eris

BTW: I went to redstan's site, but it seems to be down. Is he out of business?

Does anyone have a Redstan Sankor 16D clamp for sale? I already have the lens and a vid-atlantic clamp, but the redstan makes it much easier to use in production (which is already hard enough Let me know. Any reasonable price considered. eris

As an example of what can be done with any good, modern camera... I think you could probably replicate this scene quite easily if you had the time, the actors and the proper lighting. Here, crushed blacks are half the fun. We should do "replicate this Blade Runner scene" as a weekly challenge. Compare this to the KineMAX snapshot.

​He still does some on the GH2, but for the last several months I think nearly all his stuff is GH4. He has a great GH4 photo mode demo for those who are thinking of using 2x anamorphics on the GH4. His demo was enough for me to finally buy a GH4. Can't wait to drag out my Sankor 16D for the great night flares.

​The problem is *not* the camera (GH4, etc). The problem is not understanding how to light your subject. If you don't want an HD TV sitcom look, for gods sake don't light it that way. The Kinemax shots are lit like a TV drama or sitcom. As usual, it's not the camera, it's the entire pipeline from composition and motion to lighting, filtration, lens selection, sensor latitude and post production. You could name the specific touchstones along the way, but the time for blaming your camera is long past.

Yes, I'm familiar with Seb Farges footage. He does excellent work. I wasn't really holding my footage up to compare with his. I was just making the point that you could get good looking footage. All I really wanted to do was check whether the Bolex and the taking lens were working properly. I was actually a little surprised at how rich it looked.​ My favorite Bolex/GH4 footage by far is Mauri Galiano's stuff from Madrid. He does some very nice music video work. You can search for him on Vimeo.

Clayton, not really trying to brag, but I just finished an anamorphic test on a GH4 of snowfall here in Colorado which looks pretty damn filmic. Bear in mind I'm just testing focus, aperture, DOF etc. It's here: https://vimeo.com/user1649981/review/119725793/6c119e45f5

GH4. Never let it be said that you can't get very filmic results with it. DL the actual file for proof.

Here's a little test I ran pointing at the snowfall on the trees and lake out my back porch. Testing focus, aperture and DOF on my Bolex/Moller 16/32 1.5x, Helios 44-2 pipeline. I wasn't really trying for anything artful, just mucking around. I did apply a Filmconvert Kodak Portra 400 pass and 35mm grain. Probably should have left off the grain since it usually gets compressed away. If you'd like the original I can enable downloads on the source footage. https://vimeo.com/user1649981/review/119725793/6c119e45f5

Yes, hopefully Anamorphic 4K mode and VLOG will be in firmware 2.2 including in-camera de-squeeze. That would be a huge improvement. Of course it would be of little help unless your were able to output to HDMI with it. You can't do that right now. So just for the record, Panasonic: - VLOG - 4k Photomode changed to 4k Anamorphic - 24p - 1.33, 1.5, 2.0x de-squeeze onscreen - output to HDMI - VFR HD to HDMI. I believe HDMI 1.4b can output up to 120fps.

I dare say it's time for Panasonic's next GH4 update and soon. Raw out the HDMI port, VFR out the HDMI port, other aspect ratios out the HDMI port. Other than that I love my GH4.

Great to see the community of Bolex users increase by 1. Eventually all the remaining ones will be in use. :) Personally I'd shoot with a GH4 in 4k and release in 1080p, but to each their own. Enjoy.

I don't know if this has been posted before, but here's Mauri Galiano's very nice test which compares the GH4's various aspect ratios in 4k "Photo" mode using a Bolex 16/32 1.5x, an Isco 1.7x and a 2x Proskar. This sealed my decision to finally pull the trigger on a GH4. The only limitation I see right now is it's only in 30p and 25p. Apparently someone within Panasonic is pushing hard for 24p. Otherwise the GH4 (except low light) is an embarrsment of riches. eris

DIGIC: I usually just focus "close" to the correct distance with the Bolex and then do fine focus with the taking lens. Usually works pretty well. The guy who does the best Bolex 16/32 work to date is Mauri Galliano in Spain. He does Music Videos. Here's a great example. Go to a few minutes before the end. Pure cineporn. Here's another example of him demonstrating the GH4 anamorphic modes using different anamorphic lenses.

It's one of the 3GOP hacks. It's been a while so I don't remember exactly. The limitations are not sampling resolution as Vimeo will take resolution down a little anyway. Critical focus is the key. I had it re-collimated by Bernie at Super16 and he does great work. I'm using the Bolex with a Zeiss Biometar 80mm / Zebra edition because the Biometar is high quality glass but only single coated so it doesn't kill the anamorphic flare. The only issue is that its a medium format lens and that requires a Pentacon 6 adapter. I can't quite nail infinity with it, but I think I could probably get just short of it.

Make sure HD is enabled.

