Canon 5DM3 users technical experiences

[apkates]

Hello All,

I am new to this forum. I have been following for awhile but waited to make my first post until I finally owned an anamorphic lens. I'm making a short film. Was planning on going in one direction until I discovered is site. All,I have to say I wish I never found this place because I am hooked on shooting anamorphic. :)

I know most of you use the GH2,3 cameras so I'm also hoping to encounter folks who use the Canon 5dm3. I own the Canon 5dm3, I have the Kowa 8-Z, and until I find the right primes a friend is lending me their Leica 90mm.

Since I am a novice to this process but determined to learn if you all don't mind sharing your technical experiences using the Kowa 8-Z. Any tips on focusing the prime and the anamorphic together. Why the redstan clamp over the vid-Atlantic clamp? I noticed when looking at camera's monitor the squeeze wasn't that significant, should it be or did I error in mounting?

Prior to shooting anamorphic, my standard footage was transcoded into ProRess using Apple compressor but when I went to transcode the anamorphic footage it did not do anything- why? I am using Final Cut 6 is this the reason? To have less stress in post is it time to upgrade editing software? In that case I'm considering switching to Premiere Pro.

When it comes to filters do a lot of of you use filter rings or 4x4 filters with matte box? Why one over the other?

My project will be shot outdoors during winter with snow. Will the Kowa fog up? Any additional tech tips you don't mind sharing that I have not thought of yet is greatly appreciated. I am both nervous and excited to shoot anamorphic! Lastly, I have read Andrew's book many times which has gotten to this point thus far.

[Bioskop.Inc]

Why are Redstan clamps better? Well they are just great engineering, light weight & when you have one in your hands you know you've bought something special. If you've just spent a few hundred dollars on a lens, why skimp on the clamp that will hold it perfectly in place?

 

The squeeze doesn't look that bad until you un-squeeze it, its a weird one.

 

As far as transcoding goes, you should use 5DtoRGB, its soooo much better than using compressor - there's a free version or you can pay for the batch one (App store).

To un-squeeze footage you can do it in FCP6 (there's an explanation in Andrew's book) or do it manually with QT7 (you'll find it under Window-Show Movie Properties-Video Track) & then you make a custom profile in FCP for the un-squeezed size.

 

If you're thinking of changing editing programs, then try the 30 day FCPX trial (there's one for Premiere too) - its a lot lot better now (shit it impressed me more than Premiere & its cheaper) & you can edit H264 files natively or it will transcode the footage for you into ProRess. There's also an option to unsqueeze the footage x/y axis for a max width of 1080 - you'll need the new Motion if you want the width to be wider than 1080 (see link below). http://library.creativecow.net/articles/payton_t/FCPX_Custom-Resolution-Timelines/video-tutorial

 

Lenses, that's your choice really & 85mm is the minimum for FF sensor. The Leica 90mm will almost certainly be excellent!

 

Good Luck! 

[brucker]

what ^he said,... a nice pricey anamorphic isnt worth anything if you cant align it properly, be able to fine tune the alignment and have it sit so tight and securely that you could probably walk around with your camera on a strap and not worry about the anamorphic falling out. 

 

and it looks the business!

 

re:focusing,...  i have no experience with full frame and anamorphic but i'm thinking that your depth of field will be razor thin at larger apertures.... so you might struggle to focus wide open on full frame so stop the taking lens down till you can identify your zone clearly,..

 

check distance on your lens,.. adjust the anamorphic to a similar distance,... fine tune your taking lens' focus,... and that's it. you can always open her up and finetune later if you need larger apertures.

 

also it doesnt need to be 100% exact,.. the greater your depth of field the larger your zone of focus will be, obviously, so, the easier it will be to fall within both the anamorphic and the taking lens's zone of focus.

 

if you played with it everyday, in a couple of weeks you'll be able to estimate distances and set your taking and anamorphic before even raising it to your eye. i do alot of stills on the street as well and focus is normally pretty easy. it really is one of those things where you have to play with a bit everyday, shoot random crap, and see how it turns out, adjust your process.

 

i used to be a bokeh whore, but with anamorphics, full depth of field is so effortlessly beautiful that i'm almost always at the hyperfocal distance,... makes run and gun pretty easy.

 

have fun!

[Caleb Genheimer]

I just shot outside in the snow with my Kowa for over an hour. It was very cold and I had no fogging issues, but don't plan on racking focus quickly, the oil/grease whatever in both my taking lens (Konica) and the Kowa got very thick in the cold, nothing to worry about but significantly more difficult to turn the focus mechanisms. I'm in a digital stills photography course right now, and I borrowed my father's EOS 1DS MK II (fullframe Canon), and I'm using a basic 85mm Ultrasonic lens with the Kowa. It doesn't hard vignette and seems to be fairly sharp  stopped down to around f2.8, but this is no fault of the Kowa, which is tack sharp at wider apertures on some of my other lenses. Good luck shooting and be sure to share your finished footage! The Kowa will steal your heart if you're not careful, though :-)

 

http://vimeo.com/56519741

[goatnyc]

If I need to shoot in the cold for long periods of time, I will acclimate my lenses to the outside temperature.  For example, I will take my lens case (with the lid OPEN) and lock it in my car or place it in my garage an hour or so prior to shooting.  A warm humid interior is the culprit for exterior fogging.  Then when ready to march out into the cold to shoot, toss in some silica gel packs like this into the lens case then close it:

 

http://www.filmtools.com/silgelselin.html

 

Moisture+Cold=Fog

 

If you cannot acclimate the lenses, purchase some disposable hand warmers and place them right on top of the barrels (taking and Kowa) if you start noticing fog.  Another great use for the hand warmers is to keep your batteries warm(-ish) to get better performance.  Wrap the hand grip with one and also toss some into your bag next to the fully charged spares.  

 

As for filters I use both screw-on Series 9 and square 4x4.  I have yet to find 4x4 diopters so I screw on the diopter(s) on the front of my Isco and then slide the front of the lens into the donut of a small 4x4 matte box that is set on 15mm rails.  Another advantage of 4x4 matte box is that I often use ND graduated filters and a polarizer which just don't work on the front of the Isco (the Isco's focus barrel is the front-most barrel and turns when focusing).  

 

I agree with Bioskop that your 90mm Leica would be perfect.  My favorite taking lens is a Nikon 85mm 1.4 AIS.  I'm also playing around with a 50mm Nikon Series E pancake that has a bit of "falloff" at 1.8 but not a full vignette that would make me discount it entirely.  

 

Good luck, stay warm! 

[apkates]

Thanks Bioskop, Brucker, Caleb and Goatnyc for your valued advice!!

 

Definitely, when the project is completed I'll post a teaser from it. Thanks Caleb for the video for this is exactly what I have in mind to do but was concerned whether it would work or not. You know how that goes stuff in your head sometimes does not translate so well in reality. A friend showed me the trailer for Timecode. Don't know if you all remember that film with the multiple stories running simultaneously the screen divided into fourths. When I decided to shoot anamorphic and came across the Kowa glass that format presented interesting challenge because I did not want to crop; instead I wanted to exploit that aspect ratio in way beneficial to the story- so in my head I saw stacked images i.e. horizontal split screen but until I had the lenses and could test I wasn't sure it would work. After seeing your short Caleb brings sigh of relief and excitement!

 

It will be a minute before I post footage because once again we are without snow and have had warm weather for this time of year :(

 

I ordered the redstan clamp so I'm waiting for it's arrival.

 

Thanks again!