaging the AF screw drive via the AF/MF switch on the body, unlike the AF-S lenses."   This means that you should not turn the focus ring manually on a Nikon body - since that means you are turning around the motor in the camera body as well (you notice it by the resistance of the motor). On a Nikon camera body you should disengage the motor by flipping a switch on the camera house. However, if you don't have a focus motor in the camera body, then you have nothing that attaches to the autofocus drive of the lens - and the lens is limited to manual focus only. So, you can think of the lens as being a manual focus only lens - until you slap it on a camera body with builtin autofocus motor.   This is the same for all Nikon lenses that are marked "AF-S" or with a D like this 50mm, "50mm AF-S f/1.8D". Avoid the Nikon lenses that are marked with a G, like "50mm AF-S f/1.8G" - these lenses with a G in the model name are the newest lenses by Nikon. They don't have any aperture ring, and only functions on modern Nikon camera bodies.   Conclusion: buy Nikon AI, AI-S, AF-S, AF-D lenses and they should work just fine on a GH2 in manual mode.

  This thread sounds like people talking teenage idols or "my dad is stronger than your dad"...   Anyway, what Philip Bloom of course means with "more detail than BMCC" is 4k resolution vs 2.5k. 

No. But reviews seem to agree that it is great :) Since I already have a 50mm, I've been considering my next step down to be a 28mm or 35mm, no real need for a 40mm in between. But, it's a very interesting lens since it's such a portable pancake and seems to perform so well. Might be a great choice instead of a 50mm :)

I don't know about the differences. The Novoflex and Voigtlander adapters both seem popular. I bet there are other users who can answer that better in the generic forum or GH2 forum :)

Yes. The amazon link is the correct lens - amazing deal there! Those lenses usually go for double the price here in Sweden...

Also, on this topic: The vid-atlantic cinemorph filter is basically just an oval for adding the oval bokeh and a glass that adds flares to your footage: http://vid-atlantic.com/cinemorphic.html

As much as I understand about the physics of light & cameras, I think Julian is correct here. The way bokeh appears should not have anything to do with the squeezing of an anamorphic - it only has to do about another feature of an anamorphic: light from out of focus areas travelling through the ovally formed hole.   Here's a video from Kai at DigitalRev: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5jjr_vKruU He cuts out his own bokeh shapes from paper - even his own name is used as bokeh :)

50mm: I've used the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 E Series pancake lens, 50mm f/1.8 AF-D and 50mm f/1.4 AF-D. My #1 recommendation would be the 50mm f/1.8 AF-D. I've used that lens for tens of thousands of stills, and I haven't really found any weakness at all in that lens, it is just superb. In rare cases facing strong light sources or sunlight the 50mm f/1.4 can give some nasty ghosting pattern from inside the lens - the minimal flares and ghosting of the f/1.8 have never annoyed me. The AF-D lenses have manual aperture ring which will be useful for your GH2. For autofocus to work, you need one of Nikon's camera bodies with builtin AF motor (D7000, D600, D800 has such, but not the entry level cameras). In conclusion - the 50 f/1.4 has let me down a few times with nasty ghosting. The 50mm f/1.8 hasn't ever. Both are sharp. The E series lens seem to get a bit of hype, but my own doesn't seem to focus to infinity properly and I had to do service of it's focus ring. Again, considering the bargain price of the f/1.8 AF-D, the E Series isn't worth it.   85mm: The 85mm f/1.8 AF-D is great. Also the old Nikon 85mm f/2 AI-S is great. Very sharp lenses.   Personally I've had good experience with Nikon's 200mm f/4 AI and 105mm f/2.5 AI-S lenses too. These will be quite in the longer range on a GH2 though. Might be useful depending on how you shoot.   For a more normal focal length on GH2 (but wide in terms of full frame): the nikon 24mm f/2.8 AF-D is good. the Nikon 28mm f/2.8 AI-S is a great one, that lens is among Nikon's best lenses.   For wide use for your GH2, go for a Micro Four Thirds specific lens. Nikon has some wide primes too, but you'd be paying far too much for just using a center crop on those lenses. If you later on upgrade to a Nikon DSLR, if it's an APS-C sensor size DSLR, go for either the Tokina 12-24mm f/4 or the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8, there isn't really any better prime options. For a full frame the zoom options are 17-35mm f/2.8, 16-35mm f/4 VR, 14-24mm f/2.8. I personally got the 16-35mm f/4 VR. Very sharp. The 14-24mm is legendary for its sharpness, one of the best zoom lenses in existance. I haven't yet made my mind up when it comes to wide primes. Basically the choice is 24 f/2.8 AF-D, 28mm f/2.8 AI-S and 35mm f/2 AF-D. The 24mm f/1.4 and 35mm f/1.4 are really good, but I can't justify paying 5-6 times the money per len for just that small amount of light... The difference in sharpness isn't that much.   Hope this helps you a bit on the way :)   Oh yeah - and most of these lenses would fall in the range of "most quality for the money" category. None of these I recommend for your GH2 are crazy expensive - but they are still among the better Nikon's out there.

I haven't used Canon EOS Utility, so I can't fully say how they have solved it. They might provide driver for using camera as capture device, although I kinda doubt it. If they have, when camera is connected it should show up under menu File --> Open Capture Device in VLC. If not, rerouting that video requires figuring out the Canon USB protocol for the video stream. Perhaps someone has done it already and you can find some 3rd party tools / plugins for it. I take it you want this for some kind of monitoring purpose. If Canon or any 3rd party doesn't provide a capture driver, it will be far easier to get an hdmi monitor or to get hdmi feed into computer with one of those black magic cards with hdmi input.

Interesting. I got a red Isco Ultrastar. If I understand this setup correctly - does this mean that you can horisontally align the anamorphic lens once and for all in the holder - and every time you need to use the lens you just slide it in on your rails in front of your lens?   My current setup is a bit cumbersome. I have to horisontally adjust the anamorphic with a clamp, which can be quite tricky to get just right. This is very interesting if it means that you'd only have to horisontally adjust the anamorphic once, and could easily switch taking lenses by just sliding the anamorphic forwards & backwards on the rails.

Yes, VLC has had those common film format aspect ratios for a long time. But for viewing anamorphic footage shot on a 16:9 sensor you will need other aspect ratios that aren't available in that menu by default. As an example, An Iscorama 1.5x on a 16:9 sensor will equal 2.66:1. Shoot with a 2x anamorphic lens on a 16:9 sensor, and your footage will equal 3.55:1. This guide is about adding such custom aspect ratios that you need into that same menu.

I've explained this a bit more lengthy in a few other threads I've replied. Anyway, for shooting full frame with Nikon D800 I have used the following nikon lenses: 50mm f/1.8 AI-S pancake, 50mm f/1.8 AF-D, 50mm f/1.4 AF-D, 85mm f/2, 105mm f/2.5, 200mm f/4 - all of these with the small 52mm front filter thread, which makes them easily adaptable with 49mm -> 52mm adapter rings (you usually need a few extra 49/52mm spacers too, to make sure that the rear element of the anamorphic doesn't hit the glass of your lenses).