Hey guys. Nothing fantastic, just some anamorphic test footage on a refurbed Bolex Moller 16/32 1.5x. Camera is hacked GH2. Taking lens is Zeiss Jena Biometar 80mm. Sorry about the somewhat jerky pan. I had a cocktail in my hand. Testing gets real formal around here.

Andrew, Good interview. Even more impressive than the news that they might implement 4:3 / 24p is the fact that Panasonic is and has been listening to their customers. Much better than some well-known OEMs who just hang out in their cathedral-like hidey hole and pretend that the photo market is enough. eris (Dusts off his 2:1 anamorphics)

If you have one for sale, please contact me. I'll pay reasonable market rates. Somewhat more if its in especially fine condition. Recent calibration from trusted source is also ++. Also, can you tell me how smooth the focus ring is on it? My standard for buttery smooth is any of my Pentax Super Takumars. Extra points if you have footage. Thanks. eris

Is the Bolex still for sale?

Hi Drewski, I'm using a Zeiss Jena Biometar zebra 80mm (medium format lens) on my GH2 using a Fotodiox Pentacon adapter as my taking lens. My anamorphic is a Sankor 16D. The nice thing about the Biometar is that it's medium format f2.8. Somehow f2.8 for a medium format becomes something like f1.8 on micro 4/3. When using the GH2 as a standalone lens I could tell the Biometar had classic Zeiss characteristics, but it was a kind of muddy at distance. I figured it needed recalibration, so I sent it to Henry Sherer at zeisscamera.com for complete rebuild. Henry specializes in Zeiss Icon/Contax camera and lens repair and is pretty amazing. He checked the collimation with the Fotodiox adapter and found it was acceptable. He then proceeded to rebuild it. The main thing he found was that after 50 years the oils in the focus ring grease had evaporated and redeposited almost everywhere including the lenses. After cleaning the optical performance should be near original. I also had him declick the aperture which cost a bit more (around $65) because it's not a simple job. He also used fixodrop when applying a high-quality lubricant to the focus ring to keep the lubricant from migrating to other parts of the lens. After full cleaning and rebuild it should be here tomorrow. As soon as I get it back I'm going to check it out with the Sankor. If the pipeline still needs work I'll probably send the Sankor to Bernie for re-collimation. Good luck with your Contax. I highly recommend Henry if it needs work. His rates a pretty reasonable and he really sharp.

QuickHit:   Super nice flares there.  I've got a Sankor 16D that flares in a similar way.   Can you do a test at an outdoor mall or something similar that shows foreground, midground, background with medium DOF and people walking in and out of the space as well as walking torwards and away from camera?  That's my favorite test for anamorphics for some reason.   eris

Take the following recommendations with a grain of salt.  I started out self-financing my own film career, so a whole set of L-glass was out o the picture.   I've thought of going to the BMPCC, but as attractive as the camera is physically including raw and 422, the odds that lower priced m43 and APS-C (semi-super-35) sensors will begin providing raw and 422 out of the box are good.   I've already tried competing with others for the rare old glass.  For example, really good examples of anamorphic glass (without even single focus) such as the Bolex Moeller 16/32 are going for over $2000.   That's just crazy when you can rent a set of Oct 19/P2 Lomo's for 2 weeks for $2000.   At some point you realize you just have to pay a little extra to get what you want now and move on.  The BMCC is getting discounted to a reasonable price.  Get one (if you can) for M43.   (Really wish some company would take a Bolex Moller 16/32 to an optical engineer and just copy the design -- except include focus servos for those that want single focus as an option.)   As far as your other questions: My experience has taught me to buy the lenses and fit the right camera to them.   The half life of a decent digital camera these days is a about 2 years.   Good lenses last for a lifetime.   I'm still running with my set of manual DSLR lenses plus a Tokina 11-16 and a Minolta Macro Zoom for special occasions.  I'm betting on micro 4/3 and larger sensors in the future.  For what it's worth, here's my current lens list:   Pentax/Asahi:   Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 35mm f2   Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 50mm f1.4 Super Takumar 50mm f1.4 (first production series)   All the Takumars are super high precision, buttery focus, have generally excellent bokeh and are inexpensive.  Huge bang for the buck.  The 35mm gives a relatively normal field of view for crop sensors and the 50 becomes nice for short portaits.   Good for multitude of purposes.  The first gen Super Tak is beautiful and very nice as an anamorphic taking lens.  It's not too wide and it's single coated so it doesn't filter anamorphic flare.   Minolta:   Rokkor-PG 58mm f1.2 Rokkor Zoom Macro 35-70mm   The right Minolta manual can be very useful.  We shot a lot of our first film on the f1.2 Rokkor.  On a crop sensor it becomes an almost magical short portrait lens, isn't too "analytical" and yields just gorgeous natural light results with the best bokeh in the business.  Sort of a legendary bokeh monster lens.  Just be prepared for razor thin DOF at f1.2.  Don't overuse the f1.2 in natural light *instead* of proper lighting.   The Rokkor Zoom Macro is a incredibly precise Zoom that rivals most primes.  On crop sensors it covers short portrait to normal telephoto.   It has a 1.5x light macro mode that allows very close focus which is great for super-closeups (rare in a zoom).  This is the lens that Leica liked so much they re-badged it as their own.  If you wait a week or so on ebay you can usually find a nice example that not too expensive.  I think I got mine for $200.   Zeiss Jena:   35mm f2.4 Flektogon 80mm f2.8 Biometar Zebra (Medium Format)   Zeiss Jena is the original Zeiss factory that the Russians captured and move to the homelad after WWII (which resulted in the Helios 44-2 and others). When Jena recovered they continued making mostly comparable glass into the 60s and early 70s until the warped communist economy finally screwed up their production capabilities.   The 35mm f2.4 Flektogon is a wonderful little lens.  It's precise, not too large, has a normal field of view for crop sensors and great bokeh.  Oh yeah -- it has the standard Zeiss mechanical and optical precision and punchy contrast.   It also focuses down to 3 inches. :-)   The 80mm Biometar is an interesting lens.  I found it while searching for a good long focal length anamorphic taking lens.  It had to have single coating so as not to unduly filter out anamorphic flare (thus the 1960s Zebra version).  It had to have good precision and optics.   It's Zeiss Jena and the overall optical quality is only slightly less than the equivalent West German Zeiss of the time.  In any case its optical performance in the center is second to none and that's what the m43 and APS-C sensors are going to be looking through.   I have noticed *no* aberations when looking through the center -- first time I've heard that.   Any imperfections in the center would either be eliminated by Zeiss QC or not generally in the field of focus.   The wierd thing is (not sure how this works) is that while it's rated at f2.8, it lets almost as much light through at f2.8 as my f1.4 takumars -- but without the accompanying razor thin DOF.   Early anamorphic tests are very positive with LED point sources throwing super punchy and sharp anamorphic flare (right out of Alien :-), while the increased focal length and DOF makes for some very nice cinematic footage.  Mechanical design is typical Zeiss precision, but the Zebra Biometars are now almost 50 years old and the focus helical can get a little stiff.  Suggest you have it serviced at a reputable rebuilder for best performance.  These were the default lens on the old Pentacon Six cameras so there are a fair number of good examples left.   Expect to pay around $200 for a good copy.   Nikon: Ai-s 24mm f2   The Nikon used to be my go-to lens for slightly wider FOV with crop sensors.  Typical Nikon quality but I don't use it as much as I used to.  If I need to go wide-wide I usually use the excellent Tokina 11-16mm.   Helios: 44-2 58mm f2   The Helios is a Russian copy of the Zeiss Biotar.   It's used a lot as an anamorphic taking lens.  While it is single coated and a generally nice lens (fun bokeh, good flare, moderately precise), my copy (new old stock) had oil on the aperture blades and a pretty stiff focus ring.  There are rebuild videos by a cool Austrian dude on YouTube.  I might get around to it or just buy another.   Sankor 16-D 2x Anamorphic   Entry level, but beautiful Anamorphic.   My copy was in prettty fine physical shape.   I shot some fun test footage in Boulder CO on Pearl St Mall which I'll hopefully post some time soon.  The Sankor may not be the most precise anamorphic but it does throw beautiful anamorphic flares.  Good for understanding how anamorphics work even though it's dual focus.  You can get one for about $200 - $300 and pick up an adapter for about $50 - $100.   My only major issue is that, even though I swear I have it properly aligned, It's bokeh are oval but tilted slightly to the left and I can't figure out why.   It probably needs re-collimation, but I'm just guessing.   Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X Autofocus (either Nikon or Canon mount)   This is a great constant focal length uber-wide zoom.  I recommend the Nikon mount for anything other than Canon as the Canon version doesn't have an easy way to manually adjust aperture.  Mines a canon mount and I just set and leave it at f2.8.  On a 2x crop the 11mm is still pretty wide.  Not sure how useful it would be adapted to a BMPCC.   It would be somewhere around 33mm which is wide, but not Quentin Tarantino wide (usually 24-28mm).  I bought this new at B&H for around $700 when it was hard to get.  My most expensive lens so far and I know that's not saying much.   All in all I love my lens collection.    Good luck to you.

I've been watching ebay and seriously considering burning a bonus on a very nice anamorphic like the Bolex 16/32 (already have a Sankor 16d which I like).   The prices seem to be moving into the ridiculous right now.  ($2200 for a Bolex 16/32?) I guess it depends if you really need one on a shoot that pays well enough.   Burning that kind of cash you might as well start looking into Lomo's.   If nothing else you could rent a professionally maintained set of 3 Lomo's for two weeks at that price.   My plan is to practice with my Sankor and move up if I can, but rent some Lomo's when I must.  Or if someone with really deep pockets is footing the bill, Hawks.  (I can dream, can't I?)   Anyone know any better options?   eris